Peace Action of San Mateo County

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We believe that conflict doesn't have to result in violence or war at home or abroad. All action begins at the local level and activism begins with education. Join us at one of our free monthly events, view a topical film or listen to engaging Bay Area activists, educators and social justice advocates working to reduce militarism at home and abroad. Lively Q & A follows. Free refreshments and wheel chair accessibility.

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Sunday, April 16: Dr. Stephen Zunes on Activists’ Role in World Affairs

The Ukraine war has generated some debate about how organizations like Peace Action and their supporters should respond. We recognize the illegality and inhumanity of the Russian invasion, but are also concerned about ways in which U.S. militarism may have contributed to the conflict, aware of U.S. double-standards and hypocrisy, and concerned about the risks of escalation. The Biden administration is standing up for international law in opposing foreign military occupation in Ukraine while continuing to support illegal military occupations by Israel and Morocco. Meanwhile, Russia and the U.S. are both supporting violent repressive allied governments in the Middle East and elsewhere as each government seeks to extend their influence.

What should be the role of the peace movement in challenging the imperialisms of both Russia and the U.S.? How should be respond when some of the major challenges to U.S. hegemony today are not progressive, but decidedly reactionary? On Sunday, April 16, Dr. Stephen Zunes, Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco, will help us dive into these quandaries with a talk entitled “Russia’s Imperialism and Ours: How Should Peace Activists Respond?” We will meet at 7 PM on the Zoom platform. The link is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3289220486.

Professor Zunes has been studying foreign policy issues – in the Middle East and beyond – from a peace and justice perspective for many years. He is a coordinator of the program on Middle Eastern Studies at USF, and is recognized as one of the nation’s leading scholars of U.S. Middle East policy as well as strategic nonviolent action. He will bring his experience in war-and-peace issues to our April 16 virtual meeting. We hope to see you there!

Sunday, May 21: The Courage to Resist – Around the World

Whether in a time of war here in the U.S. or in places like Russia, Ukraine, and elsewhere, there will always be those eligible to do the fighting but with neither a desire nor intention to engage in it. Whether from a reluctance to die or to kill – often considering the morality or legality of a given conflict – their resistance to carrying out acts of war is likely to run afoul of their country’s military codes as well as its laws. Whether they are draftees with no say or recruits with a change of heart, the consequences of such resistance can be oppressive and quite literally confining.

This is a situation that calls out for the work of an organization like Courage to Resist, whose members and supporters insist that it is often a matter of courage – not cowardice – to refuse to fight. To that end, since 2004 Courage to Resist has been involved in assisting would-be (who would much rather not be) soldiers in their pursuit of freedom. They have also done counter-recruitment work to make sure “candidates” for the military know just what they are getting themselves into, and supported whistleblowers who dared to tell the truth about improprieties on the part of the military.

On Sunday, May 21, Stephanie Atkinson of Courage to Resist (and a one-time war resister herself) will join us on Zoom to tell the organization’s current story. In a talk entitled “Counter-recruitment and Military Resistance – the U.S. and Elsewhere”, Stephanie’s presentation will cover war resisters and questioners in the U.S., as well as in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Watch this space for the link, or email smpa@sanmateopeaceaction.org.

Stephanie will be coming to us from her home in the vicinity of Seattle, WA. She was in the Army Reserves when her unit was activated for the soon-to-be Persian Gulf War. Stephanie went AWOL and refused her orders to deploy, making her one of only a handful of soldiers to do so during that conflict. Along with her will be Emily Oneschuck, a current resister who will also tell her own story.

We look forward to seeing you for an interesting critique on military service and its alternatives.