Greens for Greens ™

“Clearly, the MAPC gave more thought to the significance of those whose struggle for peace is based on principle . . . than did the Nobel Peace Committee that rewarded our President for war.”

Former Congresswoman and 2008 Green Party Presidential Candidate Cynthia McKinney announced today that she has been invited to participate in an International Peace Conference scheduled to take place in Munich, Germany on February 6 – 7, 2010 while the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) meets in the same city to plan war. McKinney, a long-time proponent of abolishing NATO, is scheduled to speak on February 6 at a rally to protest the NATO “security” conference. After the rally, McKinney will participate in the International Peace Conference whose schedule and call to demonstrate against NATO war policies are included below.

Included in McKinney’s program is a meeting with the Munich American Peace Committee (MAPC) which will present to McKinney its third annual award, “Peace through Conscience,” during the ceremonies of the Munich Peace Conference on the evening of February 6, 2010. The MAPC Peace Prize is normally awarded by the previous year’s winner. In McKinney’s case the honors will be done by André Shepherd, a U.S. Army deserter from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars and asylum seeker in Germany. Said McKinney of her selection for the award, “I am humbled to be so recognized. Clearly, the MAPC gave more thought to the significance of those whose struggle for peace is based on principle and an unshakeable commitment, despite the personal sacrificies required, than did the Nobel Peace Committee that rewarded our President for war.” McKinney continued, “In this way of thinking, peace is now war, lies are now truth, and ignorance is strength.”

McKinney calls on Americans across Germany to converge on Munich and protest U.S. and NATO war policies. McKinney will meet with American ex-patriots in multiple meetings while in Munich.

[From Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox]

By Cindy Sheehan
[Cindy Sheehan endorsed Green Party Presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney in 2008.]

The so-called anti-war movement currently finds itself in somewhat of a quagmire: What to do when the man you raised money for, volunteered for, and yes, even voted for, actually fulfills one of his most repulsive campaign promises?

First of all, I never understood why, or how, peace people could support someone who voted to pay for the wars while he was a Senator and was quite clear on the fact that he would increase violence in Afghanistan and perform a slow, painful and very incomplete withdrawal from Iraq. Principles that were proclaimed so loudly while Bush was president get shoved aside and buried now that a Democrat is president and how do you get your principles back from the dung-pile of selling out?

(more…)

[From Europe News via Monsters and Critics]

German Green party activist resigns over dead fish

Berlin – One of the Green Party’s lead candidates, Renate Kuenast, expressed regret on Wednesday at the decision of a prominent party member to quit – over a dead fish.

Author and actress Barbara Ruetting said she could not remain in the party – which she had represented in the Bavarian parliament – after Kuenast was shown killing a freshly caught fish on German ARD state television.

The 81-year-old said her vote would now go to a marginal animal-rights party instead.

‘The decision was not easy,’ Ruetting told ARD on Tuesday. She referred to Kuenast’s three deadly blows to the fish, during a programme screened in August, as her reason for quitting.

Kuenast insisted animal rights issues were still high on the party’s agenda. ‘We Greens will continue to engage actively for animal protection,’ the parliamentary leader told German daily Bild.
Kuenast is co-heading the Green Party’s campaign, ahead of Sunday’s general election.

Germany’s fishing association expressed support for Kuenast, saying that it was appropriate to stun a freshly caught fish by hitting it with a stick.

‘Anglers who … behave sensibly have an educative role,’ said association expert Thomas Meinelt.

Ruetting, who has acted in more than 45 films, had previously left the Green Party over charges that it had turned its back on pacifism.
After re-joining the Greens she entered the Bavarian parliament in 2003, a position she retired from earlier this year.

2008 Green presidential nominee Cynthia McKinney is participating in a second campaign to deliver goods to Gaza in defiance of an Israeli blockade. According to recent news reports, port authority officials in Cyprus have detained a multi-national Free Gaza Movement boat in Lanarca under pressure from Israel. The boat is carrying 33 human rights activists, including Ms. McKinney, and shipments of medical supplies and cement.

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES Pakistan Green Party leader tours the US, issues a statement on the attacks WASHINGTON, DC — Green Parties in Pakistan and the US are demanding an end to US military attacks within Pakistan’s borders, which have killed 900 civilians and left villages in ruins. Pakistan Green Party leader Liaquat Ali Shaikh, in [...]