Home

Speak out for Peace - Fall River, MA

Tags:

Noon
Fall River, MA USA

Rally to commemorate the 2nd anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq War. The main speaker will be Scott Schaeffer-Duffy of the Stes. Francis and Theresa Catholic Worker House in Worcester MA, recently arrested by the Secret Service in Washington DC as he knelt in prayer for the victims of Darfur in front of the Sudanese Embassy. He has been a member of peacekeeping teams to Iraq, Darfur,Palestine/Israel, Central America and Bosnia, and will give a slide presentation of scenes from various war zones.

He normally spends his Saturdays baking bread for the indigent - donations of bread at the event, for him to bring back to the house of hospitality, will be appreciated.

There will also be music by rock artist Tom Khoury, local pianist
Judith Conrad and violinist Jagan Nath Singh Khalsa (who will lead the assembly in meditational prayers from the Sikh tradition), and poetry from Cape Poet Jose Gouveia. There will be a panel discussion on the current situation in the Middle East, and information will be available on conscientious objection and the potential upcoming draft. Refreshments will be served. Free, everyone welcome. The event is sponsored by the Greater Fall River Committee for Peace and Justice.

Location:
St. Mary's Cathedral Parish Hall 467 Spring St. Fall River MA 02720

Contact:
Judith Conrad
judithconrad@mindspring.com
508-674-6128 or 508-674-4886

Sponsored By:
The Greater Fall River Committee for Peace and Justice

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

feedback on the Fall River, MA event

Submitted by Jason White on March 21, 2005 - 2:07pm.

I got feedback from Judith about this event:

"Our rally was the top story in the Fall River Herald News today, front page, top. No kidding. Good writeup (below), pictures (pictures aren't on-line I took a roll of them, maybe I will get them developed tomorrow). All the Department of Peace literature and buttons went -- it helped that there was a speech by Jim McGovern who is the US Rep for the south end of Fall River and wildly popular around here.

"I think they underestimate the number of attendees (70? I think it was many more, 150 would be my honest guess) but they correctly said it had 5 times the turnout we had last year (which they also underestimated....)

"New York, on the other hand, had a rally that made page 25 of the New York Times, they say 350 people attended. They're probably underestimating too, it was probably 800. But I think we did well in comparison. "

---------------------------
Fall River Herald News
03/20/2005
Peace rally marks war’s 2nd year
Daniel Fowler , Herald News Staff Reporter

FALL RIVER -- "Yes, ’n’ how many deaths will it take till he knows/That too many people have died?" While the words are from Bob Dylan’s famous song "Blowin’ in the Wind," a group of about 70 people sang them Saturday as part of a rally to acknowledge the two-year anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq, and to call for its end.

Besides songs, the "Speak Out for Peace" rally at St. Mary’s Cathedral Hall featured speakers, prayer, poetry and food.

Scott Schaeffer-Duffy of the Sts. Francis and Theresa Catholic Worker House in Worcester and writer/storyteller George Capaccio of Arlington were the keynote speakers at the event.

Capaccio has gone to Iraq nine times as part of various peace and justice groups. He and his wife started a fund to aid people he met in Baghdad.

"I feel that a great injustice has been done to the people of Iraq," Capaccio said.

While his most recent trip to Iraq took place just before the U.S.- led invasion, Capaccio said throughout the conflict he has maintained contact with many Iraqis.

Capaccio told the story of an Iraqi family, with whom he keeps in touch via e-mail, that was forced to flee Iraq and currently resides in Jordan, but hopes to move to the United States.

In an e-mail, the mother of the family said "Iraq is like a wilderness. It’s like all the Iraqi people are living in a camp ... and we are the enemy," she said.

After talking about the family, Capaccio said the United States needs to withdraw its troops and called President Bush’s actions in going to war and fighting the war "illegal, immoral and criminal."

"We can’t give (the U.S. government) a green light to invade," he said.

Schaeffer-Duffy, who has journeyed to Iraq, Sudan, Israel, Central America and Bosnia as part of peacekeeping teams, presented slides from trips to the various war-torn areas. He was also outspoken in his opposition to the Iraq war and war in general.

"We are the ones making weapons of mass destruction," Schaeffer-Duffy said. "If we really want other countries to get rid of them, we can take the lead."

While Schaeffer-Duffy admitted "there is a risk in non-violence," he said, "there is a benefit."

The event was organized by the Greater Fall River Committee for Peace and Justice and had co-sponsorship from the Coalition for Social Justice and Bridgewater Citizens for an Informed Community.

Attendance at the rally was about five times greater than it was for last year’s event at the Narrows Center for the Arts.

Bradford Kenney, who traveled from Easton for the rally, said the large crowd was "encouraging."

"People are becoming more and more aware of what is going on and getting more and more fed up," Kenney, 50, said. "It’s the second year of this (war) and what have we gained?"

E-mail Daniel Fowler at dfowler@heraldnews.com.