ITHACA
FRENCHFEST
4/30/03

by Paul Glover

We gather at Autumn Leaves Used Books to celebrate French culture & French resistance to U.S. Iraq attack. Drink a toast w/French wine, admire five-foot french fries, enjoy French bread & cheese, crepes, music, reading of proclamation from Ithacans to French people (below). Enter the "Bad French Contest" judged by native speakers and the french kissing contest. Bring your French wine, souvenirs, berets, decorations, dance, poetry, etc.

Please bring antiwar literature, and/or a good appetite for French food, french music; dress "french" if you like; speak "bad french" to win prizes; speak with media about foreign policy. Alexis deToqueville is our guest celebrity.

"We wish that the Ithaca French Fest will be very successful - as it greatly deserves it - and wish that we'll meet again soon." --Danielle Mitterrand, France-Libertes

* Let France Ring
* America is a French Country
* Live French or Die
* French as a Bird

FRANCO-ITHACAN FRIENDSHIP DAY PROCLAMATION

Mayor Alan J. Cohen's official version:

"WHEREAS Ithacans highly regard French literature, music, painting, ballet, films, food and wine, and

WHEREAS, France was an important and invaluable ally in the late 18th Century to our new nation during the Revolutionary War, and

WHEREAS, the Statue of Liberty, donated by the people of France, has for 117 years reminded the people of the United States of our high regard for human rights, and,

WHEREAS, the City of Ithaca is a community that has as many opinions as it does citizens, on just about any subject, and it is a place where differences of opinion are expected and valued, and

WHEREAS, the government of France has recently taken a stance that is contrary to the position of the United States government, leading many Americans to boycott French goods and to otherwise hold our French brethren in contempt, and

WHEREAS, regardless of the individual beliefs of our citizens about the foreign policy of our nation and the foreign policy of France, we recognize the positive historic relationship of our two countries,

Now, therefore, I, Alan J. Cohen, Mayor of the City of Ithaca, do hereby proclaim April 30, 2003
Franco-Ithacan Friendship Day in the City of Ithaca.

Here's the unofficial proclamation:

"WHEREAS Ithacans highly regard French literature, music, painting, ballet, films, food and wine, and

WHEREAS the Statue of Liberty, donated by the people of France, has for 117 years reminded the people of the United States of our high regard for human rights, and,

ATTENDU que les habitants de la ville d'Ithaque apprecient hautement la litterature, la musique, la peinture, la danse, le cinema, la cuisine et les vins francais,

ATTENDU que la Statue de la Liberte, don du peuple francais, a rappele au peuple americain, pendant 117 ans, son grand respect des droits de l'homme,

ATTENDU que le gouvernement francais actuel a recemment assume un role capital devant les Nations Unies en encourageant les Etats-Unis a la moderation dans ses relations internationales et

ATTENDU que la ville d'Ithaque a montre le chemin a 161 autres villes americaines en petitionnant le gouvernement des Etats-Unis a manifester cette meme moderation,

NOUS DECLARONS DONC que le 30 avril 2003 sera le Jour de l'Amitie franco-ithaquienne dans la ville d'Ithaque, Etat de New York. 

MEDIA RESPONSE:
FrenchFest in Cornell Daily Sun
FrenchFest in Ithaca Times
FrenchFest in Journal
Marianne 2

---Sparrow's Wines (Ithaca) reports "defiant & deliberate upsurge of sales of French wine."
---Ithaca's Paul Wolfowitz wants France punished

THANKS TO: Vineyard Express and Sparrow's Wines, Scott Marsland for giant fries, Joe Wetmore for venue, Susan Bryson for singing La Vie En Rose, Ithaca Bakery for baguettes, Oasis Natural Grocery for cheese & Statue of Liberty loan, Beyond the Wall for French art posters, Gimme! Coffee for fresh French Roast (d'arque), Michelle Peterson for FrenchFest buttons, Justine VanThilt for everything else! Co-sponsored by the Cornell French Studies Program

EDITORIAL: ITHACA FRENCHFEST
Thomas Cramer (Ithaca Journal 4/11) & I agree that Saddam's Iraq was fascist, that fascism must be confronted, & that the French government has done bad things. The Ithaca FrenchFest (4/30/03) specifically celebrates France's leadership to prevent the United States' invasion of Iraq, condemned by most of the world's population-- particularly those beyond reach of United States media.
---There is growing concern that United States itself, as sponsor & weaponsmaker for dozens of dictatorships during the past 50 years (including conventional arms sales to Iraq 1982-1990 & chemical weapons sales & as the enemy of many elected governments & popular rebellions (Guatemala '54, Dominican Republic '65, Chile '73, etc), has become fascistic.
---When a society militarizes for regional/global domination newamericancentury.org then "preventively" invades other nations, when it centralizes warmaking authority in a supreme leader (Bush '02), when it subordinates civil liberties & dissent to national security (Patriot Act '01), when it imprisons (2) millions of its citizens, when it manipulat es elections (Bush '00), when its Propaganda Ministry (ABC, NBC, CBS, etc) uses fear & patriotism to promote acceptance of the above, fascism has arrived.
---How to do we reverse fascism?
Set an example of an open democracy with honest multiparty elections & free media which does not need an empire to provide abundance to all, where all workers & disabled may live well; Rip out fascism's roots: chronic unemployment & job insecurity, enormous income divides, social desperation, jingoism & racism; Do not sell fascists weapons; celebrate dissent; honor United Nations deliberations & the voices of the Third World.
---Love of democracy demands daily activism, not reflex flag-waving. As U.S. General & Senator Carl Schurz said, "My country, right or wrong. When right to be kept right; when wrong to be put right." That's the kind of support that freedom-loving troops deserve.