July/August 2002

Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC.

New from the AFSC Video Library

The AFSC video library continues to expand with films commenting on a huge range of pertinent issues. Here are a few that strike this reviewer as particularly informative and engaging.

Schneider vs Kissinger. A gripping CBS expose detailing the Kissinger involvement in the Nixon attempt to prevent Allende's inauguration in 1970. The CIA with Kissinger planned to kidnap General Schneider, the Commander of the Chilean Army, who supported the election process. The CIA botched plans resulted in Schneider's murder, and Allende became President for the next three years until the Nixon and Kissinger had him overthrown. The Schneider family has instituted a legal case vs Kissinger. (17 mins).

The Stones Will Cry Out. Shocking testimonies about the effects of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Responsibilities Act passed after the Oklahoma bombing. Shows how even before September 11 the INS could detain and deport permanent residents with a previous court record without considering sentences already served, rehabilitation records, community service, and the present status of the families. Since 1999 thousands have been deported or detained without bail. (28 mins.).

Corrections. A grim 58 min. look at prisons and how, since the '70s and Nixon, "tough on crime" policies have allowed privatization of prisons. The prison population has swelled 500% in the past 20 years, stiffer sentences are awarded for minor misdemeanors, and youth are tried as adults. The focus is no longer rehabilitation, but incarceration. The goal of business is profit, having a full house, and prisons are built in poor communities by lobbying and having political connections.

Uprooted: Refugees of the Global Economy. Three personal stories tell how the global economy forced people to leave their country and come to the US. Marcel tells how the Philippines encourages labor abroad to pay its international debt. Jessy and Jamie, both engineers from Bolivia, become refugees after free trade destroyed their family business. A US baseball factory in Haiti, paying 14 cents an hour, moved to China in search of cheaper labor and left Luckner without a job. Corporations freely cross borders, but individuals have difficulties with the US immigration service. (30 mins).

Maquila: A Tale of Two Mexicos. Witness the anger and disillusionment of rural Mexicans who move to the US-Mexican border where factories promise stable work. The people trade close-knit communities for grueling robot-like jobs, undeveloped towns, pollution, and toxic ground waste. Women are vulnerable to rape and murder. Mexican government is viewed as unhelpful and bought by corporations who make huge profits on cheap labor. (55 mins).

Pakistan and India: Under the Nuclear Shadow. An important peace perspective on the dangerous and competitive nuclear build-up in Pakistan and India since the 1998 testing in both countries. Pakistan has increased its military spending, continues to develop more powerful missiles, and it has slipped economically as the military spending has increased. The video blames the crisis in Kashmir on the 1998 nuclear tests, which allowed Pakistan to believe India would not retaliate. Pakistan attacked Kashmir one year later, and although Pakistan withdrew, military groups act and think independently and argue the "nuclear capability belongs to all Muslims." Peace groups from both countries speak to their fear that the conflict will spin out of control and go nuclear. A great video with focus on nuclear rather than political history. (38 mins.)

Special Feature: 5 video segments of the December 2001 AFSC conference at Tufts University, After September 11: Paths to Peace, Justice and Security (Noam Chomsky, Amber and Ryan Amundson, Chuck Turner, Dave McReynolds, and other panelists on Alternatives to War, the Middle East, South Asia, and Domestic Impact of Bush's War)

Other new videos include: Where are the Beans? (a great piece on the local impact of the global economy); SOA: Guns and Greed; Greetings from Missile Street (Iraq); The Essential Blue-Eyed (racial stereotyping); Noam Chomsky on the New War Against Terror; Voices for Peace: Grassroots Activists Speak Out after the September 11 Attacks; Homes and Hands; Community Land Trusts in Action; Military Training with Depleted Uranium; Keep Space for Peace; Three Strikes/The Injustice System; Harold and Maude; A Widow's Plea: Families for Peaceful Tomorrows; The New Rulers of the World by John Pilger; Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey; Worth the Price; The Magician; Children of Abraham; Roger Morris on the Roots of the September 11 attacks; Hunting Bin Laden; Iraq Then and Now: The Unheard Voices of Iraqi Women; Unfinished Symphony: Democracy, Dissent and the VVAW Occupation of the Lexington Green; Bill Moyers: West Bank Settlements/Freedom of Information Act.

--Penny Adams is a social worker who volunteers weekly at the AFSC Film Library. For catalogue listings and ordering information, call Paul Shannon, 617/497-5273; www.afsc.org/nero/nevlib.htm

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