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First Unitarian Universalist
Society
of San Francisco
(415) 776-4580
Email
UUSF 
1187 Franklin Street at Geary
San Francisco, CA 94109
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it! 
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Groups and Activities >
School of The Americas Watch - San Francisco
Upcoming Event - 10th Anniversary Celebration
Saturday, April 26, 7 pm at First Unitarian Universalist Center
Join in celebration of SOAW's 10th anniversary of activism. Featuring speaker Friar Louis Vitale - Franciscan Priest, War Veteran, and Peace Activist.
Reception / Refreshments / No Host Bar following the program.
Wheelchair accessible
Suggested Donation: $15 - $50 Sliding scale
For more information, contact: SOAW by email
View event flyer 10th Anniversary Celebration .
Our Mission
SOA Watch is a nonviolent grassroots movement that works through creative protest and resistance, legislative and media work,
- to stand in solidarity with the people of Latin America,
- close the School of Americas (SOA) / WHINSEC, and
- change oppressive U.S. foreign policy that institutions like the SOA represent.
We are grateful to our sisters and brothers throughout Latin America for their inspiration and the invitation to join them in their struggle for economic and social justice.
Overview
The School of the Americas,
now called Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC),
is located at Fort Benning, in Columbus, Georgia. Because of citizen
protests, the SOA was renamed in January 2001. Now a part of the Department
of Defense, the "new" school is more secretive while its military mission
remains the same. This institution continues to train Latin American
soldiers in such courses as military intelligence, psychological
operations and counterinsurgency tactics. SOA trainees have participated
in documented atrocities in Latin America aimed at noncombatant civilians,
especially labor union leaders, clergy helping the poor, students,
academics and campesinos.
Funded with our tax dollars, the counterinsurgency tactics taught
at the SOA/WHINSEC most often aim to control civilian populations in
their quest for true democratic reforms and to maintain the economic
status quo benefiting wealthy elites and multinationals.
Amnesty International featured
the SOA Watch movement and goals in their 2002 study, Unmatched
Power, Unmet Principles (The Human Rights Dimensions of US Training
of Foreign Military and Police Forces). Click
here for the AI report findings .
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SOA Watch - San Francisco activist places a memorial on the fence at Fort Benning, during the annual vigil in November. |
Quick Links:
National and Local SOA Watch Groups
Current News
Links to Learn More
Calendar of Meetings and Events\
Contact and Location
Other Bay Area SOAW Chapters
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Society members Brad Gaffney, Dolores Perez Priem, and Nancy Deutsch, among others, join over 100 Bay Area SOAWWatchers at November 2007 Annual Vigil and Protest.
How To Get Involved
- Join us at our monthly meetings on the first Thursday of the month. Please see details below.
- Join us at special events, including the annual vigil held at Fort Benning, GA (home of the School of the Americas
⁄ WHINSEC) each November.
- Stay informed and learn about local actions in the monthly listserve bulletin. Send an email request to Dolores Perez Priem by clicking here: email and ask to be added to the e-list.
Regular Meetings and Events
1st Thursday of each month, 7:00PM
SF Chapter: School of the Americas Watch-West: Monthly Meeting
Location: First Unitarian Universalist Society
Description: Planning and general business meeting, held the first
Thursday of each month. New members and visitors welcome.
3rd Wednesday of each month, 7:00PM
Oakland Chapter: School of the Americas Watch-West: Monthly Meeting
Location: 401 26th Street (a block off Broadway)
Contact and Location Information
Contact:
Dolores Perez Priem by email or
phone at (415) 387-2287.
Meeting Location:
First Unitarian Universalist Society
1187 Franklin Street at Geary (map
it! ),
San Francisco, CA 94109-6893
Phone: (415) 776-4580
National and Local SOA Watch Groups
SOA Watch - San Francisco is part of the national movement School
of the Americas Watch (SOA Watch) whose
purpose is to close the notorious "School of Assassins" as it is
called by the people of Latin America. SOA Watch is one of the few
national organizations challenging the United States military training
policies which are offensive to American and international concepts
of justice and human rights.
As an affiliated organization of the First Unitarian Universalist
Society of San Francisco, SOA Watch - San Francisco is committed to
the Unitarian Universalist principles of respect for the inherent worth
and dignity of every person and the goals of justice, equity and compassion
in human relations. SOA Watch-San Francisco was formed in 1998 by Bay
Area social justice and peace activists. Today, SOA Watch - San Francisco networks with groups in Oakland, Contra Costa County, San Jose, and Los Angeles as well with many high school and university groups thoughout California.
Photo of the School of the Americas, now called WHINSEC, at Fort Benning, GA. |
Current News
For The Latest Breaking News...
Be sure to visit the national
SOAW website.
This book by Linda Cooper and James Hodge (Orbis Books, Maryknoll
Press) is about the founder of our SOAW movement, the inspiring journey
of a prophetic priest, and the campaign to close the Army school responsible
for training dictators and death squad leaders.
This book by Lesley Gill (Duke University Press) is important especially
because this author is an independent researcher. She is Associate
Professor of Anthropology at American University. Here are some quotes
from her "Conclusion" to pique your interest.
"... The military represented the most basic form of imperial
control in the Americas. Maintaining U.S. hegemony depended on soldiers
to uphold a particular form of capitalist order that shifted over
time, and it was a fundamentally violent process. Because of the
strategic importance of Latin America for the United States, the
School of the Americas played a vital role in training over 60,000
troops between its founding in the Panama Canal Zone after WWII and
its reincarnation as the WHINSEC in 2001. The School constituted
part of a hydra-headed, repressive apparatus that included armies,
police forces, paramilitaries, training centers, arms manufacturers,
and think-tanks. This ravenous beast consumed ever more public resources
as the cold war spurred its expansion throughout the middle decades
of the 20th century. .... Even though threats, political and economic
manipulation, and brute force were key to sustaining U.S. power in
the Americas, the new opportunities offered to rising members of
the Latin American officer corps by the United States secured their
collusion in the U.S. imperial project to a considerable degree.
...."
Society members Zack Deutsch-Gross and Nancy Deutsch (right) join SOAWW-SF Co-chair Judy Liteky
at Fort Benning Vigil and Protest.
SOAWW - East Bay: Robert Nixon, 510-533-3120, email
SOAWW - Contra Costa: Natalie Russell, 925-934-0759, email
SOAWW - San Jose: Larry Lauro, 408-537-9288, email
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