Calendar

9896
Oct
3
Wed
Stop Kavanaugh! – Oakland @ Lake Merritt amphitheater
Oct 3 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
This will be a peaceful vigil in support of all women/ femmes who are needing a little extra support during these trials. We will have voter registration and pre-registration, a time to share our stories, poems, thoughts etc. and a time to contact representatives. Please feel free to bring a story, artwork, etc to share out if you feel comfortable.
Directions:

SIGN UP TO ATTEND

65129
Oct
11
Thu
Strike Support for Unite HERE 2850 against Oakland Marriott City Center @ Oakland Marriott City Center
Oct 11 @ 6:00 am – 4:00 pm

Our Unite HERE 2850 brothers and sisters are on strike against the
Oakland Marriot City Center as part of their national strike along with
more than 8,000 Marriott workers from San Francisco, San Jose, Boston
and Seattle.   Local 2850 represents East Bay’s hotel and restaurant
workers union who is saying, _“One job should be enough”_ — enough
for workers at the richest and biggest hotel company in the world.
Wei-Ling Huber, President Local 2850 says, _”Our workers have been
uplifted and empowered by the amazing support of IATSE 107, IOUE
Stationary Engineers Local 39 and others who have reached out.”_   IN
SUPPORT OF THEIR STRIKE, PLEASE JOIN US ON THE PICKET LINE THIS
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11TH STARTING AT 6AM AT OAKLAND MARRIOTT CITY CENTER,
1001 BROADWAY, OAKLAND, CA.  Bring snacks, food and water to donate to
the workers as they will continue to picket every day from 5am to
midnight.

Donate to the “Strike Fund” by sending your check made out to ALC
Community Services Hardship Fund with “Strike Fund” in the memo line and
send to the Alameda Labor Council at 7750 Pardee Lane, Ste 110, Oakland,
CA 94621.

*****CLICK HERE FOR MORE GREAT PHOTOS OF THE STRIKING WORKERS BY
PHOTOGRAPHER, DAVID BACON:
HTTPS://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/56646659@N05/SETS/72157698901870202 [1]

65158
Oct
13
Sat
Revolutionary University @ South Berkeley Senior Center
Oct 13 all-day

Join us for three days of presentations and discussions to help us understand our current conditions and the problems we face under capitalism. Most importantly, we will talk about the kind of organizing necessary in order to change these conditions and create the kind of society that we need.

Friday 10/12

6:30pm-9:00pm
Attica – a documentary film by Cinda Firestone

This film documents the events that began on September 9, 1971 when inmates at Attica State Prison seized the prison for four days after months of protesting inhumane conditions. The uprising resulted in the death of 43 people after state troopers were called in to put down the rebellion.

Saturday 10/13

10:30am-12:30pm
The Crisis of Civilization and How to Resolve It: An Introduction to Ecocentric Socialism

Kamran Nayeri is the publisher and editor of “Our Place in the World: A Journal of Ecosocialism”. Political Economist emeritus, UC Berkeley

1:30pm-3:00pm
The Middle East in the Era of Trump

Prof. As’ad AbuKhalil, Professor of Political Science at CSU Stanislaus and author of Saudi Arabia and the U.S.

3:30pm-5:00pm
The “Gig Economy”: A New Form of Servitude for the Working Class?

Keally McBride is a Professor of Politics at the University of San Francisco. She teaches and publishes on a wide variety of topics, including punishment, law, decolonization, revolutions and political economy.

6:30pm-8:00pm
France: In The Streets, Workplaces, Universities, Schools & Hospitals

Gilles Kobry, an activist in the French Trotskyist group, Fraction L’Etincelle, will discuss the recent struggles against the Macron government’s enforcement of the Labor Law in France, as well as attacks on access to public education and the challenges facing the workers in France and throughout Europe.

Sunday 10/14

2:00pm-3:30pm
Sports And Capitalism – How Sports are Used to Squeeze Public Money for Private Profit

Jules Boykoff, former professional soccer player, currently teaches political science at Pacific University in Oregon. Co-sponsored by the Anthropology and Social Change department at California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco

4:00pm-5:30pm
The Challenges We Face Today – Short-Term Mobilizing or Organizing for Real Social Change

A presentation by Speak Out Now (Revolutionary Workers Group) activists, followed by discussion and time to socialize. Refreshments and snacks provided.

65163
Oct
14
Sun
Revolutionary University @ South Berkeley Senior Center
Oct 14 all-day

Join us for three days of presentations and discussions to help us understand our current conditions and the problems we face under capitalism. Most importantly, we will talk about the kind of organizing necessary in order to change these conditions and create the kind of society that we need.

Friday 10/12

6:30pm-9:00pm
Attica – a documentary film by Cinda Firestone

This film documents the events that began on September 9, 1971 when inmates at Attica State Prison seized the prison for four days after months of protesting inhumane conditions. The uprising resulted in the death of 43 people after state troopers were called in to put down the rebellion.

Saturday 10/13

10:30am-12:30pm
The Crisis of Civilization and How to Resolve It: An Introduction to Ecocentric Socialism

Kamran Nayeri is the publisher and editor of “Our Place in the World: A Journal of Ecosocialism”. Political Economist emeritus, UC Berkeley

1:30pm-3:00pm
The Middle East in the Era of Trump

Prof. As’ad AbuKhalil, Professor of Political Science at CSU Stanislaus and author of Saudi Arabia and the U.S.

3:30pm-5:00pm
The “Gig Economy”: A New Form of Servitude for the Working Class?

Keally McBride is a Professor of Politics at the University of San Francisco. She teaches and publishes on a wide variety of topics, including punishment, law, decolonization, revolutions and political economy.

6:30pm-8:00pm
France: In The Streets, Workplaces, Universities, Schools & Hospitals

Gilles Kobry, an activist in the French Trotskyist group, Fraction L’Etincelle, will discuss the recent struggles against the Macron government’s enforcement of the Labor Law in France, as well as attacks on access to public education and the challenges facing the workers in France and throughout Europe.

Sunday 10/14

2:00pm-3:30pm
Sports And Capitalism – How Sports are Used to Squeeze Public Money for Private Profit

Jules Boykoff, former professional soccer player, currently teaches political science at Pacific University in Oregon. Co-sponsored by the Anthropology and Social Change department at California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco

4:00pm-5:30pm
The Challenges We Face Today – Short-Term Mobilizing or Organizing for Real Social Change

A presentation by Speak Out Now (Revolutionary Workers Group) activists, followed by discussion and time to socialize. Refreshments and snacks provided.

65163
Oct
20
Sat
Save People’s Park @ People's Park
Oct 20 @ 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Build elsewhere in Berkeley. Save our Greenspace. Save People’s Park.

If UCB gets their way, Berkeley will be covered with high-rises and hotels and the legal of Berkeley’s historic contributions to Free Speech, Anti War and Community Democracy will be reduced to a bronze plaque.

65176
East Bay DSA Strike Support for Oakland Marriott Hotel Workers @ Oakland Marriott City Center
Oct 20 @ 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm

Oakland Marriott workers are in the second week of their strike for jobs that are enough to get by in the Bay Area. Marriott is the biggest and richest hotel company in the world and can afford to provide good jobs. That’s why nearly 8000 workers at 23 Marriott-operated hotels around the country, from Boston to Hawaii, are on strike for the principle that One Job Should Be Enough.

Join us for a rally to show Marriott that the whole East Bay stands behind the striking Marriott workers.

65178
Oct
23
Tue
East Bay DSA Stands With UC Workers on Strike! @ Sproul Plaza, Bancroft & Telegraph
Oct 23 @ 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm

On October 23, more than 35,000 University of California workers across the state will be walking off the job!

Pickets will happen all day at Sproul Plaza on October 23 through 25. We are particularly encouraging people to show up for a rally at noon on Tuesday, October 23.

Patient care workers from AFSCME 3299 — backed up with a solidarity strike by other AFSCME service workers and UPTE technical workers — are demanding improvements on wages and working conditions, no cutbacks on benefits, and an end to management’s weaponization of inequalities of race, gender, and immigration status to exploit and intimidate workers.

Back in May, East Bay DSA showed up big to the AFSCME and UPTE strike, and we are going to do so again!

Please sign up for the Labor Committee’s Rapid Response system if you’d like to receive text messages that let you know about labor actions around the East Bay.

Accessibility: The UC campus is ADA-accessible. This will be a live picket line.

65185
Oct
24
Wed
Protest Homeless Evictions @ 12th St. remainder parcel
Oct 24 @ 8:00 am – 12:00 pm

Update: Eviction action by City was called off today after people showed up. But:

65204
Oct
25
Thu
Protest Homeless Evictions @ 12th St. remainder parcel
Oct 25 @ 8:00 am – 12:00 pm

Update: Eviction action by City was called off today after people showed up. But:

65204
Oct
27
Sat
Waffles & Zapatismo @ Omni Commons
Oct 27 @ 10:00 am – 1:00 pm

Waffles & Zapatismo is a free space for learning about and discussing the history, ideas, values and practices of the Zapatista National Liberation Army, EZLN or Zapatistas. We serve waffles at the start of the class to those who want them.

65047
Nov
3
Sat
STOP the War in Yemen Protest @ UN Plaza, Civic Center Bart
Nov 3 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Join Yemeni Alliance Committee (YAC) and our partners in SF to protest the ongoing US involvement in the war in #Yemen.

Since March of 2015 Saudi Arabia and its coalition, which includes the Arab countries of: UAE, KUWAIT, BAHRAIN, QATAR, SUDAN, EGYPT, JORDAN, MOROCCO, backed and supported by the US AND THE UK-have been bombing Yemen. It has not been a civil war since then. The United States has provided the Saudis with weapons and logistical and intelligence support and helped refuel coalition jets (mid air) as they drop bombs on Yemeni civilians.

The U.S.-backed Saudi-led campaign has killed over 50 thousand Yemenis, destroyed the country’s infrastructure, has led to widespread disease and sparked a famine thats become one of the worst in living memory.

On top of this the Saudi blockade has restricted humanitarian aide, medical supplies and clean water to Yemen. According to the UN, Yemen is the worlds worst humanitarian crisis in decades. The war in Yemen has left more than 22 million people—75 % of the population in dire need of aide.

By now, we all know what the Saudi de facto ruler Mohammad bin Salman and his regime are capable of, and its clear from the brutal murder of one of their own; when Washington Post journalist Jamal #Khashoogi was beheaded and dismembered earlier this month AND the atrocious attack on a school bus that killed at least 40 children by American-made bombs in August of this year-which is just a strike in a long string of attacks on the poorest nation in the Arab world. Only by Saudi Arabia could a crime like premeditated murder, or the mass killing of innocent Yemenis be called a mistake. Saudi warplanes target schools, hospitals and wedding halls in Yemen, and they shamelessly call such crimes “mistakes.

The Trump administration is allowing Saudi Arabia’s rivalry with Iran to dictate its policy in the region, and it comes at the cost of the innocent lives of Yemenis.

The only realistic check left is in Congress, where more voices are asking why the world’s most powerful country is helping to perpetuate the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. We’ve been complicit in this war, But Its time to take action, especially during election season.

WAYS YOU CAN HELP:

Contact your Representatives: ASK them to sponsor #HConRes138 to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen. CALL: 202-224-3121 or visit: https://callyourrep.co
Contact your Senators: ASK them to support #SJRES54, ending unauthorized U.S. military involvement in Yemen’s war. CALL: 202-224-3121 or visit: https://bit.ly/1ujDDoD
Take it to the streets, join a protest or organize one and use this hashtag: #YemenCantWait
Sign and share this petition by CREDO
Help YAC amplify next Saturday’s action on social media (using #YemenCantWait): http://bit.ly/2CLaTkn

In Solidarity,

-Yemeni Alliance Committee

To join the list of event hosts and add your organization’s name to this effort, complete this form: http://bit.ly/2yBTzvi

65232
Nov
10
Sat
‘Doughnut Economics’ Reading Group – 1st Meeting @ Omni Commons
Nov 10 @ 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

Doughnut Economics Reading Group starts Nov 10th
Creating a world with neither human suffering nor planetary peril

Doughnut Economics: 7 ways to think like a 21st century economist

By Kate Raworth Chelsea Green Publishing (2017)

The capitalist economic system defines every aspect of our lives: the schooling and medical care we get, where we live, and how we sustain ourselves. The system works for a lucky few and exploits everyone else. And it’s a real threat to the survival of our species (and many others) on this planet.

We know the system needs to change—but we can’t change what we don’t understand. We have to know what we’re talking about.

Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics lays out traditional economic theory—still taught as gospel at all the major temples of capitalism—with clarity, authority, lots of graphics, and quite a bit of humor. She exposes the flawed models and persistent myths that keep the system in place. Even more importantly, she presents seven big, basic ideas with which to begin creating the world we want to see. We can indeed build an economy in the “doughnut”—meeting the needs of all while maintaining the biospheres that support us.

All of us need to read this book. We’ve all grown up in this deeply unfair and absurd system; seeing it clearly and getting free of it require a group effort.

So we at Strike Debt Bay Area are sponsoring a group discussion of Doughnut Economics. We’re thinking of seven meetings so we can talk about one chapter per meeting. Please join us!

First meeting:

4:00 – 5:15pm, Saturday, November 10th
Omni Commons, 4799 Shattuck Avenue, Oakland

Bring the book (available at your favorite online bookseller and in select local bookstores) and/or your thoughts on the first chapter (available online – http://tinyurl.com/ycysqtde ‘Look Inside’).

https://www.kateraworth.com/doughnut/

65199
Nov
15
Thu
Stop Insuring Climate Change @ Hilton
Nov 15 @ 11:45 am – 1:00 pm

Insurance companies are supposed to protect us from catastrophic risks.  Yet when it comes to climate change, the largest threat to humanity, U.S. insurance companies are doing the exact opposite.  With their massive investments in fossil fuel companies and insuring of drilling and mining projects, the U.S. insurance industry is making a terrible problem worse.  This has to stop.  Hundreds of lobbyists for the U.S. insurance industry are coming to downtown San Francisco for a convention.  Join us at lunch time to send them a message:  Insure Our Future—Stop Insuring Climate Change!

Meet us at the corner of Taylor and O’Farrell at 11:45 AM.  We’ll have colorful costumes (Aflac duck, anyone?), signage, and some great guest speakers. This will be an enjoyable, non-arrestable action.

RSVP on Facebook

 

65287
SAVE PEOPLE’S PARK RALLY @ Mario Savio Steps, Sproul Plaza, UC Berkeley
Nov 15 @ 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Tell UC: Hands Off Our Park!

Protect Our Green Space, Trees, Community, History, Free Speech, Social Justice, Civil Rights, Powe Gardens, Music, Art, Style, Freebox, Recreation, the

 

65248
Nov
17
Sat
SOLAR SIMPLIFIED @ Ecology Center
Nov 17 @ 11:30 am – 1:30 pm

Are you thinking about going solar – tapping the sun for your energy needs? But you have so many questions, you don’t know where to start? Solar Simplified will provide a strong foundation for your decision-making. Solar is more accessible and affordable than ever, and the industry is rapidly changing. Solar expert Doug McKenzie will discuss the latest solar products, rebates, and technologies, plus the factors that are advancing or limiting the future of solar in the US. Presentation followed by Q&A, so bring your questions!

Topics include:

Why: The environmental and financial benefits of solar
What: How a PV system works, and the latest technology
Solar Financing: Owning versus leasing, low-income options, rebates
Other Considerations: Contractors, home selling, policies, Community Choice energy
Getting Off Gas: Batteries, electric cars, electric appliances
Jobs: The growth of solar in CA, US, the world, and how to get a foot in the door

Doug McKenzie retired early from HP after almost 20 years in software development and customer support. Before HP, he received a degree in Applied Math from UC Berkeley. After HP, he is living his dreams as a solar educator and consultant and as a career coach helping people through career transitions. He’s the East Bay development manager for non-profit solar installer SunWork.org and is on the Board of NorCal Solar. Doug lives in Berkeley and drives an electric car powered by rooftop solar.

65193
CANCELLED: People Get Ready: Charting a path forward to building powerful movements and the radical left @ Dwinelle Hall Room, UC Berkeley
Nov 17 @ 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm

 

PEOPLE GET READY IS NEXT WEEK! PRE-REGISTER NOW!

The People Get Ready II planning committee has been hard at work to make November 17 a powerful gathering for learning and discussion. This one day conference is aimed at assessing the post-midterm terrain and charting a path forward to building powerful movements and the radical left. People Get Ready II will include two powerful keynotes, nine discussion sessions, and a workshop featuring dozens of visionary organizers from the Bay and beyond.

At last year’s conference, our comrade Linda Burnham urged us to take up the often-difficult task of balancing our revolutionary imagination with the brutal realities we face.  Amid war, right-wing terror, racist state policy, environmental devastation, and capitalist barbarism, it seems that the fate of our peoples and the planet requires the utmost from our imaginations and our energies on the ground.  And times aren’t without hope. A growing tide of people all over the world are mobilizing, strategizing, and building the liberatory politics and movements necessary for us to live in humane and sustainable societies.

Our goal is to create a space where people in struggle can converge to understand where we are, what we’re up against, how to fight back, build strength, and shift power—now and into the future.  Join us for People Get Ready II.

Details are still being worked out but we are proud to share what we’ve got so far!

People Get Ready II will feature the following sessions:

  • Taking Stock: Analyzing the Political Terrain after the Midterms
  • Hard Work: New Battles, New Organizing in the Workplace and Beyond
  • Spanning the Globe: Internationalist Solidarity vs. US Militarism
  • Land: The Basis of Freedom, Justice and Equality
  • Who’s Got the Power?: A Workshop on Assessing the Balance of Forces
  • Towards 2020: People Power at the Ballot Box and in the Streets
  • No Pasarán!: Strategies to Defeat Fascism and the Authoritarian Right
  • Against Displacement: Freedom to Stay, Freedom to Move, Freedom to Return
  • Deep and Wide: Building Alliances with Teeth
  • Fighting to Win: Cultivating a Successful Left Strategy

Speakers will include:

Aimee Allison (She the People)

Brace Belden (DSA)

Calvin Cheung-Miaw (Left Inside/Outside Project)

Cathi Tactaquin (National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights)

Clare Bayard (Catalyst Project)

Claude Marks (Freedom Archives)

Donté Clark

Ellen Choy (Hella Organized Bay Area Koreans)

Elsadig Elsheik (Haas Institute)

Francesca Fiorentini

Isaac Ontiveros (Center for Political Education)

Kimi Lee (Bay Rising)

Kung Feng (Jobs with Justice—San Francisco)

Lara Kiswani (Arab Resource & Organizing Center)

Leila Sayed-Taha (Arab Resource & Organizing Center)

Linda Evans (co-founder and former staff, All of Us or None)

Maria Poblet (LeftRoots)

Max Elbaum (Organizing Upgrade)

N’Tanya Lee (LeftRoots)

Rebecca Gordon

Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz

Saba Waheed (UCLA Labor Center)

Sara Kershnar (International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network)

Tony Samara (Urban Habitat/Right to the City)

Tur-Ha Ak (Community Defense Corps)

Vanessa Moses (Causa Justa :: Just Cause)

Walter Turner (Africa Today)

As we put the finishing touches on our program, we will share news about more of our exciting guests!

 

We are excited to have People Get Ready II endorsed by the following organizations:

Alliance of South Asians Taking Action (ASATA), Arab Resource & Organizing Center (AROC), Ambedkar King Study Circle, Asians 4 Black Lives, Bay Resistance, California Coalition for Women Prisoners, Causa Justa :: Just Cause, Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism, Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice, Dignidad Rebelde, East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy(EBASE), Freedom Archives, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, GABRIELA–SF, Generative Somatics, Haiti Action Committee, Hella Organized Bay Area Koreans (HOBAK), International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Jobs with Justice San Francisco, Labor and Community Studies–City College of San Francisco, LeftRoots, Movement Generation, National Lawyers Guild–SF, National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Organizing Upgrade, Palestinian Youth Movement, PODER, Race and Resistance Studies—SFSU, Teachers for Social Justice, Underground Scholars Initiative, Viet Unity.

To pre-register or sign up to volunteer at the conference, click here.

Help us spread the word!

peoplegetreadyii-web-image.jpg
65276
Free Workshop: Divest from War and Fossil Fuels @ Berkeley South Library
Nov 17 @ 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Align your money with your values– stop funding war and fossil fuels!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-workshop-on-divesting-from-weapons-fossil-fuels-tickets-49846056898

Free Workshop to help you align your money with your values, break up with your Wall Street bank (Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citibank, Chase, etc.), and divest from investments in fossil fuels and weapons. Join the growing movement for a “Peace Economy” and withdraw financial support from the War Economy.

Optional: Bring your laptop or other wi-fi-enabled device for a hands-on experience.

Learn to:
Identify local banks and credit unions where you can move your money with confidence. Break up with your Wall Street bank and keep your money local and used for community needs.

Use tools such as the online “As You Sow” program to discover if you’re invested in weapons and fossil fuels, plus identify socially responsible funds that perform as well as funds invested in weapons and fossil fuels.

Form support groups for continued mutual assistance on how to move your money.

Presenters include Cynthia Papermaster of CODEPINK, Sandy Emerson of Fossil Free California, Dave Peattie and Steve Murphy of Indivisible Berkeley Economic Justice Team.

Handouts, refreshments, hands-on workshop.

65282
Nov
18
Sun
Difficult Dialogues Workshop @ Sierra Club
Nov 18 @ 10:00 am – 1:30 pm

Exploring the difficult conversations in our lives around race and power. How do we approach the challenging conversations, whether it’s about confederate flags, Donald Trump, cultural appropriation, Palestine/Israel, or even just racism and racial justice in general?

Members of the White Noise Collective will facilitate a workshop exploring the difficult conversations in our lives around race and power. How do we approach the challenging conversations, whether it’s about confederate flags, Donald Trump, cultural appropriation, Palestine/Israel, or even just racism and racial justice in general?

This workshop is an opportunity to dive in much deeper with structured time to practice a range of difficult conversations around highly-charged racial issues. We will be sharing some basic skill-building tools in how to approach conversations, and then explore scenarios relevant to the lives of participants. This will include examination of some of the ways that internalized sexism can impact our courageous speaking capacities.

Small group work, role-plays, and Theater of the Oppressed techniques will support seeing tough communication blocks in a new light. We’ll try out what feels challenging, in a relatively low-stakes and supportive environment, allowing ourselves time to debrief, reflect, and learn from each other.

Contact basebuilding@surjbayarea.org with ticket requests or questions.

ACCESSIBILITY INFORMATION The space is wheelchair accessible. We ask that you do your best to arrive at the event scent/fragrance free to keep the space as low-scent as possible to support people with chemical and scent sensitivities – please see https://eastbaymeditation.org/resources/fragrance-free-at-ebmc/ for helpful information.

65289
Nov
20
Tue
Rally to End Yemen War @ Outside Nancy Pelosi's Office
Nov 20 @ 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
sm_sf_11.20.jpg Saturday the State Department said it had not reached a final decision on responsibility for the murder, despite the CIA’s conclusion the Crown Prince personally ordered it. The US-Saudi relationship has come under increased scrutiny, particularly in regards to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and the war in Yemen. A group of bipartisan senators Thursday introduced the Comprehensive Saudi Arabia Accountability and Yemen Act which would halt weapons sales and other military support for Yemen. The House likely will vote on their own Yemen bill in January.

PHOTO OP: Members of the Yemeni-American community and friends speaking and protesting with signs outside of Reps Pelosi and Schiff offices

WHAT: Activists will rally at Reps Pelosi and Schiff offices in SF and LA to demand they cosponsor HConRes138. This bill would end US military involvement in the Saudi war on Yemen. The US has been complicit in creating the conditions for famine in Yemen for years.

WHO: Cindy Sheehan, the mother of the U.S. Army specialist killed in Iraq, and Jehan Hakim, chair of Yemeni Alliance Committee, will speak at the rally at Pelosi’s office. Sarah Burns of Just Foreign Policy, and Frances Motiwalla of Peace Action, will speak at the rally at Schiff’s office. The rallies are organized by Just Foreign Policy, Action Corps, and Yemeni Alliance Committee. They are co-sponsored by CODEPINK: Women for Peace, MoveOn, Bay Area for Bernie, Women’s March on the Pentagon, Jewish Voice for Peace Bay Area, and Partnerships for Trauma Recovery (List in Formation).

WHY: The US Administration recently announced it would stop refueling Saudi warplanes over Yemen. But Wednesday the US House narrowly voted to block debate of a bill to withdraw the US completely from the Saudi Coalition in Yemen. The US continues to provide critical military support and diplomatic cover for Saudi Arabia in Yemen. The Saudi Coalition has stopped the flow of food, medicine, and fuel into Yemen, leaving 14 million people on the brink of the world’s worst famine in a 100 years. Since the Trump Administration called for a ceasefire, Saudi Arabia has further intensified its assault on Yemen’s main port of Hodeida causing hundreds of thousands of people to flee for their lives, worsening the world’s worst humanitarian disaster. Congress has never authorized U.S. military involvement in Yemen, and it’s long overdue for Congress to vote on it.

In September 2018, Reps Ro Khanna (D-CA), Adam Smith (D-WA), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Walter Jones (R-KY), Thomas Massie (R-NC) introduced House Concurrent Resolution 138 (HConRes138). If passed, it would direct the President to completely withdraw from the war by cutting off mid-air refueling and targeting assistance for Saudi warplanes. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi — who faces a vote to become the next House Speaker — and Adam Schiff, ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, have yet to publicly support the bill, despite it being supported by almost every other ranking Democrat in the House. It’s time for them to get on board.

QUOTES FROM SPEAKERS
“Just as the House killed HConRes81 last year, GOPs fought to block HConRes138 [November 15]; which is a strong resolution that will finally end US support for the Saudi-led coalition waging war in Yemen. We are disappointed that our lawmakers chose to stand on the wrong side of history… again. We’ve seen it in Iraq, Lisbya and still see it in Syria. There are over 14 million Yemenis on the brink of starvation, and we have not only been supporting and backing the almost three-year-long war on the poorest Arab nation, but our Congressional Representatives are abdicating their duty to save lives and pull us out of this illegitimate war. If the 50,000 Yemenis that have been killed, or the brutal murder of Washington Post journalist Khashoggi at the hands of the ‘Kingdom,’ does not make us rethink our relationship Saudi Arabia, then what will? We demand from our Representatives to have the courage to support peace in Yemen, accountability in our involvement and to support HConRes138.”
– Jehan Hakim, Yemeni Alliance Committee Chair

“Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff market themselves as ‘progressive leaders,’ but when the House vote finally came on ending the Saudi regime’s Yemen war, Pelosi and Schiff weren’t leaders; they were people who just barely showed up at the last minute. Pelosi and Schiff must lead now on ending the war, starting with co-sponsoring the Yemen war powers resolution, or other Democrats should take their places in the House Democratic leadership in the election on November 28.”
– Robert Naiman, Just Foreign Policy Policy Director

“Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) has said the Saudi airstrikes on Yemen ‘look like war crimes.’ Then why have not Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Ranking Member Adam Schiff co-sponsored the bill to stop backing these airstrikes? We appreciate Ms. Pelosi’s recent statement on the war, but it is not enough. We need her and Mr. Schiff to publicly pledge they will make Yemen a top priority if Ms. Pelosi is elected speaker on November 28. The lives of millions of people depend on it.”
– Isaac Evans-Frantz, Action Corps Organizer

65307
East Bay DSA Night School: Capitalism vs Nature @ East Bay Community Space
Nov 20 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

The recent UN report on climate change is sobering. Urgent action is required to avert environmental disaster. We need a bold vision of a good and livable future — and a political program to match. For starters, that means insisting on a publicly funded clean energy transition on a rapid timeline and a major green jobs program. The main obstacle to achieving this vision should be obvious. Corporations spent millions of dollars to defeat clean energy initiatives in the elections earlier this month.

Please join the Night School for a discussion on how democratic socialists can organize for climate justice and help build the mass movement that will be needed to take on the corporations.

Accessibility: East Bay Community Space has a wheelchair-accessible entrance and bathrooms.

Required Readings
See the readings that we’ll be discussing after a brief introduction from our members.

65308