Bill Attacking Free Speech on Palestine/Israel Now in SC Senate

SC State Rep. Alan Clemmons recently smeared the liberal Jewish peace group J Street as “anti-Semitic”, an extreme opinion that was widely panned.  But the SC House recently passed a bill sponsored Clemmons that would enshrine the same kind of smear tactics into SC law.  H.3643  invokes a controversial and vague State Department definition of anti-semitism to smear and  silence legitimate criticism of the state of Israel on campuses in South Carolina.  Language in the bill referencing a “What is Anti-Semitism Relative to Israel?” fact sheet is a direct attack on First Amendment protected political speech and intentionally blurs the line to conflate and equate legitimate viewpoints on Palestine/Israel with anti-Semitism, a backdoor form of censorship.  We’ve challenged the bill in both House and Senate subcommittees; both mostly ignored our concerns and rubber stamped the bill without discussion.  However, the bill was blocked in the last session by Senator Brad Hutto.  Now there is a rush now to get the bill passed with the new session in January of 2018.

TAKE ACTION: 

Augusta: “MLK: A Call to Conscience,” Feb 14, 6 pm – Free Screening & Discussion

For full details and to RSVP, visit Facebook.

Power to the Peaceful, Sat, Feb 4, 9 am – 3 pm

Join us, Saturday, February 4, 9 am – 3 pm, at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia, SC, 2701 Heyward St, Columbia, SC. RSVP / Share on Facebook. Registration recommended.

PROGRAM SCHEDULE:
8:45AM Doors Open
9AM-9:10AM Welcome

Pics from “Building the Beloved Community”

On January 12, 2017, Carolina Peace Resource Center held a discussion Building the Beloved Community: The Relevance of King and Gandhi in a Time of Oligarchy, Trump & Pence with Kevin Martin and George Friday. Here are some pictures, courtesy of Paul Palmer.

Columbia, Jan 8, 6 pm: Peace Potluck & meeting

Carolina Peace’s First Meeting of 2017! Bring a labeled vegetarian dish (if you can) and share food and conversation as organize for peace & justice. Build relationships, community and power for change. Sunday, January 8. Dinner at 6PM. Business Meeting at 6:30PM.

Augusta, Tue, Jan 10, 6 pm, Screening “We Are Many”

The Central Savannah River Area Peace Alliance is holding a free public screening of the documentary We Are Many. The venue is the Headquarters Library, Room A, 823 Telfair Street, Augusta, GA on Tuesday, January 10, at 6:00 pm.

On February 15th, 2003, up to 30 million people, many of whom had never demonstrated before in their lives, came out in nearly 800 cities around the world to protest against the impending Iraq War. The New York Times called this movement the “Second Superpower”.

How did this day come about? Who organized it? And was it, as many people claimed, a total failure?

This fearless, thought-provoking documentary is the remarkable inside story behind the first ever global demonstration, and its surprising and unreported legacy. The film features testimony from a unique cast of direct participants, including organizers, activists, high-profile figures, and of course the public, filmed in seven countries – Italy, Spain, Egypt, Sweden, Australia, UK, and the USA.

Extraordinary testimony from activists in Egypt reveals how on the eve of the invasion of Iraq, the global anti-war protests inspired those in Tahrir Square to go on to engage in the massive democratic movement that ultimately led to the Arab Spring. In the UK, the government was defeated over the proposed invasion of Syria, a historic event that might not have transpired without the legacy of those demonstrations a decade ago.

The star-studded list of contributors includes Danny Glover, actor Mark Rylance, film director Ken Loach, Prof. Noam Chomsky, musicians Brian Eno and Damon Albarn, writer and Vietnam Vet Ron Kovic (author of ‘Born on the 4th of July’), Rev. Jesse Jackson, Richard Branson and Colin Powell’s former Chief of Staff Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, amongst others.

This bold documentary by Amir Amirani charts the birth and growth of the new people power movement, now sweeping the world, taking us up to the Arab Spring and Syria, a little over 10 years after that historic day.

PEACE DAY AT THE STATEHOUSE Sun, Sep, 18th 2PM-5PM

Join us for PEACE DAY AT THE STATEHOUSE Sunday Sept 18th 2PM-5PM featuring

What is a Peace Pole?

Peace Pole in Charleston, SC

A Peace Pole is usually a four-sided pole with the message and prayer “May Peace Prevail on Earth” written in four languages, one on each side.

Thanks to the efforts of the Peace Pole Project, to date there are more than 200,000 Peace Poles planted in over 190 countries around the world, all serving as a reminder for us to visualize and pray for world peace.

Yemen – Courageous Revolutionary Activists Should Be USA Focus, Not Terrorism

Over 70 people came to watch Sara Ishaq‘s film Karama Has No Walls and hear Jeb Boone and Medea Benjamin discuss the situation in Yemen and USA policies which impact Yemenis. Here’s a video of most of the Q&A session:

Here’s a direct link to the audio recording of most of Medea Benjamin’s talk and the entire Q&A session.

We’ve also posted some photos on the Facebook page and Flickr. The local daily paper also covered the event.

Medea Benjamin Pulls the Lid off Drone Warfare in Augusta, Georgia

Here’s the full 75 minute audio recording of Medea Benjamin’s talk today at The Book Tavern in Augusta, Georgia on her book Drone Warfare. Go there and buy the book!

For a time, the recording is available in a public space in our cloud.