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Saturday, February 18 at 2 PM
Battelle Riverfront Park, 25 North Marconi Blvd, downtown Columbus, by the river

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Milwaukee, WI. FEBRUARY 14, 2017 –  Peter Peckarsky’s campaign for Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) received confirmation from the DNC that his name will appear on the ballot for the position of Chair at the DNC Officer Elections on Saturday, February 25, 2017 in Atlanta, GA.

Peckarsky’s campaign is based on providing election and voting protection. He states, “Our country has a Constitution which provides certain rights. One of these rights is the right to vote. My objective is to restore confidence in the voting process.” This, coupled with his vision for an inclusive Party built on a solid grassroots foundation, will enable the Party to move forward in an empowered and engaged fashion in cooperation with State and Local Party organizations.

He went on to emphasize, “A substantial number of our fellow citizens were unconstitutionally denied the right to vote in the November 8, 2016, election because of the color of their skin or other obstacles to fair voting recently erected.”

People marching with Jewish Voice for Peace banner

Jewish Voice for Peace Central Ohio was saddened to learn of the recent vandalism of the Ahlul Bayt Society Islamic Center on Dublin-Granville Road. Surveillance cameras at the mosque caught the perpetrator writing anti-Muslim messages on the front glass doors of the mosque after morning prayer on Saturday, February 11, 2017. The case has been referred to local law enforcement, who will investigate this as a possible hate crime. This mosque is a center of prayer for fellow Ohioans, and as such deserves to be treated with care and respect.

This act does not represent the values and ideals of our community. We stand in solidarity with all those who are targeted by such hateful behavior and all who are made to feel insecure by the ignorance that produces it. We believe that security, strength, and understanding is fostered and sustained when the community stands up in dark times and vocally opposes the normalization of such events. The Jewish tradition teaches that we take ownership over the character of our community and advance tikkun olam (or repair of the world) by exchanging hate for love.

Three police ICE officers

Federal agents from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office, also known by the chilling acronym ICE, have ramped up their efforts locally since Trump’s immigration ban. According to the Columbus-based Ohio Hispanic Coalition, ICE is waiting outside the homes of suspected undocumented immigrants, following them in unmarked cars, pulling them over without cause, and in some cases, arresting them when they cannot provide proof they are American citizens.

So far six Columbus families have had loved ones arrested by ICE after they drove away from their homes, says Josue Vicente, the executive director of the Ohio Hispanic Coalition, a non-profit for Ohio’s Latino population. He suspects there are more families who are too afraid to come forward with similar stories.

Vicente says some of undocumented immigrants arrested are believed to not have criminal records or outstanding warrants in the US or their home country.

People protesting immigration ban at JFK airport

The protest comes in response to President Donald Trump and his 1-month-old administration. The Republican president has pledged to increase deportation of immigrants living in the country illegally, build a wall along the Mexican border, and ban people from certain majority-Muslim countries from coming into the U.S. He also has blamed high unemployment on immigration.

A day without immigrants across the US

List of cities and businesses participating

Restaurants Will Test If The U.S. Can Stomach ‘A Day Without Immigrants’ They’re closing their doors in solidarity with many of their employees.

 

BANGKOK, Thailand -- President Donald Trump may strengthen
Washington's support for Bangkok's military government after sending
the head of the U.S. Pacific Command to open a 10-day Cobra Gold
military exercise on Valentine's Day, the highest-level officer to
arrive since Thailand's 2014 coup.
   But Mr. Trump's silence on U.S.-Thailand relations has analysts
wondering if he will follow through, or risk allowing Bangkok to drift
closer to Beijing.
   The Trump administration's focus in the Asia-Pacific region
includes Beijing's territorial claims in the South China Sea, Taiwan's
separate status from China, North Korea's nuclear ambitions, and the
spread of Islamic terrorism.
   "A Trump administration, less concerned with issues of human
rights, could see a return to full American engagement, but at this
point, Trump's approach to Asia is unclear and contradictory at best,"
former Canadian ambassador to Thailand Phil Calvert said on February 7
in "A Diplomat's Assessment" published by the Canadian International
Council.

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