Autumn 2004

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25 Years of Peacemaking • 1980 - 2005

Last of the Boys Play, Reception & Discussion Join us for an Afternoon on October 17 at McCarter Theatre 91 University Place, Princeton, NJ The Coalition for Peace Action will hold a fund-raiser at McCarter Theatre in conjunction with the world premiere play on Vietnam, Last of the Boys on Sunday, October 17 at 2 PM. The play will be followed by a special reception at the Theater, which will include a discussion of the provocative play led by its award-winning director, Emily Mann, and by Dave Cline, a decorated Vietnam veteran who later became President of Vietnam Veterans Against the War and of Veterans for Peace. On a road outside Dak To in 1967, the lives of two soldiers were changed forever. The trouble is, they don’t like to talk about it. Thirty years later, Ben and Jeeter, Vietnam vets and buddies from way back, come together for one last hurrah. Their jocular, combative, boys-will-be-boys bond has stood the test of time, but the past may be catching up with them at last. Haunted by the specter of Robert McNamara and goaded into betraying each other’s secrets, they’re forced to come to terms with three decades of unfinished business. Last of the Boys is a fierce, funny and mesmerizing lament for a generation of Americans still missing in action. “ We are delighted to be collaborating with McCarter Theater in sponsoring this provocative play which explores the issue of how one deals with a war that turns into a quagmire, causing the troops who fight in it to be divided over its merits. What is the meaning of truth, morality, and courage in the face of such a situation? It is an issue that requires renewed exploration in light of the current quagmire in Iraq,” said the Rev. Robert Moore, the Coalition’s executive director. Tickets - order now    Play and reception/discussion    $60 per person Tickets can be purchased through the Coalition for Peace Action by phone at (609) 924-5022 or online, using Visa, MasterCard, or American Express. Payment by check may also be mailed to the Coalition office at 40 Witherspoon Street, Princeton, NJ 08542. The deadline for receiving reservations is Thursday, September 30. Click here for Direction to McCarter Theatre. McCarter subscribers who wish to be a part of this special afternoon, as well as thouse who can’t afford tickets wish to request scholarship help, should call the Coalition office.

Work for Peace ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OPENING Karen Sisti, the Coalition’s Associate Director for the last 3 years, left staff to take another position on September 8. We deeply appreciate her cheerful and dedicated service.We are undertaking a search for her replacement. It is a 30-hour per week position, with a starting salary of $20,000 plus health and dental benefits. The full job description is available at the Coalition’s web site or by calling the office to have it mailed to you. Application deadline is September 30. CFPA is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer. Women, people of color, and gays and lesbians are encouraged to apply. Tribute to Mahatma Gandhi with Rep. Rush Holt     The Coalition is co-sponsoring a tribute to Gandhi on his birthday, Saturday, October 2 from 3:30 to 5:30 PM at Princeton University, in Convocation Room 113 of the Engineering Building, at the corner of Olden and William Streets, in Princeton. Scheduled speakers include: Rush Holt, US Representative 12th District. D.C. Agrawal, Vice-President, ssociation of Indians in America, Advisory Board, NJ Human Relations Commission Paul Winkler, Holocaust Commission on Education Shah M. Alam, Retired Professor, Founder of school for poor students in India. The Rev. Robert Moore, Executive Direction, Coalition for Peace Action; Recipient of Gandhi, King, Ikeda Award. Mildred Crump, Co-Chair, NJ Martin Luther King Commision. The tribute is free and open to the public. For further information contact the Coalition office.

Peace Dates MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 Speaker on “The Profits and Puppets of War” and Puppet Performance “The Greatest Blow to Earth”, Trenton, N.J. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2 Tribute to Gandhi birthday commemoration SUNDAY, OCTOBER 17 Last of the Boys Play, Reception & Discussion 25th Anniversary Launch SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13 Gala Reception and Dinner at the Chauncy Center of Educational Testing Service in Princeton, N.J. to honor Prof. Frank von Hippel with our inaugural George F. Kennan Distinguished Peace Leadership Award This fundraising event launches the Coalition for Peace Action’s 25th Anniversary year of Peacemaking. We honor Prof. Frank von Hippel for his deep personal and professional commitment to world peace and the abolition of nuclear weapons. Invitations will be limited. Don’t miss this special evening. Formal invitation will be sent in October. Contact the office to be sent an invitation! SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 14 25th Anniversary Conference & Interfaith Service for Peace featuring Dr. Noam Chomsky Watch your postal mail or visit our website for registration form and details.

PEACE VOTER 2004 CAMPAIGN Launched in Pennsylvania Coalition Executive Director Rev. Bob Moore has been spending a significant amount of time in Pennsylvania lately, recruiting and working with partner groups there to launch a Peace Voter 2004 Campaign in that swing state. To date, the partner groups include Physicians for Social Responsibility, Metropolitan Christian Council of Philadelphia, Ceasefire Pennsylvania, TrueMajority Pennsylvania, and Peace Action-Delaware Valley. Since there are expected to be no close races in New Jersey, the Coalition’s leadership decided it would be more effective to focus our efforts on Pennsylvania, which is swing on the Senate and Presidential races, as well as in at least two House races. The Coalition also has a significant membership in eastern Pennsylvania, especially Bucks County. The initial activity was to conduct a Non-Partisan Candidate Briefing for US Senate candidate Joseph Hoeffel in March. Despite repeated overtures, incumbent Senator Arlen Specter never agreed to a briefing. However, both the Republican and Democratic candidates running to replace retiring Representative Jim Greenwood in Congressional District 8 (consisting mostly of Bucks County) were briefed in August and engaged well with our expert team. In addition to the candidate briefings, a series of meetings have been held in Philadelphia to plan this campaign. The Coalition has provided primary leadership because of our long experience in doing successful Peace Voter Campaigns, dating back to 1995. Candidate questionnaires were sent to both major party candidates for Senate, and to four major party candidates in targeted House Districts 8 and 13. Based on questionnaire responses, voting records, and public statements, Peace Voter Guides were subsequently designed and approved that compare major party candidates on peace and gun violence prevention issues. The races chosen for comparison include President, Senate, and two targeted House districts in Pennsylvania—all of which are “swing” in terms of their possible outcomes. As this newsletter goes to press, partner groups are about to distribute the Voter Guides to their mailing and email lists. The final step in the Peace Voter campaign will be to publish the voter guides as signature ads in key newspapers around Pennsylvania. Watch your postal mail and email for an appeal in the near future to help publish these ads. In the past two election cycles, our Peace Voter signature ads were seen by over 650,000 voters—which can have quite an impact! With your help, we can have even more visibility and impact in 2004! Please click for a complete Peace Voter Guide.     |  PDF  |  HTML | Contribute to the Peace Voter 2004 Signature Ad

Trenton Peace Action Presents Speaker on “The Profits and Puppets of War” and Puppet Performance “The Greatest Blow to Earth” Trenton Peace Action reopens the Trenton Peace Center this Fall on Monday, September 27 at 7:30 p.m. with “The Profits and Puppets of War” at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 801 W. State Street in Trenton. Jacquelynn Cunliffe from the War Resisters’ League Merchants of Death campaign will speak about the Carlyle Group, one of the world’s largest private equity firms, which has extensive investments in the defense industry, and ties to the Bush, bin Laden and Saudi Royal families. Jacquelynn Cunliffe, the mother of two daughters who lives in the Philadelphia area, is a nurse practitioner in Women’s Reproductive Health care and a political and social activist. She works for social change through non-violent activism. Ms. Cunliffe has researched the Carlyle group extensively, with a particular focus on connections between US foreign policy and Carlyle’s investments in defense, intelligence, security, and communications industries. The evening will also include a fun-filled large-scale puppet performance “The Greatest Blow to Earth,” by the Riverside Circus The Players include Shawn Ellis, Aylin Green, Rose King, Tim Koze, Tom Larkin and Christa Tinari. Affiliated with the Lambertville Coalition for Peace, these artists-activists incorporate original music by Shawn Ellis and audience participation in a series of satirical comedic skits with an upbeat finale. Their vision “is to create a just and peaceful world community through grassroots, nonviolent initiatives.”

Contact: Coalition for Peace Action 40 Witherspoon Street Princeton, NJ 08542