Emergency Summit to Prevent War with Iran

Emergency Summit to Prevent War with Iran

What: "IF YOU LIKE WAR IN IRAQ, YOU'LL LOVE WAR ON IRAN" So goes the tagline on a new ad by Physicians for Social Responsibility. As Congress and the mainstream media are distracted by the new troop escalation in Iraq, little attention is given to the much more consequential reality that we may be only a few months, weeks, or even days away from a new and potentially more horrifying war. At this summit, a wide range of organizations and activists are coming together to take a serious look at how, together, we may be successful in preventing an attack on Iran. See the end of this message for a partial list of organizations that have confirmed their attendance in this summit.
In the morning session we will hear from one or more experts on the US-Iran standoff. In the afternoon session we will work on:
1. Producing more with less: How can we increase the level of collaboration among our organizations?
2. Power of many: How can we effectively share our experiences and leverage our resources?
3. Learning from our successes and mistakes: What has been working and what has not?
4. Sharpening our message: What are some effective talking points?
5. Formulating a winning strategy
6. The good news: Why are the chances of success much better now than the pre-Iraq-war time?
7. Collaborative action plan

Due to the urgency of this matter, this summit is being organized in a short timeframe. Please help this effort by emailing your RSVP as soon as possible and by taking the initiative to contact other organizations that may be interested in the goal of the summit.
Please RSVP (your name, email address, phone contact, and your organization's name) as soon as possible by sending an email to: RSVP@HandsOffIran.org
For the latest up-to-date details visit: http://www.handsoffiran.org/
Who: Perhaps the most important whistle-blower of the past half century, former marine company commander Daniel Ellsberg was driven by his conscience in 1971 to reveal how successive presidents had lied to the American people about the conduct of the Vietnam war and its consequences. Ellsberg's leaking of 7,000 pages of Pentagon documents helped end the war.

Dr. Dariush Zahedi is a professor of political science at UC Berkeley, and the author of The Iranian Revolution Then and Now: Indicators of Regime Instability and the editor of Iran in the New Millennium: Opportunities and Challenges. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, Los Angles Times, Middle East Policy and Harvard Middle Eastern and Islamic Review. He has also studied the patterns of political participation and engagement and political attitudes of Iranian expatriates in the U.S.

Larry Everest is a journalist, author and videographer, covering the Middle East and Central Asia for over 20 years. His articles have appeared in the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Baltimore Sun, Z Magazine, and others. He is the author of Oil, Power & Empire: Iraq and the U.S. Global Agenda. Shortly after the end of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, Everest went to Iraq to document the impact of the war on the Iraqi people and filmed the award-winning video "Iraq: War Against the People."
When: Saturday, March 10, 2007

Morning Session
Registration, Sign-in : 09:30 - 10:00
Speakers, Q&A : 10:00 - 12:00

Afternoon Session
Registration, Sign-in : 12:30 - 13:00
Discussions : 13:00 - 16:00

Where: UC Berkeley Campus, Evans Hall, Room #10 (Map) (parking)

The event is free and open to the public, but advance registration is required. To RSVP please email RSVP@HandsOffIran.org , including your name, email address, phone contact, and your organization's name (ISAA).

Suggested Donation: $10

ASUC Sponsored.

Attending Organizations
United for Peace and Justice (coalition of 1300 organizations)
Do Not Attack Iran coalition (coalition of 35 organizations)
American Friends Service Committee
Santa Clara County Democratic Central Committee
San Francisco Green Party
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
East Bay for Democracy
Peninsula Peace and Justice Center
Code Pink
Jewish Voice for Peace
Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club
Global Exchange
National Iranian American Council
War Resisters League West
Network of Spiritual Progressives
Iranian-American Democrats Association (Sacramento)
South Bay Mobilization
Western States Legal Foundation
El Cerrito Democratic Club
The Metaphor Project
Bay Area Women in Black
American-Iranian Friendship Committee
Grandmothers Against the War
Iranian-American Democrats of Orange County
Iranian Student Alliance in America (ISAA)
Democracy For America - Marin County
Bay Area Iranian-American Democrats
Bay Area Iranian-American Voter Association