United for Peace and Justice is working closely Veterans For Peace and several member groups to conduct a series of forums in North Jersey and New York City. The forums will engage and inform the public about the ongoing conflict between the United States and Israel with Iran and events in Syria. Participants will discuss also discuss what the peace movement can do to make a difference.
For more information and to schedule a panel appearance please contact Michael T. McPhearson, (973) 666-4605/ michaelvfp@gmali.com .
Speaker biographies:
Michael Kramer
Veterans For Peace activist Michael Kramer was a member of the Israel Defense Forces and took part in the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. His personal experiences both as a settler and combatant led him to reassess his views on Zionism and the role of the U.S. in the Middle East. Kramer became a supporter of Palestinian self-determination and the Arab cause. He is currently a volunteer at the International Action Center in NYC where he has been coordinating a solidarity campaign with the Honduran people.
Bahman (Faraz) Azad
Faraz Azad is an Iranian-American peace and justice activist living in the United States. He has a Master’s degree in Economics and a Ph.D. in Sociology from American universities. He served in the Iranian Air Force as a 2nd Lieutenant between 1971 and 1973.
He is a former acting director of Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Rutgers University. He is currently a Professor of Economics and Sociology at Berkeley College in New Jersey.
Faraz has been active in the peace and justice movement since his arrival in the United States in 1973, first as a student activist against the previous regime in Iran and then as a member of the National Board of the U.S. Peace Council. He joined the Veterans For Peace in the early 1990s at the invitation of his close friend and then VFP President, Dave Cline. He is currently serving as the Chair of VFP’s Iran Working Group, Organizational Secretary of the U.S. Peace Council, Co-Chair of Iran Pledge of Resistance, and an NGO representative of the World Peace Council at the United Nations. He is also the co-founder of the Campaign in Solidarity with the Iranian People’s Green Movement, an international campaign in support of the Iranian people’s democratic rights.
Michael T. McPhearson
Michael T. McPhearson is a native of Fayetteville North Carolina and was a field artillery officer in the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division during Desert Shield /Desert Storm, also known as Gulf War I. In 1981 at the age of 17, Michael joined the Army Reserve as an enlisted soldier and attended basic training the summer between his junior and senior high school years. He is a ROTC graduate of Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina with a B.S. degree in Sociology.
Michael is the National Coordinator for United For Peace and Justice and a current board member as well as a former Executive Director of Veterans For Peace. He is a member of Military Families Speak Out, works closely with the Newark based People’s Organization for Progress and publishes the Mcphearsonreport.org expressing his views on war and peace, politics, human rights, race and other things.
