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Memorial Day: Let's celebrate a day where war is a MEMORY...

READERS: I receive emails from a Long Island organization known as South Country Peace Group. I'm using the upcoming Memorial Day remembrance to introduce you to their efforts to bring about a world free from the violence associated with war...For our children...


Here are my questions and replies to their 5/21/25 email - part of which is included near the end of the post:



Hello! South Country Peace Group!


Thanks for your efforts to teach and practice PEACE…


QUESTIONS...


1. Are there any peace groups marching in Nassau County on Memorial Day? 

—I live in West Hempstead and plan to march in our local parade on Monday.

Following the tips in your email, I’ll wear black. 


2. Where is the assembly point for this rally?

—George Floyd March, May 25th at 12 pm in Mineola at the Nassau County Legislative Building


REPLIES to other content in your email...


GAZA: I scream...Ice cream...for peace...

--A few days ago, Ben Cohen, the Jewish co-founder of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, disrupted a Senate hearing to protest US support (providing bombs) for Israel's destruction in Gaza of women and children and their housing and food supplies. 



[from the article]

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen blamed United States-supplied bombs for contributing to “genocide” in Gaza amid Israel’s war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas. 

    

“What’s going on in Israel right now is genocide with our bombs,” said Cohen, adding that “the American people have become complicit in the genocide that Israel is engaging in, and if it weren’t for us providing the bombs, they wouldn’t be able to do it.”

Cohen stood up in the seating area and screamed, “Congress pays for bombs.” He was then taken away by Capitol Police officers.

    

The ice cream giant’s co-founder said his protest had nothing to do with Kennedy, but with U.S. military support for Israel. 

    

“What it had to do with is that Congress has been cutting money for Medicaid, health care for poor kids. And they’re using the money they save doing that to bomb other poor kids in Gaza. And, and now … they’re halting all the food aid that’s going in, so they’re starving the people of Gaza,” Cohen told host Chris Cuomo. 


Ben & Jerry's product line includes "Cherry Garcia"...Here are troubling lyrics from the Grateful Dead's "Standing on the Moon" that apply to this and all war-torn areas of our shared world:


"I hear the cries of children

And the other songs of war"



Song seemed to call for a woman's voice...since they stand on the sidelines and watch as the lives they bring into this world...are snuffed out by war...



Cohen repeatedly uses the word "GENOCIDE" to describe Israel's actions.

This is the "cide" they are on.



May 24 Jones Beach Air Show

From: Margaret Melkonian <longislandpeace@gmail.com>

Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2025 11:28 AM

To: Margaret Melkonian <longislandpeace@gmail.com>

Subject: May 24 air show at Jones Beach REMEMBER ALL THOSE WHO HAVE DIED

 

AIR SHOW: This Saturday, May 24, the annual Memorial Day weekend air show will be happening at Jones Beach, sponsored by FourLeaf Federal Credit Union (formerly Bethpage Federal Credit Union). As we do every year, Pax Christi Long Island and friends will be there for a peaceful vigil. Here's why: We believe that Memorial Day should be about remembering those who died in previous wars, not about recruiting young people for future wars—or glorifying weapons of war, such as fighter jets. Remember: Recruiting is the reason for the show. The Navy Blue Angels and Air Force Thunderbirds say it clearly in the contracts with local sponsors: A recruiting station must be in a key location on the beach. No recruiters, no planes.

If you'd like to join us, please try to arrive at 7:30 AM. The parking fee is $10 a car. Park in Lot 4, walk through the tunnel at the east end of the lot, and look for us near the bicycle racks on the central mall. We will leaflet in that general area, alongside those in line to have their beach gear checked. As to the weather, there is no rain date. If it is pouring and will continue through the day and the air show is cancelled, our vigil is cancelled, too. If the weather is cloudy but the air show is still on, so is our vigil.

 

Margaret Melkonian, Executive Director

Andrea Libresco, Board President

L.I. Alliance for Peaceful AlternativesP.O. Box 301, Garden City NY 11530


FLY KITES NOT DRONES...








[from the video's description - see description for links]

4,046 views  Sep 11, 2015

This animation from http://www.flykitesnotdrones.org introduces the idea of armed drones and how they effect people in Afghanistan and around the world, to be used in combination with the education pack from Afghan Peace Volunteers, Voices for CReative Non-Violence, Quaker Peace & Social Witness, The Drone Campaign Network and Pax Christi UK The USA's Council on Foreign Relations tally assesses that 500 drone strikes outside of Iraq and Afghanistan have killed 3,674 people | See Britain has 10 armed Reaper drones | See http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/20... dronewars.net/category/british-reapers/ Information about Armed Reaper Drones | See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/world... (Though the Telegraph has confused footage of the USA's Predator drones with that of the larger Reapers).


[from the article which includes instructions for making a kite]

--In Afghanistan, where flying kites has great cultural significance, the perfect kite-flying weather also provides perfect conditions for the drones, whose bombs have left children fearful when they play. Afghan Peace Volunteers began Fly Kites Not Drones as a nonviolent way to call for peace.

In 2011 in Gaza, where war, violence and conflict are never far away, 13,000 children taking part in a summer camp broke the world record for the number of people flying kites at the same time.The flying of kites is a statement of hope in the face of violence and fear; it is a sign of peace.

So make your own kite and send your message of hope for peace into the skies…


MAY 21 EMAIL FROM COMBINED PEACE ADVOCACY GROUPS


Stop the Arms Trade                                    Cut the Arms Budget

Money for Environmental and Human Needs


Dear SCPG Members and Friends:

Please see info and reminders below about several special events happening soon! Apologies for late notice, but I have been encountering some technological challenges.

This Memorial Day marks the 41st year that SCPG will participate in the Bellport Village Memorial Day Parade, seeking to provide a presence for Peace on this holiday created in memory of the tragedy of war and the lives lost.

Why a Peace Group in a Memorial Day Parade?

Memorial Day developed from the mourning custom of Confederate women who brought flowers to the graves of their loved ones lost in the Civil War. Subsequently, Union General John Logan declared May 30 as a date to honor all the war dead; Memorial Day came to be a time to remember the sadness and waste of all wars (including “just” wars) which cause suffering on all sides. Thus, having a Peace Group participate in the parade could not be more appropriate. War means loss— loss of precious lives and resources, loss of opportunities to cultivate common ground and resolve conflicts without mass destruction. We believe it honors the war dead to be working towards a world with less war and bloodshed. We hope you can join us; details are provided below!

“Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.” —Albert Einstein

 

PROTECT DEMOCRACY with Liberty and Justice for ALL!

 

With sincere thanks for all your actions for Peace and Environmental Justice!

on behalf of the SCPG Board

Michelle Santantonio, Mary Ellen Pantaleo, Nancy Marr, Bill Kokell, Anne Dooling and Rich Morgan

 

This next section was also included in the 5/21 email. Please take time to view the video. Video link follows these next 2 images.





PEACE THROUGH MUSIC PLAYLIST












Next, Protestant and Catholic kids come together thru music at the site of an horrendous car bombing in Northern Ireland...




 
 
 

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