Kairos Honorees: Sister Megan Rice, Michael Walli, Transform Now Plowshares

Sally Jones, Peace Action Education Fund NYS

Hofstra Professor Mario Murillo, Center for Civic Engagement

Next Generation Peacemaker: Alejandra Salardi Lopez de Castilla

Persistent Peacemaker: Margaret Melkonian, LI Alliance

The Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives Invites You to

Our 30^th Anniversary Celebration, 1985-2015  

 KAIROS AWARDS DINNER and Annual Meeting

 Saturday, DECEMBER 12, 2015 at 6 p.m.

$75 per person

 Hofstra University, Student Center, PLAZA ROOMS (North Campus), Hempstead NY (Hempstead Turnpike, west of Nassau Coliseum)

2015 Kairos Honorees

Sister Megan Rice S.H.C. J., Transform Now Plowshares Now and The Catholic Worker

In recognition of her nonviolent resistance for nuclear disarmament

and her extraordinary fortitude in the pursuit of peace

Michael Walli, Transform Now Plowshares Now

In recognition of his advocacy and nonviolent action for a world free of nuclear weapons

Mario A. Murillo, Professor, Department of Radio, Television, Film, Lawrence Herbert School of Communication, Hofstra University

In recognition of his work with Hofstra’s Center for Civic Engagement

and for bringing the Americas into our field of vision

Sally Jones, Chair, Peace Action Fund of New York State and founder of Peace Action of Staten Island

In recognition of her leadership of PANYS and her courage in witnessing for peace

Persistent Peacemaker Award – Margaret Melkonian, Executive Director and a founding member of the Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives

Next Generation Peacemaker Award – Alejandra Salardi Lopez de Castilla

In recognition of her commitment to promote peace and social justice on campus and in the community

*******************************************************************

Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives—2015 KAIROS DINNER

LI Alliance, P.O. Box 301, Garden City NY 11530lPh. (516) 741-4360

Please reserve _____ places at $75 per person by December 3rd. No tickets will be sent. A reservation list will be checked at the door.  EMAIL:  longislandpeace@gmail.com or call 516-741-4360.  I am/We are unable to attend, but would like to honor the 2015 Kairos recipients with a contribution of $ _______.  Enclosed is a check for: $_____________ 

Name_______________________________________________________________________

Address______________________________________________________________

Phone _________________________________________________________ Email_______________________________________________

 www.longislandpeace.org

Hofstra University Center for Civic Engagement – For day’s schedule, hofstra.edu/DoD2015.

Day of Dialogue Living (in) Equality Presents:

Reporting Inequality

with:

Kayla Rivara: Hofstra Alumnus and producer for the Real News Network

Wednesday October 28, 2015

Plaza Room East, Mack Student Center, North Campus

11:15am-12:40pm

Moderator: Professor Mario Murillo

 October 1, 2015 at 7:00-8:30 p.m.

Cultural Center Theater, Axinn Library, Hofstra University

International Day of Nonviolence

Annual Commemoration of Gandhi’s Legacy of Nonviolence

Evening of Music, Poetry and Performance for Peace

The Peace Poets, Students SPEAKOUT FOR PEACE, Makin’ Treble 

 Remarks by Professor of History Emeritus Michael D’Innocenzo 

Sponsored by Hofstra University’s The Center for Civic Engagement

 and The Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives

 Info: 516-463-5595 or LI Alliance 516-741-4360

       Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives

http://www.facebook.com/LIAllianceforPeacefulAlternatives

       Nonviolence is a gentle way to shake the world!

December 2014                                                           

Dear Friends of the LI Alliance,

Thirteen years of U.S war in Afghanistan has claimed thousands of lives. When the U.S.  withdraws,  the military is planning to keep a force of 10,000 soldiers or more. And now, the U.S. is back at war in Iraq with airstrikes and training missions and has also announced airstrikes in Afghanistan. In addition, the President with Congressional approval is funding the training and arming of “some” rebels in Syria to fight against ISIS. Have we learned nothing? Violence begets violence. Once again we are embarking on another war without end.

It is hard to believe that in the 21^st century, war and the use of military force continue to be the primary tools of U.S. foreign policy and power. It is up to people like us to change the direction of our country and to make our voices heard in Washington and in the public square.

In 2015, the LI Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives will mark its 30^th Anniversary of peacemaking and citizen action in determining national and global priorities. Together with all of you, we have demonstrated, called and visited NY Senators and LI representatives, and have educated ourselves, the media and the LI community about peace and the alternatives to war and violence. We have been a visible peace presence on Long Island. This has only been possible because you have been with us in our shared efforts to “shake the world.”

With your active support, the LI Alliance has engaged the next generation in the pursuit of a world without war – a world based on justice and peace and human dignity for everyone. With your contributions, we have developed a Peace Fellows Program at Hofstra University in collaboration with the Center for Civic Engagement. The ten-week program brings students together in briefing sessions to examine the U.S. role in the world and issues of war and peace, nonviolence, human rights, nuclear disarmament, militarism and global climate change. In addition, there are sessions on facilitating deliberative discussion, issue advocacy skills and media literacy.

The Peace Fellows Program began in 2013 and it is offered in the spring semester. One outcome of the program is that Peace Fellow students have established a PeaceMatters@Hofstra group to continue their conversation and to explore ways to promote peace issues on campus and involve more students in the work of the LI Alliance.

The LI Alliance has decided to forgo this year’s Kairos Dinner and will mark our 30^th anniversary next year. Instead, we are asking for your financial support for the Peace Fellows Program and the Alliance’s efforts to educate and train the next generations of peace makers and social justice advocates. Please give as much as you can and know that your contribution will be used to engage students in the work to change the world and our country’s policies.

This fall, LI Alliance speakers presented programs on Alternatives to Bombing Iraq and Syria at Nassau Community College and a deliberative discussion on the U.S. role in the world at Adelphi University. Peace Fellows Program Coordinator and Hofstra student, Denisse Giron spoke as part of a panel at Hofstra’s Day of Dialogue. Denisse also helped to organize the LI Alliance and Hofstra Center for Civic Engagement’s annual commemoration of Gandhi and his legacy of nonviolence. The program featured The PeacePoets and Professor Michael D’Innocenzo on nonviolence and resistance.

Thank you so much for your commitment and your activism for a peaceful and just community at home and abroad. TOGETHER LET’S SHAKE THE WORLD!

Thank you for your support.

Peace,

Margaret Melkonian                       Andrea Libresco

Executive Director                           President, LI Alliance Board

P.0. Box 301, Garden City NY 11530

516-741-4360 – Email: longislandpeace@gmail.com   

——————————————————————————————————————————-

LET’S SHAKE THE WORLD!

Here’s my contribution! 

Make checks payable to LI Alliance and mail to: LI Alliance, PO Box 301, Garden City NY 11530

$100     $200        $500      $50        $25        $75        $1,000                  $ _____Other

Thank you!

Name

Address

Email:                                                 Phone:

PEACE FELLOWS PROGRAM 2015

ACTION ALERT ON SYRIA

CALLS FOR A CEASEFIRE NO ARMS – DON’T ESCALATE THE CONFLICT – NEGOTIATE AN END TO THE CONFLICT

Arming the rebels and escalating the US military response in Syria will result in thousands more deaths and increase the likelihood of a wider regional war and catastrophe. People need to weigh in with our reps on US efforts to end the war in Syria. It is about the Syrian people, and not regime change.

Please make a call and also write letter to Newsday and NYT:

President Obama – 202-456-1414 or president@whitehouse.gov

Senator Gillibrand – 631-249-2825 – 202-224-4451

Senator Schumer – 631- 753-0978 – 202-224-6542

Rep. Bishop CD 1 – 631-289-5000 – 202-225-3826

Rep. King CD 2 – 516-541-4225 – 202-225-7896

Rep. Israel CD 3 – 516-505-1448 – 202-225-3335

Rep. McCarthy CD 4 – 516-739-3008 – 202-225-5516

Urge President Obama, NY Senators and LI reps to work with global leaders and civil society to:

· Support an immediate ceasefire in Syria;

· Initiate urgent peace talks;

· Commit to not providing weapons to either side; and

· Ensure that the more than 8.3 million Syrians who need aid can access it.

New York Times: letters@nytimes.com

Newsday: letters@newsday.com

Long Island Alliance Annual Report 2013

              2013 has been a year of many challenges and opportunities. With our community peace partners, the LI Alliance has worked to prevent U.S. bombing of Syria, to promote diplomacy with Iran and not more sanctions, to call for the withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan and to advocate for substantial cuts in military spending and shift those dollars toward meeting human security needs here at home and abroad. We have worked in concert with Peace Action New York State, United for Peace & Justice and Friends Committee on National Legislation. Our Alliance members and peace partners – Suffolk Peace Network, Pax Christi LI, Code Pink LI, Islamic Center of LI, Great Neck SANE/Peace Action, North Country Peace Group, Veterans for Peace LI, Social Justice Committee at UUCSR –  have made calls and visits with congressional representatives, held vigils and actively engaged the community around them in dialogue.

               The LI Alliance, in collaboration with Hofstra’s Center for Civic Engagement, initiated the Peace Fellows Program as a pilot project in the spring 2013 semester. Peace Fellows is a peace education and issue advocacy program on peace, nonviolence and alternatives to war and conflict. It represents the Alliance’s deep commitment to nurturing the next generation of peacemakers and social justice advocates. Nine Hofstra students participated in a ten-week program that included weekly briefing sessions on peace and war, nonviolence, Afghanistan, nuclear disarmament, global climate change, military spending and budget priorities and the keeping of a journal, submitted at the end of the program.  They also attended lectures on and off campus.  Peace Fellows organized a peace vigil on anniversary of Iraq War in March and facilitated deliberative discussions on the US role in the world in two classes and on global climate change on Earth Day. The program, funded by a bequest from the Norman Ackerman estate, a grant from The Herman Goldman Foundation and contributions from Alliance members, will continue in 2014.

 Three Peace Fellows – Tara Hamilton, Denisse Giron and Blaine Volpe – are now Alliance Peace Interns this semester. With volunteer Peter Magistrale, the Peace Interns organized deliberative discussions on the US role in the world in two sessions of CCE’s Day of Dialogue and another session on Afghanistan with Kathy Kelly, Center for Creative Nonviolence who reported on her recent visit with the Afghan Peace Volunteers in Kabul. Our Assistant Director Ariel Flajnik facilitates monthly Skype meetings with Afghan Peace Volunteers and has promoted dialogue and involvement with APV among Hofstra students. The interns held a vigil marking the 12^th anniversary of the Afghan war in October, presented the film “Dirty Wars” featuring investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill to two classes on November 19. They are currently working on a drone education project at Hofstra to mark Human Rights Day. Both Ariel Flajnik and Denisse Giron attended the DC drone conference organized by Code Pink and other peace organizations in November.

              Programs this spring and fall at Hofstra and at Shelter Rock, co-sponsored by the LI Alliance included several  speakers: Kathy Kelly on Afghanistan, Medea Benjamin on drones, Bob Keeler on  the American War Economy  , Mel Goodman on the cost of war, Bernard Alter on US-Pakistan Policies, Roy Bourgeoise on the School of the Americas, Robert Jensen on Unchecked Capitalism and the Apocalypse, David Wildman on the Crisis in Syria, Kevin Martin on Endless War or Peace, Amy Goodman on the Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August, and Sergio Argueta at the October 2 Annual Gandhi Commemoration on Keeping Peace in our Local Communities.  Programs were sponsored by Pax Christi LI, Great Neck SANE/Peace Action, Shelter Rock Forum and the Social Justice Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock.

        In 2014 we continue to advocate for a world without war – for the resolution of conflicts through diplomacy not bombs. We will continue to push for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons and call for US leadership to convene an international conference to begin negotiations toward a nuclear free world. The increased militarization of our public and private lives will be a strong focus of our work as we renew our efforts to cut military spending, reorder national priorities and use dollars to rebuild our communities. It will be extremely important to pay close attention to how the United States will end the war in Afghanistan and to continue to call for the withdrawal of all US troops.

               We are grateful for all of you who leap with us into the breach to repair the world – our community partners in the STOPWAR coalition and our Alliance members. We appreciate the hospitality and space provided by the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock for organizing meetings and programs. We thank all of you who make a daily commitment to peace and to the saving the next generation from the scourge of war. 

 Peace,   

Margaret Melkonian, Executive Director    

Andrea Libresco, President

December 2013

SAVE THE DATE!!! DEC. 7th KAIROS AWARDS

The LI  Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives

ANNUAL CELEBRATION OF PEACEMAKERS 

KAIROS AWARDS DINNER

And Annual Meeting

 Saturday, DECEMBER 7, 2013 at 6 p.m.

$75 per person

Hofstra University, Student Center, PLAZA ROOMS (North Campus), Hempstead NY (Hempstead Turnpike, west of Nassau Coliseum)

 2013 Kairos Honorees

LONG ISLAND FOOD NOT BOMBS

 sergio argueta

S.T.R.O.N.G. YOUTH, Inc. and Director of Undergraduate

Social Work Program at Adelphi University

robert summerville

Producer, The Long Island Project,

Member of Roosevelt School Board and NAACP.

Persistent Peacemakers Awards

  michael d’innocenzo, Harry H. Wachtel Distinguished Teaching Professor

for the Study of Nonviolent Social Change, Hofstra University

and martin melkonian, Hofstra University and LI Alliance

next generation peacemaker awards

In recognition of their active commitment to promoting peace and social justice

LI Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives—2013 KAIROS DINNER

LI Alliance, P.O. Box 301, Garden City NY 11530lPh. (516) 741-4360 www.longislandpeace.org

Please reserve _____ places at $75 per person by Nov. 29th. No tickets will be sent. A reservation list will be checked at the door.  EMAIL:  longislandpeace@gmail.com or call 516-741-4360.  I am/We are unable to attend, but would like to honor the 2013 Kairos recipients with a contribution of $ _______.    Enclosed is a check for:   $______.