Weds March 19 Iraq 5 Year Anniversary Memorial March & Peace Forum-COLUMBUS, OH

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Wednesday, March 19th, 2008. Iraq Memorial March and Peace Forum. The Iraq Memorial March will follow a 4:30 pm Interfaith Prayers for Peace service. Gather from 5:30-6:00 PM at St John's Evangelical Protestant Church, 59 East Mound Street. The march will step off from St. John’s for the statehouse at 6:00 PM. The program at the Statehouse features music, poetry and art and forums on poverty and jobs, healthcare and peace and an opportunity to interact at tables with many local organizations working for peace and justice.

Forum I. Economic Justice and Jobs. Zach Reat with the Coalition for the Homeless will be presenting this forum. Kent Beittel of the Open Shelter at St. John’s will be accepting donations of food items (suggestions include easy open, non-perishable goods in non-glass containers such as stews, soups, and soy or milk infant formulas and healthy snack foods). John Schmenk, founder of Veteran’s First Foundation will be receiving donated clothing items (new or used). The Veteran’s First Foundation serves 200-500 families of needy veterans in the Columbus area every month. They currently need coats. You can interact throughout the event with these organizations and with Democratic Socialists of Central Ohio/Free Press and Jobs with Justice tables.

Forum II. Healthcare for All. Cathy Levine of UHCAN (Universal Healthcare Network), Alice Faryna of SPAN (Single Payer Action Network), and Phyllis Carlson-Rheim with Action Ohio Coalition for Battered Women, and one more person who works with immigrant/refugee communities have offered to take on resource person roles for the roundtable. The focus is on the impact of war on health care coverage options and health care access. SPAN will provide information showing the impact on veteran’s health care coverage options and access. We will have resources for people to take home on challenges to the movement as we begin to look into health care and the war's impact.

Forum III. Imagine Peace – A Call to End 17 Years of War and 5 Years of Occupation of Iraq. Speakers include Bob Fitrakis, Harvey Wasserman, and David Robinson will address how the U.S. can disentangle troops from the quagmire of Iraq without abandoning the people of Iraq and restore economic justice and democracy at home. Find out more about groups in Columbus at tables for Central Ohioans for Peace, Iran Action Network, Historic Peace Churches (Counter-recruitment), International Socialists Organization, Not in Our Name, World Can’t Wait, and Progressive Peace Coalition.

Poetry: Readings by Zainab Alani, author of The Words of an Iraqi War Survivor and More, An Anthology on Live, Love & War, and Connie Everett, The Poets and Writers Guild, Columbus.

Music - Coordinated by Connie Harris: Zainab Alani, Dan Dougan, Brian Griffin, Tracy Meisky, Derrick Mortland, and Victoria Parks performing.

Hosts for the evening are Connie Everett and Keith Kilty.
Sponsored by the Central Ohio Peace Network (COPN). All events are free and open to the public. For more information and updates, visit www.columbuspeacenetwork.org.
For more information, contact: [e-mail].

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