The Public Square
Fridays at 4:45 and 6:45 pm on WILL-AM
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Public Square archives
Gary Storm on Author Mark Braverman
Friday, February 03, 2012
Hello, my name is Gary Storm. I am a resident of Urbana and a member of the Urbana-Champaign Peace Initiative.
Most serious commentators on Middle Eastern affairs have long recognized that unresolved tensions between the Israelis and Palestinians over land inhabited by the Palestinians when the state of Israel was created by the United Nations in 1947 is the most likely source of wider conflict in the area. Mark Braverman is a Jewish American scholar who discusses these tensions and their causes in his book, Fatal Embrace: Christians, Jews and the Search for Peace in the Holy Land.
In the book, Braverman argues forcefully that there is nothing inconsistent about supporting a national homeland for the Jews while at the same time criticizing the Israeli government’s policies regarding the occupation of Palestine. Nor is such criticism anti-Semitic. As a Jew himself, Braverman criticizes the injustices of the occupation and calls for an end to settlement building and to extensions of the separation wall, armed military checkpoints and Israeli-only roads that have imposed such immense hardships on the daily lives of Palestinians living in the West Bank. He also calls for removal of the blockade of Gaza. Personally, I concur with all of these positions.
I also concur with Braverman in his belief that these hardships have fueled widespread frustration, resentment and anger among Palestinians and their sympathizers throughout the Arab world, factors that have led the most radical among them to resort to violence. In short, we believe that it is not Israel’s demand for a national homeland but its brutal occupation of Palestine and its expansionist colonial policies there which stand in the way of peace in the region. This view is supported by the fact that, in polls, most Palestinians and Arabs-at-large are prepared to recognize Israel’s right to exist in exchange for an end to the occupation and reasonable compensation for injustices imposed by Israel upon Palestinians since its founding in 1947.
In Fatal Embrace, Braverman calls for Christians, Jews and others to examine their moral commitment to social justice and human rights everywhere, including Palestine, and to act on their consciences to craft and/or support agreements that will end the Israeli occupation and bring peace and security to the region. Please consider attending one of several local presentations that Braverman will make next week, including one at the Champaign Public Library on Friday February 10th at 7:00 p.m. There will be plenty of time for discussion after the presentation. Many points of view on this long standing conflict need to be expressed and, hopefully, reconciled.
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Donna Camp on Hunger and the Wesley Evening Food Pantry
Friday, November 11, 2011
Hello, My name is Donna Camp. I am the director of the Wesley Evening Food Pantry in Urbana. We are one of the few food pantries in Champaign County with regular evening hours.
The need in our community is great, and often invisible. Feeding America estimates at least 79,000 people in east central Illinois don’t have enough to eat. A quarter of them are children. You probably know someone who needs help and don’t even realize it. They are our neighbors, not strangers: the nursing assistant at the hospital; children in band with our children; the person waiting on you in your favorite store, the grandmother reading to her granddaughter at the library. City employees, university employees, people working two jobs with no health insurance or sick leave.
The Wesley Evening Food Pantry is open on the 3rd Thursday of every month from 5:00pm to 7:30pm. On that one night a month we serve 800 to 1,500 people. Each family gets to shop for their own groceries, as if they were in a grocery store. If you need food, we are located at Green & Goodwin in Urbana. Anyone who gets here before 7:30pm receives groceries. We have never run out of food.
Whether you need food or want to help, or both, I encourage you to learn more about the issue of food insecurity in our community. One such learning opportunity will be next week when WILL-TV and radio feature the program Growing Hope Against Hunger: An Illinois Response at 8:00pm, Tuesday, November 15th. As one of the panelists on this program, I hope you will tune in to learn more. There will also be an hour-long online chat after the program at willconnect.org that you are welcome to join for live discussion.
To learn more about Wesley Evening Food Pantry, please visit us at http://www.wesleypantry.org. Thank you.
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Gary Storm on Non-violent Peace Initiative for Palestine/Israel
Friday, October 28, 2011
Hello, my name is Gary Storm. I am a retired faculty member from the University of Illinois at Springfield who is now active with the Urbana-Champaign Peace Initiative.
What images come to your mind when I mention the Palestinian/Israeli conflict? Many Americans will probably think, first, of rock throwing Palestinian youth or of crude rockets or occasional suicide bombers being dispatched into Israel by Palestinian “terrorists”. It is far less common for Americans to think of Israeli bulldozers pushing over Palestinian homes and olive orchards in the West Bank to seize land for construction of State-subsidized settlements or of the so-called “Security Wall” winding its way not along the border between Israel and Palestine, but within the West Bank separating Arab families from one another and from their agricultural land, water resources, schools, businesses and places of worship. We need a more balanced understanding of this part of the world.
While Palestinian violence directed at innocent civilians is never justified, neither is the destruction of Palestinian lives, neighborhoods and hospitals caused by massive Israeli air raids and tank bombardments, even when justified as “retaliation” for Arab violence. Who can rightly be said to be retaliating against whom? The repeated cycle of violence merely results in deeper poverty and resentment among Palestinians and continued expansion of Israeli controlled territory. It fails to achieve peace and security for all in the region.
This Sunday afternoon at the Champaign Public Library, area residents will have an opportunity to view a film that highlights a different approach to resolving conflicts in Israel and Palestine, namely, one of passive resistance and non-violent social action. The film documents efforts of peace-seeking activists from Palestine, Israel and elsewhere who join the citizens of Budrus, a small town in the West Bank, to block an extension of what they call the Israeli “separation wall” through their community. Similar efforts are increasingly widespread in the West Bank, supported by Palestinians and Israelis alike. They offer brighter hope for achieving a lasting peace in the area, whether a two-State solution or otherwise.
The film, which begins at 2 p.m., will be followed by comments from a panel of individuals with education and experience relating to this part of the world, and there will be time for questions and discussion afterwards. The program is being sponsored by the Urbana-Champaign Peace Initiative in order for local citizens to learn more about how nonviolent social action can be used to address international conflicts. More programs dealing with this theme will be scheduled later in the year.
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Robert Naiman on the Congressional Super Committee for debt reduction
Friday, September 02, 2011
Hi. I'm Robert Naiman, Policy Director of Just Foreign Policy, which works to reform U.S. foreign policy so that it reflects the values and interests of the majority of Americans.
A Congressional "Super Committee" has been created to produce a plan by Thanksgiving to reduce projected government debt by $1.2 trillion over the next ten years. This Super Committee has a historic opportunity to cut projected military spending.
Many bipartisan groups of experts - including the majority of the President's bipartisan deficit commission - have a called for a trillion dollar cut in the projected "base" (non-war) Pentagon budget over ten years. That would return annual Pentagon spending to its 2007 level - still more than what we spent on the military during the Cold War. Given the cuts in projected military spending that the President and Congress have already agreed, a trillion dollar cut in projected military spending over ten years would meet half of the Super Committee's goal.
In addition, the Super Committee can find another $200 billion in savings - 1/6 of the Super Committee's debt reduction goal - by withdrawing our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan as currently scheduled rather than allowing the Pentagon to establish permanent military garrisons in these countries, which would continue these wars indefinitely.
East Central Illinois Representative Tim Johnson has been a leader in Congress in working to end the wars. We urge Representative Johnson to use this opportunity to press his colleagues to include ending the wars as part of the deal to reduce the government debt.
You can learn more about this historic opportunity to cut projected military spending by visiting our website, http://www.justforeignpolicy.org.
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Connie Georgoulis on Illinois Cares Rx
Friday, August 19, 2011
Hi, my name is Connie Georgoulis. I am a volunteer with Champaign County Health Care Consumers and a member of CCHCC’s Medicare Task Force. I’m also a senior and a beneficiary of Illinois Cares Rx, a prescription drug assistance program that was cut in half by this year’s state budget. Since 2005, Illinois Cares Rx has helped thousands of low-income seniors pay their Medicare Part D premiums and co-payments and provided discounted prescription drug coverage, allowing them to avoid more expensive health care, such as hospitalization, when they cannot follow their doctor’s prescribed drug regimen due to high out of pocket costs.
Beginning on September 1st, anyone currently enrolled in Illinois Cares Rx with an annual income of over 200% of the Federal Poverty Level will lose their benefits. For those still eligible, their co-payments will increase by more than double for many prescription drugs. For most seniors, paying for multiple prescription drugs is already a significant expense, and will only become more difficult to afford after September 1st.
While we still have some time before these changes go into effect, I want to offer a few suggestions to support the more than 200,000 seniors across Illinois who will be impacted by these cuts. First and foremost, don’t wait till September when your coverage changes to make a plan. Now is the time to figure out how these changes will affect your monthly budget and health care and prepare for them.
Think back to when you applied for Illinois Cares Rx and whether your income has changed…you may still be eligible! Talk to your local agency that helped you enroll in the program to fill out a new application. In Champaign County, the IL Cares Rx support agency is Family Service Senior Resource Center.
Talk to your doctor or pharmacist and ask if there are generics for the drugs you are taking or even free samples. Ask for a 90-day prescription and fill it before September 1st. This way you can get your drugs at the current (lower) co-pay levels for another 3 months.
Finally, other programs are available that can lower your drug costs. Prescription Assistance Programs provided by drug companies and charitable foundations can help with co-pays, Part D premiums, or drug rebates. Also, check out drug discount cards, such as Needy Meds and the Illinois Rx Card, which can be printed directly from the website for immediate use.
If you have questions or need help to plan for these changes to your Illinois Cares Rx benefits, don’t wait till September. Call Champaign County Health Care Consumers at 352-6533 or visit us at http://www.healthcareconsumers.org today!
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Robert Naiman on troop withdrawal from Afghanistan
Friday, May 13, 2011
Hi, I'm Robert Naiman, Policy Director of Just Foreign Policy, which works to reform U.S. foreign policy so that it reflects the values and interests of the majority of Americans.
The death of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan gives us an opportunity to reconsider whether we should keep 100,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
As President Obama considers how many troops to withdraw from Afghanistan this year, Illinois Senator Mark Kirk could help bring our troops home by co-sponsoring S. 186, the "Safe and Responsible Redeployment of United States Combat Forces from Afghanistan Act," which would show support for President Obama's promised "significant" drawdown this year and would also require the President to give Congress a timetable for the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops. Illinois Senator Dick Durbin is already a co-sponsor of this legislation. 15th district Representative Tim Johnson is a co-sponsor of similar legislation in the House.
While nearly three-quarters of the American public support the withdrawal of a "substantial number of U.S. combat forces from Afghanistan this summer" - including the majority of Republican voters - the Washington Post reports that the Pentagon continues to pressure President Obama to make the promised drawdown "small to insignificant".
Senator Kirk's co-sponsorship of S. 186 would help President Obama withstand the Pentagons pressure and begin an end to the nearly decade long war which has taken the lives of over 1,500 U.S. troops and unknown thousands of Afghan civilians, while currently costing American taxpayers more than $100 billion a year.
You can learn more about efforts to press for a substantial drawdown of U.S. troops and a timeline to end the war on our website, http://www.justforeignpolicy.org
