Leah Bolger hearing for Supercommittee CD

Approximately 30 supporters attended the press conference and sentencing hearing for a courageous member and current President of Veterans For Peace, Leah Bolger.  She told the truth about military spending to the Super Committee, the primary message being "Tax the Rich, Stop the Wars".

The judge was very sympathetic to Leah's position and allowed her to show the 52 second video of her action and heard her personal testimony as well as that of two other supporters.  Although the prosecution requested a stay-away from the capitol area order, the judge said he thinks that it's important for everyone, unless they have committed a very egregious offense, to be able to protest in legal ways.  She received a 60-day suspended sentence, 9 months of parole, a $50 fine for the Victims of Crime Fund, and 20 hours of community service.  Working on behalf of Veterans For Peace counts toward her community service hours, so obviously she'll have that done by the end of this weekend.

 More pictures

Veterans For Peace UK Public Launch

Veterans For Peace UK had their initial meeting and Public Launch at the Guiseppe Conlon Catholic Worker House in London on Easter Monday, April 9, 2012.  There were approximately 60 people in attendance.  The speakers were veterans who told the stories their military service and subsequent refusal to fight in wars that they have learned are started with lies for the purpose of lining the pockets of the rich.  They have learned first hand the horrors of war and how easily innocent civilians are killed and maimed in these conflicts.

Now they speak out against war and occupation of foreign lands and the militarization of our society, advocating a non-violent approach to conflict as new members of Veterans For Peace.

They support war resistance in its various forms, and that includes supporting Bradley Manning and Julian Assange for telling the public the truth about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Three members of Veterans For Peace in the United States came to support the new UK chapter - Barry Ladendof, Gerry Condon, and Helen Jaccard

Pictures

NATO Game Over!

NATO Game Over!  Demonstration against the NATO headquarters and nuclear bombs stored just outside of Brussels – at least 360 people were arrested and there were about 200 of us who were not in the danger zone demonstrating and supporting those brave souls who tried to cross the fence into NATO.  Video It was a good event and especially good to be together with several of our friends from previous visits to Brussels.  The sign, "NATO out of Sardinia" reflects the fact that two of our Brussels friends went to Sardinia and told us about the military use of the island and consequent cancers, birth defects, and contamination.  This information led us to visit Sardinia and investigate, and write an article.  More pictures

I see this as one event leading up to the big Chicago event in May.

Grand Opening of The Clearing Barrel GI Cafe in Kaiserslatern, Germany

First GI Café in Germany Opens Its Doors

by Helen Jaccard and Gerry Condon
Kaiserslatern, Germany, March 25, 2012

U.S. soldiers in Germany now have a GI coffeehouse. The Clearing Barrel Bar and Café opened Saturday, March 24, in Kaiserslautern, Germany, home to Ramstein Air Base and Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, among a constellation of U.S. bases, with 50,000 U.S. military and civilian personnel living in the area.

The grand opening was a big success, with over 60 people in attendance.  Well-wishers enjoyed good food and drink, and marveled at the large beautifully remodeled space, with couches, tables, chairs, a bar and barstools, his and hers bathrooms, and a full kitchen.

Beautifully printed posters from the “War Is Trauma” art exhibit were displayed on spacious white walls.  “War Is Trauma,”a collaboration between Just Seeds, an art collective from Brooklyn, New York, and Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), is about “Operation Recovery”, a campaign to stop the deployment of traumatized troops and to focus public attention towards Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injury and Military Sexual Trauma.

Neighbors, friends, and activists convened from far and near, including Germans and U.S. citizens living in Germany.  Nathan Peld, an IVAW member, arrived after a long train ride from Vienna, Austria, where he is working with the United Nation’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Young German women and men mixed easily with Vietnam-era friends. Political discussions were lively and interesting.  Live music was provided by two young men, one German and one American, who sang and played guitars and were joined by guests in a sing-along.

Chris Capps-Schubert, an Iraq veteran and war resister, and his German wife Meike, an organizer-extraordinaire and member of Military Families Speak Out, have been working very hard for the past two years to make their dream of opening a GI coffeehouse in Germany a reality. Their efforts have been supported by the Military Counseling Network, Connection-EV, the Center on Conscience and War, the German Mennonite Peace Committee, members of IVAW and Veterans For Peace, and many other German and American friends and activists.

Meike and Chris are both counselors with the Military Counseling Network, the European branch of the GI Rights Hotline.  Chris has been a member of IVAW for several years and went on a speaking tour around Germany to gain support for The Clearing Barrel project.   Chris and Meike and other counselors will be available to help soldiers who are seeking to be discharged from the military, facing other difficulties with the military, or seeking help dealing with military trauma.

Meike said, “Having this space available allows us to bring together in one place what we do personally, socially, culturally, and politically.  I am very grateful for all of the help and support that we have received from the peace community and we hope that they will continue to support us.”

Helen Jaccard and Gerry Condon representing Veterans For Peace spoke of the importance of supporting alleged Wikileaks whistleblower Bradley Manning, and GI resisters like André Shepherd, an Iraq veteran who refused to redeploy to Iraq and is seeking political asylum in Germany. Dave Blalock, a Vietnam-era GI organizer who lives in Heidelberg, Germany, said “This is the beginning of resistance.”

GI coffeehouses were a mainstay of GI resistance in the Vietnam era, providing safe, alternative spaces for soldiers to socialize, learn about their rights in the military, receive counseling, engage one another in political discussions, and organize themselves to resist illegal wars and occupations.  The coffeehouse movement grew throughout the 60sand 70s.  Today’s veterans have revived the coffeehouse tradition in order to build community and resistance.  There are two successful GI coffeehouses in the U.S., Coffee Strong just outside the gates of Joint Base Lewis McCord in Washington State, and Under the Hood at Fort Hood, Texas. 

You can find out more about The Clearing Barrel on their Facebook page, GI Café Germany, and on their website, www.GICafeGermany.com.  Donations are still very much needed, so it’s not too late to contribute to this important new resource for our GIs in Germany.

Frieburg, Germany

Frieburg is a city of over 600,000 people located about an hour drive north of Basel, Switzerland, where we landed from Istanbul.  Gerry was here in 1969 and remembered some of the places from his previous visit.

We joined the weekly meeting of the Frieburg Peace Forum and went to their peace vigil the next day.

Lioba Schnevinck gave us a wonderful tour of the historic part of town, which was severely bombed during World War II.  Lioba and her husband Dieter provided us with a lovely bedroom and meals during our stay - THANK YOU! More pictures

Ankara, Turkey

We have had a fantastic stay here with Yeliz (Servas).  She gave us her whole apartment to use for three nights. We met her boyfriend Borak, who is the Assistant Director of the Ankara Orchestra and a double-bass player.

Cappadocia from hot air balloon!

The only thing that compares to this experience is walking and bicycling through the "fairy chimneys" and valleys.  The landscape is like The Badlands, Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon, but people have built homes, churches, and pigeon houses in the rock.  In the towns of Cappadocia - Goreme and Ulgrup (and more), hotels, restaurants, and bars are also built into the fairy chimneys.  We slept in two different cave rooms in our hotel (it's a cave - the first one had a leak that they had to repair).  More pictures

Izmir, Turkey

We had a fantastic time in Izmir, Turkey - this blog is just a placeholder for a bigger article.
Pictures

Divri and Ancient Olympia

Divri is in the center of Peloponnese in a mountainous area.  There was an unusual amount of snow this year, and it was beautiful.  Maria Sotiropoulou and her husband Sotiris hosted us in the Divri cultural center, created in a "forgoten" town by the love and expenses of Sotiris, who allso publishes the magazine DIVRI for over 36 years (without any economical help from the government or companies). 

Maria took us to Ancient Olympia, home to the original Olympic Games.  Olympia is impotrant for us, peace lovers, because of the stong peace message of Olympic games should have now as they had in antiquity. 

At the end of our visit, they gave us a ride to Athens.  They are both retired physicians and Maria is President of the Greek Affiliate of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.  We joined her for a celebration of Lord Byron and for a press conference where Veterans For Peace was one of the signatories on a demand for a nuclear free Middle East.
More pictures

Athens, Greece

This is only a placeholder.  We stayed with Alexia, a very dedicated activist working with the European Bureau for Conscientious Objection and Amnesty International.  who introduced us to Kusha, an Iranian conscientious objector who is applying for political asylum in Greece.  We had a lovely dinner at her house with her friends.

Carnival in Patras

We were in Patras for the annual Carnival parade - there were thousands of people in costume, dozens per group and over 150 groups.  All colors and shapes of costumes!  Youth dancing and showing their youthful energy - it was great!

We danced and then joined the parade at the end of the evening.

Galaxidi, Greece

Galaxidi is on a beautiful bay.  We had a fantastic time with our Servas hosts, Americans who have been in Greece for several years.  The forest next to the town is beautiful, with an old windmill at the top.  The town started celebrating Carnival while we were there, so we went to the Friday night festivities.  They were more subdued than normal because of the economic austerity measures.

Thessaloniki, Greece

Thessaloniki, Greece was a city where lots of buildings were in disrepair, some of which were occupied at the same time as they seemed to be falling down. There were some nice things, though - the deserts and the hostel where we stayed for one night. Pictures

Nis, Serbia - getting drunk with the locals

We had a few hours to kill between buses in Nis, Serbia on our way from Sarajevo to Greece, so went to a restaurant where a party was already in progress... More pictures

Sarajevo to Nis

It was a beautiful bus ride from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzogovena to Nis, Serbia.

Clowning around with child cancer survivors

We're in Sarajevo staying with Sasa and Victoria, their two young children, and two turtles.  They are involved with an NGO that helps children suffering from cancer.  Today we went to a banquet for the children who have finished their treatments and their parents.  It was a wonderful experience!  Helen joined the clown team and Gerry took pictures.

Mostar to Sarajevo

We never expected to be visiting the Balkans on this trip, but once again we're glad we did.  The bus ride from Mostar to Sarajevo was so beautiful, and the people we met in Sarajevo were, too!
More pictures

War Tour of Mostar by Miran

We got into Mostar mid-evening and walked out of the bus station, looking around for the hostel we'd heard about.  A man told us to go down the street and talk with his friend, so we did.  The friend knew exactly where we wanted to go, led us there, and walked back out after Miran answered the doorbell.  Miran had room for us and took us in, gave us some warm tea, and we told him we had heard about his hostel and the war tour online.  We arranged to go on the tour with two youth from Japan that were also staying at Hostel Miran.

Twenty of Miran's relatives were killed during the Balkan war, 1991 - 1995.  The tour was personal and amazing.  He pointed out where his grandfather was killed, very close to his home, and how even the United Nations was there to help, they would not put a vehicle between his grandfather's body and the sniper, so they couldn't get his body out safely.  He showed us where the sniper had fired from.   Miran was only 15 when the war started.

Mostar has only been partially rebuilt.  There are collapsed buildings and buildings with holes everywhere.  Sometimes people live in buildings that have not been rebuilt or are not finished because they have nowhere else to live.  This was so sad!

Miran also wants people to know how beautiful Mostar is.  He does a waterfall tour - the waterfall is called the Bosnian Niagra by the locals - I'd like to see it someday.

Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovena have had record snowfall this year, so it's beautiful everywhere and the kids love it - a pain for the adults at times, though.
Pictures...

Iohain, Sebasa, Miran and Gerry

Beautiful bus ride from Split, Croatia to Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovena

Talk about outrageously beautiful!  The mountains come right down to the coast in some places, and with the unusual amount of snow this year, the scenery couldn't be better!  More picturess

The Coast of Croatia from Rijeka to Split by bus

When we met Anna from Rijeka in Verona at the Italian NonViolent Movement celebration, we decided that we would possibly visit her on our way to Greece.  However, when I saw a possible bus route along the Croatian coast from Rijeka to Split, I was convinced I wanted to take that bus ride.  It was very much worth it, and here is a link to the pictures.