[DRAFT*] Summary of Decisions made at the 2nd National Organizing Conference on Iraq (February, 2001)
* To be approved by the Coordinating Committee on 3/5/01
There were two main goals of the 2nd National Organizing Conference on Iraq:
1) Put together a national network to facilitate ongoing planning and coordination.
2) Plan a national action/campaign.
Included here are decisions on these two objectives, the name of the network and those elected to serve on the Coordinating Committee. Not here is discussion and clarifications, please refer to the actual minutes for this.
Major decision-making body will be the full conference
1. This group will decide on the vision for the year.
2. Conference will mandate actions and priorities
3. Conference will elect a coordinating committee of 15 people, taking into consideration gender balance and regional balance.
A. Each member of this committee will be active in a working group and
1. Will have authority to form ad hoc working groups as long a these working groups fit with the overall objectives of the conference.
2. They will uphold the vision of the conference.
3. Their main responsibility is holding people in the working groups responsible.
4. There will be full transparency for this group.
5. Coordinating committee will meet at least every six weeks by conference call. In times of high need, may need to meet every day, i.e. for emergency response.
6. Will make a 5 to 10 hour/week commitment
7. Maintain a consistent presence in the working groups
8. Attend at least 2/3 of the group meetings
9. Will represent the mandates of the conference, not individual groups or personal opinions
B. Working groups to be established:
1. Advocacy
2.
Communication
3. Coordinated Action
4. Education/Outreach
5. Finance
6. Media
Action Proposals
1. Media
a. Initiate direct contact: major newspapers, news magazine - those people
don't have a single contact in the movement
b. Provide service to local groups that may need help with local media -
centralized op-ed writing for modification at local level, routine media
strategy newsletter, generate news releases in response to events, i.e.
bombing.
c. Work with nationally coordinated actions to publicize the actions.
d. Avoid press releases dealing with issues within the group that are
controversial i.e. de-linking
2. Nationally Coordinated Actions
Three proposals based on themes associated with the destruction of the
infrastructure, sanctions and continued bombing: (national committee would do
most of the planning and give to locals) for
a. Day of outrage or day i.e. about the bombing: We will be targeting three infrastructures: national supermarket chain, Walgren and the YMCA - because if they were in Iraq, they would be bombed. Try to make the bombing more real to the people of the U.S. YMCA has dangerous chemical weapons - chlorine in pools. Put target symbols on institutions, yellow tape them, etc. Put together an information packet with options. Date: End of April, Beginning of May.
b. Target depleted uranium in concert with veterans groups, Native Americans, European groups working on DU, etc. - tie to sanctions and lack of treatment for the results, i.e. leukemia
c. Day of fasting: no date chosen. Work on an interfaith day. Probably next fall, but it will take this to get local compliance
Vote: Choice of going with April 26 - 28
Second action: August 6
Third day in the Fall
The three part proposal is accepted.
3. Communications
Two groups worked together. Call this ? the Communications Working Group to be made up of technical and data base groups i.e. EPIC, Voices, etc. and people with technical expertise. This group would link to the media group and would:
a. Set up email system and phone tree system: email broadcast - include local groups. Just broadcast, no conversation.
b. Moderated list serve - filtered for credibility, redundancy and volume c. Digest of activities, posted regularly
d. Related to Bay Area Actions Proposal #2, Monitoring of latest information to enable rapid debunking and response. Voices has something like this.
e. Set up a website to serve the above functions. Have summary of the issues and link to other sites, alerts, emergency response, views of experts, etc.
Vote: Accept this proposal
4. Outreach and Education
Who to target? Main audience is average citizens, i.e. churches, mosques, etc., schools, state teacher groups, unions, peace and social justice coalitions, medical community. What are our talking points?
a. The country of Iraq - people, religions, etc.
b. The 1991 Gulf War
c. Sanctions
d. Continued bombing of Iraq
e. DU
f. De-bunk myths
g. Role of media in this process -
h. Oil and other resources and role of US intervention
i. Education re organizing skills within the network
How do we reach out?
a. Educational kits focused on specific audiences - multi-media
Our strategies for accomplishing goals
a. See what exists
b. Create packets
c. See who is available to speak on specific topics
d. Use the websitef - put materials on the website
e. Name the educational working group as part of national group
Then what:
a. Teach teachers
b. Provide information
c. Ask people to contact media - get beyond media impasse
d. Petition campaigns
General outreach - personalize the issue
a. People-to-people - bring Iraqi children here
b. Quilt project
c. Organize activities around Mothers Day and Fathers Day
Creative actions
a. Sludge campaign
Work with other groups.
Implementation:
We would like to end the sanctions before the next conference. If we can
educate the average American, this is possible. We would like the network to
give us these things:
a. All organizations contact us so we can coordinate actions
b. Need a strong title for credibility
c. Exchange of students and information
d. Website access
Action on Education and Outreach:
Luke: propose national petition be accepted. Maddie - propose to broaden
this. Response: Group said petitions are an option.
Comment: Excited about putting art and entertainment into the
movement.
Suggest a song.
Comment: Acknowledge AFSC for their work and materials that can be used for
education and outreach.
Vote: Support this proposal
5. Advocacy
Want to point out that this small, select national group we talked about in
Washington, DC as an action fits quite well as a lobbying group, so we have
melded the two for this presentation. We heard that people are not
super-excited about lobbying, but some feel this is important. Propose a
lobbying working group that will recognized the strengths of EPIC and ADC and
acknowledge that grass roots groups have less-defined methods, but equally
effective.
a. Update from Erik: HR3825 is being strengthened. Congressman Conyers will
re-introduce next week.
b. Secondly, the talk about PL 102-28, stating it will take an Act of
Congress to end the war, trying to get an Act of Congress to end the war, or
make it a national debate based on the requirement for the president to
report every six months on the costs of this war.
c. Timeline: By the Day of Rage, April 26-28, all groups
identify a liaison
for the plan of action. This person will organize a letter-writing campaign
and plan a delegation to meet with the local office on the Day of Rage.
d. Come to Washington, DC
e. Try to get a "yes" from the offices that they will do something.
f. If they don't do at least one measure, plan a sit-in.
Select National Action - Potential civil disobedience in conjunction with Lobby Days.
Suggestion for 1-800 for congress so that we can call our Congress people.
Vote: Proposal Accepted
Next: Structure for Working Groups
1. Communications/Information Sharing (information sharing)
2. Coordinated Days of Action (nationally coordinated local action)
3. Education and Outreach
4. Finance
5. Media
6. Advocacy (lobbying and small group activity)
Coordinating committee will deal with emergency response as an interactive process with the working groups. Discussion.
1. Coordinating committee to be responsible for emergency
response.
2. Separate working group. Suggest identifying one emergency response
contact in each working group - to work with the coordinating committee as an
ad hoc committee with a small group from the coordinating committee.
3. Subgroup of the coordinating committee. Clarification: Emergency response will be coordinated by an ad hoc committee composed of some members
of the coordinating committee and one member from each working group. This
group has to be ready to respond immediately and needs to be called a name
that reflects this.
4. Ask the elected committee to make a proposal about emergency response.
Vote: Subteam of the coordinating committee including one member of each working group.
Name for the coordinating committee/steering committee/steering counsel/coordinating counsel.
Vote: Coordinating Committee
Announcement of elected members of the Coordinating Committee
Bill Thomson
Zaynep Toufek
Connie Hammond
Wafaa Salman
Rahul Mahajan
Philip Steger
Paul George
Bert Sacks: replaced by Muthanna Al-Hanooti
Jeff Grubler
Nadia Babella
Rima Meroueh
Rae Vogeler
Stephanie Phibbs
Mike Zmolek
Bob Jensen
Name of Network: National Network to End the War Against Iraq