Today ACTIVATE delivered a packet to the Grand Rapids Press calling on the Press to take specific steps to improve its coverage of the Iraq War. Citing an analysis performed earlier this week as well as numbers compiled at various points since the start of the war in 2003, ACTIVATE is asking the antiwar movement and the citizens of Grand Rapids to send an email to the Grand Rapids Press demanding that the Press utilize an increased variety of sources, that the Press report on the human and economic costs of the war, and provide improved coverage of the antiwar movement. ACTIVATE has scheduled a meeting with the Grand Rapids Press and is seeking emails from the public as a means showing that concern over the Iraq War coverage extends beyond our group.

Send an email to the Grand Rapids Press

ACTIVATE has launched an email action targeting Michigan’s 3rd United States Congressional Representative Vern Ehlers. The group is targeting Representative Ehlers because of his ongoing support for the Iraq War since 2002. The letter specifically asks Ehlers to support an immediate withdrawal of United States troops and to consider the possibility of cutting funding for the war in Iraq as a means of bringing about an end to the war. The letter cites Ehlers comments two weeks ago in announcing his opposition to a House Resolution opposing the escalation of the Iraq War. In those comments, Representative Ehlers dismissed the non-binding resolution as offering no room for debate, but rejected the possibility of withdrawing troops or cutting the funding for the occupation. The letter argues that if Ehlers is serious in his desire to “seek to end this conflict and stop the casualties” that he will need to support an immediate end to the occupation.

Send an Email to Ehlers

This week, ACTIVATE has two events planned at local media outlets as part of our “Days of Resistance” campaign. On Wednesday (2/28) at 9:00am we will be holding a demonstration at the Grand Rapids Press and on Thursday (3/1) we will be holding a demonstration at WOOD TV 8. At both demonstrations, we are demanding to meet with editors/news directors in order to discuss their coverage of the Iraq War and the antiwar movement.

While the exact language is still being written, we will be making the following demands:

1) That the news outlets issue a public apology for failing to investigate government claims and their role in building support for the war.

2) That they stop relying exclusively on government sources and that they talk to other people in the community (for example, antiwar voices).

3) That they consult more independent and international sources.

4) That they consult antiwar voices in pro-war stories as is when they cover antiwar events and seek pro-war voices.

In our discussions with the two media outlets, we will have data and specific examples to back up our demands. This data, along with an email action for those who cannot attend the events, will be made available to the public on the 28th.

ACTIVATE is organizing an antiwar march on Saturday, March 17. The march will take place at 12:30pm and we will meet at the corner of East Beltline and Burton. The march is designed to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the United States’ invasion of Iraq and to call for the immediate end to the occupation of Iraq. The march is part of our “Days of Resistance” campaign and is not an end in itself, but rather just one step toward building a stronger antiwar movement.

ACTIVATE will be promoting this march in every way that we can, but please consider circulating the March 17 Flyer (quarter sheet) with others.

In addition, we are seeking endosers. There is no cost and your organization’s name will go on the flyer that will be widely circulated around town.

ACTIVATE held another action at the Armed Forces Career Center located in the Celebration Cinema entertainment complex. An article, video, and photos are available. We will continue to both protest military recruiters at the area recruitment centers and challenge them in the local high schools and colleges in the coming months.

ACTIVATE is encouraging folks to sign an electronic petition asking to get the independent news program Democracy Now on the public airwaves in Grand Rapids. Media Mouse is organizing a campaign to get the program aired on both community radio station WYCE and PBS television affiliate WGVU.

ACTIVATE, a Grand Rapids-based group working for social change through community building, education, and direct action, is announcing its “Days of Resistance to the War” campaign. Over the next month or so leading up to the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, ACTIVATE will hold a series of protests, film screenings, and other educational events as a means of building a renewed resistance to the occupation of Iraq.

The impetus for this campaign is “a call to action” for worldwide “Days of Resistance to the War” on March 19th and 20th. The call, of which ACTIVATE was one of the initial endorsers, asked the antiwar movement to think critically and honestly about our successes and failures over the past four years. In response to this call, ACTIVATE had much internal discussion about the actions of the antiwar movement in Grand Rapids and at the national level over the past four years, while also considering the successes and failures of our own actions since April of 2006. In light of our experiences and analysis of what has happened locally and nationally, we support the call for groups and individuals in the antiwar movement to take action in their own communities rather than going to DC yet again, while also embracing the call to shift towards direct action tactics at the institutions that perpetuate war and empire. We wholeheartedly believe that we must begin to be more strategic about how we oppose the war. We must focus our activities in a more direct and sustained way while making our resistance militant and uncompromising.

However, perhaps more important than direct action tactics, is the call to use the fourth anniversary as a tool to reinvigorate and reenergize the antiwar movement. We recognize the necessity of moving outside of the traditional circles of the antiwar movement, or as the call says, we recognize the need to “talk to our neighbors.” We must begin the difficult work of building a broader antiwar movement and we intend to use our slate of actions as a way of starting this process. It is imperative that we take this step, as we must build bonds of solidarity with those affected by the war both in Iraq and in the United States. After the anniversary, we will not fade away until next year, rather we will continue to build a strong resistance to the war as part of our ongoing work in building an anti-imperialist movement that challenges racism, patriarchy, and capitalism.

ACTIVATE has several actions and educational events planned in the month leading up to the fourth anniversary. They join with the events that we have already held as part of this campaign–a spirited protest at a military recruiting center on January 26 and two film screenings–in establishing a multi-faceted campaign of resistance. The events are as follows:

• Friday (2/16) 4pm – Counter-recruiting demonstration. -Call an end to the Iraq war by protesting the Armed Forces Center at Celebration Village (E. Beltline & Knapp).
• Wednesday (2/28) 9am – “Demanding Media Truth!” -Part 1-demonstration at GR Press offices on 155 Michigan St. (across from the federal building downtown).
• Thursday (3/1) 9am – “Demanding Media Truth!”– Part 2- demonstration at WOOD TV 8 on 120 College Ave.
• Wednesday (3/14) 10am – “Sen. Stabenow’s Report Card”- Demonstration at the Senator’s office. 3230 Broadmoor St.
• Saturday (3/17) 12:30pm – Anti-war march – Corner of East Beltline and Burton.
• Tuesday (3/20) Time & Location: TBA – Direct action in reaction to the 4th Anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq.

In the next few weeks, we will be contacting a variety of entities involved in antiwar and social change efforts to discuss these actions, as well as how we can assist them in their struggles, whether they be against racism or against the destruction of the earth. We welcome dialog with other movements and groups in Grand Rapids, and are more than happy to do film screenings (list of films) and discussions with groups in the area or to meet separately with folks about how we can best work together in to end the occupation of Iraq.

February 7 – 7:00pm

ACTIVATE will be showing the documentary “Caught in the Crossfire: The Untold Story of Falluja” by US and Iraqi filmmakers. The film details the conditions experienced by the civilians of Falluja as they endured the violent clashes and consequence of Operation Phanton Fury and became refugees outside the eyes and care of the international community.

After the film there will be a discussion around local organizing in response to the ongoing US occupation of Iraq.

The space being used is a great set up in a warehouse space, but dress warm. Park on the river side of Market across from the 470 Market building.

View the trailer

Location:

Market Street Microcinema
470 Market St. SW
Grand Rapids, MI