REPORT-BACK: Richmond teach-in calls for end to U.S. wars and occupations

[Defenders Announcments]

Richmond teach-in calls for end to U.S. wars and occupations

“Rethinking Afghanistan and Iran” was the name of a community teach-in
held Oct. 17 in Richmond, Va., by the Defenders for Freedom, Justice &
Equality and the Richmond Peace Education Center. Part of national day
of protests to mark the 8th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of
Afghanistan, the event was one of about 45 actions across the country
held in response to a call by the National Assembly to End the Iraq
and Afghanistan Wars and Occupations.

About 30 people, more than a third of whom were African-American,
attended the Richmond event, which was filmed by NHK-TV, a public
broadcasting station based in Tokyo with a global audience of about
100 million. The footage will be used as part of a documentary about
President Barack Obama's first year in office.

The teach-in opened with excerpts from “Rethink Afghanistan,” the
recently released documentary by Robert Greenwald, which examines the
human and economic cost of the war as well as the U.S. occupation's
negative impact on women.

Larry Syverson, a member of the national steering committee of
Military Families Speak Out, spoke about being the parent of four sons
who have or are serving multiple terms in the Iraq and Afghanistan
wars. “These wars are wrong on two counts,” Syverson stated. “We are
fighting a war in the neighborhoods of innocents of another country
and are sending our loved ones to be bait for attack.”

The second speaker was Phil Wilayto, editor of The Virginia Defender
newspaper and author of “In Defense of Iran: Notes from a People's
Peace Delegation through the Islamic Republic.” Wilayto examined the
current negotiations between Iran and the so-called Group-of-Five-Plus
One countries and the Western drive to prevent Iran from developing
into a regional power.

The two speakers were then joined by the event's co-chairs, Adria
Scharf, executive director of the Richmond Peace Education Center and
Ana Edwards, chair of the Defenders' Sacred Ground Historical
Reclamation Project, to form a panel for the public forum portion of
the program.

Single-payer advocate Andrea Miller captured the spirit of the
discussion when she called for “Health Care Not Warfare,” leading to
an exchange about how the issue of the seemingly endless wars in Iraq,
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and now possibly Iran can be raised in
the context of community struggles.

For media coverage of other Oct. 17 events, log onto www.nationalassembly.org


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