Issue #41, January 19th, 2007

When in Manhattan

Screenpeace

by Oliver Peterson

Our president recently addressed the nation and confirmed our worst fears. After his party was decimated in the midterm elections, after it became clear that we’re fed up with the war in Iraq and his disastrous policies, after Rummy was replaced by Robert Gates, supposedly charged to rethink our approach to this debacle of a conflict, after a “Study Group” was created to form new strategies in lieu of past failures, Dubya has decided to follow the course he set on day one. His great solution is to commit 20,000 additional troops to battle. This news is sad and frustrating. Not because this supposed “surge” will change anything, but because it’s emblematic of the President’s inability to change, learn from mistakes, heed the people’s cries, or be progressive in any way – at the cost of thousands of lives. On the upside, Bush has basically pissed off everyone, including conservatives, Republicans and folks that were, until now, singing the man’s praises. I like that. I like that people finally realize it’s time for peace. War is depressing. I want to ignore everything and watch television. Network stinks because the news inevitably pops on in the middle of Topanga and Corey’s first kiss on Boy Meets World or cuts the punch line of Boner Stabone’s hilarious joke on Growing Pains. I watch the movie channels. There are feature equivalents of bad sitcoms – Crocodile Dundee III or First Daughter, for example, but movies – good movies – can actually make you think. Consider the war movies that might be poignant and topical during these troubled times and you’ll realize there are plenty. I drink my coffee black and can’t stand lattes but I’m definitely one of those cowardly liberal commies. It’s only natural that I suggest you drum up some Anti-war films instead. It just so happens that in Manhattan someone has already done it.

The War Resisters League (WRL) and the Brecht Forum have brought us “Screenpeace: An Antiwar Film Festival.” Through February 16 the festival will be showing selections from the WRL’s 2007 Peace Calendar, which features over 50 antiwar films from the last 20 years and a forward by filmmaker John Sayles. The films include everything from homegrown documentaries to Hollywood hits like Syriana. The War Resisters League behind this festival and calendar is based in Manhattan and their statement of purpose affirms, “All war is a crime against humanity.” They are determined not to “support any kind of war, international or civil” and to “strive nonviolently for the removal of all causes of war.” Objectors to the First World War formed WRL in 1923. Many had been imprisoned for refusal to serve. The founders believed that if enough people resisted fighting, governments would hesitate to go to war. WRL has thrived through all of our nation’s conflicts after WWI. Hundreds of members were jailed over the years for rejecting the call to arms. They have fought for civil rights and the women’s movement, were the first peace group to call for U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam, rallied against nuclear testing, weapons and power, and continue supporting nonviolent civil disobedience, furthering the cause of world peace. It is noted in WRL literature that, “through its whole history, the League has remained independent of any political party; opposed to conscription and authoritarianism, censorship and racism in any country and holds to a nonaligned position in international work.”

If you want to support peace during this war, that has been called the “worst mistake in U.S. history,” check out Screenpeace and the War Resisters League. Support their cause by picking up their 2007 Peace Calendar or making a donation. This Friday, January 19, the festival will feature Brother Outsider, a film centered on the life of Bayard Rustin, a conscientious objector and organizer for the 1963 march on Washington known as “Jobs for Justice.” Next Friday, Worlds Apart documents the journey to Afghanistan by Ground Zero for Peace founder Megan Bartlett and the 9-11 emergency workers’ group meeting of likeminded people in Kabul. Screenings begin at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 and benefit the WRL. The Brecht Forum is at 451 West Street. Call (212) 228-0450 for tickets, a full schedule and to contact the War Resisters League. WRL is at 339 Lafayette St. or online at WarResisters.org.