For Immediate Release
7 July 2005
Contact:
Cape Codders for Peace and Justice: www.capecodpeaceandjustice.org
David Agnew: 508 432-1718 gogreens@comcast.net
Diane Turco: 508 432-1744 tturco@comcast.net
Stephanie Wall: 508 428-3759 srgw@comcast.net
Cape-wide Public Forum to Highlight Families Standing for Peace: The Truth
About Iraq
At 7:00 PM on Thursday, 28 July 2005 at Cape Cod Community College's Tilden
Auditorium, Cape Codders for Peace and Justice will present eyewitness
accounts and personal stories about the true costs - in individual lives
lost and tax dollars squandered - of the Iraq War and occupation. An open
question-and-answer period will follow.
Thousands of Americans and tens of thousands of Iraqis have already been
killed or wounded in this brutal war and occupation. Each of these men,
women and children had individual hopes, dreams and lives cut short. Four
featured speakers - a humanitarian aid organizer and three time Nobel Peace
prize nominee, the mother of a US soldier killed in action, a mother of a US
marine awaiting deployment to Iraq, and a World War II veteran - carry the
same message: "Stop the war! Bring the troops home now!"
Kathy Kelly helped initiate Voices in the Wilderness (VITW) to end the UN/US
sanctions against Iraq. For bringing 'medicine and toys' to Iraq in open
violation of the sanctions, she and other VITW members were notified of a
proposed $163,000 penalty, threatened with 12 years in prison, and
eventually fined $20,000, which they have refused to pay. VITW organized 70
delegations to visit Iraq between 1996 and the beginning of "Operation Shock
and Awe" warfare. Kathy has been to Iraq 22 times since January 1996. In
October 2002, Kathy joined Iraq Peace Team members in Baghdad where they
maintained a presence throughout the bombardment and invasion. She most
recently returned from Iraq on 8 January 2004. Kathy has been arrested 60
times for peace actions, the first for planting corn on a missile silo.
Kathy has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times for her work.
She recently published Other Lands Have Dreams: From Baghdad to Pekin
Prison. Contact info: laurie@vitw.org / www.vitw.org
Cindy Sheehan was an "average American mom" until her son, Casey, was killed
in action in Iraq on 4 April 2004. She co-founded Gold Star Families for
Peace, works tirelessly to expose the deceptions the Bush Administration
used to invade Iraq, and brings a face to a faceless war. Cindy recently
testified at Rep. John Conyers' hearing on the Downing Street Memos. She
lives in Berkeley, CA with three other children: Carly, 24, Andy, 21, and
Janey, 19. Contact info: SCINDY121@aol.com / www.gsfp.org
Mimi Evans, a member of Military Families Speak Out, has worked and lived on
Cape Cod for the last two years, since moving here from New York City. She
is a professional fundraiser who has worked for Williams College and Trinity
College in New England, and the US Fund for UNICEF in New York. A single
mother since 1982, Mimi has raised three children. Her older son is a
humanitarian aid worker who returned in May from two years in Iraq and
Afghanistan. Her younger son, a Captain and JAG lawyer in the US Marine
Corps, will be deployed to Fallujah in August. In addition to her full-time
job, Mimi is one of the producers of a concert planned for this winter in
New York City that will benefit injured civilians in Iraq. Contact info:
meemsy@hotmail.com / www.mfso.org
Bob Silverberg is a Barnstable resident, poet, Pacific combat veteran of
WWII, and member of Veterans for Peace. Contact info: olrob@aol.com /
www.veteransforpeace.org
All featured speakers are available for interviews prior to the 28 July
forum.
Upcoming Cape Cod Events with Kathy Kelly, Voices in the Wilderness:
Wednesday, 27 July, 8:00 PM: WOMR radio is hosting Kathy Kelly at their
schoolhouse studio, 494 Commercial Street, Provincetown. Public invited.
Wednesday, 27 July, 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM: Kathy Kelly Book signing/readings at
The Yellow Umbrella, Chatham.
Wednesday, 27 July, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM: Kathy Kelly Book signing/readings at
Booksmith, Skaket Corners, Orleans
Thursday, 28 July, 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM: Kathy Kelly Book signing/readings at
Booksmith, Falmouth Plaza, Falmouth.
Thursday, 28 July, 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM: Kathy Kelly Book signing/readings at
Borders Books, Hyannis.