Feinstein Knows Iraq War Is Wrong, Should Bring Troops Home, Says Cindy Sheehan

By Elaine Pasquini


	(L-r) Cindy Sheehan, Nooshin Razani and Anne Roesler outside Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s San Francisco office (Staff photo P. Pasquini).

TEN DAYS after leaving her makeshift camp where she hoped to meet with President George W. Bush while he was vacationing at his Crawford, Texas ranch, Cindy Sheehan visited Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s San Francisco office Sept. 9. Since his boss was not in her office, Feinstein aide James Molinari met with Sheehan—the mother of Army First Battalion Spc. Casey Sheehan, 24, who died in Iraq April 4, 2004, while trying to rescue fellow soldiers under attack in Sadr City—together with military mom Anne Roesler and Nooshin Razani, whose 19-year-old brother, Army Spc. Omead Razani, was killed in Habbaniyah, Iraq, Aug. 27, 2004.

Following their 20-minute meeting with Molinari, the three women briefed some 35 supporters and at least a dozen media members in the plaza outside the upscale office building in the heart of the city’s financial district.

“The senator’s aide gave us reasons for continuing the occupation, which we feel are very bogus,” Sheehan told the crowd. “The constitution is turning the country into an Islamic republic and the rights of women are not there.” As for protecting Iraq’s new leaders, they are “puppet leaders that George Bush put in place,” she charged, noting that U.S.-trained Iraqi soldiers are seen as collaborators.

“Senator Feinstein’s aide in Washington, DC, has told me that the senator knows the war is wrong,” Sheehan continued. “She knows it’s based on lies, she knows that she was lied to, and, if she had known that, she never would have voted to give George Bush the authority to invade and occupy Iraq. Well, if she knows it’s wrong, then it’s time to bring our kids home.”

If Feinstein does not support bringing the troops home, the Vacaville mother urged her followers to support another candidate when the Democratic senator’s term is up.

Razani then gave her impression of the meeting with Feinstein’s staff. “They felt for us as human beings,” she said. “They see the insanity of the reasons behind this war, but feel stuck because they made a decision a while back. I feel they [our representatives] need a push to make the right decision.”

Roesler’s 27-year-old son is an Army staff sergeant with the 82nd Airborne Division currently serving his third deployment in Iraq. “My son tells me ‘our troops are seen as fuel on a fire,’” she related. “We’ve opened a hornets’ nest and we need to get out now.”

Arab Film Festival Wows Bay Area Audiences


Arab Film Festival artistic director Sonia El-Feki (Staff photo P. Pasquini).

Syrian-Canadian director Ruba Nadda’s feature film “Sabah” opened the Ninth Annual Arab Film Festival of the San Francisco Bay Area Sept. 23 at the Castro Theatre.

The festival, “Cinemayaat,” which ran from Sept. 23 through Oct. 2, presented 39 films varying from feature narratives to shorts and documentaries. The diverse subjects explored included the war in Darfur, as seen in Taghreed Elsanhouri’s “All About Darfur,” and Benny Brunner’s “The Concrete Curtain,” which exposed the difficulties for Palestinians living in the shadow of Israel’s apartheid wall. Countries contributing films included Algeria, Canada, Germany, Egypt, France, Israel, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Spain, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, and the U.S. “Abouna,” which previously screened at the Cannes International Film Festival, was a first-time entry from Chad. For more information, visit the AFF Web site at <http://www.aff.org>.

Businessman Tackles Media Bias Against Palestinians


	Activist Fred Shepherd (Staff photos E. Pasquini).

“I’ve pledged $5,000 to the first person who can prove that the San Francisco Chronicle and the Marin Independent Journal do not favor Israelis over Palestinians in their reporting on the Middle East conflict,” Fred Shepherd told the Washington Report in a Sept. 13 interview. The San Anselmo businessman-turned-activist discussed media bias and censorship at PBS TV stations, particularly as it affects his film series project, “America, Israel and Palestine: Cause and Effect,” which is now being broadcast on public access television stations across the country.

Among the 11 films in the series are “Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land,” “Palestine Is Still the Issue,” “Global Warning: An Interview with Mordechai Vanunu” and “Interview: Ilan Pappe.” In “Wall of Shame” and “The Wall of Hate” the filmmakers turned their lens on the illegal apartheid wall Israel has built throughout the occupied West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem. “The Loss of Liberty” is a documentary about Israel’s June 8, 1967 attack on the USS Liberty that killed 34 American servicemen and wounded 172. “This film shows Israel as a country that does not respect the U.S., its neighbors, international law, Geneva Conventions, U.N. resolutions and human rights,” Shepherd commented.

“Showing this film series about the Israel-Palestine conflict on local public access television stations and other venues is an opportunity to educate and inform members of communities nationwide,” explained Shepherd, “and if it’s established in 500 to 800 television stations, you know we will start turning the tide. Our objective is to reach out to new people, and the continued success of this project is dependent upon volunteers who are willing to sponsor the series in their community.” The film series package is available for $159 by contacting Shepherd, executive director of Global Information Services, at <altencon@aol.com> or (415) 459-8738.

In addition to Shepherd, who sponsored the film series in Marin County, sponsors include Abla Aranki and Jeff Pekrul in San Francisco, Henry Norr in Berkeley, and Robert Stiver and Ramsis Lutfy in Hawaii. Aranki also sponsored the program in Boston. For current schedules visit <http://www.palkqed.com> .

“It’s most important to get this film series out to as many people as possible who can participate in their community through public access television,” Shepherd explained. “The idea is to reach viewers who are spinning the dial and to air the films on a recurring basis 24/7. When people see these films they are going to understand that something is wrong in Israel and America’s support of its policies.”

Shepherd also discussed his campaign to have “Palestine Is Still the Issue” shown on KQED, San Francisco’s public broadcasting station. Together with local activists, Shepherd attended KQED board meetings and met with the station’s president, Jeff Clark, but to no avail. “KQED has failed its mission to educate and inform the public about important issues such as justice for Palestinians,” Shepherd concluded.

Arab Cultural Festival


A little boy in a Palestinian outfit holds a Palestinian flag. (Staff photo P. Pasquini).

“Twenty-Two Beats—One Drum” was the theme of the Arab Cultural and Community Center’s 11th annual Arab Cultural Festival held at San Francisco’s County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park Sept. 18. Some 2,000 festivalgoers browsed the booth bazaar and enjoyed live entertainment, including Al-Juzoor debke dancers. Many children visited the henna table and showed off beautiful henna drawings on their hands and faces, while everyone enjoyed delicious Arabic food.

As he has for many years, longtime ACCC member Darwish Addassi chaired the festival, assisted by the center’s president, Amany Ghanem, executive director Sally Al-Daher, associate director Inas Elmashni and committee members Ruba Dahbour, Samar Mahbouba, Alex Dajani and Ahmed Hashem. The ACCC can be reached at (415) 664-2200; e-mail <info@arabculturecenter.org>; or Web site: <http://www.arabculturalcenter.org>.

Elaine Pasquini is a free-lance journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area.