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FOR has worked with and accompanied the courageous anti-militarism youth group, Red Juvenil de Medellín (Medellin Youth Network) since 2003. Red leaders and supporters were recently subject to a death threat from the newly emerged "Black Eagles" paramilitary group. We urge readers to respond to the Red’s appeal in the face of this threat.

Click here learn more and sign our petition.

Below is a letter from our friends at Red Juvenil:

We wish to inform human rights organizations and other official entities that our organization has been the subject of a death threat from the paramilitaries known as the Black Eagles.

Facts:

1. Thursday and Friday May 29 and 30, the Red Juvenil (Youth Network) received an email from the address redesnegras@hotmail.com with the following message:

"Death to anarchists disguised as pacifists, no more drug concerts or communists, this is the last warning." Those threatened were eight people: members and close friends of the Red Juvenil. It was signed by the group Black Eagles.

This week we received some bad news in the case of Dr. Sami Al-Arian. The announcement is below.

Three months after refusing to testify before a third grand jury, Dr. Sami Al-Arian - whose trial has been the single most important test case of the PATRIOT Act - was charged on two counts of contempt of court. Dr. Al-Arian refused to testify not only because the plea agreement he concluded with the government in 2006 clearly exempts him from having to do so, but also because it was a clear perjury trap.

We were so pleased to find FOR featured in this month's Yes! magazine in a feature about "DIY Foreign Policy Heroes."

Yes! published a photo (without credit) of members of our December Iran delegation, but did give us credit for being "Citizen Ambassadors" in this short piece:

This is a voice from the beyond; a collection of speeches, stories, sketches of Vonnegut’s on war and peace, never before published. That Vonnegut survived the fire bombing of Dresden, but was required to clean up after it, as a prisoner of war certainly offers a contextual frame for his contributions to literature and his lifelong, self-proclaimed “disgust with civilization.” With good reason, and much evidence to support his case.

Last week the staff and National Council of FOR got a very special treat. The legendary troubadour for justice Si Kahn hosted a fundraising house party at our national headquarters. Si went south to work for civil rights in the 60's and never looked back. In 1980, he founded Grassroots Leadership, a nonprofit which works to support progressive organizing in the South and he still writes and sings songs that move the movement.

FOR Executive Director Mark Johnson (left) and Si Khan.

Russell Banks, a novelist I have long admired and enjoyed reading, makes a bold and stunning entry into the field of political analysis and progressive prophetic voice with Dreaming Up America. The text is a series of commentary on classic American films, collected for a French audience initially, and now issued as a collection of essays rather than a script. Two extended quotations may whet your appetite enough to acquire a copy for yourself, read, and pass on to others.

In addition to the request we posted earlier calling on African leaders to save Zimbabwe from Robert Mugabe, we also invite you to send an e-mail to your U.S. Senators urging congressional action for peace and the restoration of democracy.

Here is the letter we hope you will send:

Some informative resources for understanding the situation in Zimbabwe, please add more links in the comments.

• News about the Zimbabwe elections from the BBC
• Zimbabwe news from AllAfrica.com
• News from CNN
• Open Congress: legislation pertaining to Zimbabwe

No doubt you have been hearing about the violence in Zimbabwe which seems designed to thart a democratic electoral threat to dictator Robert Mugabe. FOR-USA has strongly expressed our support and solidarity with FOR-Zimbabwe, but there is more we can do to help.

Click here to sign the AVAAZ petition urgng African leaders to take the initiative to restore peace and justice in Zimbabwe.

From Friday through Sunday, June 20-22, 2008, the National Council (governing board) and national staff of the U.S. Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR-USA), held its semi-annual meeting in Nyack, New York. In response to the deepening political crisis in Zimbabwe and a call from FOR-Zimbabwe for support, FOR-USA issued the following statement by unanimous acclamation: