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74th Anniversary of HIROSHIMA, August 6 at 6:30 PEACE VIGIL in BELLPORT, South Country Peace Group

Stop the Arms Trade                                                                                                                    Cut the Arms Budget

Join South Country Peace Group’s

World Peace Vigil

A Community Dedication to Peace

on the 74th anniversary of the nuclear destruction of Hiroshima

Tuesday, August 6, 2019 – 6:30 pm

Featuring Paul Ames: Nuclear Weapons Actions and Budget Update

Participants Share ~ Vision for Peace

Meet on the sidewalk adjacent to Woodland Cemetery, Station Road and Head of Neck Road, Bellport to join Silent Procession to Bellport Bay for program.

You may wish to wear white, the traditional Japanese color of mourning.

PROSPECTS FOR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST, Phyllis Bennis at Hofstra on February 14, 12:50-2:20

International Scene Fall Lecture Series Spring 2019

Thursday February 14, 2019 – 12:50pm-2:10pm

Prospects for Ending Conflicts in the Middle East

Speaker:  Phyllis Bennis, Director of the New Internationalist Project,                               The Institute for Policy Studies

at Leo A. Guthart Cultural Center Theatre, Axinn Library

Sponsored by:Hofstra’s Departments of Economics, History and Sociology

in cooperation with The Center for Civic Engagement, Institute for Peace Studies,

Long Island Teachers for Human Rights, Honors College, The Cultural Center and the

The Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives Present:

Co-Sponsors: Peace Action Matters at Hofstra & Honors College

Series Co-Directors: Dr. Carolyn Eisenberg, Dr. Linda Longmire and Prof. Martin Melkonian

For further information:(516) 463-5595 – Free – All are Welcome

 

 

October 18th Symposium on the 70th Anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Hofstra University

Please join us at the October 18th Symposium on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The session begins at 12:45 p.m. at the Cultural Center Auditorium, Axinn Library. Blanche Wiesen Cook is an amazing woman and historian who will speak at 4:30 and the panel at 2:20 with Agnieszka Fal-Dutra Santos, Program Coordinator and Policy Specialist Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP) will report on women and peace processes in Democratic Republic of the Congo and elsewhere.

HOFSTRA CULTURAL CENTER
THE INSTITUTE FOR PEACE STUDIES
and the CENTER FOR CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
present a symposium
Commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the
UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Thursday, October 18, 2018
12:45-7:30 p.m.
Leo A. Guthart Cultural Center Theater
Joan and Donald E. Axinn Library, First Floor, South Campus

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a milestone document in the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on December 10, 1948, as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations. Join us as we commemorate the power of the Universal Declaration and its power of ideas to change the world as it inspires us to continue working to ensure that all people can gain freedom, equality, and dignity.

12:45-1 p.m. INTRODUCTION and WELCOME
Linda A. Longmire

Professor of Global Studies and Symposium Director, Hofstra University
1-2:10 p.m. THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING TODAY
Crystal DeBoise, Co-Executive Director, SOAR Institute
Kari Jensen, Associate Professor of Global Studies, Hofstra University
Makini Chisolm-Straker, MD, MPH, Co-Founder, HEAL Trafficking
2:30-4 p.m. PEACE IS A HUMAN RIGHT: WOMEN’S GLOBAL ACTIVISM
Blanche Wiesen Cook, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History and Women’s Studies
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Agnieszka Fal-Dutra Santos, Program Coordinator and Policy Specialist
Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP)
4:30-6 p.m. KEYNOTE BY BLANCHE WIESEN COOK*
Author and Biographer of Eleanor Roosevelt, Vols. I, II, III, who is considered the
Chief architect in the development of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
6:30-7:30 p.m. STUDENT PANEL/PERFORMANCE
THE IDEALS AND REALITIES OF THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

*Awarded the Joseph G. Astman Distinguished Symposium Scholar, Hofstra University. The award was established in 1985 in recognition
of the outstanding role of the late founder of the Hofstra Cultural Center. Dr. Astman was a humanist, a cultural comparatist, and and international scholar.
The event is FREE and open to the public. For more information, call the Hofstra Cultural Center at 516-463-5669 or visit hofstra.edu/culture; the Center for Civic Engagement and the Institute of Peace at hofstra.edu/cce. Join the #HofstraVotes
and #HofNoHate conversations on social media

REV. DR. WILLIAM J. BARBER II at Hofstra on October 2 – THE POOR PEOPLE’S CAMPAIGN 2018

Hofstra Cultural Center, The Office of the Provost, Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs
and Institute for Peace Studies at Hofstra present:
 
REV. DR. WILLIAM J. BARBER II
 
POOR PEOPLE’S CAMPAIGN: A NATIONAL CALL FOR MORAL REVIVAL
 
Tuesday, October 2, 2018 – 6:30 PM
Cranford Adams Playhouse, South Campus, HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY
 
Rev. Dr. WILLIAM BARBER is President and Senior Lecturer of Repairers of the Breach and Co-Chair, Poor People’s Campaign: a National Call for Moral Revival. The Poor People’s Campaign renews Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s challenge to confront racism, militarism and poverty. Dr. Barber is the architect of the Forward Together Moral Monday Movement and former president of the North Carolina NAACP, 2006-2017.
 
In collaboration with Center for Civic Engagement; Hofstra NAAP Chapter; Hofstra College of Liberal Arts School;Hofstra University’s Departments of Economics, History and Sociology; Frank Zarb School of Business;Honors College, Center for “Race”, Culture and Social Justice; LI Teachers for Human Rights; and The Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives
 
For further information: Prof. Melkonian, Economics (516)463-5595 or email: martin.melkonian@hofstra.edu
 
www.hofstra.edu/cce or Hofstra Cultural Center (516)463-5669 – RSVP

TRITA PARSI ON U.S. & IRAN, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 12:50-2:10, Axinn Library at Hofstra University

Hofstra International Scene Lecture Series Fall 2018

U.S. Foreign Policy & the 2018 Election; The Challenge of Iran

Tuesday September 25th  12:50pm-2:10pm

Speaker: DR. TRITA PARSI, Founder of National Iranian American Council.

Author, ‘Losing an Enemy: Obama’s Iran & the Triumph of Diplomacy’

Media Commentator: PBS Newshour, BBC, CNN, N.Y. Times

at Leo A. Guthart Cultural Center Theatre, Axinn Library

ADMISSION IS FREE

Series Co-Directors: Dr. Carolyn Eisenberg, Dr. Linda Longmire and Prof. Martin Melkonian

 For further information: (516) 463-5595

HIROSHIMA COMMEMORATION, AUGUST 6 at 7:30 pm at Unitarian Universalist Congregation at 48 Shelter Rock Road, Manhasset and Station Road in Bellport

LONG ISLANDERS TO REMEMBER 1945 ATOMIC BOMBINGS   

COMMEMORATIONS ON AUGUST 6, 2018 IN MANHASSET & BELLPORT

The Annual Commemoration of the U.S. Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki will take place on Monday, August 6 at 7:30 PM at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock, 48 Shelter Rock Road, Manhasset, NY 11030.

In Suffolk County, South Country Peace Group will hold their annual World Peace Vigil at 7:15 with a silent procession from sidewalk adjacent to Woodland Cemetary, Station Road, Village of Bellport.

Long Islanders will gather together to mark the anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and mourn the loss of so many lives and the consequences of that decision in 1945.They will call on United States to sign the 2017 UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

For information: 1-516-741-4360 or longislandpeace@gmail.com

End the war in Syria. Call Congress.

Call NY Senators and Reps. Tell them to speak out against US bombing of Syria.

CONGRESSIONAL SWITCHBOARD 202-224-3121 or LI offices:

Senator Gillibrand, 631-249-2825

Senator Schumer, 631-753-0978

Rep. Zeldin (CD1), 631-289-6500

Rep. King (CD2), 516-541-4225

Rep. Suozzi (CD3), 631-923-4100 or 718-631-0400

Rep. Rice (CD4), 516-739-2973

See statement from LI Alliance below opposing US bombing of Syria.

Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives

 PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release                   

April 14, 2018                                     

Margaret Melkonian, 516-741-4360 (cell)

LI ALLIANCE CALLS ON CONGRESS TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST BOMBING IN SYRIA

Before the expected arrival of the experts from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to investigate a possible chemical attack (and to determine who was responsible), Trump ordered the bombing of Syria.

This use of military force is a violation of international law and will have dire consequences for the people of Syria. The risks of a wider war are extremely dangerous for the United States, for the Middle East and for the world.

Congress must hold the Trump Administration to account. Our Constitution states that only Congress has the power to authorize war, not the President.

“ Who decides to go to war? The Congress or The President?”, asks Margaret Melkonian, Director, LI Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives. “ Congress must not abdicate its responsibility when a President uses military force with disregard for international law and the Constitution”.

“The people must make their voices heard and speak out against war. The LI Alliance strongly urges people to call their representatives and express their opposition to the Administration’s action”, says Melkonian.

                                                                                  

 The Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives is a non-profit educational, 501(c) (3) tax-exempt organization, founded in 1985, to provide information and to encourage dialogue about U.S. peace and national security issues and America’s role in the world.  Our work focuses on promoting citizen education, responsibility and action for determining national priorities and policies about peace, war and nuclear disarmament. The LI Alliance is committed to the next generation of peace and social justice advocates through our Peace Fellows Program at Hofstra University.

Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives

 longislandpeace@gmail.comwww.longislandpeace.org

http://www.facebook.com/LIAllianceforPeacefulAlternatives
Peacemaking on Long Island, since 1985

2017 Annual Report and Appeal

December 2017

Dear Friends of the LI Alliance,

2017 has been a year of turmoil for our country and world and of challenge for the peace movement. In the midst of endless war and escalation of U.S. military involvement in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere, there has been strong and sustained resistance and work to change U.S. foreign policy, to ban nuclear weapons and to stop war.

For the LI Alliance, there also has been deep sadness with the loss this year of our beloved board members, Megan O’Handley and Greg Maney, who provided vision and inspiration to our work for peace and a better world.

So, we honor them in our year-end appeal and we say, “Presente!”

The priority of the LI Alliance in these last few years has been to engage and educate the next generation of peacemakers. The Peace Fellows Program at Hofstra, funded by the LI Alliance with your support, honors that commitment. For the last five years, over seventy students have participated and the establishment of the Institute for Peace Studies, the new academic course this fall, Intro to Peace Studies, and the PeaceActionMatters@Hofstra student club are due in large part to the feedback from these Peace Fellows.

Students and community members have attended the 2017 Hofstra lecture series, cosponsored by the LI Alliance. Speakers included: Norman Solomon, Phyllis Bennis, Dean Baker and Medea Benjamin.

As we look toward 2018, we ask you to make a contribution to the Peace Fellows Program. Please make check payable to LI Alliance, with Peace Fellows in the memo and mail to LI Alliance, P.O. Box 301, Garden City NY 11530. Thank you.

We are very grateful for your continued support and action. If you have suggestions or questions, please email us at longislandpeace@gmail.com.

Peace,

Margaret Melkonian                     Andrea Libresco

Executive Director                     Board President

Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Peace Action Matters@Hofstra, Student Peacemaker AwardAlternatives                                                                                                   

www.longislandpeace.org(516) 741-4360

Memorial for Professor Gregory Maney, October 23 at Hofstra, The Helene Fortunoff Theater, 3-6 p.m.

The Hofstra community is saddened by the passing of Gregory Maney, PhD, the University’s Harry H. Wachtel Distinguished Professor for the Study of Nonviolent Social Change. He was a professor of sociology and director for active citizenship and off-campus partnerships at the Center for Civic Engagement. Professor Maney passed away on September 2, 2017, after a long battle with brain cancer. He had served on the Hofstra faculty since 2001.

“Greg Maney was a true artist, one who worked with hands, head, and heart to sculpt and bring life to each community he created or touched.  He was a model of the scholar/teacher/activist who taught critical thought, nonviolence and caring in all aspects of life,” said Dr. Linda Longmire, Professor of Global Studies and Geography. “He knew how to speak truth to power, but he also knew how to empower the truth in each person.  He was passionately, tirelessly committed to social justice and human rights, both in and for each person and in each institution. Though he is no longer with us, he will now dwell everywhere and always within the hearts of those who knew and loved him.”

The work of Dr. Maney far transcended the boundaries of the Hofstra campus. His advocacy and research for peace led to collaborations with the LifeWay Network to conduct a study of human trafficking in the New York metropolitan area; the Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives on creating local peace institutions; the Long Island Immigrant Alliance, on preventing and responding to hate crimes; and the Workplace Project on the human rights issues for day laborers.

Professor Maney’s installation as the Wachtel Distinguished Teaching Professor

He served on the boards of the Central American Refugee Center and the Long Island Immigrant Alliance. He also was a member of the Social Services Committee of the Irish American Society of Nassau, Suffolk and Queens, and the Irish (Easter Rising) Monument Committee of Nassau County.

He was a co-founder of the Greater Uniondale Area Action Coalition, which advocated for residents through the foreclosure crisis and community development issues. Dr. Maney’s work with the Coalition resulted in his being named to Long Island Press’ 13th annual Power List in 2015, which highlights the region’s 50 most influential people.

Dr. Maney held a number of academic leadership positions, including chair of the peace, war and social conflict section of the American Sociological Association. He had been the recipient or co-recipient of research grants from several foundations, including the American Association of Colleges & Universities, the American Sociological Association, the National Science Foundation, the Sociological Initiatives Foundation and the United Station Institute of Peace. The findings of his research appeared in leading peer-reviewed journals and books published by academic presses.

In 2015 Dr. Maney was installed as Hofstra’s second Harry H. Wachtel Distinguished Teaching Professor for the Study of Nonviolent Social Change. The professorship is named for the Long Island corporate lawyer who for many years acted as a confidant and legal counsel to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In 2009 he and Maureen Murphy, Professor Emerita of Teaching, Learning and Technology, launched an Irish Studies program that has given Hofstra students a unique opportunity to delve into Ireland’s past through various in-depth subjects such as history and politics, the Irish diaspora and its culture and social relations. The program added a minor in Irish studies to Hofstra’s academic offerings and also developed a film series, a lecture series and community partnerships.

Long Island Wins, a nonprofit communications organization that focuses on immigration issues, ran an article about Dr. Maney in 2013 titled “Local Heroes.” In the piece, Dr. Maney explained what drew him to the field of sociology:

“’… more than any other discipline, sociologists point out when society falls short of its aspirations, why this is the case and what can be done about it.’ As a teenager growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he saw the unequal treatment of blacks and Latinos in his own community and he wanted to understand it and change it. His mother encouraged him to think beyond the inequities he was presented with. He also began reading about the conflict in Northern Ireland, and he realized that people who looked like him could also be considered minorities and discriminated against. ‘I wanted to understand systems of oppression,’ he says. ‘We need a common framework to understand this, and that framework is international human rights,’ he concluded.”

Dr. Maney is survived by his wife, Mary Coyle, son Enzo, his parents Betty and John, and a brother, George. Funeral services are private. However, there will be an on-campus memorial and reception that is open to the community on Monday, October 23, from 3-6 p.m. It will take place at The Helene Fortunoff Theater and the Lowenfeld Conference and Exhibition Center on the 10th Floor of the Axinn Library. More details will be announced on the Hofstra website.

.  Read the Newsday obituary.