www.operationawarness.org 2012

New York to D.C.

BIKES NOT BOMBS

ARTTE Newsletter

BIKES NOT BOMBS BICYCLE TOUR!

From New York City to Washington D.C., the “Bikes Not Bombs” tour stopped in various communities, including spiritual, peace, and activist communities. They shared songs and a presentation on the non-violent peace movement that is developing in Afghanistan by Afghans. This news-letter is a look at that presentation.

After recently returning to Afghanistan as a civilian, Afghanistan War veteran Jacob George developed the “Bikes Not Bombs” campaign. Initially meant to raise bicycles to send to Afghans as a peace offering, the campaign began taking donated bicycles for U.S. military veterans.

BIKESNOTBOMBS

ith hundreds of supporters and mem bers of the ARTTE collective, A Ride Till The End took o� to New York City to ride for the �rst time in the NE United States to share our story, our message, and our ongo-ing work.

Jacob George, Russ Ritter, and Jerrad Hardin were the featured riders for this leg of the ongoing bicycle tour. Along 300 miles of cities and towns the riders performed music and shared discussions about the current struggle for peace abroad and also within ourselves.

Each presentation began with an Army Cadence often sung in the early hours of the morning by service members of the U.S. military. The words were changed to re�ect the transition many veterans and service members go through. The words were changed as follows;

“I don't know why I left,but I know that I was wrong.It won't be longtill I get on back home”

Another song, to tell a story of what happens when truth is revealed in a war society, was sang in honor of Army Intelligence Analyst, Bradley Manning. Manning is currently facing charges of releasing classi�ed information revealing war crimes by the U.S. military;

“Mama, mamaCan't you see?What my Uncle (sam)has done to me?”

W A �nal verse was sang to honor our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan who are peacefully working to end the occupation of their towns and country-sides;

“It's bad news from Bamiyan,a couple of friends are dyin'.It's bad news from Bamiyan,half of my friends are still tryin'.”

BIKESNOTBOMBS

ith hundreds of supporters and mem bers of the ARTTE collective, A Ride Till The End took o� to New York City to ride for the �rst time in the NE United States to share our story, our message, and our ongo-ing work.

Jacob George, Russ Ritter, and Jerrad Hardin were the featured riders for this leg of the ongoing bicycle tour. Along 300 miles of cities and towns the riders performed music and shared discussions about the current struggle for peace abroad and also within ourselves.

Each presentation began with an Army Cadence often sung in the early hours of the morning by service members of the U.S. military. The words were changed to re�ect the transition many veterans and service members go through. The words were changed as follows;

“I don't know why I left,but I know that I was wrong.It won't be longtill I get on back home”

Another song, to tell a story of what happens when truth is revealed in a war society, was sang in honor of Army Intelligence Analyst, Bradley Manning. Manning is currently facing charges of releasing classi�ed information revealing war crimes by the U.S. military;

“Mama, mamaCan't you see?What my Uncle (sam)has done to me?”

W A �nal verse was sang to honor our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan who are peacefully working to end the occupation of their towns and country-sides;

“It's bad news from Bamiyan,a couple of friends are dyin'.It's bad news from Bamiyan,half of my friends are still tryin'.”

The music was followed by a slide-show of a recent visit to Afghanistan by Afghanistan veterans Jacob George and Brock Macintosh. Presented by Jacob, he discussed the healing experiences he had while visiting.

He tells of a moment when he asks his Afghan friends to dress him like an Afghan, to accept him as a brother . He noted that his Afghan friends accepted him without reluctance and with smiles. Once a soldier who fought in the war of aggression against Afghan people, they took him in and helped him look like an Afghan.

Former U.S. Army Sergeant, Jacob George, in Afghanistan

In an ongoing e�ort to support the peaceful anti-occupation movement happening in Afghanistan, Voices for Creative Non-Violence organized the trip over seas. They spent roughly a month in Afghanistan meeting with organizers, teachers, community leaders, students and people who are participating in the movement in general. Classrooms and community spaces to teach non-violence and women's equality were among the places they visited. They talked with students who attended the classes and discovered their willingness to share what they were doing. “They want the world to see what they are up to” says Jacob. Two students share their certi�cates earned from a class on

Democracy and the role of women in civil society.

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Of the many remarkable institutions and opera-tions they visited, the all-women's coop greatly re�ects the resilience of Afghan people. The coop, which produces clothing and various articles of fabric, exists in the presence of violence and oppression.

The women there provide for each other, share the work, turn burkas into elaborate dresses, and are naturally a part of the movement for women's rights in Afghanistan, despite the popular narrative of U.S. military intervention turning the tides of oppression against Afghan women.

Burkas sewn into a dress with a matching bag

Photo taken by Jacob George

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There is much to understand and learn about non-violence in Afghanistan and the current non-violent anti-occupation movement. Although, understanding present-day Afghanistan includes the displacement of tens of thousands of people from their communities into Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps.

The notion of these encampments having minimal resources is lacking in explaining the reality for those who live there. Many babies in the IPD's won't live past �ve and many who live in them agree that their fate is sealed to die there. To comprehend this is to comprehend that U.S. military intervention is furthering this displacement and wasting resources and trillions of dollars to do so.

Peace signs from within an IDP camp in Af-ghani-stan.

Photo taken by Jacob George

A harsh reality is in e�ect in Afghanistan and the destruction wrought on Afghan people would be plenty of reason to pick up weapons and �ght back. As easy as that would be, the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers are taking their place in non-violent anti-occupation move-ment.

They are sharing with the world a notion that is being aggressively and fatally left out of the popular world view of Afghanistan; that peace is indigenous to their country. We ended our presenta-tions by sharing a piece of the fabric worn as scarves by the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers. We tied the fabric around the wrists of everyone attending and took pictures to share and send back to our Afghan friends. The color, they say, represents the one blue sky above us all.

The AfghanYouth PeaceVolunteers

06 September, Departure, 0100: Fayetteville, AR06 September, Arrived, 1100: The Farm, TN06 September, Departure, 1500: The Farm, TN07 September, Arrived, 1400: Elaine Brower, NYC, Staten Island, NY07 September, Meeting, 1900: International Action Center (IAC)08 September, Event, 1930: Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock, Manhasset, Long Island09 September, Press Conference, 1500: Anti-Islamophobia Rally, City Hall, Manhattan, NY 10 September, Presentation, 1730: Peace Action Meeting, Staten Island Museum, NY11 September, Protest, 1200: Muslim Solidarity and Unity Rally, City Hall, Manhattan, NY11 September, Presentation/Panel, 1700: Revolution Books, NYC, NY12 September, Event, 1900: Blue Stockings Bookstore, NYC, NY 13 September, Travel Day: NYC, NY - Princeton, NJ 35 miles, 14 September, Event, 1730: Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton, Princeton, NJ16 September, Travel Day: Princeton, NJ - Philadelphia, PA 44 miles (17 September, Presentation/Picnic, 1200: Radnor Democratic Committee, Radnor, PA17 September, Event, 1930: Central Baptist Church Coffee House, Wayne, PA18 September, Presentation, 1100: Friends Center, Philadelphia, PA18 September, Presentation, 1500: United for Peace and Justice, Philadelphia, PA19 September, Presentation, 1100: Friends Center, Philadelphia, PA19 September, Event, 1830: LAVA, Philadelphia, PA20 September, Event, 1700: Ambler Mennonite Church, Ambler, PA21 September, All-day: World Peace Day, Philadelphia, PA23 September, Event, 1800: Brandywine Potluck, Peace Center of Delaware County, Springfield, PA24 September, Vigil, 1100: Pacem in Terrace Peace Vigil, Wilmington, DE25 September, Presentation, 1100: Limestone Church, Wilmington, DE26 September, Multiple Presentations, 0800-1300: Wilmington Friends School, Wilmington, DE26 September, Town Hall Meeting, 1900: Episcopal Cathedral Church, Baltimore, MD28 September, Event, 1800: North Baltimore Mennonite Church, Baltimore, MD29 September, Event, 1900: Red Emma’s, Baltimore, MD01 October, Event, 1900: AB Tech, Asheville, NC06 October, Occupy/Performance, 1700: Stop the Machine, Freedom Plaza, Washington

NEWJERSEY

DELA-WARE

NEWYORK

NEWARK

PHILADELPHIA

WILMINGTON

BALTIMORE

WASHINGTON DC

Thanks to all the above mentioned (and to those not) people, places, and organizations who housed and fed us, shared our work, and donated bicycles. Special thanks to Veteran’s For Peace and Iraq Veteran’s Against the War.