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Monday, August 22, 2011, 4pm
A panel discussion with Ori Nir (Israeli-born former writer for Haaretz and the Forward, and spokesperson for Peace Now) and Dr. Riyad Mansour (Ambassador, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations), with moderator Kathleen Peratis (Lawyer, human rights activist, Zionist, frequent traveler to Israel and the West Bank, visited Gaza in May 2011).
Forum: 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
For Tickets: 413-637-3353 or www.shakespeare.org
The Second Annual Doris Shaffer Memorial Lecture in the Berkshires. A project of the Nation Institute and Peace Action Fund of New York State
End of Nuclear Age
July 22nd, 2011
by Eva Moseley, July 3, 2011
Japan was much in the news this year when it suffered (and still suffers) one of the worst nuclear power plant accidents ever. It was also much in the news in 1945, when the only atom bombs ever used during wartime were dropped that August on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Shortly before that, on July 16, 1945, the nuclear age began in the Nevada desert with the first atom bomb test. On the 66th anniversary, July 16, 2011, in Copley Square in Boston, we marked what many of us hope is the beginning of the end of the nuclear age, a Festival for a Nuclear-Free Future.
With a giant globe showing where nuclear warheads and power plants are and where they aren’t, with games, puppets, skits, songs, dances, and short speeches, we entertained and enlighten old and especially young people on the dangers of the nuclear age, the possibilities of meeting our energy needs without nuclear power, and what ordinary citizens can do to promote a saner, safer world.
Along with Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima, there have been many relatively minor mishaps at nuclear power plants. The design of the Fukushima plant is the same as that of Vermont Yankee, just across the state line from Massachusetts. Earlier this year, when Vermont Yankee couldn’t meet safety standards, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission–as reported in the press and as it has done at other plants–relaxed the standards to match VY’s conditions, and voted to extend its license beyond the prescribed number of years. Besides this lax “regulation,” no private company will insure nuclear plants. The government insures them: that is, we the taxpayers, but we don’t see any of the profits. No one has any realistic idea for what to do with the tons and tons of nuclear waste, and as more nuclear reactors are built around the world there is an increased danger of proliferation of plutonium, which can be used to make weapons. Hundreds of people of all ages gathered at Copley Square on Saturday, July 16 for the Festival for a Nuclear-Free Future initiated by Massachusetts Peace Action and supported by peace, environmental, religious, and political action groups.
They reflected and cheered as Harvey Wasserman, Randy Kehler, Anna Baker, and Brian Corr delivered their powerful and informative messages.
They listened, danced and applauded as Public Interest, John Loretz and Martin Hunter, Rutsubo Taiko drummers, and the Japanese theater students’ group performed their moving and inspiring music and dance.
“Hibakusha, Our Life to Live”, with a Talk by the Filmmaker
July 17th, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011, 6:30 pm
Boston premiere of the film about the survivors of the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
On August 6, 1945, a great terror was thrust upon the world. David Rothauser’s 80 minute documentary, Hibakusha, Our Life to Live, probes the life stories of Japanese, Korean and American survivors of the terror; the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
There is an URGENCY here. The survivors are dying off, victims of radiation poisoning and other a-bomb related diseases. It is equally important to tell the stories on film of people who should never be forgotten. To keep their memory alive is to make an active contribution to a world where peoples of all races may embrace life as a precious gift and no longer live in the fear of nuclear annihilation.
To make this movie, Memory Productions completed over 90 hours of filming, including interviews with Japanese, Korean and American hibakusha and international youth participating in the 60th Anniversary Peace Ceremonies in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The screening will be followed by a talk and Q&A by the filmmaker, David Rothauser, who is a Brookline resident. Co-sponsored by Massachusetts Peace Action and Brookline PAX.
Prospects for Peace with Justice in Israel and Palestine
July 17th, 2011
A conversation with Israeli activist/scholar Daniel Bar-Tal
Daniel Bar-Tal is Branco Weiss Professor of Research in Child Development and Education at the School of Education and past director of the Walter Lebach Institute for Jewish-Arab Coexistence through Education, Tel Aviv University. Also he serves as a Coeditor in Chief of the Palestine Israel Journal, Director of the Walter Lebach Research Institute for Jewish-Arab Coexistence through Education, Tel Aviv University and Co-director of the European Summer Institute in Political Psychology.
Bar-Tal received his graduate training in social psychology at the University of Pittsburgh, and completed his doctoral thesis in 1974. Since the early eighties his interest has shifted to political psychology, in which he has directed most of his attention to the beliefs shared by collectives, studying acquisition of these beliefs, their meaning, functions and the way they influence emotions and behaviours. Specifically, he studied beliefs about conflict, stereotyping, delegitimisation, siege mentality, security, patriotism and reconciliation, as well as collective emotional orientations of fear and hope.
Recent articles: “Socio-psychological implications for an occupying society: The case of Israel” “Jews of the World – Be Part of our Debates: See Also the Half Empty Glass“ |
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Wednesday, July 20, 2011, 1:00 pm
