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HOST COMMITTEE
Chair
Father Miguel D’Escoto Brockmann
President, U.N. Gen. Assembly, 2008-09;
Foreign Minister of Nicaragua’s Sandinista
government,1979-1990
Gala Coordinators:
Teresa Gutierrez
Sara Flounders
LeiLani Dowell
From behind the Walls:
Mumia Abu-Jamal
Revolutionary journalist
Prof. Sami Al-Arian
Palestinian activist
Harvey ‘Tee’ Earvin
Texas death row activist
Leonard Peltier
Native American political prisoner
Lynne Stewart
Attorney
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Pam Africa & Suzanne Ross
Int'l Concerned Family & Friends
of Mumia Abu-Jamal
Kazem Azin SI - Solidarity with Iran
Imam Ashraf Islamic Circle of No.America
Rev. Luis Barrios IFCO/Pastors for Peace
Tom Burke Nat'l Coal. to Stop FBI Repression
William Camacaro
Alberto Lovera Bolivarian Circle
Nicholas Camerota
Springfield Tech. Community College Professional Assoc.
Shahid Comrade Pakistan USA Freedom Forum
John Conyers
U.S. congressperson
Steve Downs Nat'l Coal. to Protect Civil Freedoms
Berthony Dupont Haiti Liberte
Bernadette Ellorin BAYAN USA
Frances ‘Sissy’ Farenthold
Fndr, Nat'l Women’s Political Caucus
Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton
Archdiocese of Detroit
Lawrence Hamm
Peoples Organization for Progress
Abdeen Jabara Attny; past pres.,
American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
Alicia Jrapko
Int'l Cmte to
Free the Cuban Five
Kadouri Al-Kaysi Iraqi activist
Imam Ashrafuz Zaman Khan
Islamic Circle of
North America
Joe Lombardo & Marilyn Levin
United Nat'l Antiwar Coalition
Holly Maguigan Prof., NYU School
of Law
Cynthia McKinney
Fmr U.S. congress.
Lucy Pagoada Quesada Colectivo
Honduras USA Resistencia
Roberto Quesada Author, Colectivo
Honduras USA Resistencia
Mauri Saalakhan
Peace thru Justice Foundation
Dr. Agha Saeed
American Muslim Association
Dr. Asha Samad Matias CUNY
Women’s Studies Program
Dr. Muhammad Shafique
Pakistan USA Freedom Forum
Dr. Fowzia Siddiqui Aafia Movement
Jose Maria Sison Int'l League of Peoples Struggle; exiled Filipino leader
Imam Al-Haj Talib Abdur Rashid Islamic Leadership Council. of Metro. N.Y.
Clarence Thomas Int'l Longshore & Warehouse Union, Local 10
Victor Toro MIR co-founder;
Chilean activist fighting deportation
Michael Tarif Warren Attorney
Bernard White Community Public Radio Metro; fmr program director, WBAI Pacifica
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An Invitation from
Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann
to Support the Ramsey Clark 85th Birthday
≈ IAC 20th Anniversary 
Gala
Celebration
Dear Friend,
This year marks the 85th birthday of Ramsey Clark, the founder of the International Action Center. And this year also marks the 20th anniversary of the International Action Center
I have had the privilege of both knowing and collaborating with Ramsey for more than 40 years. Perhaps our most important ongoing collaboration, together with Ben Bella (Algeria), Tony Benn (UK) and Karmenu Bonnici (Malta), was being part of the coalition to oppose the Gulf War and to demand an end to the criminal U.S.-led sanctions against the people of Iraq — sanctions that eventually killed more than 1.5 million people and marked only the beginning of the U.S. war against Iraq.
At the end of this month, Ramsey will be with us in Managua and will once again receive the love and gratitude that our people have always felt for him.
During my tenure as President of the UN General Assembly, Ramsey was my key senior advisor on international law, providing valuable insights into the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the so-called “responsibility to protect”— new jargon to mask the old practice of wars of aggression — and the sorely needed reform of the United Nations. I am proud to have had the honor, during this period, of bestowing on Ramsey in 2008 the U.N. Human Rights Award. His voice, challenging U.S. wars and criminal corporate policies, is a voice of conscience recognized around the world. He has brought ethics back into the equation and discussion of global issues.
For more than 20 years, Ramsey’s work with the IAC has meant that the people of the world know that they can count on a friend and ally in the United States, the belly of the beast.
The IAC has sustained itself through difficult times and has remained consistently anti-imperialist, anti-racist and anti-capitalist. This is an accomplishment.
That a great people’s champion stands tall and keeps fighting is well worth celebrating.
This is why I urge you to support the Ramsey Clark 85th Birthday and IAC 20th Anniversary Gala Celebration on Saturday, January 12, 2013, at historic Riverside Church.
Ramsey Clark remains a unique political figure in the United States. At great sacrifice he has consistently opposed U.S. intervention abroad and fought for justice at home. He has defended countless individuals and organizations, targets of racism or repression, many who might have otherwise stood alone. From prisoners on Texas death row to the Attica prison rebels; from Native American leader Leonard Peltier to Jamil Al-Amin and the Plowshare defendants; from Lori Berenson in Peru to prisoners in the Philippines, Turkey, Pakistan, and Egypt — Ramsey Clark has been there for them.
He’s been here for all of us. He has opposed nuclear weapons, U.S. bases, drone wars and every U.S. aggression, including the most recent dangerous threat of a new war on Iran.
It was through Ramsey that the IAC began, in the mass movement to oppose both the first war in Iraq in 1991 as well as the deadly sanctions. In Cuba’s most difficult hour, Ramsey and the IAC mobilized a massive rally at the Javits Convention Center and sent vital material aid delegations. At a crucial moment for Mumia Abu-Jamal, it held a historic rally at Madison Square Garden.
Ramsey Clark and the IAC have done it all boldly, often in the face of vicious opposition. This is a great history!
I urge you to help celebrate this history — and help launch the next era of struggles — by supporting the Ramsey Clark 85th Birthday — IAC 20th Anniversary Gala Celebration.
Attached you will find information on how you can reserve a table for the Gala, reserve a journal ad and donate to the Gala even if you are not able to attend.
Please feel free to contact Gala organizers, either by emailing ramsey85iac20gala@gmail.com or calling Teresa Gutierrez at 917.328.6470 or Sara Flounders at 201.388.7428.
Onward to the struggle & to our victories,
Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann,
Chair of the 85/20 Gala Host Committee
♦ ♦ ♦
“In 84 years I have never celebrated a birthday.
But I will on my 85th birthday because it celebrates
the 20th anniversary of the IAC and helps assure its continued work. I look forward to seeing you at
the Gala.”
— Ramsey Clark
Visit IACenter.org/gala now to:
- Purchase your dinner tickets and group table reservations;
- Buy a display ad or list your name as a supporter in the Gala Journal - deadline 12/25;
- Donate to help publish an anthology of Ramsey Clark's articles; be listed in the book as a supporter;
- View a PDF of this invitation letter from Gala Host Father Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann.
(Donations and purchases at IACenter.org/gala are tax deductible).
Email: ramsey85iac20gala@gmail.com
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