Madison Chapter of World beyond War Occupies the Office of Sen Tammy Baldwin!
Hello friends -
The bombing has begun again. We are vigiling inside Senator Baldwin's office now. We intend to stay. Please come join us and bring friends. Our letter asking Baldwin to act is below.
30 W Mifflin St, 7th floor
Madison, WI
The front doors are locked, you can wait for someone to exit or call us. 608-217-2248 or 608-228-9096
Joy, Gil, Stefania & Janet
************************
Senator Baldwin,
We are here today because the collective punishment of Palestinians has begun again. Israel is committing war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Many thousands of children have been killed in indiscriminate bombing.
We ask that you publicly do these things:
Call for a total and permanent ceasefire in Israel and Palestine now.
Introduce and/or sign on to legislation to cut military aid to Israel completely and demand that the Israeli government commits to abide by international law and begins sincere negotiations with Palestinians to end the occupation.
We appreciate your November 8 letter with 23 other senators calling on the Biden administration to protect civilians in Gaza. We appreciate the conversations you may be part of with the Biden administration this week to condition aid to Israel with requirements that they stop killing civilians.
Senators Bernie Sanders, Chris Van Hollen, and Peter Welch are speaking to the press calling for an end to the indiscriminate bombing. Will you please join the ranks of the senators who are making public statements that they will not vote for continued funding for Israel’s indiscriminate bombing of civilians?
Under the UN Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide and Article 6 of the Rome Statute, the crime of genocide occurs when a nation deliberately inflicts on the group “conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”
Under these terms, Israel commits US-funded genocide in Gaza when it bombs civilian targets-hospitals, schools, UN refugee centers, journalists, UN workers, mosques, apartments and escape routes– while denying an imprisoned population water, food, medicine and fuel. Since October 7th, Israel’s assault with US weapons has resulted in tens of thousands of Gazans killed or wounded and 1.7 million people displaced, including almost a million in 154 UNRWA shelters, some of which Israel has bombed. In the words of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, “Gaza has become a graveyard for children.”
For years now we have contacted you countless times challenging you on your support for military spending. You have consistently dismissed our concerns. But even the most recent history has proven our concerns well founded (see the Afghan and the Iraq wars and the terrible destruction they have caused in those countries and the failure in achieving the USA goals).
For years also you have continued to support the Israeli government in its blatant violation of many international laws; the military provisions of armaments to them has produced mass violence on the occupied population of the ever shrinking territory of Palestine. Now since the tragic events of October 7, we have challenged you about your stand on the situation.
We are here today, and we will return, to call on you to speak out publicly and to work with your colleagues to stop the genocide that is unfolding, carried out with weapons we paid for with our taxes.
Stefania Sani, Gil Halsted, Janet Parker, Ien Halsted
On Monday, Nov. 13, people across the United States will visit the district offices of their senators and representatives to honor the dead and demand an end to the mass killing of people in Gaza.
Congress votes to send billions of dollars to Israel to buy the bombs that have already killed more than 10,000 people in less than a month, including over 4,100 children. We are calling on everyone to build memorials in front of their congressional offices. Bring flowers, photos, candles, teddy bears, and notes to memorialize those who have died and those who will die if a cease-fire and humanitarian access are not put in place.
See what's happening around the country Nov.13th for our "NO Tax Dollars for War Crimes" day of action and sign up for an event near you. Click the title link.
If you live in the U.S., tell Congress to vote NO to arming genocide in Palestine!
If you live outside the U.S. share our"Genocide Gang" profilesto help bring accountability to world leaders who are supporting Israel's genocide campaign.
The newly voted-in House Speaker Mike Johnson announced on Sunday that the House will be moving forward with a $14.5 billion "aid" package for Israel this week. The standalone bill emerged from a whopping $105 billion supplementary funding request from President Biden to pay for multiple, active and impending wars that Congress was originally voting on. The initial request included more money for the war in Ukraine, funding for patrol agents at the U.S.-Mexico border wall, and weapons and bases to surround China with. Johnson believes Israel requires "immediate attention" and is separating the funding to Israel in hopes that it will draw bipartisan support and move quicker through Congress. He says Congress will address the other parts of the funding request once Israel is taken care of.
Missing from the standalone bill is the $9 billion in unspecified humanitarian assistance that was originally supposed to be split between Israel, Ukraine, and Gaza. Our Congress is blatantly prioritizing the genocide of Palestinians over providing Gazans with the aid they need desperately. The international calls for a ceasefire are being ignored almost entirely. This bill will likely pass on top of the already massive $886 billion war budget. It will fund Israel's genocide in Gaza despite protests across the country in support of Palestine.
Biden and Congress have made their position clear: the United States will wage and support wars no matter the human cost.No matter the cost to people within the United States who can’t afford food or housing, no matter the cost to refugees driven from their homes, no matter the number of Palestinians murdered by Israel, the U.S. War on Drugs that led to violence and rampant corruption, and U.S. sanctions that strangled Latin American economies.
The United States Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen recently said with confidence that the United States could certainly “afford two wars” when asked if it could really finance war in Ukraine as well as the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Hear that loud and clear: we can afford two wars! In contrast, here’s what we are told we CANNOT afford:
Public colleges
Bridges
Roads
Healthcare
Housing
Student debt relief
Childcare
Child tax credit
Adequately funded public schools
Comprehensive Public transit
But you heard it here, folks – we can afford TWO wars!
We owe it to ourselves and our brothers and sisters in Palestine, Ukraine, and China to stand up against our country’s war-mongering. When over 8,000 Palestinians are killed in three weeks in Gaza, most of the bombs dropped on them say “Made in the USA.” According to Middle East Monitor, Israel has fired over 12,000 tonnes of explosives into Gaza since 7 October 2023. The explosive force is estimated to be equivalent to the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima in Japan in 1945. We need to tell Congress they cannot fund genocide and endless wars in our name.
In fact, we are doing more than just writing to Congress. We will be there with thousands of people on November 4 for the National March on Washington D.C. for Palestine!RSVP and find transportation information here.
In peace and solidarity, Ann, Danaka, Cale, Calla, Farida, Grace, Jasmine, Jodie, Marcy, Medea, Melissa, Michelle, Nancy, Nour, Nuvpreet, Paki, Terry, Tim, and Ysa
It is horrific that Israeli and now Palestinian civilians are bearing the brunt of the tragedy unfolding in Israel and Gaza.
One thing is absolutely clear though – neither the attacks by Hamas on October 7 nor the current Israeli military campaign in Gaza will bring justice to either Israelis or the Palestinian people.
What we need right now is to prioritize de-escalating the violence, safeguarding people's lives, reuniting hostages with their loved ones, and pushing decision-makers to enact solutions that promote the mutual recognition of everyone’s humanity.
Some in Biden administration and in Congress have called for a humanitarian “pause” in the fighting. This is a wholly inadequate measure that would fail to truly protect civilians and to provide needed supplies of food, water, and medical supplies to address what has rapidly become a humanitarian catastrophe.
Thousands of Israeli and Palestinian civilians have been killed, including children and the elderly, with thousands more injured. Hamas has targeted and killed Israeli civilians, taking over 150 hostages and thus far refusing to release them. The Israeli government has cut two million Palestinian civilians off from food, water, fuel, and electricity in preparation for a full-scale ground invasion.
The scale of the humanitarian catastrophe now facing Palestinians in Gaza is growing by the hour — and further escalation would endanger the lives of millions of Israeli and Palestinian families alike.President Biden and Congress must act now to demand a ceasefire to save lives.
Since the war began, Peace Action has been calling on supporters like you to lean hard on your members of Congress asking them to speak out in support of a ceasefire.Now, in part thanks to your efforts, our pro-peace allies Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) have championed legislation in support of a Congressional resolution calling for immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Israel and occupied Palestine and to send humanitarian aid and assistance to Gaza.Please take a minute now to urge your members of Congress to call for a ceasefire and de-escalation in order to save as many lives as possible!
I believe that most people from all backgrounds across the world are appalled by Hamas's deliberate murder and abduction of Israeli civilians. I also believe that they are appalled by the Israeli government's disregard for Palestinian civilian life in its military response and siege. Ultimately, I believe that they recognize that the Palestinian people are not Hamas and that the Israeli people are not the Israeli government.
Israel receives billions every year in U.S. military aid and is likely to receive billions more to support its war on Hamas.The United States therefore bears significant responsibility for Israel's conduct in this war.
The Israeli military has cut off access to food, water, and electricity for civilians, in violation of international law. They’ve ordered millions to evacuate northern Gaza, an order that the United Nations immediately said would be “impossible” to accomplish “without devastating humanitarian consequences.” Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu declared that “an entire nation” was responsible for Hamas’s attacks, words that seemingly aim to justify collective punishment in retribution.
Meanwhile some elected leaders in the U.S. — including Republican members of Congress — have backed calls to “level” Gaza and “turn it into a parking lot.”
We need to do all we can to stand up against this kind of rhetoric, and to stop further escalation from costing the lives of more children and families.
P.S.Even if you’ve already contacted your Members of Congress on the critical issue, please urge themagainas they need to keep hearing from you! The growing momentum is absolutely critical to bring an end to this tragedy! If your representative is André Carson (IN-07), Summer Lee (PA-12), Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Nydia Velázquez (NY-07),Barbara Lee (D-CA), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Greg Cesar (D-TX), Alma Adams (D-NC), or Maxwell Frost (D-FL) please thank them for their leadership as early co-sponsors to the bill; as well, if your rep. is Cori Bush or Rashida Tlaib, please thank them for championing this critical effort for peace.(Newest co-sponsors are in bold)
Sign this petition to support a ceasefire in Gaza/Israel Conflict
We are all saddened and traumatized by the horrible events coming out of the current Israel/Hamas war.
We unequivocally condemn the use of all violence, attacks, and bombings against both Israeli and Palestinian civilians. PDA is joining with our friends in Jewish Voice For Peace in calling for an immediate ceasefire. We need to stop the killing of innocent civilians.
From Jewish Voice For Peace:
B’Tzelem Elohim. All life is precious.
Those of us grieving both Israeli and Palestinian loved ones this week know there is no military solution. The only future is peace and safety for all—grounded in freedom, justice, and equality.
Half of Gaza’s population are children. They have nowhere to flee to. The Israeli government has trapped them in Gaza and cut their water, food, and electricity. It is starving them while bombing their neighborhoods one after another.
Join us—American Jews and allies—in demanding the Biden administration facilitate an immediate ceasefire and stop sending the Israeli military more weapons.
Millions of lives depend on it.
This from PDA Executive Director, Alan Minsky:
Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) calls upon all Members of Congress to support the Ceasefire NOW Resolution. Both morality and common sense demand a ceasefire and de-escalation of hostilities in Israel and Palestine.
Per morality, if you believe, as you must, in the sanctity of human life and oppose indiscriminate killing, the simple fact of the ever-rising death toll makes the complete cessation of violence a moral imperative. Per common sense, the response to violence with more violence has been the default position of both Hamas and the Israeli state for decades—and the trauma only increases.
In his brilliant song/poem, “Every Grain of Sand,” Jewish-American Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan writes, “Like Cain I now behold a chain of events that I must break.” We need to make a clean break from this cycle of violence. The horror of the past ten days has shocked the world. Now is the moment to reject death and violence, and embrace humanity’s limitless capacity for renewal.
From sanctions to military expansion, the US is heading towards a dangerous confrontation with China. Our campaign aims to stop this march towards war and redirect resources to cooperation that benefits people and the planet. Mounting hostilities are stopping us from addressing existential challenges like the climate crisis, as well as harming Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and people in the wider Asia-Pacific region - all caught in the crossfire due to escalating tensions. Propaganda is driving hate and intended to make China an enemy. We are at a pivot movement in history. The US believes they can win a nuclear war against China and is preparing for war. One of those preparations is to manipulate the mind of US citizens to support this war, which threatens our society, as much as China and the rest of the world.
TO:President Biden, the Biden Administration, Members of Congress
Do everything you can to stop all loss of life NOW!
The recent violence against civilians by Hamas and the military response by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has already killed over 3,000 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis and wounded thousands more, with hundreds of people held hostage and hundreds more missing.1,2If you’re heartbroken, you are not alone. We can hold space in our hearts to mourn these deaths, while also taking action to call on U.S. policymakers to use their power to do everything they can to stop all further loss of innocent lives.
As the whole world grapples with the escalated violence in Israel and Palestine, the Israeli government has stopped all food, fuel, water, electricity, and humanitarian assistance from entering Gaza, and this has already had devastating impacts on over 2 million people, half of whom are children.3,4
The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees just announced that "Gaza is running dry," and hospitals in Gaza reported that their backup generators would soon run out of fuel, cutting off life support and vital systems.
This action has exacerbated the existing humanitarian crisis caused by the Israeli government's air, land, and sea blockade and will likely result in catastrophic loss of life if continued. Nearly half of Gaza's residents are under the age of 16, and 65% are under the age of 25, effectively meaning that Palestinian children are bearing the brunt of the Israeli government’s collective punishment.
President Biden and our leaders must publicly call for an immediate ceasefire and deescalation; demand the protection of all civilians, including securing the release of hostages; and tell the Israeli government to turn on electricity in Gaza and allow humanitarian aid for Palestinians to enter!
While the Biden administration is close to an aid agreement with Israeli government officials to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza and establish ‘safe zones,’ there is still no action or plan in place. The United Nations and aid organizations are sounding an alarm that conditions in Gaza are dire right now.There is no time to spare.A military response from Israel will not secure the safety of those currently hostage or trapped, some of whom are Americans, and instead punishes a generation of young Palestinians living in Gaza.
Netanyahu, facing mounting pressure and polling the lowest among Israeli voters, has led decades of policies that have resulted in no more peace or safety for Israelis. The Biden administration must call for a ceasefire and urge Netanyahu to do everything in his power to reunite hostages with their loved ones without putting more lives in danger.
Israelis and Palestinians must not be bargaining chips, and their lives must be protected through diplomacy and new solutions.
The Israeli government is preparing a massive ground attack of Gaza as you read this, and they have already been targeting and bombing civilians in their attacks, which is a violation of international law.5,6,7,8,9
This comes as Israel dropped tens of thousands of leaflets from the sky to issue an evacuation order to Gazans living in the northern Gaza Strip, telling 1.1 million Palestinian residents to evacuate south within 24 hours, which the U.N. said would be impossible without devastating humanitarian consequences.10,11Then, despite naming which routes would be safe for evacuation, the Israeli government bombed Palestinians evacuating.12
A United Nations human rights expert has confirmed that Palestinians are facing mass ethnic cleansing at the hands of the Israeli government and occupation forces.13 United States leaders have the massive power to step in and stop it. And the time is NOW to come together and demand it end.
The people of Palestine and Israel deserve to live their lives without fear of violence and mass death.
The Wisconsin Department of Corrections is confining prisoners to their cells due to a lack of staff to operate facilities at full capacity — a practice unfolding at more prisons than officials previously acknowledged.
The New York Times and Wisconsin Watch have learned that Stanley Correctional Institution — a medium-security prison in Chippewa County — has limited prisoner movement for the past year. Department officials previously said only Waupun and Green Bay correctional institutions were doing so.
Meanwhile, in Waupun, 30-year-old Tyshun Lemons became the second prisoner to die in custody since the department instituted lockdown conditions in March. DOC spokesman Kevin Hoffman said a medical examiner has yet to determine a cause of death, but attorney Lonnie Story, who has been in contact with the Lemons family, said Lemons died by suicide. The death follows the June suicide of Dean Hoffmann.
In August, more than two dozen inmates incarcerated at Waupun described to Wisconsin Watch and The New York Times squalid conditions inside the prison, including dirty water, limited opportunities for recreation and showers, canceled family visits and a dearth of timely access to medical and mental health care. Men were so desperate for medical care, they said, some have cut themselves or threatened self-harm to be seen by nursing staff.
Prisoners describe unsanitary conditions and a dearth of medical care. Experts say staffing shortages are contributing to lockdowns across the country.
Elsewhere, prisoners inside Green Bay Correctional Institution, facing restricted movement since June, describe similar conditions, including rodent infestations.
The department refers to the restrictions not as “lockdowns,” but rather “modified movement,” because officials can adjust the restrictions over time. Some prisoners have been allowed at times to leave their cells for work, appointments or recreation. But experts call lockdown an appropriate term for conditions in Waupun, where prisoners in recent months have been confined to their cells for up to 24 hours each day, going without family visits and regular access to showers and recreation.
Waupun staff have themselves used the term lockdown when refusing medical care.
“No optical during lockdown,” read a note from Waupun medical staff, in response to a request from a man seeking medical attention for eye pain and blurry vision.
Story, who is representing several Waupun inmates in a class-action lawsuit, said he’s shocked to see the Waupun lockdown approach seven months. In 1983, Waupun prisoners were locked down for just three days after seizing control of buildings, taking hostages and setting fires.
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“These men are already serving a sentence, and these conditions are going above and beyond that. It’s almost as though they’re receiving a second sentence,” Story said.
Hoffman, the DOC spokesman, said the department is incrementally easing the restrictions in Waupun and Green Bay. In Waupun, for example, the number of prisoners allowed out of their cells to work jobs within the facility has tripled, and behavioral health groups have resumed. In Green Bay, prisoners have been allowed to resume chapel services, he added.
The lockdowns come amid a staffing crisis in Wisconsin’s prisons. At Waupun, more than 53% of sergeant and correctional officer positions remain vacant. It’s the shortest-staffed prison in a system averaging a 32% vacancy rate.
Protesters call on the short-staffed Wisconsin Department of Corrections to improve prisoner conditions and lift restrictions on prisoners’ movement during a protest at the Wisconsin State Capitol on Oct. 10, 2023, in Madison, Wis. (Meryl Hubbard / Wisconsin Watch)
Initially, prison officials denied any link between lockdowns and staff vacancies, telling Wisconsin Watch and The New York Times that threats and assaultive behavior prompted the restrictions.
“Staffing is not the reason for the modified movement,” a DOC spokesman said in July.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and department officials have since acknowledged that vacancies hinder efforts to resume normal operations.
“Staffing did not cause the modified movement,” Hoffman told Wisconsin Watch in September. “But staffing does factor into the facility’s ability to lift these restrictions because adequate staffing is required for escorting, responding to threatening behavior, and maintaining the safety of everyone at (Waupun).”
Department officials have also shared conflicting information about how many prisons face restricted movement. In July, Hoffman said only two prisons met that criteria. DOC Secretary Kevin Carr repeated that information to lawmakers during his September reappointment hearing.
But The New York Times and Wisconsin Watch have since obtained a memo authored by Stanley Correctional Institution Warden Chris Buesgen announcing that a “modified movement phase” would begin Nov. 7, 2022.
“While it is understood that these changes will not be favored, they are necessary at this time given the current staffing shortage,” Buesgen wrote.
A sign reading “END THE LOCKDOWNS NOW!” is seen Oct. 10, 2023, during a protest at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis. WISDOM, a statewide faith-based social justice organization, organized the event. (Meryl Hubbard / Wisconsin Watch)
Stanley’s 44% vacancy rate for sergeants and correctional officers ranks third highest among Wisconsin prisons, department data show. Stanley prisoners say they’ve spent 18 hours a day in their cells with reduced access to the day room, where they can use the phones. They had previously been allowed to spend about half of each day outside of their cells.
Lack of staff has so hobbled the institution that educators must supervise the yard during recreation time. Prisoners say they’ve missed education time due to teachers being assigned other duties within the institution.
Hoffman said the department has eased some restrictions at Stanley in recent months, including increasing recreation time. It is not uncommon for education staff and other non-uniformed personnel to assist with supervision and recognize emergencies, he added.
“Bottom line, security is everyone’s role in an institution,” Hoffman said.
Multiple prisoners and their family members say they are facing increasing discipline during the restrictions, with some drawing citations for infractions as small as eating a turkey sandwich on the stairs or speaking with someone during a video visit who is not on an approved visitor list — even if that person is an infant being held by their mother. The infractions could land a prisoner in solitary confinement.
Among the biggest effects of the restrictions, said Emily Curtis, whose loved one is incarcerated in Stanley: less time to speak with him at visits and on the phone.
Research has long shown that connections with family and friends can improve a prisoner’s likelihood of successful reintegration after release.
“You might only talk to a loved one twice a week,” Curtis said. “They are constantly living within such a negative space there and a lot of times we are the only positive thing they have, the only hope and encouragement they have, as we try to bring them out of the dark place they’re in.”
“We are not numbers on a piece of paper,” said Curtis’ loved one, Martell Rogers, who while incarcerated has built a real estate company with the help of people outside of the prison.
“We are not items that you can bind up and mistreat and think everything will be fine when we’re set free. You cannot separate us from our humanity,” Rogers said.
The world's leading weapons dealer, the U.S. government, urgently needs to hear from the people of the United States and the world.
President Joe Biden has told the U.S. Congress that he will ask for funding to send huge piles of free weapons to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, to prolong two wars and help start a third -- and possibly the world's last. Biden reportedly intends to combine weapons for these three wars, plus additional weapons for further militarizing the U.S. border with Mexico, all in one piece of legislation. The strategic thinking is that various Congress Members who find the nerve to oppose one horrific war will be unlikely to find it to oppose three wars at once.
Regardless of how the legislation is concocted, we need to stop the weapons shipments and replace them with diplomacy and a new focus on the human and environmental crises that these wars defund, distract from, and exacerbate.
Tell Congress you want to end the killing in Gaza/Israel
We at Peace Action are heartbroken over the escalating violence in Israel and Gaza. Granted, this violence didn’t come out of a vacuum, there have been decades of violent Israeli government oppression. But the recent violence still shocks one’s conscience.
Civilian lives deserve protection. The scenes of Hamas-led forces abusing Israeli children and elderly hostages, or of hundreds of civilians gunned down at bus stops, music festivals, and in homes, are heartrending. Even the strongest supporter of the Palestinian fight for self-determination can condemn the wanton mistreatment of civilians. Our hearts go out to the victims. We hope for a speedy return of hostages.
At the same time, if we really care about protecting civilian lives and rights, we must work to end the ongoing crime of the Israeli occupation that drives cycles of violence. This includes the hellish blockade of Gaza for the last 16 years. Many in Congress are ignoring this essential context and pledging unequivocal support for Israel. But with U.S. support, Israeli security forces abuse children and the elderly. Settlers engage in home invasions and burning cars and houses. Police engage in torture. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed this year.
In the short term, we need our representatives to call for de-escalation and a ceasefire, not offer “unequivocal” military support. Congress must also work to end the occupation. That means ending the unconditional military aid that props up the occupation.
The United States is the world’s greatest sponsor of the occupation with $3.8 Billion in military weapons a year. And now Congressmembers are calling formoremilitary aid and giving a green light to unrestrained Israeli military action. This reminds me of 9-11 which led to decades of wasted lives and trillions spent. Already, jets paid for with your and my tax dollars are bombing Gaza indiscriminately. U.S. warships and fighter jets are being sent to the region as a “show of force”. Will Lebanon or Iran get dragged in? Escalation could trigger years of war.
Before the casualty counts grow,you and I can help raise the voice for restraint and oppose more arms and military escalation.
President Netanyahu is talking about turning Gaza’s “wicked cities” to “rubble”. The Israeli Defense Minister just said that “We are imposing a complete siege on Gaza. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel. We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly”. This is collective punishment that is a violation of humanitarian law. Congress shouldn't offer “unequivocal support” for war crimes in the making.
You and I can be the voicefor de-escalation before the violations get worse. We can ask Congress to pressure the Israeli government to avoid massacres of civilians. Congressmembers can push to support a ceasefire. Ask them to call to end the violence today.
At the same time, it’s not too early to press Congress to look at the roots of this violence. Congress needs to re-examine how the trillions in military aid we are sending to Israel only maintains oppression and violence. We need to end US complicity in this horrific tragedy.
My best to you and yours, especially if you’ve been personally touched by this violence. Our vision at Peace Action is of a just world where all can live their lives in dignity free from political violence and oppression. Even now we push for that vision.
Palestinians have suffered at the hands of Israel for 75 years, and the inevitable outcome of Israeli oppression erupted on October 7. The US has played a significant role in this suffering by maintaining its position as the biggest funder of Israel’s military. Despite Israel’s brutal violence against Palestinians year after year, the US has repeatedly expressed its support for the violent occupying forces. CODEPINK calls on the US to IMMEDIATELY cease all military aid to Israel. Help us move towards peace by signing the petition below, demanding the Biden administration withdraw all support for Israel and instead call for justice for the people of Palestine which will lead to peace.
Dear President Biden and Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III,
Israel has colonized, occupied and oppressed the people of Palestine for 70 years. This has inevitably led to the resistance of Palestinians. For the last 20 years Palestinians have been committed to non-violent activism to raise up their plight, with the increasing violence of the last few years, especially this year there are those who pivoted to resistance on October 7.
The US is directly responsible for the need for Palestinian resistance, considering the significant role it chooses to play as Israel’s most powerful supporter. Instead of accountability for the violence of Israel to Palestine, the US delivers more funding and weapons.
Your normalization of Israeli oppression is the narrative responsible for the perpetuation of the occupation of Palestine for the last 75 years. Backing the apartheid state of Israel will only lead to more violence and resistance. We call on you to respect and recognize the rights of Palestinians, and immediately withdraw all US support for Israel, and block any additional aid to the occupying forces. You must call for justice for Palestine that will lead to the much-needed peace in the region.
The US has had many opportunities to end its support of Israel’s violence which is flaunted globally. Let us not forget that the ‘terrorist attacks’ on the US have been for the liberation of the Palestinians.
To save lives, to end a disgrace of your power you must stop sending weapons, funds and military support and instead support the needed conversation that brings justice and peace to the region.
We, the undersigned, call on you to withdraw all support for Israel and block any additional aid to the apartheid state. We oppose the plan laid out by General Austin to send troops to the Eastern Mediterranean including U.S. Navy aircraft carriers and defense munitions. Escalating what is a resistance of a people to a global war in Palestine is not the path to peace, it is a violation of the human rights of the people of Palestine. And scorches the path to peace that is necessary.
Thankfully, however, California Member of Congress John Garamendi has put forth two important amendments to the bill that should be supported by other Members. One of Garamendi’s amendments stops funding to expand plutonium pit production to the Savannah River Site, and the other prohibits funds for the W87-1 program at Livermore Lab that would put a new warhead on the new Sentinel land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
Please call or email your Member of Congress AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to ask them to support these two amendments!
You can find your Representative here and check their webpage for email instructions. Or, call their DC office to leave a message about this vote. You can call the U.S. House Switchboard Operator to be connected to the right office – (202) 224-3121.
Let’s support Representative Garamendi’s efforts to constrain these dangerous nuclear weapon programs! Below is sample language for your call or email…
Dear Member of Congress,
My name is __________ and I live at ______________________. As your constituent, I make the following vote recommendations on amendments to H.R. 4394, the House Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024.
Vote YES on amendment,
#36 from Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA), which prohibits funding for plutonium pit production at the Savannah River Site Plutonium Processing Facility.
This amendment would stop funding at one of the two plutonium pit production sites the NNSA is developing. Despite repeated Congressional mandates, the NNSA still has not provided a detailed cost estimate and schedule for the goal of producing 80 pits per year by 2030, as highlighted by the General Accountability Office’s January 2023 report. NNSA Administrator Jill Hruby has admitted the agency cannot meet the 2030 deadline. Plutonium pit aging studies indicate that large-scale production of plutonium pits is not necessary, as existing pits will be reliable for decades to come.
Also vote YES on amendment,
#37 from Rep. John Garamendi(D-CA), which prohibits funds for the W87-1warhead program in order to enable additional analysis of the underlying program justifications, planning and budget.
This amendment would pause funding for a new warhead being designed by Livermore Lab for the new Sentinel land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). ICBMs are expensive relics of an outdated Cold War strategy, vulnerable to attack and unneeded with the improvement of invulnerable sea-based weapons. ICBMs should be retired and plans for this new warhead for them shelved.
Thank you for your consideration,
(Your Name)
Last month CNN published a poll saying55% of people in the United States do not support spending more money on the Ukraine war.The White House responded by requesting another $24 billion, mostly for weapons and military training, to prolong the war and suffering. CODEPINK and the Peace in Ukraine Coalition are committed to raising up the majority opinion that the US needs to stop fueling this war.That’s why we are launching a new petition to hand deliver in DC on Wednesday, October 4, to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that oversees military spending.
We are closer to the possible detonation of nuclear weapons than we have been since the Cuban Missile Crisis because of the war in Ukraine.
Help prevent WW3 by calling you member of Congress
Congressional Switchboard: 202-224-3121
Read them the following message.
I am calling to urge (your congressperson’s name) to vote no on President Biden's request for another $24 billion to continue the war in Ukraine. The latest CNN poll reveals that 55% of the US public opposes more weapons and aid to Ukraine--and for good reason. There is no military solution--only more death and destruction as the war drags on, costing the US taxpayer $113 billion to date. We need a diplomatic solution and must not risk a wider war that poses the risk of nuclear annihilation. Vote no on another $24 billion for the war in Ukraine.
Dear Babette,
On August 28, at the behest of Attorney General Consuelo Porras and on the order of Judge Jimi Bremer, police arrested attorney Claudia González, after conducting a 6:00 AM raid on her home. Police also raided the home of former head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office (FECI), Juan Francisco Sandoval, where his elderly parents live, and the home of Siomara Sosa, bringing arrest warrants for each.
Claudia González is currently defending prisoner of conscience Virginia Laparra, who was arrested last year in apparent retaliation for her efforts to fight corruption as head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office in Quetzaltenango. González is also the attorney for Juan Francisco Sandoval, Eva Siomara Sosa, Leily Santizo, and other former prosecutors with FECI and with the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), a the UN-backed anti-impunity initiative forced to close in 2019 after years of prosecuting successful, high-level cases of corruption. González herself was a leading attorney with CICIG. González, like Sosa and Sandoval, is charged in today’s arrest warrant with “abuse of authority,” reportedly in connection with the case of Blanca Stalling, a Supreme Court judge prosecuted for pressuring a judge in a case involving Stalling’s son. After CICIG was forced out of Guatemala, Stalling in 2022 was reinstated as a judge and the charges against her were dropped.
Her arrest, González told reporters, was unnecessary, since she was regularly in the courthouse and would have willingly presented herself to face charges. She said her arrest was an effort to harass and intimidate her and characterized the charges as completely false. Guatemalan analysts have pointed out that only public officials can be charged with abuse of authority, and González is not a public official. González said her arrest was “strategic” because she is defending prosecutors and former prosecutors and her arrest hinders their defense. During the raid, Public Ministry officials reportedly took González’ computer, her cell phone, and a USB drive, which, according to González, was not an action specified in the arrest warrant.
Judge Jimi Bremer has sent González to Mariscal Zavala prison, where she will be detained until at least September 6, when she is scheduled to make her initial appearance in court. She is at risk of being detained until her trial date.
ACTION
Contact the Guatemalan Embassy.
1. Call for the immediate release of Claudia González.
2. While she remains in custody, demand that her rights be respected and her safety guaranteed.
3. Demand an end to the harassment of anti-corruption prosecutors and former prosecutors and their families.
A sample letter and additional context are provided below.
Since Bernardo Arevalo’s August 20 victory at the polls, Guatemalan Attorney General Consuelo Porras has undertaken a number of repressive actions with the apparent aim of preserving her power and preventing a Semilla presidency. The raids and arrest on August 28 can be seen in that light. According to the Guatemalan organization JusticiaYa, the arrest warrants and raids stem from a complaint filed by Supreme Court Justice Blanca Stalling. By acting on that complaint, Attorney General Porras, who has lost much support elsewhere, may be attempting to strengthen her relationship with the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has played a role in various election-related issues and may continue to play a role in the eventual transition of power.
Harassment of Juan Francisco Sandoval:
Among the actions Porras took last week was the filing of request for injunction with the Constitutional Court to silence persons who have tweeted that she should resign. Included among the seven named in that request for an injunction was Juan Francisco Sandoval. Sandoval is in exile after being threatened with arrest in 2021 on spurious charges. President-elect Arevalo has said he would bring prosecutors in exile, including Juan Francisco Sandoval, back to Guatemala to work as part of an anti-corruption team.
Yurii Sheliazhenko has been formally charged by the Ukrainian government with the crime of justifying Russian aggression. The evidence isthis statementwhich explicitly condemns Russian aggression.
We call on you to drop any legal proceedings against Yurii Sheliazhenko, and to respect human rights, the right to conscientious objection, and the right to freedom of speech. The absurdity of prosecuting someone for justifying Russian warmaking on the basis of a statement in which he has explicitly condemned Russian warmaking, is matched by the absurdity of waging war in the name of freedom and democracy while engaging in this sort of harassment of citizens. We urge you to do better.
On August 6, WECAN was on the ground in Superior, Wisconsin along with tribal leaders, frontline communities, and allies to defend the sacred and call for the shut down of the Line 5 pipeline.
Line 5 pipeline was originally built in 1953, and continues to operate 20 years past its engineered lifespan, transporting crude oil each day through the heart of the Great Lakes, in northern Wisconsin and Michigan. Ongoing severe erosion has further heightened the threat of a pipeline rupture which could destroy local waters, harm wildlife, and create a public health crisis in the area. A rupture would mean contamination throughout the Great Lakes, which holds one-fifth of the world’s freshwater and provides drinking water to over 40 million people.
The pipeline is violating Indigenous rights and sovereignty as it continues operation illegally on the territories of the Bad River Band. Line 5’s upstream and downstream greenhouse gas emissions amount to about 87 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually. This is at a time when the climate crisis is more severe than ever, impacting communities worldwide, from heatwaves to extreme flooding — we don’t need more fossil fuels, what we need is for governments to listen to Indigenous and frontline communities, respect Indigenous sovereignty and end the era of fossil fuels, which needs to include permanently shutting down Line 5!
Please take action with us and one of our close partners Earthjustice and urge the Biden administration to shut down the Line 5 pipeline immediately:
The Pentagon doesn’t need $886bn. I oppose this bloated defense budget As a nation, the time is long overdue for fundamental changes to our national priorities
Bernie Sanders Mon 24 July 2023
The US Senate is now debating an $886bn defense authorization bill. Unless there are major changes to the bill, I intend to vote against it. Here’s why.
As everyone knows, our country faces enormous crises.
As a result of climate change our planet is experiencing unprecedented and rising temperatures. Along with the rest of the world, we need to make major investments to transform our energy system away from fossil fuels and into more efficient and sustainable energy sources, or the life we leave our kids and future generations will become increasingly unhealthy and precarious.
Our health care system is broken. While the insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industry make hundreds of billions in profit, 85 million Americans are uninsured or underinsured, our life expectancy is declining, and we have a massive shortage of doctors, nurses, mental health practitioners and dentists.
Our educational system is teetering. While we have one of the highest rates of childhood poverty of almost any major country, millions of parents cannot find affordable and quality childcare. The number of our young people who graduate from college is falling behind many other countries and 45 million Americans are struggling under the weight of student debt.
Our housing stock is totally inadequate. While gentrification is causing rents to soar in many parts of our country some 600,000 Americans are homeless, and 18 million are spending more than half of their limited incomes on housing.
These aresomeof the crises our country faces. And we’re not dealing with them.
And then there is defense spending. Well, that’s a whole other story. The proposed military budget that the Senate is now debating would increase defense spending by $28bn to over $886bn, an all-time record. The total is over $900bn if you include nuclear weapons spending through the Department of Energy.
I will oppose this bloated defense budget and efforts to further increase military spending through a defense supplemental for three main reasons.
First, more military spending is unnecessary. The $886bn in defense spending agreed in the debt ceiling deal matches the Pentagon’s budget request and is more than sufficient to protect the United States and our allies. The United States spends more than three times what China spends on its military. This record high defense spending would come in spite of the end of the war in Afghanistan and despite the fact that the United States spends more on the military than the next 10 countries combined, most of whom are allies.
Second, the Pentagon cannot keep track of the dollars it already has, leading to massive waste, fraud and abuse in the sprawling military-industrial complex. The Pentagon accounts for about two-thirds of all federal contracting activity, obligating more money every year than all civilian federal agencies combined. Yet the Department of Defense (DOD) remains the only major federal agency that cannot pass an independent audit. Last year, the department was unable to account for over half of its assets, which are in excess of $3.1tn. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports that DOD still cannot accurately track its finances or post transactions to the correct accounts. Each year, auditors find billions of dollars in the Pentagon’s proverbial couch cushions; in fiscal year 2022, Navy auditors found $4.4bn in untracked inventory, while the air force identified $5.2bn worth of variances in its general ledger. A serious effort to address this waste should be undertaken before Congress throws more money at the Pentagon.
Third, much of this additional military spending will go to line the pockets of hugely profitable defense contractors – it is corporate welfare by a different name. Almost half of the Pentagon budget goes to private contractors, some of whom are exploiting their monopoly positions and the trust granted them by the United States to line their pockets. Repeated investigations by the DOD inspector general, the GAO and CBS News have uncovered numerous instances of contractors massively overcharging DOD, helping boost these companies’ profits to nearly 40% – and sometimes as high as 4,451% – while costing US taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. TransDigm, Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Raytheon are among the offenders, dramatically overcharging the taxpayer while reaping enormous profits, seeing their stock prices soar and handing out massive executive compensation packages. Last year, Lockheed Martin received $46bn in unclassified federal contracts, returned $11bn to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks, and paid its CEO $25m a year. TransDigm, the company behind the 4,451% markup, touted $3.1bn in profits on $5.4bn of net sales, almost boasting to investors about just how fully it was fleecing the taxpayer. The fact that a share of the profits from these lucrative contracts will flow back to the congressional backers of higher defense budgets in the form of campaign contributions – America’s unique system of legalized bribery – makes the whole situation even more unconscionable.
Let’s be clear. Defending the American people is not only about pouring money into the Pentagon. It’s about making sure our children go to good schools and will have a habitable planet when they get older. It’s about making sure that every American has a decent standard of living and can enjoy quality health care and affordable housing.
As a nation, the time is long overdue for fundamental changes to our national priorities. Cutting military spending is a good first step.
A great nation is judged not by how many millionaires and billionaires it has, or by the size of its military budget. It is not judged by the greed of its largest corporations. It is judged by how well it treats its weakest and most vulnerable citizens.
The 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)
The 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is presently being debated in Congress. While almost all federal spending has been frozen for the next two years, this bill increases the Pentagon budget by $68 billion dollars, bringing it to a total of $886.3 billion. This is more than half of all the nation’s discretionary funds. The $68 billion increase alone is double the entire budget of the Environmental Protection Agency at a time when climate disruption is as great or, perhaps, a greater threat to our national security than any foreign country.
Some argue that it’s necessary to spend all this money to protect ourselves from Russia and China and other enemy nations. A comparison of US military spending with that of other nations calls that argument into question. We already spend more on our military than the next nine countries combined, including China and Russia.
We spend nearly 10 times as much as Russia and 3 times as much as China.
The Pentagon itself identified more than $100 billion dollars in its budget that is waste! Representatives Barbara Lee and Mark Pocan have introduced an amendment to the Pentagon spending bill that would cut $100 billion from weapons and waste and redirect that money to programs that address human needs.
This amendment offers people and communities of faith and conscience that are concerned about peace a concrete opportunity to work for peace by calling their congressional representative and their two US senators and asking them to support the Lee/Pocan amendment. Use the link below to do so.
Tell Congress:
Pass the Lee/Pocan amendment to cut $100 billion from the Pentagon’s massively bloated budget. Add your name.
The Biden administration’s decision to send cluster bombs to Ukraine is a devastating error.
94% of casualties from cluster bombs are civilians— of whom 40% are children. That’s why over 100 countries have signed an international treaty to collectively ban the use of cluster bombs.
When Russia used cluster bombs in Ukraine last year, the Biden administration said it was a “potential war crime” and emphatically declared at the UN that cluster bombs have “no place on the battlefield.” But now the Biden administration is supplying these very weapons.
An act of Congress can effectively block this transfer of cluster bombs.That’s why Reps. Sara Jacobs and Ilhan Omar have introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that is being voted on this week that will stop the Biden administration’s decision to send cluster bombs.
Over the last few days, human rights organizations, members of Congress, our international allies including the governments of Spain and Canada, and the New York Times editorial board have all condemned the Biden administration’s decision.
Why? Cluster bombs are indiscriminate, inaccurate weapons that cause catastrophic civilian harm.They also have an unacceptably high rate of failure to detonate, inadvertently causing them to linger on the land for months, years, and even decades to come.
Vietnam and Laos are still suffering from unexploded cluster bombs fifty years after the U.S. dropped them. Over one thousand people were killed or injured in Laos between 2008 and 2022 because the cluster bombs from five decades ago finally exploded.
And the cluster bombs the Biden administration is sending to Ukraine have a troubling failure rate of 14% if not more— and that’s according to a Pentagon study. The mass casualties caused by cluster bombs is so unacceptably high that over one hundred countries have banned them, just like the world once did with chemical and biological weapons after World War I.
By choosing to send cluster bombs to Ukraine, the Biden administration is leading the U.S. to the wrong side of history. Just because Russia has used them, absolutely does not mean the U.S. should follow suit. Those are not the standards we should stoop to meet.
The reality is that war is horrendous, brutal and cruel. But one of the few things we can do to limit this war’s brutality is to ensure that the weapons we are sending don't linger in grass and dirt waiting to inflict more death and destruction for decades to come.
Thank you for working for peace
A lot is going on to shut down the Enbridge Line 5 crude oil pipeline. But don't worry - you'll be all caught up after you attend this webinar onWednesday, July 19, 2023, at Noon EDT.Register now!
Expert panelists will share the legal, tribal, administrative, and organizing action to shut down the pipeline in Wisconsin and Michigan.
Learn about the crucial efforts in Wisconsin and Michigan to shut down Enbridge Line 5 - America's most dangerous crude oil pipeline - to protect the Great Lakes. Join OWDM Steering Committee member FLOW For Love Of Water as they host this important webinar.
This webinar includes a fantastic panel:
Riyaz Kanji, founding member and Directing Attorney of Kanji & Katzen - representing the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
Christopher Clark, Supervising Senior Attorney, Earthjustice – representing Bay Mills Indian Community
Sean McBrearty, Campaign Coordinator, Oil & Water Don’t Mix and Legislative and Policy Director at Michigan Clean Water Action
Liz Kirkwood- Host, Executive Director, FLOW For Love Of Water
Skip Pruss- Moderator, Senior Legal Advisor, FLOW For Love Of Water
PANELIST FEATURE - Riyaz Kanji
Riyaz Kanji is widely viewed as a leading trial and appellate litigator on behalf of Indian nations and tribes across the country.
Chambers USA noted, “He combines a deep knowledge of Indian law with a keen sense of how to craft a winning appellate argument. He is relentless in pursuit of his client’s interest but manages to keep an even keel. Nothing ruffles him.”
Riyaz represents the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in the Enbridge lawsuit.
The webinar is supported by a grant from the Mackinac Island Community Foundation's Natural Resources and Preservation Fund.
TO:FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, President Joe Biden, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
Keep harmful radioactive waste out of our children's food, conventionally grown or organic
The US limit for carcinogenic radioactive cesium is 1200 Bq/kg in food. Japan, which is still suffering a triple meltdown, has a limit of 100 Bq/kg. Both of these limits are way too high to protect our children. We are asking that the limit be reduced to 5 Bq/kg for all food, nutritional supplements and pharmaceuticals--lower when technology allows-- and that we quickly and responsibly institute widespread, transparent testing to ensure this limit, particularly in the wake of Japan's catastrophic and ongoing radiation releases from Fukushima Daiichi's triple nuclear meltdowns.
Please help support that effort by signing and sharing this SignOn companion petition widely. We must begin to know how much radiation is in the food we are serving our families, so we can decide what is safe to feed them. All protections in our food supply have been fought for and won. We can win this too.
TAKE ACTION LOCALLY WITH OUR ACTIVISTS IN WISCONSIN
In Milwaukee
Freedom Fridays- Keep your eyes open for announcements of films, discussions and potlucks on Fridays throughout the summer, hosted by Peace Action WI at Zao Church
End the Wars Coalition- on the 4th Wednesday of every month at 7 PM. Zoom link will be provided. Please email [email protected] to be put on our email list.
Milwaukee Anti-War Committee- on the first Saturday of every month. See facebook for locations and time. Usually at the Milwaukee Central Library.
WI Cuba Coalition- meetings are on the second Tuesday of the month. Email [email protected] to get on the email list.
United Nations Association of Milwaukee- Public forums with topics of interest to Peace Action members are held every second Saturday at 10 am. New location- Zao Church MKE.
Friends Committee on National Legislation, meetings on the first Wednesday of the month, for information about the Milwaukee Advocacy Team, contact Roger Hansen at [email protected]
350MKE- This group works to end climate change and the use of fossil fuels. Meets on zoom on the second Tuesday of the month. Join their mailing list to get an invitation with a link. https://350milwaukee.weebly.com/
Palestinian homes, like those belonging to more than 1,000 Palestinians in the Masafer Yatta area of the occupied West Bank, are under threat of demotion at the hands of Israeli forces. Israeli forces detain, torture, prosecute, and imprison 500 to 700 Palestinian children each year, some as young as 12. While Israel uses U.S. taxpayer funds to violate Palestinian human rights, and Congress must take action to prohibit the Israeli government from doing so.
On May 5, 2023, Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) reintroduced H.R. 3103, a bill prohibiting U.S. taxpayer funding for the Israeli military detention and ill-treatment of Palestinian children, demolitions of Palestinian homes, and further annexation of the occupied West Bank. Take action now to tell your lawmaker to sign on to H.R. 3103 or thank them for their support!
Uniting Wisconsin to End the War in Ukraine Virtual Event Saturday, April 15
A zoom call will be hosted by Peace Action WI and Milwaukee End the Wars Coalition and co-sponsored by WNPJ, Veterans for Peace #25 Madison, Echo Valley Hope, Interfaith Peace Working Group, Building Unity, and more. Please register if you are interested and spread the word!
Peace activists need to organize more work on public opinion, the media, and among ourselves. And this can happen not just in Milwaukee and Madison, but statewide. We want Congress and Pres. Biden to avoid escalation in Ukraine and do more serious negotiating.
· Peace talks now · Mutual ceasefire · No U.S. actions to escalate or prolong the war
Violence by Israeli forces and Israeli settlers in the Palestinian territories is escalating like never before.In late February, anattackin Huwara resulted in the death of a 37-year-old Palestinian man and injuries to hundreds more, as well as more than 30 Palestinian homes and 100 cars being burned. Days later, Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that Huwara"should be wiped out", further emboldening settler attacks on Palestinians.
Despite the US State Department's statement that these attacks are “completely unacceptable” and condemning Smotrich’s comment as “repugnant," the U.S. continues to provide nearly$4 billionper yearin funding to Israel,almost all of which is military aid.Meanwhile, Israel’s new extreme-right government is doubling down on violent rhetoric and authoritarianism. Attacks on Palestinians have only continued since the Huwara rampage, with little accountability for the perpetrators.
It is time for Congress to speak out. Luckily, Rep. Jamaal Bowman and Sen. Bernie Sanders are rallying members of Congress to speak out against the rising violence by Israeli authorities.They're gathering signatures for a congressional letter to the Biden administrationthat condemns the far-right Israeli government's violence against Palestinians. The letter calls out the expansion of settlements and land annexation that fosters greater conflict and leads to shameful dispossession for the Palestinians. It also calls for the enforcement of US laws which prohibit US aid from being used to abuse human rights.
We need you to make sure your member of Congress supports this letter,which can build momentum toward real accountability. US aidshould notandmust notbe used to fund the oppression of the Palestinian people.
Thank you for all you do to help create a more peaceful world, and for being a part of our New York State network of peacemakers.
In Peace,
Peace Action New York State
Cassandra has returned safely
If you are in Madison, please join Cassandra Dixon, April 23, from 2-4 pm, at the incredible Taza restaurant in Middleton, 1900 Cayuga St. (More on her return from several months in Palestine.and her attack.)
Cassandra says: "For my friends in the Madison area, I'd love to thank you in person with delicious Palestinian tea and snacks. One of the joys of visiting Palestine is the delicious food, and I would love the chance to give you a small taste!! I was able to bring back some beautiful new jewelry, hand embroidery and leather bags and wallets made and designed by my friend Laila at Women in Hebron Fair Trade Cooperative and we’ll have those, along with Palestinian olive oil & soap from Playgrounds for Palestine available for sale. Plus there will be information on a Madison-Rafah Sister City fundraiser to help Masafer Yatta residents resist forced removal from their lands, and easy post cards and online links to contact congress. Please bring a friend!”
Please use this link to ask WI Senator Tammy Baldwin as well as other congressional representatives to continue to press for a trial and legal consequences for the settler through the US State Department and the Israeli Police and Prosecution.
Thank them for their attention to the attack.
Ask that they continue to monitor the complaint in Israel and let the Israeli police know that we expect legal consequences for the settlers involved in the attack.
Request that the US Consulate visit Tuba in order to understand the threat of violence and human rights abuses caused by expansion of the illegal Israeli outpost of Havat Ma’on
Ask them to continue to request updates and a written report from the state dependent.
Express your appreciation for her attention to this matter, ask that she sign on to the Bowman Sanders letter, and add that you hope this will lead to greater attention by the Senator in the future to the reality of life on the ground under what is increasingly becoming an Apartheid regime that the US needs to start holding accountable.
And Action Alert #2 - the WNPJ Sign on Letter..... There are moments in time when horrible acts of violence can be turned into nonviolent actions towards justice. This is such a moment. As WNPJ learned of the Israeli settler attack on our WNPJ member and friend, Cassandra Dixon, we were also made aware of the mistreatment of the Palestinians, mostly children, living in Masafer Yatta, the South Hebron Hills region of the occupied West Bank.
Senator Tammy Baldwin took swift action and contacted the State Department urging investigation and consequences to the settler who harmed Cassandra. We applaud her efforts, and with this sign on letter, we thank her and ask her to continue to seek justice.
It is our hope that our united voices will demonstrate that eyes are on what is happening there and that we are weary of United States dollars being used in support of an apartheid system.
Please sign on to this letter to Senator Baldwin and urge your members and friends to do the same. We would like to send this to her by April 17th. Please make your best effort to reach as many people a possible.
Did you hear that Netanyahu is giving his ultranationalist, openly genocidal, Minister of Security control over a new private militia?
U.S. media are reporting a win for Israel’s protest movement after Netanyahu announced a delay to his proposed judiciary overhaul. But most outlets are leaving out the concessions he made to get there: more violence against the Palestinian people.
Netanyahu has agreed to establish a new armed battalion under the control of Itamar Ben-Gvir, the ultranationalist national security minister who openly supports the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. This new militia will pick up the mantle of the settler vigilantes who hunted for Palestinians in Lyd, Haifa, and other cities during the May 2021 Unity Intifada. Ben-Gvir already has an immense amount of power over police forces that regularly inflict violence on Palestinians. Giving him control over what is essentially a private militia would have even more grave consequences for Palestinian lives.
Instead of condemning this alarming deal, Biden's administration is hosting Netanyahu at the White House’s “Summit for Democracy'' starting this evening. And earlier today, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel told Israeli outlets that Netanyahu could be invited to the White House after Passover - signaling that a long withheld invitation could be forthcoming. These moves together, signal that Biden sees this deal as acceptable and sufficient for resuming the status quo.
Biden is giving Netanyahu moral cover and cosigning this exchangeof a paramilitary force led by a genocidal racist as somehow an acceptable compromise to preserve the illusion of Israeli democracy.
Itamar Ben-Gvir has a long history of supporting extreme racist, anti-Palestinian violence and it is especially disturbing that he will be leading this force.
In an oft-quoted 2011 interview, Ben-Gvir defended his support for Baruch Goldstein, the Israeli American who killed 29 Palestinians while they prayed at a mosque in Hebron. Ben-Gvir called Goldstein a “hero” and a “righteous man.” We also know he’s encouraged police to shoot protestors. And more recently, last October, when he was already an elected Knesset member, he pulled a gun out during a confrontation in Sheikh Jarrah where settlers attempted to violently evict Palestinian residents from their homes. If he’s willing to do all of that on camera, we can only imagine what he is capable of with this new force.
Today on Democracy Now, Palestinian political analyst Yousef Munayyer explained that the public outrage over the judicial plan is due to many Israelis seeing their own rights threatened for the first time. Meanwhile Palestinian rights have never been upheld by Israeli courts. In fact, what many people don’t realize is that Israel doesn’t have a constitution at all. Why? Because if Israel had a constitution it would have had to accept equality for all before the law and that would limit the Israeli state's ability to pursue its central project: settler-colonialism.
Ben-Gvir’s militia has long existed in the settlements where armed settlers routinely carry out violence against Palestinians with the protection of the Israeli military. The proposed militia would take this a step further formalizing the arrangement within ‘48 and providing members with greater access to weapons and resources.
Adalah Justice Projectis a Palestinian-led advocacy organization based in the U.S. that builds cross-movement coalitions to achieve collective liberation. Our work is rooted in the conviction that drawing the linkages between US policy abroad and repressive state practices at home is crucial to shifting the balance of power.
If someone forwarded you this email,sign up hereto get updates from AJP.
This is from Cassandra Dixon, a lifelong Wisconsin anti-nuclear and peace activist. I am a citizen of the US currently visiting Palestine. I’m 64 years old. On March 7, I and another international were attacked by Israeli settlers while standing on the outskirts of the Palestinian village of Tuba in Masafer Yatta.
Hi friends, I have had a challenging couple of weeks here. I was attacked by a settler on March 7. The settler has been identified now, and I am hoping there may be legal consequences, which would be unusual for a settler. I got fantastic medical care here, and am doing well. If you would like to contact congress asking that they follow up and hold the settlers accountable for violent attacks against Palestinians and internationals, there is information at the end of this email, and if you would like to share this with anyone here is a statement. Thank You Cassandra
I am a citizen of the US currently visiting Palestine. I’m 64 years old. On March 7, I and another international were attacked by Israeli settlers while standing on the outskirts of the Palestinian village of Tuba in Masafer Yatta. I was hit from behind, hard, with a large stick, and my companion was chased and threatened by a settler with an iron bar. The settler who hit me fractured my skull and caused a bleed in my brain.
This is what the colonialism of Israeli settlers looks like for Palestinian families living in Masafer Yatta in the southernmost end of the West Bank. Supported by Israeli military and Police, settlers from the many settlements and illegal outposts in Masafer Yatta are systematically stealing Palestinian grazing land, destroying crops, and violently forcing people from their lands. To be here now in these 15 villages is to witness ethnic cleansing in real time.
In addition to daily settler threats, attacks, land theft, property destruction and violence, the area’s 1300 residents, more than half of them children, are facing imminent forced removal from their homes to make way for the use of their lands by the Israeli military as a firing zone.
An Israeli high court decision in May of 2022 ended a years long legal battle by residents for the right to remain, and now the largest forced relocation of Palestinians since 1967 could happen at any moment. Israeli forces have already demolished schools, homes, roads, wells, olive trees and agricultural buildings, and delivered demolition orders to every single structure.
As US taxpayers we contribute more than 8 million US dollars a day to the state of Israel. This is what we are buying. The strangulation of villages that are pinned down between illegal outposts. The shepherds forced to sell sheep to buy feed because they cannot access the land they planted a month ago. Women who face settler attacks while trying to reach a hospital in labor. Children who watched as their classrooms were demolished by Israeli forces with their desks and papers still inside. Families waking to the sight of entire olive groves burned or uprooted in the night by settlers. A young man about to be married shot and paralyzed by Israeli soldiers while attempting to save his village’s only generator from confiscation. The death of a beloved elderly man run over and dragged by a heavy equipment trailer during a police raid to confiscate cars in his village.
The humans living in Masafer Yatta desperately need the world to witness the bitterness of colonialism in their fields and olive groves. They desperately need for us to pay attention.
If you would like to help: Since the attack Senator Tammy Baldwin’s office has been surprisingly helpful in contacting the state department and I hope that they will continue to push them to communicate with the Israeli police and insist on legal consequences for the settler, as they may have some impact on the safety of Tuba Village.
For friends in Wisconsin, If you would like to help, please consider contacting Baldwin’s washinoffice through this link and asking for the following:
2) Ask that they continue to monitor the complaint in Israel and let the Israeli police know that we expect legal consequences for the settlers involved in the attack.
3) Request that the US consulate make a visit to Tuba in order to understand the threat of violence and human rights abuses caused by expansion of the illegal Israeli outpost of Havat Ma’on.
4) Ask them to continue to request updates and a written report from the state department.
5) Express your appreciation for their attention to this matter and add that you hope this will lead to greater attention by the Senator in the future to the reality of life on the ground under what is increasingly becoming an Apartheid regime that the US needs to start holding accountable, especially given out current level of aid to Israel.
Contacts to the state department from other congressional representatives would also be very helpful, however with Tammy Baldwin you can mention that I am a constituent of hers.
Here is a link to look up contact information for your senator and representative.
Join our Healthcare Day of Action at the Wisconsin State Capitol Building on Wednesday, March 22nd!
We will gather to share our healthcare stories and deliverour petition signaturesto the Joint Finance Committee, calling on them to: * Accept federal funds to expand Medicaid, as 39 other states have already done. * Fully fund access to healthcare to ensure that no person in Wisconsin is removed from Medicaid. * Recognize that Healthcare is a Human Right.
We will start by joining together in the Rotunda at 11am,followed by a press conference with testimony and delivery of petition signatures to JFC members.
Finally, we will gather at St. John's church around 12:30pm for lunch and discussion on next steps leading up to our virtual People's Voice on Healthcare on April 12th.
The White House unveiled its budget request for the 2024 fiscal year, with the largest ever proposed spending on the military. It is a $1 trillion budget for world war. The Biden administration wants the resources to fight Russia in Ukraine, intensify its buildup towards war with China in the Far East and sustain US military aggression in the Middle East.
Besides $842 billion for the Pentagon, which will undoubtedly be pushed even higher in Congress, there is $24 billion for the Department of Energy, which maintains the US nuclear arsenal, and $20 billion for military-related programs in the State Department, CIA and other agencies, bringing the total official military spending to $886 billion.
To this must be added the real cost of the war in Ukraine, which is listed as only $6 billion for the 2024 fiscal year, which begins October 1. In the previous fiscal year, the Biden administration requested $6.9 billion but ended up spending $114 billion. Given that there is no sign of the war ending—on the contrary, it is escalating rapidly—the cost of US support for the otherwise bankrupt regime in Kiev is likely to surpass the current level. This would swell total military outlays well above the $1 trillion mark.
Since Biden took office, the budget for the Pentagon alone has jumped from $718 billion in fiscal 2022, the first full year of his administration, to $816 billion last year. The $842 billion requested for this year could rise past the $900 billion mark once Congress and lobbyists for the weapons manufacturers have their say. Congressional Republicans have already denounced the budget for providing too little funding for the military.
The name “Department of Defense” is itself a gross distortion since there is not an inch of American soil that needs to be defended against an external enemy. It is rather the world which is under threat from the Pentagon. The US government maintains a global military presence without precedent in history, with more than 700 US bases worldwide, compared to one each outside their own borders for its main targets, Russia and China.
The department should be renamed the Department of Maintaining America’s Global Empire, or perhaps more simply, the Department of World Destruction. Some $38 billion of the Pentagon budget will go to nuclear weapons modernization, bringing the total spending this year on the US nuclear arsenal, to carry out the worldwide annihilation of civilization and perhaps all life on the planet, to more than $60 billion.
Much of the “non-military” budget also contributes to the US capacity to wage war around the world. One White House statement declares that the budget “invests in key technologies and sectors of the U.S. industrial base such as microelectronics, submarine construction, munitions production, and biomanufacturing.” It also includes “the recapitalization and optimization of the four public Naval Shipyards to meet future submarine and carrier maintenance requirements.”
Much of last year’s $250 billion CHIPS Act was funding routed through the Department of Commerce to underwrite the transfer to the United States of production of key semiconductor chips that are vital for high-tech weapons.
The Energy Department budget will support “the strong technical and engineering foundation” for the anti-China AUKUS agreement between the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom. Biden will host British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at an AUKUS summit in San Diego on Monday.
There are billions more in the budget for police repression, including $25 billion for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and $14.5 billion for other anti-immigrant activities of the Department of Homeland Security, including immigration courts and the vast network of detention facilities. Tens of billions more go to the FBI and other Justice Department agencies, and in grants that go directly to state and local police departments.
Military violence and police repression constitute the bulk of the $1.7 trillion in discretionary spending, the amount that Congress must authorize and appropriate each year, as opposed to automatic outlays from the Treasury for interest payments and entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
The budget request issued Thursday by the Biden administration is a political perspective, not just a spending plan. It is shared by both capitalist parties, Republican and Democrat, whatever their tactical differences about where and how much to spend. American imperialism seeks to maintain its global domination, and it is now focused on defeating what it regards as its main adversaries, Russia and above all China.
The proxy war against Russia in Ukraine is only the antechamber to an even greater conflict with China, which now takes the form of a rapid military buildup towards what one top general suggested would be open warfare by 2025. The corporate media is doing its part to suppress popular opposition to these wars, seeking to shift public opinion with a propaganda blitz over Russia’s reactionary invasion of Ukraine, and whipping up hysteria over alleged Chinese “spy balloons” and the social media app TikTok, depicted as a nefarious scheme by Beijing to collect intelligence on ordinary Americans.
It was noteworthy that in Biden’s first campaign-style appearance to “sell” his budget to the public, he made no mention of military spending, instead greatly exaggerating the level of spending on health care, education and other social welfare programs, which will inevitably be slashed rather than increased in the course of budget negotiations with the Republicans.
This was accompanied by populist demagogy over proposals to raise taxes on corporations and the super-rich, which he knows will go nowhere in Congress. The White House could not get a few hundred billion in tax increases on the wealthy through a Democratic-controlled Congress in 2021-2022. To suggest that a Republican-controlled House of Representatives will pass $5 trillion in such levies on the financial aristocracy is a blatant lie.
Biden proceeds like a crude carnival barker, holding up the shiny objects of tax increases for the wealthy and increases in social spending, which are popular among working people, to distract from the real essence of his program, which is to continue and escalate the war with Russia in Ukraine and to prepare the impending war with China.
This is the central axis of the policies of the Democratic Party, a party of Wall Street and the military-intelligence apparatus, which has long ago abandoned any genuine connection to policies of social concessions to working people. Biden’s only dispute with the Republicans is over whether to target Russia or China first. But this conflict is secondary. Both parties uphold the worldwide interests of the American oligarchy.
On February 22, Representatives Barbara Lee (CA) and Mark Pocan (WI) re-introduced the People Over Pentagon Act in the House of Representatives. PSR is a proud supporter of this legislation, and firmly believes that a $100 billion reduction in military spending is the minimum we must cut if we are to transform our society from a permanent war economy to a sustainable economy of community care.
The National Defense Authorization Act passed by Congress last December is the largest Pentagon budget ever, at $858 billion, an $80 billion increase over what was authorized in 2021. The USA spends more on its military than the next 9 countries combined.No nation can afford this!
Upon introducing the bill, Rep. Lee said "Cutting just $100 billion could do so much good: it could power every household in the U.S. with solar energy; hire 1 million elementary school teachers amid a worsening teacher shortage; provide free tuition for 2 out of 3 public college students; or cover medical care for 7 million veterans."
Over half of the military budget goes directly to for-profit corporations and their executives. According to Rep. Pocan, "We can no longer afford to put these corporate interests over the needs of the American people. It's time to invest in our communities and make meaningful change that reflects our nation's priorities."
Instead of wasting our taxpayer dollars on endless wars and obscenely expensive weapons—including nuclear weapons—ask your representative to make those public funds available to help people.
This year will mark the 20thanniversary of the Iraq War. Now, a strong group of bipartisan lawmakers has introduced legislation to repeal the law that sent us into that devastating war, which killed more than 126,000 Iraqi civilians and more than 4,500 U.S. U.S. servicemembers.
The 2002 Iraq Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) authorized war against Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi regime. It is unnecessary for ongoing military operations, but as long as it remains on the books, it is vulnerable to abuse by this or any future president.
Most notably, the 2002 Iraq AUMF was used in January 2020 to justify the assassination of Iranian major general Qassem Soleimani—an act unauthorized by Congress that nearly plunged the United States into war.
Urge your senators and representatives to cosponsor the bipartisan bills to repeal the 2002 Iraq AUMF!
Consortium News
Caitlin Johnstone: US Constantly Provoking China
January 25, 2023
The way the U.S. has been positioning its war machinery around China would have sparked a third world war had the roles been reversed. Nonetheless, talk inside the U.S. empire is all about Chinese “aggression.”
Punchbowl Newsreports that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is planning a trip to Taiwan, which will be yet another incendiary provocation against Beijing if it occurs. The previous House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, sparked a significant escalation in hostilities with her visit last year, the consequences of which are still reverberating today.
Article Citing Peace Action WI member, Jim Carpenter
The Foreign Policy Team of Progressive Democrats of America encourages a peace candidate to challenge President Joe Biden in the 2024 Presidential election
The Foreign Policy Team of Progressive Democrats of America encourages a peace candidate to challenge President Joe Biden in the 2024 Presidential election. The call for a primary challenge stems from deep concerns over Biden’s hawkish foreign policies that risk nuclear war while undermining global cooperation urgently needed to thwart the climate crisis.
Jim Carpenter, Co-Chair of PDA’s End Wars and Occupations Team, said, “President Biden continues a policy of foreign interventionism practiced by both major parties. The public is waking up to the fact that US wars and occupations have unnecessarily cost trillions of taxpayer dollars while killing and wounding thousands of US soldiers and over a million people abroad. War is always human failure but you would never know that looking at Biden’s continued support for Saudi genocide in Yemen, as well as his provocations in Ukraine and failure to promote a diplomatic settlement to end Russia's brutal invasion."
As a 2020 DNC delegate for Bernie Sanders, Marcy Winograd, Co-Chair of PDA’s End Wars & Occupations Team, wrote a letter signed by 550 DNC delegates urging Biden to hire a new foreign policy team. Instead, Biden elevated the same neoconservative voices responsible for previous disastrous wars.
Winograd said, “Now we are pouring tens of billions of dollars into perpetual war in Ukraine that threatens global annihilation. Why hasn't Biden vigorously pursued diplomacy? Why hasn't he met with Putin recently or called for a ceasefire? We need a truce and negotiations, not more weapons to pour gasoline on the fire. As Democrats we must be the party of peace, not war."
Biden’s disturbing foreign policies include:
1) In Sept., 2021, a few months before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Biden signed a Strategic Partnership with Ukraine to encourage a confrontation with Russia over Crimea and privatize state-owned industries. See Winograd’s Letter to the Left on Ukraine.
2) Biden refused to lift sanctions against Cuba and kept in place Trump's policy of assigning Cuba to the State Sponsor of Terror List which has brought tremendous hardship to the Cuban people who've had trouble obtaining syringes to administer COVID vaccines.
3) Biden has not stopped arming the Saudis in their genocidal war on Yemen, insisting the US maintain the bombers for the Saudi Air Force. Recently, Biden afforded MBS immunity from prosecution in the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
4) Biden issued a Nuclear Posture Review that betrays his campaign promise to support a “no first strike” nuclear policy. Instead, he reserves the right to use nuclear weapons whenever our allies' interests are threatened. He supports nuclear rearmament, estimated to cost well over a trillion dollars in the next few decades, and the production of new ICBMS that would leave the midwest sitting ducks in the event of a nuclear attack.
5) Biden has been hawkish on China and supportive of NATO expansion to the Pacific. He should have told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi not to go to Taiwan, a dangerously provocative move that disrupted US-China collaboration to thwart the climate crisis.
6) Despite the new Israel’s government’s agenda to annex the West Bank and further erode Palestinian rights, the Biden administration has pledged “ironclad” support for the apartheid state of Israel. Previously, Biden elevated Israel to a full-fledged military partner that could embroil the US in more wars in the Middle East.
7) The Biden administration continues to back the Trump-initiated extradition order and espionage charges against Julian Assange for publishing evidence of US war crimes in Iraq--this despite the fact that the New York Times also published documents Wikileaks released. This prosecution is a direct attack on freedom of the press, foundational to democracy and the prevention of war.
8)The Biden administration finally ended the 20 year war In Afghanistan. However, it then froze $7 billion of Afghan Central Bank reserves held in US banks, strangling their economy and contributing to mass unemployment and famine.
“We need a President who values diplomacy and supports a just foreign policy, not one that pushes us to the brink of World War III,” added Carpenter.
While the PDA foreign policy team has not endorsed a specific primary challenger to Biden, it hopes that issuing a call for peace candidates to step forward will, at the very least, encourage vigorous debate about US foreign policy and the imperative to change course in an increasingly multipolar world.
Many national parks were created by violently removing Native people from our homelands, where our ancestors lived for thousands of years.
This land theft is part of the U.S. history of systemic racism, but it has long been erased from the national narrative. Instead, parks are portrayed as pristine and untouched.
We’ve got to change this narrative and recognize that all national parks are on Indigenous homelands.
As the original stewards of these lands, Indigenous peoples deserve more visibility and more decision-making power when it comes to park management. This is how we start to make amends for past and present injustices.
Native Organizers Alliance has worked with Tribes across the country to re-indigenize parks, including at Yellowstone, the first national park.
Although Native connections to the park’s lands and waters stretch back to time immemorial, 2022 marked Yellowstone’s 150th anniversary.
We used this anniversary as an opportunity to support Native and Tribal advocates to look at the true history of the park and advocate for a National Park System that includes Indigenous voices and worldviews.
As part of this work, we helped put together an inter-Tribal summit, attended by the new National Parks Service Director Chuck Sams. Chuck Sams is the first Native in this role, and he’s an ally in our fight for co-stewardship and to use traditional ecological knowledge in park management.
Hawwih (thank you),
Judith Le Blanc (Caddo) Executive Director
DIVEST FROM THE WAR MACHINE!
Don't Bank on the Bomb: Find out if your financial institutions invest in warmakers.
Adelman Carpet Cleaner Marquette University Ambassador Hotel American United Taxi cab service Associated Industries for Blind YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee Wisconsin Lutheran College Wisconsin Electric Power Company Baymont Inns Braeger Ford Consolidated Doors Daniels Catering Days Inn West Allis Dickens Books Foley and Lardner LLP Kathy’s Shade Shop Klement Sausage Co. Marcus Corp. Movie Theaters Miller Brewery Milwaukee School of Engineering Potawatomi (Casino) Society of Divine Savior State Painting Company US Bank University of Wisconsin System
PS- In 2019, Peace Action held a protest in front of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co in Milwaukee, WI. We wrote to the President of NML to inform him of the investments by his company in nuclear weapons industries of $1 Billion. He wrote back and stated that he did not want his company to invest in nuclear weapons. I checked this year's report and the total investment is less, $ 304 Million. Some progress!
On Dec 19, 2023, Peace Action WI and the Milwaukee
End the Wars Coalition had a meeting with Gwen Moore's aides, Chris Goldson and Jonathan McCray. Here is a summary of what we asked her to do.
Hi Chris and Jonathan,
Thanks again for meeting with us and even going over 30 minutes.
We appreciate your willingness to ask Gwen to reply to our asks in writing, clarifying her positions for us.
Here are some issues that need clarification.
1) Military spending. Will Gwen work to separate out military spending from domestic spending in the Omnibus bill?That happened last year. This would give Gwen a chance to continue to vote NO on the obscene level of military spending without disrupting domestic spending.
If no separation occurs, we would like Gwen to vote NO on the Omnibus Bill.
Your comments about how quickly the Democrats and Republicans came together to support this massive military budget indicates, to us, how both parties are in the pockets of the military industrial complex and war profiteers.
2) Ukraine. It is good to hear that Gwen understands that this war will end through negotiations.If she could make a public statement on that, that would be great.
I just watched PBS Newshour andthey spoke of President Zelensky coming to address Congress asking for more money which will put us on track to give a total of $100 billion to Ukraine – way more than the EU.
We oppose more military aid to Ukraine because it creates a disincentive for a ceasefire and negotiations – the only SANE way this war will end.We are asking that Gwen vote NO on this military aid to Ukraine.Saving lives means ceasefire and negotiations, not more weapons and escalation.
As County Supervisor Shea explained, at the very least, military aid should be contingent to a statement by both Biden and Zelensky that they want to begin peace negotiations NOW.
3) Yemen. It is very sad to see that Congress is not voting on the Yemen War Powers resolution, apparently because Biden does not support it. This is a shame.
4) Nuclear weapons. It is good to hear that you think Gwen can sign ontoH.Res.1185 — 117th Congress (2021-2022)
H.Res.1185 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Embracing the goals and provisi...
Summary of H.Res.1185 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Embracing the goals and provisions of the Treaty on the Proh...
Embracing the goals and provisions of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Hopefully, she can confirm that.
5) Free Assange. Thanks for reading the documents that Ann Batiza sent you. We hope Gwen can make a statement explaining her position on this. The future of freedom of the press is at stake. Democracy will not work without an informed citizenry, including information exposing crimes of our government.
Thanks again for meeting with us. We look forward to Gwen’s response.
Merry Christmas and Happy New year to you, Gwen, and all the staff and family.
Peace
Jim Carpenter
The Golden Rule Sails Again for a Nuclear-Free World!
In 1958 four Quaker peace activists sailed the Golden Rule toward the Marshall Islands in an attempt to halt nuclear weapons testing. The US Coast Guard boarded her in Honolulu and arrested her crew, causing an international outcry.
Arrest of the crew and rising awareness of the dangers of radiation led to worldwide demands to stop nuclear testing. This spurred the U.S., the U.S.S.R., and the U.K. to sign the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963.
In 2010 the Golden Rule sank in Northern California. For five years, dozens of Veterans For Peace, Quakers, and other volunteers worked to restore her.
Nuclear Abolition Mission Restored!
From 2015 – 2022, the Golden Rule sailed the West Coast between British Columbia and San Diego and to Hawai’i and back.
Golden Rule representatives have given hundreds educational presentations about nuclear issues and led many peace flotillas. Thousands of people visited the Golden Rule during four wooden boat shows.
TheGolden Rulenow sails for a nuclear-free world and a peaceful, sustainable future.
Great Start on the Great Loop!
Golden Rule Reaching Thousands of People Along Mississippi River!
From September 2022 through December 2023, the Golden Rule is sailing “The Great Loop”. Starting in the Minneapolis / St Paul area, she sailed down the Mississippi, Illinois, Ohio, Tennessee, and Tombigbee River system to the Gulf of Mexico. In December, 2022, the crew will sail along the Gulf states and to Cuba. Then the little boat will continue from Miami up the east coast to Maine, through the Hudson River and Erie Canal, around the Great Lakes, and down the center of the country again, back to the Gulf of Mexico.
This 15-month voyage will take the Golden Rule into 100 towns and cities and cover 11,000 miles. Along the way, Golden Rule representatives will speak to many groups about how their actions can bring about nuclear disarmament and stop the possibility of nuclear war.
The Golden Rule Project is asking people to sign petitions in favor of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, a No First Use policy, no unilateral Presidential authority to launch a nuclear strike, elimination of the $2 Trillion nuclear “modernization” program and the Nuclear Weapons Abolition and Economic and Energy Conversion Act” (HR 2860).
Marshallese gathering in Dubuque, Iowa
One of the most significant stops on the first leg took place on October 9-10 in Dubuque, Iowa, where there is a community of 800 Marshall Islanders. Sailboats escorted the Golden Rule into the harbor for a grand entrance. Marshallese women, in traditional dress, sang sweet harmonies of welcome. The Golden Rule crew and many observers were in tears.
Many of the Marshallese didn’t know that the 1958 crew of the Golden Rule was trying to stop nuclear weapons testing in the Marshall Islands. (The US exploded 67 nuclear bombs there, leading to many cancers, and rendering many of the islands uninhabitable, which is why there are Marshallese communities in the U.S.) They learned about that long- ago action, and that the Golden Rule was coming to their community! What a great celebration!
The Golden Rule isComing to Wisconsin in September 2023
For a full schedule, please go to vfpgoldenrule.org; on the home page is a link to the up-to-the-minute schedule.
Hope through Action!
Actions you can take to support the nuclear disarmament campaign:
Write letters to the editor calling for abolition of nuclear weapons.
Encourage your city council to pass a resolution in support of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and other measures to stop the possibility of nuclear war.
Ask your Representative and Senators to co-sponsor the “Nuclear Weapons Abolition and Economic and Energy Conversion Act” (HR 2850).
Several national groups are now Co-Sponsors of the Golden Rule “Great Loop” Voyage. They will help arrange events, provide literature, and do outreach for the events. If your organization would like to co-sponsor this voyage, please send an email to [email protected].
CodePink Women for Peace Back from the Brink World BEYOND War RootsAction Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom – US NuclearBan.US United for Peace & Justice
You may make an online tax-deductible donation at vfpgoldenrule.org.
Please extend your thanks to Gwen Moore for joining 43 other progressive Democrats in voting NO on the obscene $858 billion NDAA -- a bill that gives a gift on no bid contracts to weapons makers in apparent preparation for a long protracted war with Russia and an escalating cold war with China. We wish we had more MOC like Gwen with the courage to say NO.
The $858 billion NDAA is $45 billion more than President Biden asked for, marking the second year in a row that Congress made the military budget higher than what the White House requested. The amount represents an 8% increase from the 2022 NDAA, whichwas finalized at $782 billion.
According toDefense News,the 2023 NDAAdropped amendments added to the House version that would have restricted weapons sales to countries accused of human rights abuses. Such provisions were included in the House version of the NDAA but didn’t make it past into the final version that was negotiated with the Senate.
Notable amendments packed into the NDAA include a measure that will give the Pentagon wartime purchasing powers byallowing non-competitive, multi-year contractsfor certain arms. The authority could be used to refill US stockpiles, arm Ukraine, and assist foreign governments that have provided support for Ukraine.
The list of munitions the Pentagon is allowed to procure using the purchasing powers is extensive and includes HIMARS rocket launch systems, 155mm ammunition, Javelin anti-tank missiles, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, Harpoon anti-ship missiles, and much more.
US weapons manufacturers will benefit greatly from the new authority, especially Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, as many of their systems are on the list. The multi-year contracts will incentivize the arms makers to significantly ramp up production.
The NDAA includes unprecedented military aid for Taiwan, including $10 billion that will be disbursed over five years and $1 billion in annual presidential drawdown authority, which will allow the US to send Taipei weapons directly from Pentagon stockpiles.
Ukraine will receive$800 million in the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative from the NDAA, a program that allows the US government to purchase weapons for Ukraine. But the vast majority of spending on the Ukraine war will come through emergency funding, and the White House is hoping Congress approves a new $37.7 billion tranche of Ukraine aid during the lame-duck period.
The NDAA includes $11.5 billion in new investments for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, a program to build up in the Asia Pacific to confront China. The Pentagon has identified China as its main focus, and the NDAA includes investment in new technology research and development that US military leaders say is meant to counter Beijing.
The United States has accelerated the fielding of a more accurate version of its mainstay nuclear bomb to NATO bases in Europe, according to a U.S. diplomatic cable and two people familiar with the issue.
The arrival of the upgraded B61-12 air-dropped gravity bomb, originally slated for next spring, is now planned for this December, U.S. officials told NATO allies during a closed-door meeting in Brussels this month, the cable reveals.
The move, which involves replacing older weapons with the newer version at various storage facilities in Europe for potential use by U.S. and allied bombers and fighter jets, comes amid heightened tensions over Russia’s threats to use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine and growing concerns that the West needs to do more to deter Moscow from crossing that lin
The upgrades to the B61 program have been openly discussed in budget documents and public statements for years, and Pentagon officials have said the upgrades are necessary to ensure the stockpile is modernized and safe. Asked for comment, Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder responded via email that “while we aren’t going to discuss details of our nuclear arsenal, modernization of US B61 nuclear weapons has been underway for years and plans to safely and responsibly swap out older weapons for the upgraded B61-12 versions is part of a long-planned and scheduled modernization effort. It is in no way linked to current events in Ukraine and was not sped up in any way.”
The arrival date came as a surprise to some longtime observers, who fear it could further stoke an already dangerous situation in Europe. The announcement at the meeting in Brussels came days before NATO kicked off its annual nuclear exercise, known as Steadfast Noon. The two-week exercise ends Sunday and includes some 70 aircraft. And on Wednesday, Russia held a nuclear exercise that its defense chief described as simulating a “massive nuclear strike” in retaliation for a nuclear attack on Russia,according to the Kremlin.
The message behind sending the first bombs in December may be directed more at European allies that feel especially vulnerable to Moscow.
“My guess is it is aimed more towards NATO than Russia,” said Tom Collina, director of policy at the Ploughshares Fund, a disarmament group. “There are [older] B61s already there. The Russians know that. They work just fine. The new ones will be newer, but it’s not really that much of a difference. But it may be a way to assure the allies when they are feeling particularly threatened by Russia.”
Two people familiar with the issue of the upcoming shipment to Europe confirmed the accelerated timeframe reported in the diplomatic cable. They asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.
The cable, which has not previously been made public and was written to be distributed throughout the Pentagon and State Department to give policymakers a rundown of what was discussed among defense ministers at the NATO meeting, clearly indicates that allies are jittery.
The document says that during the meetings, 15 NATO allies raised concerns that the alliance “must not give in to Putin’s nuclear blackmail.”
“Given the rising volume and scale of Russia’s nuclear rhetoric, a subset of allies requested continued consultations at NATO to ensure continued readiness and consistent messaging,” the cable adds.
Yet Collina also warned that any nuclear-related moves — however modest they might be — could have unintended consequences.
“It could be escalatory. We’ll see,” he said.
The B61is a family of nuclear bombsfirst developed in the early 1960s and initially demonstrated in underground nuclear tests in Nevada. A dozen versions have been developed over the decades and most of them have since been retired.
The $10 billionB61-12 Life Extension Programis managed by the Department of Energy and is meant to replace several earlier versions, including about 100 bombs stored at air bases in Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Turkey.
The upgrades are all in the non-nuclear aspects of the unguided bomb’s design, and involve removing a parachute and installing a new tail kit and other improvements for “significantly greater accuracy,” Kristensen said.
The new version is also designed so that U.S. and allied bomber planes and fighter aircraft — including B-2 and B-21 bombers and F-15, F-16, F-35 and Tornado fighter jets — are all able to carry the weapon, as opposed to the several older versions of the B61 that have been in storage for years.
The warhead itself is one of the most versatile in the U.S. arsenal because its explosive power can be dialed up or down depending on the target, making it either a low- or medium-yield weapon.
The new timeline for arrival is a sign that the Pentagon has determined the weapon is ready sooner than planned, Kristensen said.
He pointed out that the DoD Inspector General was expected to complete a review of the weapon’s performance ahead of training for air crews, either late this year or early next.
The Air Force conducted flight tests of the new bomb design on the F-35A in October 2021 and certified it on the F-15E in 2020. But the Pentagonreported in Februarythat it planned to “complete nuclear design certification of the B61-12 with the F-35A before January 2023, after which the [U.S. Air Forces in Europe] will be able to start certification training.”
“I thought those two things were going to happen before you saw the physical arrival,” Kristensen said.
That is a shift from President Joe Biden’s comments during the 2020 presidential campaign, in which he said he would consider changing U.S. policy to state that the sole purpose of atomic weapons is to deter a nuclear attack against America or its allies, a change that nuclear disarmament groups had pushed for.
The administration has since walked those comments back. But Austin’s assurance to European allies that U.S. nuclear declarative policy will remain unchanged comes as capitals on the continent are looking for a steady hand in Washington to confront nuclear-armed Russia and China.
James Acton, co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Biden’s “sole purpose” comments during the campaign rippled across Europe, and “there was a big campaign by U.S. allies to convince him not to do so and that campaign was successful.”
During the Brussels meetings, Austin also informed allies that the review would support the full modernization of the U.S. nuclear triad, while retiring the B83 gravity bomb and ending the nuclear sea-launched cruise missiles program started by the Trump administration.
But lawmakers oppose halting the cruise missile program and will likely continue funding it in upcoming defense policy legislation.
PEOPLE FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT
HUMAN SURVIVAL PROJECT
CANCEL GROM, STEADFAST NOON NUCLEAR EXCERCISES
Failure to Cancel Grom and Steadfast Noon nuclear exercises sends 'precisely the wrong signal', could be catastrophic.
Holding both the Grom (Russian) and the Steadfast Noon nuclear exercises as scheduled not only sends precisely the 'wrong signal' (to use NATO secy-General Jens Stoltenberg's words, when arguing the opposite), but could, potentially at least, be utterly catastrophic in the current fraught atmosphere of nuclear threats, both (explicitly) from Russia, and (implicitly) from NATO.
Back in November 1983, NATO embarked on a series of military exercises known as 'able archer'. These exercises did not even involve troops on the ground – they were 'command post' exercises. However, the culminating point of the exercise was to have involved heads of state/government pressing buttons for a simulated nuclear strike.
Able archer was a rehearsal for the apocalypse. It had one glitch. The Kremlin did not think it was a rehearsal, and postured its nuclear forces accordingly.
NATO had, until the last moment, no idea that Russia thought it likely that Able Archer might be not a simulated nuclear strike, but an actual nuclear strike, and might be contemplating a pre-emptive strike of its own.
In part because of the Serpukhov-15 incident on 26 September '83, in which the world had been saved by Colonel Stan Petrov, in part because details of NATO military plans had been leaked to the Kremlin who then saw that a strike against Moscow was NOT imminent, and in part because at the last moment, the involvement of heads of state and government was cancelled, Able Archer did not culminate in a real apocalypse. It remained an exercise.
Steadfast Noon Involves the use of nuclear-capable aircraft over the UK, Belgium, and Norway.
Both, like Able Archer, will involve exercise of the command and communications infrastructure for global thermonuclear war.
We are as close as we want to be (and much much closer than we want to be) to global thermonuclear war for real. Arguably closer right now even than during the Cuban Missile Crisis whose 60thanniversary is now.
Practice runs for the apocalypse, like Able Archer, are – even in the best of times – inherently risky.
At a time of extreme nuclear tension such as now, they are downright foolhardy.
NATO Secy-General Jens Stoltenberg has stated that cancellation of Steadfast Noon would send 'precisely the wrong signal'.
He is as deeply wrong as it is possible to be. The opposite is the case.
REFUSAL to cancel Steadfast Noon sends precisely the wrong signal and risks catastrophic miscalculation and misunderstanding. Whatever Putin will or will not do about Russia's scheduled GROM exercises, which it seems will overlap Steadfast Noon.
The sensible thing to do is to cancel both Grom and Steadfast Noon as exercises in nuclear chest beating that truly speaking ought never to take place, but which are especially foolhardy in the current fraught geopolitical context. Mutual cancellation would signify a reduction in temperature and tensions that could lead to a negotiated solution or at least reduce the risk of global nuclear war. Refusal to do so sends precisely the wrong signal. Even if Putin will NOT cancel GROM, Steadfast Noon ought to be scrapped.
It is high time that both Russia and the US/NATO signed onto and implemented a series of nuclear risk reduction measures starting with commitments to No First Useof nuclear weapons.
A series of nuclear risk reduction measures are detailed here:
October 16 is a day of action at US, NATO, and Russian diplomatic missions in NY commemorating the 60thanniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and urging measures to make nuclear war less likely.
Milwaukee has received nearly $400 Million in American Rescue Plan Act dollars. Let electeds know we deserve decision-making power over these funds through participatory budgeting!
“Participatory budgeting (PB) is a democratic process in which community members decide how to spend part of a public budget. It gives people real power over real money… PB has spread to over 7,000 cities around the world, and has been used to decide budgets from states, counties, cities, housing authorities, schools, and other institutions… it deepens democracy, builds stronger communities, and creates a more equitable distribution of public resources.” - The Participatory Budgeting Project
This is insane – a huge nuclear site in Ukraine is under attack from rockets and shells! And here’s the really crazy thing. Bombing a nuclear plant isn’t explicitly banned under international law!UN nuclear negotiators are meeting right now– and in days they could make a crucial decision to protect nuclear sites worldwide from attack.Add your name to demand they act!
We could be close to a terrifying nuclear catastrophe.
Russian invadersshelled a massive power plant housing six nuclear reactorsin Ukraine – and the fighting’s getting more intense.
Rockets are exploding around the reactor compound, and one mistake could lead to nuclear disaster – withmass sickness, death, displacement and environmental devastation.
But here’s the really crazy thing. Bombing a nuclear plant isn’t explicitly banned under international law! But right now, we have a chance to win a crucial decision that would move us a step closer toa new global law to stop military attacks on all nuclear reactors worldwide.
Top nuclear negotiators are deciding this week, and insiders saya massive citizens’ demand for action could help push it over the line. Add your name now, and when this is huge, our call will be delivered straight to the negotiation table in New York:
Experts say a decision like this will pile onpressure for a stop to fighting between Russia and Ukraine at the nuclear site, and help stop attacks on other nuclear sites around the world.
UN nuclear negotiators are meeting right now to discuss the crisis, and could take this crucial step, whiledemanding that Russian troops pull back from the plantin Ukraine, and ensuring that independent experts can assess the damage.
But to do so, they’ll need to be bold. And massive public support can help. Sojoin this call for sanity now, and we’ll hand-deliver it to the heart of the UN nuclear talks, before it’s too late.
Avaaz has stood against nuclear insanity time and time again. More than a million of us joined with the Dalai Lama, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, and others to oppose nuclear war. With rockets and shells pounding the nuclear compound, the threat of disaster is higher than it’s been for decades. Let’s do all we can to stop it, while we still can.
Tell Congress: Reject Manchin + Schumer’s dirty “side deal” with the fossil fuel industry
It’s been reported that as a further price for the Inflation Reduction Act, Senator Manchin and Majority Leader Schumer agreed to introduce massive polluter giveaway legislation in September to fast-track new fossil fuel projects, including the Mountain Valley Pipeline. This is a cruel and direct attack on environmental justice communities and the climate, and it must be stopped. This proposed legislation - clearly drafted by the American Petroleum Institute - would truncate and hollow-out the environmental review process, weaken Tribal consultations, and make it all but impossible for frontline communities to have their voices heard. Any new fossil fuel projects would also push us far past the 1.5 degree limit necessary to avoiding the worst impacts of the climate crisis.
It would be even more abhorrent to tether this proposal to must-pass legislation to fund the federal government. Sacrificing the health and prosperity of communities in Appalachia, the Gulf Coast, Alaska, the Midwest, the Southwest, and other frontline communities around the country makes this side-deal particularly disgraceful.
Please add your organization to this letter calling on Congressional leaders to stop this undemocratic and unacceptable side deal, and reject any fossil fuel handouts.
Deadline is COB Monday, August 22.
*For a full list of signers-to-date (updated once daily) and easier readability, check out the letter here: https://bit.ly/NoFossilFuelSideDeal
Original signers include: 7 Directions of Service, Action Center on Race and the Economy, Bold Alliance, Center for Biological Diversity, Climate and Community Project, Esto’k Gna Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribal Nation, Food & Water Watch, Friends of the Earth U.S., Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, GreenFaith, Ikiya Collective, Indigenous Environmental Network, Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, Network NOVA, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, Preserve Giles County, Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights (POWHR), Pueblo Action Alliance, Taproot Earth, Toxic Free North Carolina, Turtle Island Restoration Network.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Gaby Sarri-Tobar ([email protected]).
*****
Dear Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Schumer,
On behalf of XXX frontline communities and environmental and other organizations representing millions of members and supporters nationwide, we are writing to express our strenuous opposition to any additional fossil fuel giveaways. Alarming proposals have been referenced by Senator Manchin, in a short memo, and in legislative language that was clearly drafted in consultation with the American Petroleum Institute (API). It has been reported that Manchin has demanded these handouts to the fossil fuel industry as a further price for his vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, which already included large giveaways to polluters.
We call on you to unequivocally reject any effort to promote fossil fuels, advance unproven technologies, and weaken our core environmental laws. You must stand with the communities who continue to bear the brunt of harm from fossil fuels and act to prevent wholesale climate disaster.
This fossil fuel wish list is a cruel and direct attack on environmental justice communities and the climate. This legislation would truncate and hollow-out the environmental review process, weaken Tribal consultations, and make it far harder for frontline communities to have their voices heard by gutting bedrock protections in the National Environmental Policy Act and Clean Water Act.
In a further affront to frontline communities and climate science's mandate to end all fossil fuel expansion, this legislative proposal would promote and prioritize dozens of fossil fuel projects including the incomplete fracked-gas Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), and dictate where future court cases to protect communities and the environment can be filed. Building this unnecessary pipeline could violate Indigenous sovereignty, property rights, threaten endangered species, devastate sensitive Appalachian ecosystems, further degrade hundreds of critical waterways, and disproportionately harm low-wealth communities and communities of color. The MVP is using eminent domain for their private gain leaving landowners with all the risk.The MVP could be responsible for an additional 89 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually, the equivalent of 26 coal plants. New fossil fuel infrastructure projects, including MVP, are flatly incompatible with limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. In the words of United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, “Investing in new fossil fuels infrastructure is moral and economic madness.”
Prolonging the fossil fuel era perpetuates environmental racism, is wildly out of step with climate science, and hamstrings our nation’s ability to avert a climate disaster. Supporting this legislation would represent a profound betrayal of frontline communities and constituents across the country who have called on you to prevent the multitude of harms of fossil fuels and advance a just, renewable energy future. For example, the permit review process for the proposed Formosa Plastics Complex in St. James Parish, Louisiana has been critical in protecting the surrounding community, which is about 90-percent Black. If developed, it would produce 800 tons of toxic air pollutants annually, doubling air emissions in the already overburdened community in Cancer Alley. The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights called the project “environmental racism” in March and urged U.S. officials to reject the project. Reports of the proposed legislative changes to NEPA and the priority permitting list would perpetuate this environmental racism.
Bold Congressional action to address the existential threat of climate chaos requires limiting the production of oil, gas, and coal, which are responsible for 85% of greenhouse emissions and are the root driver of the climate crisis. Relying only on large scale investments in renewable energy and environmental justice alone will not stave off climate disaster if Congress simultaneously puts its legislative foot on the gas to expand fossil fuel production and false solutions like carbon capture, hydrogen, biomass, biofuels, factory farm gas, and nuclear power. Existing fossil fuel facilities already push us past climate targets; any new fossil fuel projects would be incompatible with avoiding irreversible climatic devastation.
Moreover, tethering this legislation to any must-pass legislation including a Continuing Resolution to fund the federal government is morally abhorrent. Holding the funding of the entire federal government hostage to satiate one Senator with a heavy financial self-interest in fossil fuels is beyond irresponsible. Sacrificing the health and prosperity of communities in Appalachia, the Gulf Coast, Alaska, the Midwest, the Southwest, and other frontline communities around the country makes this side-deal profoundly disgraceful.
Truncating environmental reviews does not benefit renewable energy. All this legislation will do is weaken environmental protections that are needed to protect communities, wildlife, and our public lands and waters from the devastation of toxic fossil fuel projects. After all, solar panels do not cause oil spills and wind farms do not contaminate our air and water.
We strongly urge you to reject this fossil fuel handout and side-deal with one single Senator. Our communities and our collective future require the political courage to stop the fossil fuel stranglehold once and for all.
ACT NOW: Tell the House to Oppose the Nuclear Bailout and Save the Climate!
BIG NEWS: West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin reached a deal with Congressional Democrats on a sweeping climate and energy package that supposedly would address the climate crisis, now called the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). The Senate passed the bill on Sunday, August 7, and the House of Representatives plans to vote on it this Friday, August 12.
This bill could have been our best – and maybe our only – chance to make real progress on fighting climate change and creating the just environmental and economic future the Biden administration promised voters. It should've been a major success for climate policy, thanks to tireless activists who worked to hold Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer accountable to get Sen. Manchin to the table on climate.
But, among the desperately needed good progressive measures in the IRA are bad policies and hundreds of billions of dollars in poison pills – handouts to fossil fuels, false climate solutions, and Big Nuclear. These provisions would profit dirty and polluting energy industries that are causing climate and ecological crises at the expense of taxpayers, environmental justice, and TRUE investment in the 100% renewable, just, and sustainable energy future we deserve.
Frankly, the harm they would cause can’t be justified, and may actually block renewable energy and other real climate solutions in the bill.
Of the $369 billion dollars, up to $72 billion is slated for subsidies to aging nuclear reactors — a wasteful expenditure that will not create a single new job, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by any amount, nor make any progress towards climate action. The measure is nothing more than a corrupt bailout scam by the nuclear industry and their cronies in Congress. There is also:
$250 billion in taxpayer-guaranteed loans to prop up old nuclear and fossil fuel power plants
$40 billion in taxpayer loans that could go to building new reactors and fossil fuel power plants
$700 million to promote domestic uranium mining and enrichment
We cannot settle for the inadequate, unjust, and wasteful policies in the Inflation Reduction Act. We cannot settle for a bill that backs false climate solutions and sacrifices frontline communities. We MUST demand better from Congress: a strong national policy for climate, the economy, and for environmental justice. The time to act is now. Demand that Congress and the Biden administration eliminate the massive subsidies to nuclear power and other dirty energy.
Speak up today! Tell Your Representatives: Don’t Waste our Climate Future on False Solutions
Yesterday House Speaker Nancy Pelosi chose to visit Taiwan. This was an unnecessary provocation and such a bad idea that it was opposed by both President Biden and by the Chinese government!
Her trip also contradicts the "One China Policy” an agreement made between the US and China that go back 50 years!
In her own words Speaker Pelosi is setting the stage for unthinkable conflict:
"Today the world faces a choice between democracy and autocracy. America’s determination to preserve democracy here in Taiwan and around the world remains ironclad."
We can't afford to divide the world into camps or to pursue another ideological Cold War. This thinking has no place in the 21st century. We cannot defeat imminent climate catastrophe or prepare for health threats like the COVID-19 pandemic without cooperation between the US and China.
The Speaker's rhetoric is viewed as an insult by China, a nuclear armed state only 100 miles from Taiwan, and a country that very much considers Taiwan to be a part of China. They're responding to the visit with military exercises that will only further escalate tensions.
Pelosi's ill-timed photo-op puts the people of Taiwan at risk. The precedent of the war in Ukraine should be a warning for all of us. Actions have consequences and the last thing the world needs is another crisis.
The Chicago City Council todaypassed a resolutioncalling on President Biden and Congress to cease spending federal tax dollars on nuclear weapons, embrace the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and make global disarmament a priority. Chicago joins a movement of 50 municipalities that have passed “Back from the Brink” resolutions and is the largest midwestern city to have done so.....
Debate and voting starts this afternoon on amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Over 600 amendments will get a vote. Unfortunately, our amendment to reform the Espionage Act was ruled out of order and will not receive a vote on the floor (more on that later). However, the following 8 amendments that impact police militarization, surveillance, Guantanamo, and Congressional war powers will be debated and voted on.
Police militarization - two amendments address how military equipment gets into the hands of local police. Johnson-McClintock #5: prohibits the transfer of military-grade weapons and tactical vehicles and aircraft to federal, tribal, state, and local law enforcement agencies under the 1033 program. Escobar #6: creates a publicly available website to track the purchase of military equipment by police under the 1122 program.
Congressional war powers - three amendments would reassert Congressional war powers and rein in endless wars. Lee-Meeks-Roy #383: Repeals the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq. Bowman-Khanna - et al #384: Prohibits U.S. military presence in Syria without Congressional approval within one year of enactment. Lee-Meijer-Roy #387: Expresses a sense of Congress that all AUMFs should include a sunset or require congressional reauthorization.
Surveillance - Two amendments would provide some protection for our data, including location data. Jacobs-Davidson #35: requires DOD to report on whether DOD components are bypassing court orders through purchasing Americans' internet browsing and phone location data. Malinowski-Eshoo-Lofgren-Porter-Khanna #67: Prohibits federal agencies from encouraging the weakening of encryption or insertion of backdoors on commercially-available phones, computers, and devices.
Urge a NO vote on: Boebert #6: prohibits the use of funds to transfer, release, or assist in the transfer or release of any individual detained at United States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The war in Ukraine is continuing, unabated for four months now, causing vast destruction of life and property of the people of Ukraine and enormous damage to the global economy affecting the lives of millions of people the world over due to rising prices and energy crisis, and above all steadily increasing global tensions pushing humanity to the brink of a nuclear war.
The Russian military intervention in Ukraine was an evident response to the measures taken bytheKyiv regime and its armed far-right militias against Russians, Russian speaking population and other citizens of Ukraine, to the non-implementation of the Minsk agreements and to the continuous aggressive expansion of the NATO alliance inside the former USSR.
But even if we dismiss altogether the Russian arguments and if we accept fully the US and NATO’s arguments regarding the Ukrainian crisis, the Western response to the Russian intervention by arming Ukraine massively and by imposing unprecedented sanctions against Russia, is totally disproportionate. This policy, while not helping the peoples of Ukraine, is comporting very high risk of nuclear, ecological and socio-economic global disasters.
The prolongation of the Ukrainian conflict is increasing the risk of a nuclear world war by accident, by miscalculation or by provocation and the subsequent annihilation of humanity.
It is clearly impossible to tackle the burning challenges of our time such as climate change, hunger, and other existential threats to humanity in an atmosphere of international hostility. All the gains achieved since the end of the Second World War seem to be at stake today and the level of cooperation among nations and peoples has reached a stunning low at this moment. The continuation of this conflict gets us closer to the point of a collapse of human civilisation as the recent UN report warned us about (GAR2022: Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction).
The sanctions and counter-sanctions have already had devastating social and economic effects on the majority of the countries of the world.
By now it is clear that all those measures cannot help Ukraine to win a war impossible to win fromitsvery beginning. They are contributing to the killing and migration of the Ukrainian youth and to the destruction of its country.
This is why we consider of utmost urgency to call for immediate ceasefire and start of negotiations accompanied by the lifting of sanctions and a halt to the arming of Ukraine.
We call on the world's public opinion, all social movements, intellectuals, trade unions, religious communities and governments to act firmly in this direction and to coordinate their efforts.
There is no more important task for humanity now than to stop our descent into open world war and the collapse of Civilisation!
For Bandung Spirit Collective and Delphi Initiative for the Defence of Democracy
The updated list of co-signatories will be published at this website periodically. If you wish to add your signature, please follow this link https://forms.gle/9nR8cXuxiKEKBEDc6
Working group:
Isaac Bazié, Burkina Faso/Canada (Professor, Comparative Literature, African Studies, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada)
Beatriz Bissio, Brazil/Uruguay (Professor, History, Political Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Bruno Drweski, France/Poland (Professor, Geopolitics, Central and Eastern European Studies, INALCO National Institute of Languages and Civilisations, France)
Manoranjan Mohanty, India (Former Professor, Political Sciences, Chinese Studies, University of Delhi, India)
Yin Zhiguang, China/UK (Professor, Political Sciences, International Relations, Fudan University, Shanghai, China)
Co-signed by:
Asvi Warman Adam, Indonesia (Professor, BRIN Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional, Jakarta)
Sayf Alaydrus, Indonesia (Student, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya)
Annamaria Artner, Hungary (Habilitated College Professor and Senior Research Fellow, Milton Friedman University and Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Institute of World Economics, Budapest)
Francis Arzalier, France (Historien, President Collectif Communiste Polex, Saint-Denis)
Ellen Elizabeth Barfield, USA (Full-time Volunteer Justice and Peace Activist, Veterans For Peace, War Resisters League, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Baltimore, Maryland)
David Barkin, Mexico (Professor, Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Unidad Xochimilco, Ciudad de México)
Klaus Dräger, Germany (Former policy advisor on employment & social affairs, GUE/NGL)
Philippe Gendrault, France/USA (Independent Health Professional, San Francisco)
Manas Ghosh, India (Assistant Professor, Jadavpur University, Kolkata)
Mamdouh Habashi, Egypt (Socialist People's Alliance Party, Polit-Bureau & Head of International Office, World Forum for Alternatives, Vice President)
Asha Hans, India (Chairperson, Development Research Institute, Bhubaneswar, Odisha)
Frances Hasso, USA (Professor, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina)
Odile Hélier, France (Anthropologist)
Victor Hugo, Equador (CDDH/Comisión por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos)
Abdou Ibro, Niger (Directeur, ISEP/Institut de Stratégie, d'Evaluation et de Prospective, Niamey)
Earl Jackson, USA/Taiwan (Professor, University of California, Santa Cruz, California)
Kwon Keumsang, South Korea (Family & Women, Suwon Family & Women Center, Suwon)
Soyoung Kim, South Korea (Professor, Korea National University of Arts, Trans: Asia Screen Culture, Seoul)
Tamás Krausz, Hungary (Head of the Department of Eastern European Studies, Eötvös Loránd University of Sciences, Budapest)
Michèle Leclerc-Olive, France (Honorary Researcher HDR CNRS, Institut de Recherche Interdisciplinaire sur les enjeux Sociaux (IRIS), President of CORENS/Collectif Régional pour la Coopération Nord-Sud – Hauts de France and of CIBELE/Collectif Régional pour la Coopération Nord-Sud – Ile de France)
Angela Lee, South Korea (Festival Director, Producer, Film Critic, The Chuncheon SF Film Festival/CCFF, Chuncheon City)
Mi-Jeong Lee, Korea/Canada (Lecturer and Artist, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada)
Lin Chun, China/UK (Professor, London School of Economics, London)
Marie Lynam, UK (GMB Trade Union and Labour Party, London)
Michel Marti, France (Retired Railway Worker, CGT Trade Unionist, Yellow Vest since the beginning)
Guy Mettan, Switzerland/Suisse (Journalist & Deputy, Grand Conseil, Geneva)
Dragana Mitrovic, Serbia (Professor, University of Belgrade, Faculty of Political Science, Belgrade)
Paolo Motta, Italy/Spain (Architect, Territorial Planner, Private expert & researcher, IASQ International Association Social Quality, Amsterdam)
Gerardo Otero, Canada (Professor, School for International Studies, Simon Fraser University)
Seema Mehra Parihar, India (Professor, Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi)
John Philpot, Canada (Senior Criminal Litigation Attorney, specialised in International Criminal Law)
Magda Refaa, Egypt/France (Researcherand Activist, University Paris 8, Paris)
John Riddell, Canada (Essayist, Historian, Editor, Translator, and Activist)
Eka Swadiansa, Indonesia (Architect, Practitioner & Researcher, Office of Strategic Architecture/OSA, Surabaya)
Danielle Riva, France (Utopie Critique)
Louis Roussel, USA (Psychoanalyst, San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis, San Francisco, California)
Helena Sheehan, Ireland (Emeritus Professor, Dublin City University)
Jeffrey Surovell, USA (Pratt Institute)
Yanuardi Syukur, Indonesia (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Universitas Khairun, Ternate, and President of Rumah Produktif Indonesia, Depok)
Nisar Ul-Haq, India (Professor, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi)
Bruno Vitale, Italy (Former research fellow at Cern and at the Princeton Advanced Studies, former Professor of Quantum Mechanics at the University of Naples)
Wang Hui, China (Professor, Tsinghua University, Beijing)
Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Germany (Economist, Schiller Institute, Wiesbaden)
Xueping Zhong, USA (Professor, Tufts University, Medford)
COMMON DREAMS
Abdullahi Mohamed accompanies his son Adan, who is being treated for severe malnutrition, at the Baardheere district hospital in drought-stricken Jubaland, Somalia on March 13, 2022. (Photo: World Food Program)
UN Food Chief Says 'Hell on Earth' Looms From Hunger Crisis Triggered by Ukraine War
With the world "marching towards starvation," said David Beasley, "the best thing we can do right now is end that damn war in Russia and Ukraine and get the port open" in Odesa.
As food prices andhunger surge worldwide, hundreds of millions of people around the globe are "marching towards starvation"—increasing the likelihood of preventable deaths, civil unrest, and political violence in the months ahead—the United Nations food chiefwarnedThursday.
"We thought it couldn't get any worse, but this war has been devastating."
Speaking from Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, World Food Program (WFP) Director David Beasley said that "frightening" shortages of key food staples put tens of millions of lives in jeopardy and risk destabilizing countries that are heavily reliant on imports.
"Even before the Ukraine crisis, we were facing an unprecedented global food crisis because of Covid and fuel price increases," said Beasley. "Then, we thought it couldn't get any worse, but this war has been devastating."
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February and imposed ablockade on its Black Sea ports, agricultural exports from Ukraine—responsible for 9% of the world's wheat, 16% of its maize, and 42% of its sunflower oil—have declined substantially, leaving millions of tons of stored grain on the cusp of rotting.
The war also disrupted this year's planting season, raising fears that this summer's harvest, assuming sufficient labor power and storage space can be found, will be a third lower than in 2021.
Consequently, food prices have soared torecord highs—surpassing levels last seen during the global crisis of 2007-08, when a spike in the cost of bread helped contribute to the Arab Spring uprisings—and put tens of millions of people at increased risk of extreme hunger.
Citing the increased costs of shipping, fertilizer, and fuel associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, and the Ukraine war, Beasley said that the number of people suffering from "chronic hunger" has grown from 650 million to 810 million over the past five years.
Meanwhile, the number of people suffering from "shock hunger," which Beasley defined as not knowing "where your next meal is coming from," has ballooned from 80 million to 325 million over the same time period.
Russia's war on Ukraine isn't the only factor driving global hunger, which hit anall-time highin 2021 and has only grown worse since then.
Areportpublished earlier this month by WFP and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization made clear that armed conflicts, increasingly extreme weather stemming from the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency, and the lingering economic impacts of the coronavirus crisis—prolongedby inequitable access to vaccines, tests, and treatments—are also exacerbating food insecurity.
Responding to the report, which warned that an all-time high of 49 million people in 46 low-income countries are now at risk of famine, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.)saidearlier this week that "this should be the biggest story in the world right now."
As the global hunger crisis grows more severe, the U.N.'s capacity for addressing the unfolding humanitarian disaster is being diminished simultaneously.
WFP sources70%of the wheat for its emergency relief programs from Russia and Ukraine. As a result of the war, the WFP's operating costs have skyrocketed by $70 million per month, forcing it toslashrations by as much as half in several nations.
According to the U.N.'s recent report, of the nearly 50 million people at risk of famine globally, 750,000 are already in "catastrophe"—the most dire phase of the food insecurity scale.
People in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, andYemen—war-torn and drought-stricken countries that import large quantities of wheat from Russia and Ukraine—are among those experiencing the worst acute hunger. Another hotspot mentioned in the report isAfghanistan, whose central bank reserves have beenseizedby the Biden administration.
Referring to the crash that started in 2007 and culminated in bread riots in dozens of countries, Beasley said that "the economic factors we have today are much worse than those we saw 15 years ago." Failing to confront the current crisis, he warned, would lead to "famine, destabilization of nations, and mass migration."
"We are already seeing riots in Sri Lanka and protests in Tunisia, Pakistan, and Peru, and we've had destabilization take place in places like Burkina Faso, Mali, [and] Chad," said Beasley. "This is only a sign of things to come."
"It is a very, very frightening time," Beasley continued. "We are facing hell on Earth if we do not respond immediately. The best thing we can do right now is end that damn war in Russia and Ukraine and get the port open" in Odes
Pocan and Lee lead push to cut Pentagon spending. Rep, Mark Pocan, who represents the Madison area in the U.S. House, has introduced legislation with California Rep. Barbara Lee aimed at cutting $100 billion from the country’s defense budget. The lawmakers, who serve as co-chairs of the Defense Spending Reduction Caucus, are proposing the legislation as a move to put the needs of people over the needs of the Pentagon. Here 's the story. Meanwhile, The Senate Armed Services Committee has endorsed a $45 billion increase to President Joe Biden’s military spending plans in its annual defense policy bill, blowing past the administration’s Pentagon budget for a second straight year. That story here.
To:Legislators of 26 participating countries
CANCEL RIMPAC 2022-THE WORLD'S LARGEST & MOST DANGEROUS NAVAL WAR MANEUVERS
Campaign created by
Ann Wright
Petition Text
CALL TO CANCEL RIMPAC AND BUILD A PACIFIC ZONE OF PEACE
The Pacific Peace Network and its allied organizations call for the cancellation of the dangerous, provocative and destructive international Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) naval war practice and for increased citizen pressure for a demilitarized Pan-Pacific Zone of Peace.
RIMPAC naval war practice, the largest naval war maneuvers in the world, will take place off Hawai’i and the West Coast of the U.S. from June 29 to August 4, 2022. At RIMPAC 2022, over 25,000 military personnel, 38 ships, 170 aircraft, 4 submarines from 26 countries will practice war simulations engaging "enemy forces."
RIMPAC coupled with expanding US military capability in Hawai’i, Australia, Guahan and other Pacific nations increases the likelihood of armed conflict between the United States and China either by design or accident with unthinkable consequences for the peoples of Asia, the Pacific and the world.
Please endorse this call to action. Pacific Peace Network will share this petition and call on legislators of each participating country to cancel RIMPAC.
Why is this important?
RIMPAC dramatically contributes to the destruction of the ecology system and aggravation of the climate crisis in the Pacific region. RIMPAC war forces will blow up decommissioned ships with missiles endangering marine mammals such as humpback whales, dolphins and Hawaiian monk seals and polluting the ocean with contaminates from the vessels. Land forces will conduct ground assaults that will tear up beaches where green sea turtles come to breed.
We reject the massive expenditure of funds on war-making when humanity is suffering from lack of food, water and other life-sustaining elements. Human security is not based on military war drills, but on care for the planet and its inhabitants.
2022 RIMPAC includes military forces from Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, the United Kingdom and the United States.
6 of the 26 RIMPAC participating countries are members of the North ATLANTIC Treaty Organization (NATO) --Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, while 4 participating countries are Asia-Pacific “partners” of NATO-Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand meaning that 40% of RIMPAC participants have NATO ties demonstrating that NATO is becoming a Pacific military force.
The Pacific Peace Network members currently come from countries/islands across the Pacific including Guåhan, Jeju Island, South Korea, Okinawa, Japan, Philippines, Northern Mariana Islands, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Australia, Hawai’i and the United States.
Endorsed by:
Hawai'i Peace and Justice Veterans For Peace, Chapter 113-Hawai'i Veterans For Peace, Phil Berrigan Memorial Chapter, Baltimore, Maryland Women’s Voices Women Speak Oahu Water Protectors, Hawai'i ASIA EUROPE PEOPLES FORUM (Peace and Security Cluster) Philippine Initiative on Critical and Global Issues Peace Women Partners. Inc. Philippines Philippine Women Network for Peace & Security STOP the War Coalition Philippines Malu 'Aina Center For Non-violent Education & Action, Big Island, Hawai'i Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space World Beyond War Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security CODEPINK: Women For Peace International Peace Bureau Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN) Just Peace Queensland Youngsolwara Pacific Prutehi Litekyan: Save Ritidian Youngsolawara Pacific Our Common Wealth 670 Inter-Island Solidarity for Peace of the Sea Jeju Committee
Dear Friend,
A recent push for a last-minute federal bailout to keep the Palisades and Diablo Canyon nuclear power plants from closing as planned would be a massive failure for climate, consumers, communities, and the environment.
The suggestion to extend the operational life of Diablo Canyon and Palisades with a bailout program these reactors may not even qualify for is an outrage and a betrayal to those of us seeking a clean and safe energy future.
The DOE must make sure the community and workers at Palisades and Diablo Canyon land on their feet, help save the climate, and transition these states to an affordable, sustainable future with good jobs in the new energy economy.
P.S. For more info., see NIRS's April 29 blog, here. Note that Palisades has the worst neutron-embrittled reactor pressure vessel in the U.S., while Diablo Canyon Unit 1 is among the top five-worst embrittled reactor pressure vessels in the country. Even the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has acknowledged this, under intense public pressure by Palisades watch-dogs (see item #4 on Page 5 of 15 in the PDF documenthere). Neutron-embrittled reactor pressure vessel through-wall fracture due to pressurized thermal shock is a major pathway to catastrophic reactor core meltdown. But there are multiple other pathways, as well. At Palisades, such other major safety systems, structures and components as the reactor lid, and the steam generators, have been overdue for replacement for more than 15 years! See this documented admission by the previous Palisades owner, Consumers Energy, in a May 2006 presentation to the Michigan Public Service Commission. Energy Secretary Granholm should already know -- and care -- about how dangerous Palisades is, as she was state attorney general, and later governor, in Michigan, beginning around two decades ago. Instead, she is scheming with Michigan Governor, Gretchen Whitmer, in a last-second bait and switch to keep Palisades operating for nine more years, even though its owner, Entergy, is not interested! Similarly at Diablo Canyon, owner Pacific Gas & Electric has stated it plans to stick with the permanent shutdown agreement, despite Energy Secretary Granholm and California Governor Gavin Newsom's attempted life-support bailout at federal taxpayer expense.
On May 5 the Israeli High Court approved the forced eviction of eight Palestinian communities in the Masafer Yatta area in the south of the West Bank. In accordance with this ruling, the villages of Jinba, al Fakhit, Halaweh, Mirkez, Tabban, Maghayir al Abeed, and Isfey will be demolished and more than 1,000 residents will be forcibly displaced.
The communities in Masafer Yatta have been under threat of demolition for over two decades. In 1981 the Israeli military declared the area a military open-fire zone (known as Firing Zone 918). In 1999 the military ordered the area “closed” and moved to evict Palestinians from the targeted communities. A court order in 2000 allowed those living in the firing zone to return to their homes pending a final ruling from the court. The ruling this week supersedes the 2000 ruling and ends 20 years of legal challenges. If acted on, the new ruling will result in the destruction of these communities.
The Palestinians in these communities are Bedouin herders and farmers. They have lived and farmed on these lands for generations, many in traditional cave dwellings. The Israeli authorities have refused to allow any development in these communities, even as illegal Israeli settlements have flourished in the same area.
These communities are not the only locations under threat. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, in the first four months of 2022 the Israeli authorities demolished 204 Palestinian-owned structures, displacing at least 247 people and impacting over 1,150.
Palestinians in Sussiya, Fasayil, Jerusalem, Al-Aqaba, Beit Lahiya, Silwan, Sheikh Jarrah, and more than 100 other communities across the occupied Palestinian territory live under the constant threat of being forcibly displaced. And displacements are not only occurring within the occupied Palestinian territory – Bedoin communities in the Negev in Southern Israel are also being demolished.
The forced displacement of Palestinians from their historic homes and villages in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel must end.
The United States must use its relationship with Israel to ensure that human rights are not violated, that Palestinians in these communities are not displaced, and that these communities’ rights to safety and basic services are fulfilled.
American Friends Service Committee 1501 Cherry Street Philadelphia, PA 19102 United States
Friends, I'm glad to encourage your vote for theAshland Birth Center's fundraising effort.Many Native American peoplehave birthed their children through Ashland Birth Center, theydirectly impact tribal members that they serve from birth.
.I've known the director, midwife/doula Savita Jones, since she was a baby, and participated with her family in a Milwaukee child-care coop, as did my sister, niece, and I...her mother, Virginia Priest, is likewise a highly regarded midwife.
The Ashland Birth Center was chosen as atop ten finalistin the Barclays Small Business Big Wins contest, out of over 4,750 applicants nation wide! The small business with the most votes stands to win thegrand prize of $60,000!! The Ashland Birth Center needs your vote(you can vote more than once)and also your help to gather votes!Voting begins April 13th and ends April 22nd.
The building they are operating out of is for sale and they need enough money to purchase it by June! Many tribal members children were born in this building (and at home)with the help of the ABC. Help save their birth place
Capitol Hill Action--Ask your reps to co-sponsor Bernie & Cori Bush's bills to invoke the Defense Authorization Act to transition to 100% renewables. The bills are S. 4013 and H.R. 7439--the Energy Independence and Security Act.
To achieve energy security and independence, the ESIA will:
Invest $100 billion in reinvigorating the domestic clean energy industrial base using the Defense Product Act
Create a Domestic Renewable Energy Industrial Base Task Force to coordinate an all-of-government approach that engages environmental justice communities, manufacturers, scientists, engineers, planners, and labor unions to plan and implement a transition to 100 percent renewable energy
Provide $10 billion in loans and grants to bolster the domestic renewable energy system component manufacturing supply chain with strong corporate governance standards and benefits for taxpayers
Provide $30 billion to weatherize and insulate 6.4 million homes over the next 10 years to save working families nearly $2 billion each year on their utility bills
Invest $10 billion to procure and install millions of heat pumps, significantly reducing consumption of imported fossil fuels
Create good, union jobs by requiring high-road labor standards for all funded projects
Fulfill EJ40 commitments by investing at least 40 percent of funds in environmental justice communities
Making it to the March: Your questions answered about attending June 18 in Washington, D.C.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is causing widespread, distressing human suffering. The images shown on the nightly news are heartbreaking. Already more than three million refugees have fled the country, and that could soar to over ten million according to the United Nations. The confirmed civilian death toll is already over one thousand and likely exceeds that by several times. The invasion has been marked by indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas and strikes on protected objects such as hospitals.
Yet we know one thing for certain - this war won’t end with escalations in war-fighting.As such, the U.S. should push for an immediate ceasefire and offer strong support for the diplomacy happening between Ukraine and Russia. There’s so much talk of military tools by the armchair generals on our TV screens. We need more talk of diplomatic off-ramps to this crisis. That is the only way to bring the bloodshed to an end.
In fact, despite the horror of this war, it’s reported thatUkraine and Russia are getting closer in their negotiations.The Ukrainians report that Russia appears to be moving away from the goals of regime change and “demilitarization.” Gaining a ceasefire and a settlement will be very hard, and there are legitimate concerns about how serious Russia is. But the tragic alternative would be continued and possibly escalating bloodshed. It’s critical that we build political support for a diplomatic settlement in the U.S. U.S. support for a settlement, which may include ratcheting back sanctions on Russia and potentially compromises over NATO and Ukrainian territory, will be critical at some point.It’s imperetive that pro-peace voices like you and I push for peace and don’t get drowned out by the hawks on TV and at the Capitol.
While there aren't enough high-profile voices promoting diplomacy, you’ve probably been hearing lately about establishing a No-Fly Zone over Ukraine ad nauseum. A No-Fly Zone is a terrible idea. No-Fly Zones are enforced by military interception of aircraft and missiles using deadly force, and sometimes include preemptive strikes to prevent potential violations.In other words, a country that declares a No-Fly Zone must then be ready to enforce the protected space, putting the U.S. in direct military conflict with Russia, thus escalating war between two nuclear powers.For the United States and Russia, the only sane course of action now is a commitment to genuine diplomacy with serious negotiations, not military escalation – which could easily spiral out of control to the point of pushing the world to the precipice of nuclear war.Contact your members of Congress today to urge them to speak out against a No-Fly Zone and for the pursuit of serious diplomatic negotiations.
Our thoughts continue to be with the people of Ukraine as they suffer the brunt of Russia’s violent aggression. At the same time, we’re inspired by many Ukrainians’ nonviolent actions to oppose the war. Ukrainians have been blocking convoys and tanks, and standing their ground even with warning shots fired in multiple towns. In the Ukrainian towns of Berdyansk and Kulykіvka village, people organized nonviolent peace rallies and convinced the Russian military to get out. We are also inspired by the brave activism of Russian anti-war protesters, with reports of nearly fifteen thousand arrested. Here in the U.S. we must continue the work to ensure that the U.S. plays a positive and peaceful role in this crisis.Contact your members of Congress today to urge them to speak out for strong diplomatic solutions and against any further escalation of war-fighting.
For peace in Ukraine,
Jeff Jurgens Peace Action
Restore the Iran Nuclear Deal
Call Congress to #ReSealTheDeal
We are reaching the finish line on the negotiations in Vienna to restore the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA). Reports have shown that a deal may be imminent and if that deal has significant changes from the original 2015 text of the JCPOA, it may kick off a 30-day legislative fight including votes in Congress on whether or not to reject a deal. We have already seen opponents mobilizing to attack the deal and are hearing from our allies in Congress that they are being lobbied hard to reject the deal.If Congress doesn’t hear from us, they’re hearing from those who wish to sabotage diplomacy and launch us into another war of choice in the Middle East.
Take Action: Call Congress today and ask them to support the restoration of the Iran nuclear deal.
Step 2:When you connect with the office, whether it’s with a person or the voicemail, make sure to say your name and that you are a constituent and share your concern about the Iran nuclear deal. Here is a sample script you can use, but you are encouraged to share your personal reasons for why you want your representatives to support the JCPOA:
“Hello my name is [YOUR NAME]and I’m a constituent from[YOUR CITY/TOWN]. I’m calling to ask[REP./SEN. NAME]to support President Biden’s efforts to return to the Iran nuclear deal, also known as the JCPOA. Trump’s “maximum pressure” approach failed miserably as Iran’s nuclear program expanded, tensions outside of the nuclear file worsened and the Iranian people were crushed between repression, pandemic and ever-escalating sanctions. On top of all of that, the U.S. and Iran nearly went into a full-blown war in both 2019 and 2020. As military conflicts rage across the world today, we are reminded of the high costs of failed diplomacy. A return to the JCPOA would ease tensions with Iran and restore long-lasting restraints to Iran’s nuclear program. Can I count on[REP./SEN. NAME]to support the JCPOA?
Russia has invaded Ukraine. This is a dark moment—one that people all over the world had feared.
We join the international community in condemning these illegal actions taken by Russian leaders. We urge President Putin to immediately withdraw all Russian military forces from all areas of Ukraine and to return to the table for diplomatic negotiations to resolve this crisis.
In this time of great uncertainty, we stand in solidarity with all the people in the region whose lives are being torn apart by war. We must be persistent in calling for solutions that protect human life and diminish suffering.
Right now, the House and Senate are working on legislation that could send hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of weapons to Ukraine and impose maximum pressure sanctions on Russia. We must increase the lines of diplomacy, not the flow of weapons.
President Biden, we cannot risk a military confrontation between the United States and Russia, the world's most heavily armed nuclear nations. Do not send more troops to Eastern Europe to provoke Russia into a regional or world war that would spell disaster. Instead, call for a moratorium on NATO expansion, pull back our troops and missiles on Russia's borders, and seek a negotiated solution to the current crisis. Ukraine's people are divided and must decide their fate without U.S. intervention. After the fall of the Soviet Union, we could have dissolved NATO to ensure peace, but instead added 11 more countries once Soviet republics or Warsaw Pact members to NATO, forging closer ties between Russia and China and continuing a Cold War that threatens to break out into a hot war. Do not listen to the warmongers in Congress or in your administration. Advance peace through diplomacy.
Call your House Member - Capitol Hill Switchboard (202) 224-3121
Dear Representative _________
As your constituent in zip code _____, I urge you to write or sign on to a Member of Congress letter to President Biden, urging the President not to send more troops and weapons to Eastern Europe to risk war with Russia. Additionally, I ask you to NOT sign on to Congressman Meek's dangerous legislation H.R. 6470 to further embroil the U.S. militarily but to introduce legislation supporting a moratorium on NATO expansion.
I object to your hawkish and irresponsible coverage of the Ukraine crisis. Instead of featuring pro-war generals and pundits, invite guests to explain how NATO expansion and U.S. militarization have exacerbated tension in Eastern Europe. Your viewers deserve to hear another side to this story.
Take Action- End U.S. Complicity in Saudi Arabia’s War and Blockade on Yemen
14,630 Childrenhave died so far in 2022, according to the worst-case estimates
Since the beginning of the Yemeni Civil War, at least 230,000 civilians have died — some 131,000 from indirect causes such as lack of food (UN)
85,000 children may have died between April 2015 and October 2018 (Save the Children)
As the situation deteriorates, 16 million Yemenis are on the brink of starvation with 2.3 million children under 5 suffering acute malnutrition; a spike in food prices and a further collapse of Yemen's currency in summer 2021 is driving even more children to hunger (UN, World Food Programme, and Save the Children)
In 2021, worst-case estimates are that 400,000 Yemeni children may die — one every 75 seconds or more than 1,100 per day (World Food Programme and United Nations)
We call on people around the country to protest the war on Yemen and demand their members of Congress pass a Yemen War Powers Resolution.
Since March 2015, the Saudi-led bombing and blockade of Yemen have killed tens of thousands of people and devastated the country. Over 16 million people are food insecure, the country has the world's worst cholera outbreak in modern history, and now Yemen has one of the very worst COVID death rates in the world: It kills 1 in 4 people who test positive. The pandemic, along with withdrawal of aid, is pushing more people into acute hunger. The U.N. has called the catastrophe in Yemen the largest humanitarian crisis on Earth.
With critical support from the United States, the Saudi-led coalition’s war and blockade in Yemen have helped create the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, pushing over 16 million people to the brink of famine.
On Feb. 4, 2021, President Biden announced that the United States would end its support for the coalition’s offensive operations in Yemen, but important aspects of U.S. complicity remain. This includes ongoing maintenance and intelligence sharing for warplanes conducting airstrikes and enforcing an air and sea blockade of Yemen. Now we have a historic opportunity to end U.S. complicity in one of the most devastating wars in the world.
Urge your representative to support the introduction and passage of a Yemen War Powers Resolution, SJ Res 54. Call your senators at 202-224-3121 and sign the petition.
I urge you to publicly support the introduction and passage of a Yemen War Powers Resolution to end all U.S. involvement in the Saudi-led war and blockade in Yemen. For the past seven years, unauthorized U.S. military support and weapons sales have enabled the Saudi-led coalition’s operations in Yemen, contributing to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians and pushing millions more to the edge of famine.
On Feb. 4, 2021, President Biden announced that the United States would end its support for the Saudi-led coalition’s offensive operations in Yemen, but important aspects of U.S. complicity remain. This includes ongoing maintenance and intelligence sharing for warplanes conducting airstrikes and enforcing an air and sea blockade of Yemen. This participation has not been authorized by Congress and is therefore unconstitutional.
The United Nations estimated that by the end of 2021, the war in Yemen led to the deaths of at least 377,000 Yemenis. A majority died from disruptions in access to food, water, and medicine, which has all been exacerbated by Saudi Arabia’s blockade on ports of entry and airstrikes on vital infrastructure. A staggering 2.3 million Yemeni children suffer from malnutrition without urgent action.
Again, I ask that you publicly support the introduction and passage of a Yemen War Powers Resolution to reassert congressional war powers and end U.S. military complicity in the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. I look forward to hearing why or why not you will support my request. Thanks for your attention to this important matter and I hope to hear from you soon.
Nuclear Power Doesn’t Belong in the Green New Deal
Actvists for People's Action march with the Green New Deal Network to urge Congress to invest in care and clean energy jobs on September 21, 2021, in Washington, D.C.LARRY FRENCH / GETTY IMAGES FOR PEOPLE'S ACTION
Amid rising public outcry over government inaction toward the climate crisis, the nuclear power industry has attempted to advertise itself as “zero emissions,” “carbon-free” and even “renewable” in order to convince politicians and the public that it is essential to solving this world-historical disaster.
However, nuclear power is none of these things, and it in fact stands in the way of achieving an ecologically just society.
Unfortunately, a persistent and widespread public relations campaign by the nuclear power industry is endeavoring to convince some in the climate movement, as well as prominentDemocratsin Congress, that nuclear energy has a roll to play.
For example, after we checked in recently with theSunrise Movement, the leading youth climate lobbying group on Capitol Hill, to see where the group stands on nuclear power, a volunteer signing his name “Josh” wrote to my organization,Beyond Nuclear, in an email that, “We don’t think shutting down existing [nuclear] plants makes much sense.” It’s not clear if this is a shift in Sunrise’s official position, since it contradicts the views on nuclear power in aposition papertargeted at U.S. representatives that it signed onto in 2019, but, if so, we’ll be working to shift it.
This mythmaking had apparently infiltrated those backing the Green New Deal (GND) in 2019, when Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (AOC)saidshe was happy to leave “the door open on nuclear.”
What AOC, Sunrise, and others may have overlooked is that nuclear power violates the very cornerstone of the GND: a “Just Transition.” Supporting existing nuclear power operation ignores the fact that currently operating U.S. reactors still have to run on fuel manufactured almost entirely from imported uranium — predominantly fromCanadaandKazakhstan— often mined by Indigenous peoples. The radioactive detritus left behind by uranium mining and milling has decimated these andotherIndigenous communities around the world. These operations, often conducted by foreign corporations, perpetuate racist colonialism.
Choosing to keep nuclear plants running means continued generation of lethal high-level radioactive waste, which is invariably targeted at frontline communities. For example, the proposed but now-canceled deep geological repository site atYucca Mountainin Nevada is onWestern Shoshoneland. Two U.S. sites currently identified for “temporary” dumps in Texas and New Mexico have significant low-income and Latinx populations. The Goshute’s Skull Valley Indian Reservation in Utah was chosen but alsodefeated. (All of these siteswere, orare, opposed not only by residents but by theirpolitical leadership.)
Numerous studieshave shown that nuclear power plant operation causes increased rates of leukemia in children living nearby. Keeping nuclear plants operating also runs the incalculable risk of accident or sabotage with consequences that will last for decades or millennia and which violate human rights.
Countries choosing to keep nuclear power going are slower and less effective at meeting carbon reduction goals than those that choose renewables.
Accepting nuclear power as part of a GND would sabotage success on climate and undermine its first pillar: to adhere to the fundamental tenets of environmental justice.
Nuking the Transition to Renewables
Embracing or remaining agnostic on nuclear power may also delay the transition to renewables, as running these power plants requiressubsidies, starving renewables of funding. There are now eveneffortsto include nuclear power in state Renewable Energy Portfolios — designed to increase a state’s percentage of electricity generation from renewable energy sources — which will divert available funds away from renewables and to a financially failing industry that is far from “renewable.” Renewables will reduce more carbon emissions faster and for less cost than other energy choices, especially nuclear. Propping up unreliable, financially failing nuclear power plantsimpedes progresson climate change and is counter-productive to the goals of the GND.
According to theInternational Energy Agency, “By 2026, global renewable electricity capacity is forecast to rise more than 60% from 2020 levels to over 4 800 GW — equivalent to the current total global power capacity of fossil fuels and nuclear combined.” It makes no sense to cut this industry off at the knees in favor of nuclear energy.
Sound energy policy does not mean an “all-of-the-above” option. Choosing to continue with nuclear“cancels out”renewables (and vice versa). After examining datasets for 123 countries over 25 years, researchers found that countries choosing to keep nuclear power going are slower and less effective at meeting carbon reduction goals than those that choose renewables.
The configuration of electricity transmission and distribution systems that optimizes a grid structure for larger-scale centralized power production, such as conventional nuclear, will also make it morechallenging, time-consuming and costlyto introduce small-scale distributed renewable power.
We should also push back against the argument that closing nuclear power plants would necessarily mean bringing on more fossil fuels. For example, New York State is on target to meet its 100 percent zero carbon by 2040 climate goals, despite closing its Indian Point 2 and 3 reactors in 2020 and 2021. This is due to political foresight and planning which saw New York enact “ambitious climate and clean energy legislation” in 2019, which will achieve these goals regardless of a nuclear shutdown,according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Any decision to replace closed nuclear power plants with fracked gas is “not fate but choice,”writes Amory Lovins, now adjunct professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University. That choice is political, not technological, often a “tactic to extort subsidies by making closuremore disruptive,” allowing fracked gas to fill a short-term need. As the prices of renewable energy continue to fall, it will take an ever-greater share of the electricity market. But it is also up to political leaders to make the choice to switch to renewable energy rather than persist with fossil fuels.
Those in positions of power with a chance to get carbon reductions right before it’s too late should not continue to fall prey to the politically motivated and corporate profit-drivendelusionthat closing nuclear power plants is bad for climate mitigation.
46 organizations urge members of Congress to oppose $650 million Saudi arms sale
DAWN helps lead a coalition of 46 other organizations urging members of Congress to oppose the Biden administration's $650 million arms sale to Saudi Arabia. DAWN calls on members of Congress to join Congresswoman Omar and Senator Paul'sJoint Resolution of Disapproval and stop aiding Saudi Arabia's destructive habits.
The full text of the join letter can be read below.
Dear Members of Congress,
We, the undersigned non-governmental organizations, write in opposition to the Biden Administration's plans to sell $650 million in air-to-air munitions to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Despite claiming defensive use, the proposed arms sale risks fueling continued civilian harm by strengthening the Saudi-led coalition's capacity to enforce its devastating air and sea blockade of Yemen. It also risks further perpetuating U.S. complicity in Saudi forces' violations in Yemen, contrary to this administration's obligations under international law and U.S. law. We call on Congress to support Representative Ilhan Omar's and Senator Rand Paul'sjointresolutionsofdisapproval to block these harmful arms sales and end all U.S.involvement in the Saudi-led coalition's armed conflict and unlawful blockade in Yemen.
Approving this sale sends a message of impunity that the United States supports Saudi Arabia's escalating policy of collective punishment, at a time when it is critical the administration heed the calls of over 100membersofCongressto use U.S. leverage, including the halting of arms transfers and military assistance, to end the blockade and other violations against civilians in Yemen. Roughly20.7million people—nearly80% of the population—are in need of humanitarian aid,with a staggering16.2 millionYemenis acutely food insecure and7 millionon the brink of famine. A recentWashington Post reporton a Yemeni family that had to choose between which of their children would be saved from starvation illustrates the issue of the Saudi-led coalition's control of Yemen's airspace and"severe restrictions on the port of Hodeidah."
For nearly seven years, U.S.-supported Saudi forces haveunlawfully targetedcivilian objects and infrastructure viaindiscriminate and disproportionate attacksthat have killed and injured thousands of civilians in Yemen. These aerial bombardments include myriad alleged war crimes andhave exacerbatedthe catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Theunlawful blockadeimposed by the Saudi-led coalition on Yemen has led to catastrophic impacts on fuel, food, and medical access for millions,illegally obstructingcritically needed aid and assistance. Saudi fightershave previously attacked Sana'a airport's runway, destroying cargo planes transporting vital humanitarian assistance.
Since 2016, Saudi Arabia has turned the airport into what aid groupshavedescribedasa"ghost terminal" by ending all flights to and from Sana'a. Accordingto the Yemen Data Project, Saudi bombings of Sana'a airport still occur regularly, with the most recent attackslaunchedin March of this year. Since the Saudi-led coalition airstrikes began in March 2015, human rights organizations,includingAmnesty International,haveextensively documentedtheuse of U.S.-manufacturedweapons in airstrikes hitting hospitals, schools, and civilian homes—killing healthcare providers, teachers, children, and entire families.
Despite the claim of"defensive use," the proposed sale of these AIM-120 air-to-air missiles and hundreds of missile launchers are not exclusively defensive, and can reasonably be used to support offensive operations. These missiles lend another tool for Saudi-led forces to maintain and enforce their brutal blockade, particularly by raising their ability to threaten aircraft that would seek to land. More broadly, continuing to arm Saudi forces allows their grave rights violations and fueling of one of the world's worst humanitarian crises toevade accountability, and amounts to support and political cover for the illegal blockade. Asnotedin a recent article published by Brookings,"blockades cannot be defensive: they are offensive operations," and U.S. involvement should have ended following Biden's declaration to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition.
Misleading claims about the defensive nature of these weapons fail to recognize that this sale would constitute continued U.S. support for Saudi Arabia's role in the armed conflict in Yemen. Congress must make clear that the U.S. instead should end all support and arms transfers to parties to this conflict, namely the Saudi-led coalition—which it must pressure to end its brutal campaign in Yemen. On May 19, 2021,16 Senators requestedthat the Biden Administration"demand that Saudi Arabia allow the unfettered delivery of food, fuel, and other humanitarian aid through the Hodeidah port, under United Nations auspices to deliver humanitarian assistance to the Yemeni people," while noting that the"[f]ailure to provide such access should have a direct impact on our relationship with Saudi Arabia, to include pending weapons sales."
The impact of the continued closure of Sana'a airport has been devastating for civilians in Yemen. CARE and Norwegian Refugee Councilstated thatin February 2020,"28 patients were flown out of Sana'a airport on medical mercy flights forurgent treatment," but"close to 32,000 others who were on a waiting list were not so lucky" and are now"without options." The nearly complete halt to medical supplies entering the airport, combined with restrictions on fuel imports through Yemen's ports,has caused"prices of some medicine to double, making it unaffordable for most of the population and further contributing to the decline of Yemen's health system, already decimated by the conflict."
Houthi forces in Yemen engaged in the armed conflict with the Saudi-led coalition have alsocarried outgraveviolationsofhuman rights, as well aspossiblewarcrimesinattacks against civilians. Actions by Houthi de facto authorities have alsoexacerbated the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in the country by additionallyinterfering withandimpeding the deliveryofhumanitarian assistance for civiliansin need. U.S. government criticism andresponse toHouthi violations in Yemen have, however, beenpronouncedandconsistent—criticisms that are necessary; but the same cannot be said for this administration's response to the abuses by Saudi forces, which has been toned down by comparison. Further, Houthi violations do not serve as a justification for continuing U.S. involvement in the atrocities fueled by this conflict, and do not change the United States' obligations under international law.
In light of the Saudi government's pattern of unlawful attacks on civilians and human rights violations, the proposed sales also violate long-standing provisions in theLeahy LawsandForeign Assistance Actthat prohibit the United States from providing arms and security assistance to gross human rights violators and those restricting access to humanitarian assistance, such as the Saudi regime. Further, theArms Export Control Actbarsthe United States from providing arms transfers toforeign governments found to carry out harassment and intimidation of U.S. residents, which Saudi authorities have repeatedly been documented to perpetrate, most prominently in the brutal murder and dismemberment ofJamal Khashoggi.
These wrongful sales risk fueling further civilian harm and human rights violations in Yemen and beyond—as well as U.S. complicity in these abuses and possible war crimes. Our organizations call on Congress to support and vote in favor of Representative Omar's joint resolution of disapproval in the House and Senator Paul's resolution in the Senate and oppose future arms sales and U.S. complicity in the Saudi-led coalition's gross violations of international law in Yemen.
The Biden administration in its very first weeks committed both to center human rights in foreign policy and to end U.S. complicity in the war in Yemen; allowing this sale to stand breaks that commitment, and would be a human rights failure.
Including Peace Action
STATEMENT BY THE REV. ROBERT MOORE, LEADER OF CEASEFIRE NJ, ON THE NOT GUILTY VIRDICT IN KENOSHA, WI
For immediate release: November 19, 2021
I just learned that Kyle Rittenhouse, the armed teenager who shot three people, two fatally, at a demonstration for racial justice in Kenosha last year was found not guilty on all counts.
This verdict of not guilty is a horrifying miscarriage of justice and an indictment of our broken criminal justice system. A white teenager got his hands on a semi-automatic rifle, showed up to a demonstration for Black Lives, fatally shot two people and wounded another, and he wasn't held accountable.
And it's exactly what the NRA wants—a society where anyone can have a gun anywhere with no training and no questions asked, and where people feel emboldened to shoot anyone over the slightest provocation without fear of consequences.
This tragedy underscored what we already knew: allowing the open carry of firearms everywhere—especially at demonstrations—is dangerous and life threatening. In fact, demonstrations with a presence of armed groups and individuals, like those found in Kenosha in the wake of the police shooting of Jacob Blake, are nearly six times as likely to turn violent or destructivecompared to unarmed demonstrations.
That's why we must continue to fight the gun lobby's extreme agenda and work to advance common sense gun safety policies that keep our communities safe.
The Rev. Robert Moore is Executive Director of the Princeton based Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA). Ceasefire NJ is a Project under CFPA's umbrella.
Ceasefire NJ
Rep. Ilhan Omar Introduces Joint Resolution to Block $650 million Saudi Arms Sale
November 12, 2021
Press Release
WASHINGTON—Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) today introduced a joint resolution of disapproval to block the sale of $650 million worth of weapons from the United States of America to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
“It is simply unconscionable to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia while they continue to slaughter innocent people and starve millions in Yemen, kill and torture dissidents, and support modern-day slavery,” Rep. Omar said. “We should never be selling human rights abusers weapons, but we certainly should not be doing so in the midst of a humanitarian crisis they are responsible for. Congress has the authority to stop these sales, and we must exercise that power.”
The sale comes as Saudi Arabia continues its offensive in Yemen, sparking the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. As of this year, more than 4 million people had been uprooted from their homes and more than 21 million are in dire need of assistance, including 11 million children.
If passed by the Senate, the joint resolution would prohibit the sale of $650 million missiles and other weapons, announced by the State Department just last week. The sale would include 280 advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles, along with 596 missile launchers, support equipment, spare parts, U.S. Government and contractor engineering, and technical support. The State Department says these are for air defense capabilities and is designed to replenish Saudi Arabia’s existing inventory.
"The United States should not sell any weapons to Saudi Arabia or other abusive governments, period. Congress should block this and similar deals in the future,“ said Raed Jarrar, Advocacy Director for Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), the organization founded by Jamal Khashoggi. "These air-to-air missiles could be used in offensive operations or they could be used to enforce the Saudi blockade, which humanitarian aid groups have identified as one of the reasons behind the prices of medicine being out of reach for millions of Yemenis. Rather than selling more weapons, the Biden Administration should compel Saudi Arabia to lift the blockade and end its war on Yemen.”
Rep. Omar has been a leading advocate for Congressional oversight over arms sales and accountability for human rights in Saudi Arabia and around the world. Earlier this year, she called on the United States to act to end the blockade on Yemen. She met with White House officials in a classified briefing and joined hunger strikers outside the White House in protest. In July, she reintroduced the Stop Arming Human Rights Abusers Act to establish red lines Once a country is determined to have crossed those lines, it automatically triggers a prohibition on security aid of any kind.
More Than 350 Groups Condemn Corporate Net-Zero Pledges as a Dangerous, Unjust Distraction
October 27, 2021
WASHINGTON — 354 groups released a statement today calling “net-zero” emission pledges by corporations and governments a dangerous distraction from real climate action. This comes as the House Oversight and Reform Committee holds a hearing to ”examine the role of the fossil fuel industry in spreading climate disinformation and heating the planet.”
CEOs and presidents from Exxon Mobil, BP America, Chevron, Shell Oil, the American Petroleum Institute and U.S. Chamber of Commerce will be testifying. Shell and BP have announced “ambitions” to be net-zero by 2050 and Chevron has announced a similar “aspiration.”
The hearing comes just days before COP 26, the United Nations’ climate negotiations taking place in Glasgow, Scotland, which many have dubbed the “net-zero” COP.
In their letter to government policymakers — including those from the Biden Administration, Congress, and state and local governments — the groups describe these net-zero pledges as ineffective, unjust greenwashing drastically out of touch with the worsening climate crisis.
“Net zero targets are just the latest deception by polluting corporations, the U.S., and other governments to extricate themselves from undertaking the radical greenhouse gas emission reductions that science and justice require,” said Karen Orenstein, Director of the Climate & Energy Justice Program at Friends of the Earth U.S.”But neither the atmosphere nor the people facing fires, floods, and other climate impacts are fooled. We call on the Biden Administration and Congress to commit to absolute reductions – full stop – and to say no to the corrupted concept of net-zero.”
“Pledges to meet net-zero emissions targets are really just carbon offsets and carbon capture technologies in disguise,” saidTom Goldtooth, Executive Director of the Indigenous Environmental Network.“Polluters and governments continue to spin new terms to confuse and distract from the fact that they intend to continue polluting Indigenous Peoples and Mother Earth. We do not have time for the net-zero false solution targets.”
“Net zero pledges by corporate agribusiness are another false solution to the climate crisis and an empty attempt to hijack meaningful debate and accountability on reducing pollution at the point of emission,” said Jordan Treakle, National Program Coordinator for the National Family Farm Coalition. “Polluting corporations have extracted wealth from rural and marginalized communities for decades; it’s well-past time for our public institutions and political leaders to respond to the needs of the People and drastically cut emissions from these corporate entities by 2030 through absolute reductions, while facilitating a Just Transition that prioritizes the resilience of frontline communities, workers, and independent food producers.”
“Net-zero is the language of the fossil fuel industry and provides for the continuing extraction and burning of fossil fuels,”saidJoe Uehlein, President of Labor Network for Sustainability.“Net-zero supplements equally dangerous carbon capture technologies that have the same goal. Over 300 scientists just wrote to President Biden urging that we get off fossil fuels right now. Net-zero is not the way to accomplish that task.”
“Mississippi, the state with the highest percentage African-American population and one of the poorest states in the nation, is home to a $7.5 billion failed carbon capture sequestration plant,” said Kathy Egland, Co-Founder of Education, Economics, Environmental, Climate and Health Organization (EEECHO). “This risky experimental debacle is located in a poor, mostly Black town and would have posed an unbearable financial burden to ratepayers. Now Mississippi’s poor, Black communities are facing deadly exposures from the proliferation of toxic wood pellet manufacturing plants for ‘bioenergy.’ The idea of ‘net-zero’ emissions encourages the growth of these false solutions. We must end these human rights injustices and invest in a viable, just energy transition that will safeguard people and the planet.”
Obviously having only Americans for Prosperity and the City of Milwaukee registered against is a problem. Anyone have contacts at the ACLU to ask them to weigh in? Other cities? Other orgs?
Here is the bill analysis from the International Center for Nonprofit Law for sharing:
The bill would newly define "riot" under Wisconsin law such that peaceful protesters could face steep penalties.
Currently, Wisconsin law broadly defines an "unlawful assembly" as a group of three or more people who cause a "disturbance of public order" and make it "reasonable to believe" the group will damage property or people; the definition specifically includes a group of three or more who assemble to block a street or building entrance.
Under the bill, an "unlawful assembly" in which at least one person commits an "act of violence" that creates a "clear and present danger" of property damage or injury; or threatens to commit such an act and has the ability to do so; or commits an "act of violence" that "substantially obstructs" some governmental function, is a "riot."
As such, a large street protest where a single participant threatens to push somebody could be deemed a "riot," with no actual violence or property damage being committed by anyone.
Under the bill, anyone who attends a "riot" or refuses an order to disperse a "riot" commits a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by a mandatory 30 days and up to 9 months in jail and a $10,000 fine.
If the "riot" results in "substantial" property damage or injury, anyone who attends commits a Class I felony, publishable by up to 3 and a half years in prison.
The bill also creates a new Class A misdemeanor for any person who "incites or urges" three or more people to engage in a "riot;" the bill does not define "incite" or "urge."
Finally, if a person "obstructs" "any public or private thoroughfare," or any entrance to a public building while participating in a "riot," it is an additional Class A misdemeanor.
Americans for Prosperity and the City of Milwaukee have registered against it.
Dear Pamela,
The House of Representatives could pass the biggest nuclear bailout in American history. We need you to speak up for real climate solutions and tell your Representatives to STOP these corrupt nuclear subsidies.
As we feared, the nuclear lobby got Congress to put a massive nuclear subsidy into the $3.5 trillion Build Back Better Act last week. The House of Representatives plans to vote on the bill soon. We cannot give up—our whole climate and clean energy future is at stake.
Hello, my name is FIRST NAME LAST NAME. I am calling from [CITY/STATE] regarding the Build Back Better Act, specifically The Zero-Emission Nuclear Power Production Credit Act of 2021. I am calling to ask Rep. [YOUR REP’S NAME] to oppose the inclusion of this irresponsible and corrupt 50 billion dollar nuclear bailout in the act. I would like to see [YOUR REP’S NAME] advocate for the carbon-free, renewable energy future we need and keep corrupt and unnecessary nuclear subsidies out of the Build Back Better Act. This proposed bailout for nuclear energy would divert tens of billions from safer, cleaner, more emissions-reducing, and more job-producing energy sources. The Build Back Better Act will do more for climate, jobs, and justice without a nuclear bailout and reactor subsidies, by simply investing in the transition to 100% renewable energy. Thank you.
*Español abajo
On September 13 and 14th at 9:30 am, Honduran human rights defenders Edwin Espinal and Raúl Álvarez will stand trial on charges stemming from the 2017 electoral crisis. If found guilty, they will be sent back to prison from between 15 to 30 years.
Edwin and Raúl are being accused of property damage, arson, and use of homemade explosives. They are two of over 180 Hondurans that face charges for protesting the outcome of the elections 4 years ago and defending their vote against electoral fraud.
As a result of these trumped up charges, Edwin and Raúl spent 19 months in a maximum-security prison from January 2018 to August 2019. They faced death threats, were put in isolation for several weeks, and were mixed with the general prison population in a prison that was allegedly constructed to house the most dangerous criminals in Honduras. Following their release, both have continued to sign before a judge every week and their trial has been postponed several times.
An additional concerned is related to the fact that the National Jurisdiction Sentencing court that is hearing the case does not have jurisdiction. The National Jurisdiction courts were created to hear cases involving organized criminal groups and can only hear cases involving a specific list of crimes (murder, money laundering, terrorism, etc). None of the charges that Edwin and Raúl face are on that list. The court itself has also ruled that they do not have jurisdiction but were ordered to hear the case by a higher court.
Despite the Honduran government several statements reaffirming their commitment to human rights and democracy, we are concerned about the lack of judicial independence and corruption in Honduras that would prevent Edwin and Raul from having a fair trial.
Join us in demanding Honduran authorities to:
1. Drop the charges and prosecution of Edwin Espinal and Raúl Álvarez and all Hondurans that were charged in the context of the protests following the 2017 electoral crisis
2. Ensure that the trial starting on September 13 is fair, transparent, and made available to the public either through allowing international observers and the general public into the courtroom or by live streaming the proceedings on the Judiciary’s Facebook and/or Twitter
Your solidarity is more important than ever! Join us and stay alert to respond to any violations of due process as well as following any progress in the case.
The Honduras Solidarity Network
The House will soon vote on the RENACER act, which would impose broad sanctions on Nicaragua that will harm ordinary people. The bill would sanction every member of the FSLN and their families, which is about half the population. The U.S. is using the same script on Nicaragua that it used on Venezuela, where 100,000 people were killed by sanctions. Join us in opposing the RENACER act and U.S. attempts at regime change in Nicaragua.
#CutThePentagon
Co-Sponsored by: the Black Alliance for Peace, Friends of Latin America, CODPINK & Casa Baltimore-Limay
In the months following George Floyd’s murder in May 2020, Americans watched in alarm as local and state law enforcement deployed military vehicles to patrol U.S. streets and militarized police officers resulting in the use of excessive force against peaceful protesters.
Police departments receive surplus military equipment through an obscure Pentagon program -- called the "1033 Program," which has enabled the transfer of more than $7.4 billion in surplus military equipment to more than 8,000 law enforcement agencies around the country.
Police departments across the country utilize surplus weapons, vehicles, and other equipment from the U.S. military to clamp down on community protests.
And research has shown that outfitting police in military-style armor and weaponry can alter their mentality towards civilians, causing them to see community members as enemy combatants and act accordingly.
Initiated by Ban Killer Drones, World BEYOND War, Nick Mottern, Chelsea Faria, David Swanson, Kathy Kelly, Matthew Hoh, Brian Terrell, Frank Cordaro, Ann Wright, Ann Tiffany, Ed Kinane, Eleanor Levine
On the evening of Thursday, August 26, hours after a suicide bomb was detonated at the gate of Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport killing and wounding scores of Afghans trying to flee their country, U.S. President Joe Bidenspoketo the world from the White House, “outraged as well as heartbroken.” Many of us listening to the president’s speech, made before the victims could be counted and the rubble cleared, did not find comfort or hope in his words. Instead, our heartbreak and outrage were only amplified as Joe Biden seized the tragedy to call for more war.
“To those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this: We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,” he threatened. “I’ve also ordered my commanders to develop operational plans to strike ISIS-K assets, leadership and facilities. We will respond with force and precision at our time, at the place we choose and the moment of our choosing.”
Formal studieshave confirmed that deployment of troops, air raids and exporting weapons to another county only increases terrorism and that 95% of all suicide bombings are conducted to encourage foreign occupiers to leave the terrorist’s home country. Even the architects of the “war on terror” have known all along that the U.S. presence in Afghanistan only makes peace more elusive. Gen. James E. Cartwright, the former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staffsaid in 2013, “We’re seeing that blowback. If you’re trying to kill your way to a solution, no matter how precise you are, you’re going to upset people even if they’re not targeted.”
Even as he hinted that more soldiers might be sent into Afghanistan, the president said that he will rely on “force and precision” and “over the horizon” attacks targeting ISIS-K, a clear threat of drone strikes and bombing raids. Even if air raids put fewer U.S. military personnel in immediate danger, they will surely kill more Afghan civilians than militants. While extrajudicial targeted assassinations are illegal, documents exposed by whistleblowerDaniel Haleprove that the U.S. government is aware that 90% of its drone strike victims are not the intended targets.
The president’s threatened “moment of our choosing” came one day later, on Friday, August 27, when the U.S. military carried out a drone strike against what it said was an ISIS-K “planner” in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province. The U.S. military’s claim that it knows of “no civilian casualties” in the attack is contradicted byreportsfrom the ground. “We saw that rickshaws were burning,” one Afghan witness said. “Children and women were wounded and one man, one boy and one woman had been killed on the spot.” Fear of an ISIS-K counterattack further hampered evacuation efforts as the U.S. EmbassywarnedU.S. citizens to leave the airport. “This strike was not the last,”saidPresident Biden. On August 29, another U.S. drone strikekilled a family of tenin Kabul.
Refugees from Afghanistan should be aided and given sanctuary, especially by the U.S. and the other NATO countries that have together ruined their homeland. There are also more than 38 million Afghans, more than half of whom were not born before the events of 9/11/2001, few of whom would ever “wish America harm” if their country had not been occupied, exploited and bombed in the first place. To a people who are owed reparations, there is talk of sanctions targeting the Taliban, which would fatally harm the most vulnerable and give rise to more acts of terror.
In closing his remarks, President Biden misappropriated the call for a voice to speak of peace from the book of Isaiah, applying it to those he said “who have served through the ages, when the Lord says: ‘Whom shall I send? Who shall go for us?’ The American military has been answering for a long time. ‘Here I am, Lord. Send me. Here I am, send me.’” The president did not cite Isaiah’s other words that put that call into context, the words that are carved into the wall overlooking the United Nations headquarters in New York: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”
The tragedy of these last days suffered by the people of Afghanistan and the families of 13 U.S. soldiers should not be exploited as a call for more war. Twenty years of war has only benefited the weapons industries while making the world less secure. We oppose any threat of further attacks on Afghanistan, “over the horizon” or by troops on the ground. Official counts indicate that more than 241,000 people have been killed in the Afghanistan and Pakistan war zones and the actual number is likelymany times more.
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240+ Organizations Sign Letter Opposing Subsidies for Nuclear Power in Infrastructure Bills
August 24, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: AUGUST 24 , 2021
240+ Organizations Sign Letter Opposing Subsidies for Nuclear Power in Infrastructure Bills
WASHINGTON, D.C. // August 24, 2021//
Over 240 organizations, including Friends of the Earth, Indigenous Environmental Network, Food & Water Watch, The League of Women Voters, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Public Citizen, Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS), and hundreds more sent a letter to Congressional leaders telling them to reject all proposals in infrastructure bills that subsidize nuclear energy and to instead invest in a just and equitable transition to safe, clean renewable energy.
The letter opposes proposals in both the energy legislation for the larger reconciliation package (S.2291/H.R.4024) and the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which together would grant up to $50 billion to prop up aging, increasingly uneconomical nuclear reactors for the next decade.
The letter highlights climate, economic, and environmental justice concerns with proposed nuclear subsidies, in addition to evidence that nuclear power is too dirty, dangerous, expensive, and slow to be a viable solution to the climate crisis.
All of the proposed subsidies (up to $50 billion) are predicted to go to reactors owned by only eight corporations and located in only 19 counties across eight states. Over 50 organizations in each of these states – Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas – signed the letter.
Tim Judson, NIRS executive director said that “Despite the size of this extraordinarily inequitable investment of taxpayer dollars, to subsidize old nuclear power reactors, not one single new job would be created. Worse, allocating $50 billion to old reactors instead of renewable energy, efficiency, and other clean electricity infrastructure would prevent the creation of more than 60,000 new jobs.”
Hannah Smay with NIRS added, “Regarding environmental impacts, subsidizing nuclear reactors will result in the creation of more radioactive waste without mitigating any of the significant environmental justice, climate justice, economic justice, and nuclear weapons proliferation impacts.”
The hundreds of organizations call for federal investments in a transition to efficient, renewable, clean energy technologies that can scale up as rapidly and affordably as possible to reduce emissions as aggressively as possible. Not only does nuclear energy fail to meet any of those criteria, investing billions of dollars in subsidies for old reactors directly funnels public investment away from environmentally just, equitable, and sustainable solutions to the climate crisis.
The letter states “We cannot perpetuate false solutions that prolong our reliance on dirty energy industries and have any hope of ending the climate and environmental justice crises those industries create. Providing billions of dollars in subsidies to nuclear power will only put short-sighted economic interests ahead of human lives, racial justice, the health of our environment, safe drinking water, and a thriving, equitable economy.”
The 240+ organizations demand that these bailouts be omitted from the budget and funds be directed to investing in carbon-free, nuclear-free clean energy. The Nuclear Information and Resource Service is an organization devoted to the just energy transition from nuclear to clean, renewable energy sources and advocates for a nuclear-free, carbon-free future. They are located near Washington DC in Takoma Park, Maryland.
Contact Hannah Smay via email at[email protected]or by phone at (208) 340-0531
EXPO applauds Milwaukee County Supervisor Ryan Clancy who has two (2) important pieces of legislation he is offering to support incarcerated men and women in Milwaukee County’s Jail (MCJ) and House of Correction (HOC):
1. Commissary Regulation—This legislation would not allow the MCJ or HOC to charge more for a commissary item than is being charged locally at a retail store (i. e. a 123 oz bag of Lay’s Potato Chips retails for $5.99 so it must be sold inhouse for $5.99)
2. Phone Equity—This legislation would address the exorbitant phone rates paid by the people in the care of the HOC and MCJ. The phone is a life line to family, legal representation and the community. The cost of phone calls is prohibitive and -needs to be addressed.
Please contact your Milwaukee County Board Supervisor by phone: 414– 278-4222 or via email & ask them to COSPONSOR these resolutions.
As the United States departs from the country it occupied for 20 years it leaves on a note just as savage as some of the worst moments of the war.
The United States and its fallen puppet government in Kabul have committed crimes on par with anything the Taliban has ever done. The US hasbombed hospitals, dropped thebiggest bombever since Hiroshima and Nagasaki,supported death squads, and there were some months where the US and the Afghan military it trained and equipped killedmore civiliansthan the Taliban. That’s according to the United Nations. And since the Taliban itself were an offshoot of the CIA-sponsored Mujahedeen, it’s not difficult to also lay partial blame for the group’s atrocities on the US.
As I reportedherea few months ago, since then-Vice President Joe Biden’s promise in 2011 that the United States would be leaving Afghanistan in 2014, the US dropped more than 25,000 bombs on the country.
Last year, what was supposed to be a US drone attack on a Taliban splinter groupkilled60 civilians.
The absurdly corrupt fallen puppet government of Afghanistan is no better, in 2019killing 40 civiliansat a wedding.
These kinds of mass casualty attacks — terrorist attacks — barely got a mention in the mainstream media, which has mostly ignored Afghanistan entirely for about a decade.
Now, with the government effectively destroyed in what may be the quickest collapse of a state ever, the United States has left the country with a reminder for Afghans of who they really are, and US imperial stenographers are doing their best to cover up their crimes.
Rep. Barbara Lee speech to Congress on September 14, 2001
20 years later: 240,000 Dead with a Price Tag of $2.261 Trillion
Mr. Speaker, Members, I rise today really with a very heavy heart, one that is filled with sorrow for the families and the loved ones who were killed and injured this week. Only the most foolish and the most callous would not understand the grief that has really gripped our people and millions across the world. This unspeakable act on the United States has really -- really forced me, however, to rely on my moral compass, my conscience, and my God for direction.
September 11th changed the world. Our deepest fears now haunt us. Yet, I am convinced that military action will not prevent further acts of international terrorism against the United States. This is a very complex and complicated matter.
Now this resolution will pass, although we all know that the President can wage a war even without it. However difficult this vote may be, some of us must urge the use of restraint. Our country is in a state of mourning. Some of us must say, let's step back for a moment. Let's just pause, just for a minute and think through the implications of our actions today, so that this does not spiral out of control.
Now I have agonized over this vote. But I came to grips with it today, and I came to grips with opposing this resolution during the very painful, yet very beautiful memorial service. As a member of the clergy so eloquently said, "As we act, let us not become the evil that we deplore."
THE HUMAN COST in Afghanistan and Pakistan from October 2001 through April 2021:
Opposition Fighters 84,191
Afghan Military and Policy 75,314-78,314
Civilians 71,344
U.S. Contractors 3936
U.S. and Allied Military 3884
Humanitarian Aid Workers 549
Journalist and Media Workers 136
TOTAL: 238,050-241,000:
FINANCIAL COST (U.S. ONLY)
Since invading Afghanistan in 2001, the United States has spent $2.26 trillion on the war, which includes operations in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Note that this total does not include funds that the United States government is obligated to spend on lifetime care for American veterans of this war, nor does it include future interest payments on money borrowed to fund the war.
We don’t know yet what the consequences of the events in Afghanistan will be. We do know that there are more than 250,000 Afghans internally displaced since the end of May, thousands more in recent days living in makeshift tents and in parks and on the streets in Kabul. We do know Afghanistan’s borders are almost all closed, and that people are terrified. People are afraid of the rising violence, afraid of the Taliban coming to power, afraid of the US bombing underway across the country all week.
Questions are everywhere. How did the Taliban, with 75,000 or so scattered forces, defeat the 300,000-strong US-trained, US-armed, and US-supported Afghan government troops? Why didn’t that US-trained military fight? Why did the United States withdraw most of its troops—and shouldn’t Biden send troops back to protect Afghan women from Taliban control?
First, most Afghan soldiers were not defeated militarily by the Taliban at all. Some individual soldiers simply put down their weapons and ran. More frequently, local commanders negotiated with the Taliban to surrender with troops and weapons en masse—directly rejecting the corrupt government in Kabul.
Despite 20 years of occupation, the United States couldn’t “win” militarily either—because there is no military solution to terrorism. After the United States and its allies overthrew the Taliban government in 2001, they created a whole new government. Staffed largely by pro-Western Afghan exiles, it was modeled after Western parliamentary systems—with power concentrated in the president and parliament of a central government in Kabul. It was completely at odds with Afghanistan’s long-standing cultural and political traditions —where power emanates from the family and tribal level, not from the national capital of a modern nation-state. For most Afghans (75 percent of whom live in scattered villages and rural areas, not in cities), what happens in Kabul rarely reaches beyond Kabul.
So the military that the Pentagon created was supposed to be fighting for—and accountable to—a government that most of its soldiers never supported in the first place. President Biden was right when he said, “One more year, or five more years, of US military presence would not have made a difference if the Afghan military cannot or will not hold its own country.” Of course, he didn’t acknowledge that it wasn’t their country the troops were being asked to protect but a corrupt and wildly unpopular government imposed by an occupying army.
Negotiations are still underway to determine if there will be some kind of power-sharing arrangement, but the Taliban is now clearly the dominant force in Afghanistan. It remains unclear if the US bombing raids of recent days,involving Viet Nam-era B-52s as well as dronesand almost certainly resulting in civilian casualties, are continuing as the Taliban takes control
Almost 80 percent of the displaced people flooding Kabul and other cities are women and children. The Taliban’s legacy of misogyny and violence against women continues to fuel fear of the group’s return to power, particularly from urban women in Kabul and Kandahar, where US-imposed laws protecting education, employment, public engagement, and more had significant impact on women’s lives. In the villages and rural areas, where 75 percent of Afghans live, those laws and policies changed far less in the lives of most women.
Throughout the 20 years of US occupation, the Taliban fought to expand its control of large swaths of rural territory. Negotiations were possible in many of those areas between Taliban commanders and local representatives—generally community elders or religious leaders—including arrangements for girls’ education, health care, etc. While they did not lead to anything close to equality or full rights for women, those local interactions may hint at some future possibilities.
The Taliban of 2021 faces challenges different from their earlier counterparts’. During their five years in power—and their 20 years struggling to return to power—their country and its position in the world changed in significant ways. Although the impact of US-imposed ideas rarely reached beyond the major cities, things like access to cell phones and the Internet has increased Afghans’ awareness of the world outside their isolated villages. While some of today’s Taliban hold to the same or an even more extreme version of religious law, especially regarding the role of women, some of their leadership are certainly more aware of the need for engagement with the rest of the world—particularly for economic assistance—and of what the world may require of them.
There is no reason to believe the Taliban’s historic misogyny has been discarded. But with Iran, Russia, and China all engaging diplomatically and publicly with the Taliban, the group comes to power far less isolated than in 1996—and the price of maintaining that regional and global engagement may possibly include loosening some of the worst forms of repression favored by the most extreme Taliban elements.
As before, Afghan women will face not only Taliban repression but also the lack of support for women’s rights from whatever remnants may remain of the Afghan government and the numerous warlords and militias allied to the government—most of whom have little more interest in or support for women’s rights than the Taliban itself.
President Biden was right to withdraw US troops, ending a 20-year US war that never should have been waged at all. But we should have no illusion that this will end the war for Afghans. As women’s rights activist and former Afghan parliamentarian Malalai Joya reminds us, women and civil society in Afghanistan have three enemies—the Taliban, the warlords disguised as a government, and the US military occupation. If you can get rid of one of them, she said, we’d only have two.
It won’t be easy for Afghans going forward, but the withdrawal of US troops is a necessary, if still insufficient, precondition for ending that war.
For those of us working to press the US government for some level of accountability, perhaps these demands would be a good place to start:
• Make the end of the recent bombing/drone raids and CIA death squad activities permanent.
• Support UN and other international efforts to create a humanitarian corridor and guarantees of safe passage for Afghan and international humanitarian workers.
• Fund a massive international Covid assistance program for Afghanistan.
• Expand qualification categories for Afghan refugees and asylum seekers to come to the United States, reduce paperwork required to qualify, and add 20,000 new slots to match Canada’s commitment to accept 20,000 additional vulnerable Afghans for resettlement.
• Given the legacy of US actions in Afghanistan, begin the process of officially acknowledging US responsibility for the war’s impact on Afghan people.
President Biden’s latest Pentagon budget proposed MILLIONS for new Sea-Launched Cruise Missiles (SLCMs) — nuclear weapons already rejected by *four* previous administrations. Even Navy officials themselves don’t want them.
Congress is deciding the budget now.That means it’s time to remind Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Leahy what a disaster these nukes would be — because if we get him fully on board, we can stop SLCMs for good!
President Biden’s latest Pentagon budget proposed MILLIONS for new Sea-Launched Cruise Missiles (SLCMs): nukes already rejected by *four* previous administrations and that Navy officials themselves don’t want in their arsenal.
Congress is deciding the budget now, and so far — in no small part because of the enormous grassroots pressure from activists like yourself — we’ve kept these dangerous nukes on the chopping block!
But we need to gofurther. The committee chair is the ONE who determines which bills go to a vote, and whether they are prioritized.That means, it’s time to remind Appropriations Committee Chair Leahy what a disaster this nuke would be — because if we get him fully on board, we can stop SLCMs, for good.
Abandoning development of new nuclear weapons should be an easy choice, but over the last four years, Trump and Congress actuallyaccelerateda new nuclear arms race.
Not only do experts say these SLCMs are a colossal waste of money, but Navy officials have also privately told lawmakers that adding nuclear weapons to attack subs, as well as surface ships, would cause budgetary, security, and operational problems. And of course,the reality with this and any nuclear weapon is that building more of them increases the chances of an all-out nuclear war.
The United States is currently estimated to spend $2 TRILLION on the nuclear arsenal in the coming decades. The Navy is preparing to start work next year, but without funds these nuclear-armed missiles are dead in the water.
If Congress decides to ditch funding for SLCMs and other unnecessary nukes, it’ll make all of us safer.That’s why we’ve got to cut this project from the Pentagon budget NOW.
Better yet: when we do, we’ll remind President Biden that the United States does NOT need new nuclear weapons, sending him a clear signal to keep unnecessary nukes like these out of future budget proposals.But to do that we need powerful folks like Senator Leahy — the most senior senator and chair of the appropriations committee — by our side. And we need your help to keep up the pressure!
After the Cold War, George H.W. Bush removed these nuclear missiles and put them in storage to demonstrate the U.S. commitment to nuclear disarmament. Obama finally retired these weapons 10 years ago — but in a broad splurge on nuclear weapons: Trump reintroduced them. Biden’s following him down the same path, to a potentially disastrous end.
American workers deserve better than a corporate bailout for nuclear power companies.
Congress and the White House are proposing a massive national bailout for the nuclear power industry — up to $50 billion over the next decade. This would undercut the principle goals of President Biden’s American Jobs and Families Plan: to create millions of quality jobs rebuilding our country’s infrastructure, reaching 100% clean energy by 2035, and building a just and equitable economic recovery.
A $50 billion bailout will not create a single job in nuclear power. Even worse, it will prevent the creation of 67,000 jobs in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and the transition to 100% clean energy. So here is the choice: are we going to give $50 billion to bail out old reactors or are we going to create four times as many jobs building the energy industry of the future?
Our elected leaders must seize the opportunity to create a better, cleaner, more equitable energy future and not sacrifice over 60,000 clean, green, family-supporting jobs to corporate bailouts for nuclear power plants. This week, we are asking you to send a message to your members of Congress, President Biden, and Vice-President Harris telling them to keep nuclear subsidies out of the American Jobs and Families Plan. Tell Congress and the White House NO to nuclear bailouts and YES to green jobs for our future!
Palestinian children gather at their home in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza, destroyed in recent Israeli airstrikes, 1 June.
Ashraf AmraAPA images
Dear supporter,
U.S. based company General Mills is one of 112 companies named in the UN Human Rights Council’s database of companies involved in Israel’s illegal settlement activities.
This is because General Mills is the parent company of Pillsbury, and manufactures Pillsbury products in the Atarot industrial zone, an illegal Israeli settlement. The settlement and factory are exploiting Palestinian labour as well as land, water, and other resources that were captured by force from their legal Palestinian owners, in violation of international law.
The Boycott Pillsbury campaign has been gaining momentum this past year. Even members of the Pillsbury family have joined the call to boycott Pillsbury products until General Mills stops its illegal business in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Now, we’re asking for your help to keep up the pressure!
Here are 5 ways you can support the Boycott Pillsbury campaign:
1. Flyer anduse sticky notes on Pillsbury productsat your local supermarket. See this example from our friends in Canada and get the template for the sticky notes here. Take photos and share them on social media with #BoycottPillsbury.
2. Get your local supermarket to commit tode-shelve Pillsburyproducts.
3.Share media coverageof the Pillsbury family’s statement calling for a boycott of Pillsbury products: AJ+, NowThis.
4.Send anemail to the CEOof General Mills urging him to stop profiting from confiscated Palestinian land.
5. If you are a member of an organization in the US and Canada,join the Boycott Pillsbury campaign coalition.Fill out the formhereto join.
SEEKING JUSTICE FOR THE UNKNOWING, UNWILLING, AND UNCOMPENSATED, INNOCENT VICTIMS OF THE JULY 16, 1945, TRINITY TEST IN SOUTH CENTRAL NEW MEXICO
Trinity Downwinders: 75 Years And Waiting
DID YOU KNOW
There were families living as close as 12 miles to the Trinity test site in 1945 and there were Thousands of families living in a 50 mile radius.
The bomb was a plutonium based bomb and it was packed with 13 pounds of weapons grade plutonium but only 3 pounds of the plutonium fissioned. The remaining 10 pounds of plutonium was joined with the soil, sand, animal and plant life and incinerated. The resultant fireball exceeded the atmosphere and penetrated the stratosphere traveling more than 7 miles high.
The bomb produced more heat and more light than the sun. Many people who we’ve spoken to that were alive at the time thought they were experiencing the end of the world.
Plutonium has a half life of more than 24,000 years. Once the radioactive ash fell from the sky as fallout it settled on everything on the soil, in the water and on the skin of every living thing both human and animal.
In 1945 most if not all the small villages inside a 50 mile radius of the Trinity Site had no running water. The water sources at the time were cisterns, holding ponds or ditches. As a result of the fallout the water sources were contaminated.
In 1945 there were no grocery stores in the small villages surrounding the Trinity site. All the meat, dairy and produce people consumed was either raised, harvested or grown by them. It too was contaminated.
As a result of the overexposure to radiation, there was an increase in infant mortality in the months following the Trinity test in New Mexico. The National average death rate was 38.3 deaths per thousand live births, and the average in New Mexico was 100.8 deaths per thousand, which was the highest in the nation. A paper that addresses this issue, was published by Tucker/Alvarez in 2019, titled Trinity: “The most significant hazard of the entire Manhattan Project”, which you can access here.
Since 1990 the US Government has been compensating “Downwinders” who lived adjacent to the Nevada Test Site. The fund set up to extend compensation and medical care is called the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). The Downwinders in New Mexico have never been included or compensated although they were the first people to be exposed to radiation any place in the world. New Mexicans were also downwind of the Nevada test site through the summer of 1962, well documented.
The fund has paid out more than 2.3 billion dollars in claims and provides much needed health care coverage to some claimants. The health care coverage portion, if extended to the people of New Mexico, would save lives and reduce the financial burden to patients and families as they travel from their rural communities to receive treatment.
The TBDC is fighting for the same compensation that other Downwinders receive, and for the health care coverage to be extended to all Downwinders. We often say we don’t want one dime more or one dime less than what other Downwinders are receiving and have received for over 30 years.
On June 27, 2018, a representative of the TBDC testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee about the need to amend the RECA in order to compensate the New Mexico Downwinders. The testimony is available here. The hearing begins at 20 minutes. Tina Cordova, co-founder of TBDC, begins her testimony at 1:02:20.
COVID-19 PANDEMIC PLACES DOWNWINDERS AT GREATER THAN NORMAL RISK
Members of the TBDC Steering Committee have completed a letter to the US Congressional Leadership requesting that they add the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) Amendments in House Bill, HR 3783 to any of the upcoming COVID-19 relief bills under consideration. Over 120 organizations from all across the country, Canada, Guam and the Pacific Islands have signed onto the letter in support. Please see the full letter here.
Letter from peace allies to the Progressive Caucus & the House Defense Spending Reduction Caucus/Committee and Subcommittee Chairs:
As peace and social justice organizations calling for human-centered security and opposed to the proposed record high military budget, please send a version of the letter below to House and Senate lawmakers who oversee budgeting for the Pentagon and Department of Energy:
As members of the United States Congress sent to Washington to provide oversight and serve our constituents, we stand united in our opposition to the proposed increased $753 billion military budget and urge you to reduce the military budget by at least 10%-30% , exempting military pay and benefits, before the budget leaves your committee.
It is time to shift to a human-centered definition of security that prioritizes the urgent needs of those highlighted in the Poor People’s Campaign for a moral budget. The campaign points out that 87-million Americans lack adequate health care coverage, eleven million people are houseless, 35 million are food insecure and one in three Black and Latinx households are steeped in debt. .
We call for re-evaluating US priorities to reduce Pentagon and Department of Energy spending to instead invest in health care, education, housing, climate sustainability, racial justice and more. We call this the Peace Dividend: increased investment in public goods as the result of winding down US wars.
With President Biden’s withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and his review of the necessity of 800 overseas bases in 80 countries, we expect and hope to spend less, not more on the military. We reject a proposed US pivot to Asia that increases troop deployments to the South China Sea, opens new military bases, and greenlights nuclear warships and mock nuclear strikes--all of which threaten to provoke another war, this one with a nuclear armed nation.
We stand united in opposition to spending billions of dollars in 2022, $1.7 trillion over the next decades, to develop new nuclear weapons that will escalate the arms race, increase the odds of a catastrophic accident and risk global annihilation.
Respectfully, we ask committee chairs preparing the military budget to remove expenditures for new nuclear weapons from the base bill or any document that merges with an overall budget bill, scrap the euphemistically titled “nuclear modernization” plan that fails to reflect modern thinking on the imperative of peace in the midst of a global climate crisis, budget to begin closing some overseas bases and re-evaluate billions of dollars for a US Space Force that will also escalate the arms race.
Progressive Democrats of America CODEPINK World BEYOND War Our Revolution RootsAction.org Greenpeace US Rainforest Action Network 350.org Peace Action Physicians for Social Responsibility United for Peace and Justice Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace Veterans For Peace Women's International League for Peace and Freedom US Women Against Military Madness United We Dream Network Peace, Justice, Sustainability NOW Nuclear Free World Committee Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space Sisters of Mercy of the Americas - Justice Team Pax Christi USA: National Catholic Peace Movement War Resisters League Women Cross DMZ An Economy of Our Own U.S. Peace Council WORLD PEACE NETWORK Massachusetts Peace Action Wisconsin Peace Action
Multi-state coalition says DOE’s plans to massively expand plutonium pit production violate a major environmental law and constitutes an environmental injustice.
CHARLESTON, S.C. — A coalition of public interest organizations notified (PDF below) the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) urging a comprehensive review of plans to vastly ramp up production of nuclear bomb cores at the Los Alamos National Lab in New Mexico and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.
In Tuesday's letter to department officials, the groups say this lack of review violates the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and would saddle already-burdened communities nearby the two DOE sites with significant quantities of toxic and radioactive waste, contravening President Biden’s executive order of making environmental justice a part of the mission of every agency.
“The federal government appears ready to embark on this significant change in U.S. nuclear policy without studying the cross-country risks and environmental justice impacts, which indicates that the health and safety of workers and downwind and downriver communities are not worth the consideration or protection they deserve,” said Leslie Lenhardt, a staff attorney for the South Carolina Environmental Law Project, a law firm representing the coalition.
The organizations listed in the letter include Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, Georgia Women’s Action for New Directions, Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition, The Imani Group, Honor Our Pueblo Existence, Tewa Women United, Nuclear Watch New Mexico, Savannah River Site Watch and Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment.
The latter three groups intend to file an action pursuant to NEPA within 60 days if DOE and NNSA fail to reconsider its decision. The nuclear watchdogs have reached out on more than five occasions since 2019 to DOE and NNSA over the necessity of a broad, nationwide programmatic environmental impact statement, or PEIS, of producing the nuclear weapon triggers, also known as plutonium pits, at the two sites. In its March 22, 2021 correspondence (PDF) with the groups, NNSA said it has no plans to revisit its review of pit production, relying instead on a supplemental analysis of an outdated PEIS completed more than a decade ago, along with a separate review done for the Savannah River Site alone.
The coalition has numerous concerns, including the hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars on the line, uncertain future radioactive waste disposal that could strand yet more plutonium in South Carolina, and the risk of lethal accidents, fires, radioactive and hazardous waste releases that could harm the predominantly low-income and African American communities near the Savannah River Site and the Pueblo communities and other minority populations living around the Los Alamos National Lab.
Beata Tsosie, Environmental Health and Justice Program coordinator for Tewa Women United, commented, “It is clear that communities impacted by nuclear colonialism need healing, strength and restorative justice. We know that the environmental violence our land-based and Native Peoples, ecologies and waters continue to endure from nuclear contamination will not end until the harm stops. It is imperative that the Biden Administration conduct a nationwide public review of its plans for expanded plutonium pit production that give affected communities a real voice in fighting for true environmental justice. It is our right that a commitment is made to get this done.”
Marian Naranjo, founder of Honor Our Pueblo Existence, said: “The Los Alamos National Lab is located on a geographically unsafe area for the work that transpires there, a place that is and has been considered as Sacred to Pueblo People since time immemorial.”
Tri-Valley CAREs’ director Marylia Kelley highlighted the national implications of NNSA’s decision to expand pit production. “The driver for the program is a novel warhead, called the W87-1, under development at California’s Livermore Lab that requires wholly new components including pits. The W87-1 and a new Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent missile to carry the warhead are both under scrutiny in Congress and within the Administration, which is just beginning its nuclear posture review. NNSA should conduct the necessary programmatic review to help inform these important decisions rather than try to outrun them.”
“To compound the lack of a thorough system-wide analysis of disposal of waste streams from pit production, the politically motivated Environmental Impact Statement on SRS pit production unacceptably waves off Environmental Justice issues without even so much as a cursory analysis,” noted Tom Clements, director of SRS Watch. “There is urgent need for preparation of a PEIS that does not marginalize environmental justice issues as a tactic used to justify a second factory to produce plutonium components for provocative and costly new nuclear weapons.”
Jay Coghlan of Nuclear Watch New Mexico commented, “Instead of maintaining the safety and reliability of the existing nuclear weapons stockpile, NNSA may actually undermine it because all future pit production is for speculative new-design nuclear weapons. This is a colossal and unnecessary waste of taxpayers’ money on top of already wasted taxpayers’ money.”
# # #
The South Carolina Environmental Law Project protects the natural environment of South Carolina by providing legal services and advice to environmental organizations and concerned citizens and by improving the state’s system of environmental regulation. Contact: Leslie Lenhardt, (843) 527-0078, [email protected]
Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety is a 33-year-old non-governmental organization, based in Santa Fe, NM. CCNS works to inform and educate the public, elected officials and the media about DOE activities in New Mexico—at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant—impacting public health, water, air and lands. Contact: Joni Arends, (505) 986-1973, [email protected]
Georgia Women’s Action for New Directions envisions a world without militarism or systemic violence, with just, healthy, secure, and sustainable communities, and in which Georgia is a leader in regional, national, and global movements. They are an independent, community-driven, grassroots, woman-led organization that works on environmental justice issues as they relate to impacts of nuclear projects at the Savannah River Site, including plutonium pit production. Contact: Janie Scott, (404) 524-5999, [email protected]
The Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition operates in accordance with the mission of the Gullah/Geechee Nation to preserve, protect, and promote their history, culture, language, and homeland and to institute and demand official recognition of the governance (minority rights) necessary to accomplish our mission to take care of our community through collective efforts, which will provide a healthy environment, care for the well-being of each person and economic empowerment. The Gullah/Geechee Nation spans from North Carolina to northern Florida and receives the downward flow of the Savannah River, which brings its benefits and also could bring disastrous impacts to a community that relies so closely on the water. Contact: Queen Quet, [email protected]
The Imani Group is a Graniteville, South Carolina non-profit founded by Rev. Brendolyn Jenkins Boseman in 2004, to address criminal and environmental justice, as well as youth development. As the founder she has served on the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site’s Citizen Advisory Board and works to address environmental issues at the Savannah River Site and other sites affecting underserved communities. Contact: Rev. Brendolyn Jenkins Boseman, [email protected]
Honor Our Pueblo Existence is a nonprofit organization based in Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico, immediately downwind from LANL. We embrace the Pueblo teachings of love, respect and care, working together to improve the life ways of our people in order to provide an enhanced and sustainable environment for generations to come. Contact: Marian Naranjo, (505) 929-2151, [email protected]
Nuclear Watch New Mexico’s mission is to: promote safety and environmental protection at regional nuclear facilities; mission diversification away from nuclear weapons programs; greater accountability and cleanup in the nation-wide nuclear weapons complex; and consistent U.S. leadership toward a world free of nuclear weapons. Expanded plutonium pit production will have adverse environmental justice impacts given that the population within the Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory’s 50-mile radius Region of Influence is largely People of Color. Contact: Jay Coghlan, (505) 989-7342, c. (505) 470-3154, [email protected]
Savannah River Site Watch monitors a host of projects at SRS from the public interest perspective, with a focus on cleanup of existing waste and plutonium management and pit production. We are attentive to health and safety impacts, especially to workers and populations near to the Savannah River Site and are very concerned that NNSA has summarily waved off reviewing the probable environmental justice impacts from plutonium pit fabrication to minority populations living at the fence line. Contact: Tom Clements, (803) 834-3084, [email protected]
Located in the ancestral Tewa homelands of Northern New Mexico, Tewa Women United is a multicultural and multiracial organization founded and led by Native women. Our Environmental Health and Justice Program integrates body, mind, and spiritual awareness into environmental justice advocacy, policy change, and community education while uplifting Indigenous and land-based families and oppressed Peoples to build grassroots leaders and community capacity. Contact: Beata Tsosie-Peña, 505-747-3259, [email protected]
Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment is a non-profit founded in 1983 by frontline residents around the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to conduct research, analysis, education and advocacy regarding the environmental justice, health and proliferation impacts of LLNL in California and the U.S. nuclear weapons complex of which it is an integral part. Contact: Marylia Kelley, (925) 255-3589, [email protected]
INVESTING IN CURES BEFORE MISSILES ACT
For years, many weapons experts and activists have been warning that ICBMs are the single most dangerous part of the nuclear threat that hangs over all of us. Now, some members of Congress are stepping up to do something about it -- and you can do something to help in the next couple of minutes.
Sen. Edward Markey and Rep. Ro Khanna have introduced a bill that would curtail the current plans to sink vast amounts of money into a new version of ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles), and instead would devote resources to developing a universal coronavirus vaccine that would save countless lives.
The new ICBM program is part of an unhinged plan to "modernize" the U.S. nuclear arsenal at a projected cost of $1.7 trillion. This plan would not only squander money that's desperately needed to meet human needs -- it would also make everyone less safe, because ICBMs are on "hair-trigger" alert due to their vulnerability on the ground.
Long story short, ICBMs increase the risks of nuclear annihilation.
April 2021 Arms & Security Program CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL POLICY 1 TRANSFERRING ARMS TO THE UAE IS April 2021 | Washington, D.C. NOT IN U.S. SECURITY INTERESTS William D. Hartung | Arms & Security Program ISSUE BRIEF
The Biden administration’s decision to approve a $23 billion package of F-35 combat aircraft, MQ-9 armed drones, and $10 billion in bombs and missiles to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) contradicts its pledge to make human rights and long-term U.S. interests the central factors in deciding which nations to supply with U.S. arms. The UAE is an unreliable partner that has fueled conflict, transferred U.S.-supplied weapons to extremist groups, and inflicted severe human rights abuses on its own population. Its conduct has done more harm than good with respect to U.S. security interests. Whatever pledges the UAE may make regarding its use of the U.S. weapons involved in the current package, the UAE’s record does not inspire confidence that it will abide by them. Conduct that should disqualify the UAE from receiving U.S. arms includes: • Despite claims to the contrary, the UAE continues to play a role in the brutal war in Yemen, which has resulted in nearly a quarter of a million deaths and pushed millions to the brink of famine, even as it has created more space for extremist groups like Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to operate and recruit new members and driven the Houthi rebels closer to Iran. U.S. and Emirati soldiers participate in joint exercise Native Fury 20 in the United Arab Emirates on March 15, 2020. Sgt. Kyle McNan U.S. Marine Corps/DVIDS April 2021 Arms & Security Program CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL POLICY
• The UAE is a primary supplier of weaponry to the forces of Gen. Khalifa Haftar in Libya and has engaged in drone strikes that have killed civilians, all in violation of a United Nations arms embargo. There is also evidence to suggest it has financed the Wagner Group, a collection of Russian-backed mercenaries fighting in Yemen. • The UAE has transferred U.S. supplied weapons, including armored vehicles, to extremist militias in Yemen, some of which have ties to AQAP. The UAE has security ties to Russia and China and has purchased Russian missile defense systems, raising the danger of sensitive U.S. technology being supplied to these two nations. • The weapons in the $23 billion package are more likely to be used in wars like those in Libya and Yemen than to deter or fight Tehran. • UAE purchases of arms from Russia could subject it to sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which, if enforced, could preclude it from receiving advanced U.S. weaponry, as happened with Turkey with respect to its purchases of Russian S-400s and its exclusion from the F-35 program. • The sale of F-35s to the UAE could open the door to sales of these aircraft to other Gulf States, spurring an arms race in the region. • The sales will likely include the transfer of U.S. technology and jobs to the UAE via offset agreements with U.S. companies. For example, the UAE is seeking the opportunity to build parts for the F-35 that will be used not just on the jets they are purchasing but on all U.S. F-35s produced worldwide, reducing jobs in the United States as a result. Destruction caused to a Yememi school in Sa’ada by 2015 Saudi-led coalition airstrike. Philippe Kropf/United Nations OCHA Flickr
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Tuesday, April 6, 7 PM, Capitol Calling Party: Immigration Justice
On Tuesday, April 6, 2021,. CODEPINK Congress will ask the question: What would immigration justice look like? We will be joined by two guests:
Arturo Viscarra, an immigration attorney living in Mexico and working with The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), will discuss the influx of migrants at the border and CHIRLA’s campaign for a moratorium on immigrant arrests and deportations, as well as a path to citizenship.
Matt Nelson, executive director of Presente, the largest national online Latinx organizing group, will talk about his organization's campaign to promote a new positive narrative about migrants and migration in order to inform public opinion to support immigration policy reforms.
President Biden, who halted the construction of the border wall, has come under criticism following the release of photos showing migrant children in Texas packed together in makeshift rooms with mattresses on the floor. In response, the administration announced the opening of “16,000 emergency beds for migrant children” in new housing facilities.
Despite Republican charges that Biden advocates "open borders," the Biden administration has left Trump's policy of expelling asylum seekers in place.
So what's the answer? Let's talk about it, then take action!
After our discussion, join us for our Capitol Calling Party to ask members of Congress to co-sponsor H.R. 694, the Roadmap to Freedom (Jayapal, D-WA), & H.R. 536, the New Way Forward Act to provide a path to citizenship, promote family reunification & end mandatory detention for some immigrants.
March 29 is the anniversary of the 1987 Haitian Constitution written after the 1986 overthrow of the brutal Jean-Claude Duvalier dictatorship. The 1987 Constitution was designed to create “a socially just, economically free, and politically independent Haitian nation.” Those ideals are again in crisis.
The US-backed de facto president of Haiti Jovenel Moïse is refusing to leave office even though his term ended on February 7. Moïse and his Western allies – the US, Canada, Brazil, France, Spain and the European Union – are trying to push through a new constitution that takes power away from the people
The Haitian people have been bravely holding mass demonstrations, especially on Sundays, for months calling for Moïse to step down so they can appoint an interim leader and hold an election. The state response to their demonstrations has been violent repression.
The Biden administration and the Democrats who have been so vocal over Trump’s threats to stay in office are enabling the same behavior by a president in Haiti. The Biden administration and Democrats have loudly stated that Black lives matter while being silent about the violence perpetrated against Haitians.
We demand that the Biden administration: 1. End its support for Jovenel Moïse. 2. Withdraw from participation in Haiti’s constitutional process. 3. Stop interfering in the internal affairs of Haiti. 4. Stop deporting Haitians who are fleeing their country.
More destroyers to defend America?
Bath Iron Works here in Maine presently is working on six new destroyers at the shipyard. They have put a call out for even more workers. In their call they say, "Shipfitters and Pipefitters! Pipefitters are responsible for installing the 30 miles of pipe it takes to build an Arleigh Burke [Aegis] destroyer. If you have plumbing knowledge, experience reading a tape measure and basic math skills, join our team as a Pipefitter and help us build the ships thatdefend America!"
That's quite interesting - the defend America bit. Once these warships are sent to sea they are no where near American shores. Right now two of them are harassing Russia in the Black Sea and they've lately been repeatedly bumping up against the Chinese coastline 'defending the right of passage in international waters'. Yeah right...
Can't we just admit the truth here? It is about profit$ for General Dynamics (which owns BIW) and also about a forward deployed aggressive US naval strategy. These destroyers carry first-strike attack nuclear-capable Tomahawk cruise missiles onboard. They also have SM-3 interceptor missiles that are the shield to pick-off Chinese or Russian nuclear retaliatory responses after a Pentagon first-strike attack. (Something that is annually war-gamed at the Space Command in Colorado.)
These warships are about offense not defense!
Just last week the Maine and Mississippi congressional delegationssent a letterto Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks on Navy shipbuilding. (The two naval shipyards that build large surface warships are in Maine and Mississippi.)
In the letter the two congressional delegations said, "We write to express our strong support for a robust Navy shipbuilding budget, including funding for the continued procurement of Large Surface Combatants, and urge you to endorse unambiguously the long-standing and congressionally mandated requirement for a larger Navy fleet... China, which each of you identified during your recent Senate nomination hearings as the foremost national security challenge facing our nation, currently has the largest Navy in the world, including approximately 350 ships... In the era of great-power competition, a stronger U.S. Navy capable ofprojecting power around the world[my emphasis] is necessary to ensure America’s national and economic security during peacetime as well as to defeat our adversaries should deterrence fail."
(At least they admit that the purpose of these warships isprojecting power around the worldand not the tired old excuse of 'defending America' as the young potential workers are misleadingly told by BIW.)
Among the signers of the letter was Maine's 'most liberal' representative in Washington, Rep. Chellie Pingree (Democrat from Maine's southern first district).Pingree claims to care about the poor and unemployed, climate crisis, and all the other hot-button issues that liberals usually demand more money to deal with. But she always votes for more Pentagon spending and of course more warships for BIW.
Rep. Pingree is the classic liberal who talks a good game about the need for social spending but then turns around and ensures that there won't be enough money to deal with human, environmental and infrastructure needs because the Pentagon is sitting on the buried national treasure chest. Typical pirate behavior.
Where do the Aegis go?
As the Pentagon accelerates deployment of US warships around the globe, they must have more ports to dock at for fuel and resupply. So in places like the Philippines (where the US was kicked out of in 1992, but now back), South Korea (where a new Navy base was forced on Jeju Island that has ripped apart a 500-year old fishing and farming community), Japan,Guam, Australia, and Okinawalocal residents opposethese increased deployments. Why? Two basic reasons, first it makes them a prime target if a war starts and secondly, in every case, these toxic military bases destroy the local environment.
Do you think the 'good liberal' Rep. Pingree cares about the environmental damage that accompanies these destroyers as they port in these various nations? Obviously not. During the Obama administration his ambassador to Japan was Carolyn Kennedy (daughter of JFK). For years the people of Okinawa begged that 'good liberal' to meet and hear their pleas about expanding US bases on their island. Her answer? No meeting.
That's just in the Pacific. The warships that are sent to poke Russia with the nuclear-stick are similarly ported at US bases throughout the Mediterranean region and in the Nordic region where they are making aggressive maneuvers in the Barents Sea. As I noted above, right now these destroyers are in the Black Sea.
If we are honest about this situation, it is quite apparent just who the aggressor really is. If China or Russia had military bases in Mexico, Canada or Cuba then Washington would be going ballistic! But when Washington does it in reverse, it is always sold to the public as 'defending democracy' and other claptrap like that.
It's no wonder much of the world hates the USA today. Our blind arrogance rankles the people in these nations that see how the US is provoking WW III which will reduce their homelands to radioactive dust.
Isn't it time for the American people to wake up and stop swallowing the 'liberal' line about 'projecting power to defend the freedom of navigation'?
Global Appeal to end the nuclear threat, abolish nuclear weapons and shift the weapons budgets and investments to support public health, COVID-19 recovery, the climate and sustainable development.
The Appeal
The nuclear weapons possessed by nine countries threaten us all. Any use of these weapons by accident, miscalculation or malicious intent, would have catastrophic human, economic and environmental consequences. The use of just a small fraction of the 14,000 nuclear weapons in the world’s stockpiles could end civilization as we know it.
In addition, the $100 billion spent annually on nuclear weapons is sorely needed for environmental, economic and human needs, including addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, protecting the climate and implementing the Sustainable Development Goals.
We, the undersigned, call on our cities, parliaments and governments to:
Affirm that nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought, and therefore the nuclear armed States should stand down their nuclear forces and affirm policies never to initiate a nuclear war (no-first-use policies);
Commit to the elimination of nuclear weapons by 2045, the 100th anniversary of the United Nations;
Cut nuclear weapons budgets (if they are a nuclear-weapon State), end investments in the nuclear weapons industry (all governments), and redirect these investments and budgets to support the United Nations, COVID-19 management and recovery, drastic reductions in carbon emissions to protect the climate, and financing the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The key calls in the appeal were introduced to governments on October 2, 2020 by Mr Saber Chowdhury and Ms Vanda Proskova, the two civil society representatives invited by the President of the UN General Assembly to address theUN High Level Meeting on the Total Eliminaton of Nuclear Weapons.
The Appeal will be presented to various forums including the UN General Assembly, Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference and Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly, as well as to national parliaments and civil society events.
January 22: Global Action Day for the Entry into Force
A huge range of events are planned across the globe on this special day, which you can check out on ICAN’s website. ICAN will be hosting a live online event titled “Studio 22.21.”, starting from 21:00 Swiss time (05:00 JST on January 22). Peace Boat will deliver contents to this event including messages from Hibakusha, as well as news from the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki celebrating the Entry into Force of the nuclear ban.
Some highlighted events in Japan:
In the city of Nagasaki, a special countdown clock tower has been established in front of the Nagasaki City Council; it will celebrate turning to zero at midnight local time.
Diet Member’s Building, Tokyo / 10:00-16:00 (TBC): A delegation of Hibakusha will meet with Japanese government officials and Diet members to urge Japan to sign and ratify the TPNW (subject to cancellation or downscale due to the current state of emergency)
Survivors and local citizens will gather in front of the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima at 6pm local time to create a candle message (18:00)
School children will gather in front of the Children’s Peace Monument in the Hiroshima Peace Park (18:30)
TheBulletin of the Atomic Scientistswill host a live international news conference at 10 a.m. EST/1500 GMT on Wednesday, January 27, 2021, to announce the 2021 time of the Doomsday Clock. The news conference will take place virtually via Zoom. Watch the announcement live onour website or on our Facebook page.
Speakers for the Doomsday Clock announcement on January 27, 2021 include:
Governor Jerry Brown,executive chair, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists; former Governor, State of California
Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, member, The Elders; former Prime Minister, Norway; former Director-General, World Health Organization
Dr. Rachel Bronson,president and CEO, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Dr. Steve Fetter,Science and Security Board member, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists; associate provost, dean of the graduate school, and professor of public policy, University of Maryland
Dr. Asha George,Science and Security Board member, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists; executive director, Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense
Dr. Susan Solomon,Science and Security Board member, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists; Lee and Geraldine Martin Professor of Environmental Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
For Immediate Release MONDAY, DECEMBER 21
CONTACTS Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK, [email protected], 415-235-6517 Marcy Winograd, Progressive Democrats of America, [email protected], 424-443-9338 Jeremy Varon, Witness Against Torture, [email protected] ,732-979-3119
Torture Victims & Their Advocates Oppose Morell & Haines for National Security Positions in the Biden Administration.
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, torture survivors and their advocates released an Open Letter urging President-Elect Biden not to nominate torture defender Mike Morell for CIA Director and asking the Senate not to approve Biden’s nominee Avril Haines, a torture enabler, as Director of National Intelligence. The letter was also delivered this morning to members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, as well as President-Elect Biden and Vice-President Elect Kamala Harris.
Signatories include: Mansoor Adayfi, a writer from Yemen imprisoned for 14 years without charge at Guantanamo Bay, where he was force fed for two years; Moazzam Begg, a British-Pakistani ex-Guantanamo detainee and Outreach Director for CAGE, a service organization for torture survivors and communities impacted by the War on Terror; Sister Dianna Ortiz, a US missionary tortured by members of the CIA-funded Guatemalan army; Colonel Larry Wilkerson, Whistleblower and Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell; John Kiriakou, former CIA officer imprisoned after exposing CIA waterboarding; and musician Roger Waters (formerly with Pink Floyd), whose song “Each Small Candle” is a tribute to torture victims.
The organizers of the letter, Marcy Winograd of Progressive Democrats of America, Medea Benjamin of CODEPINK, and Jeremy Varon of Witness Against Torture, have been lobbying against the inclusion of torture apologists in the Biden administration since the August Democratic National Convention, Their efforts include a letter to Biden from 450 DNC delegates, a CODEPINK petition signed by over 4,000, and calls to the offices of the Senators on the Intelligence Committee. “When we started this campaign,” says 2020 DNC Delegate Marcy Winograd, “Morell was considered the frontrunner, but opposition to his disgraceful defense of torture has cast a pall on his nomination. We want to make sure his nomination is off the table, and that Biden and the Senate also understand we reject Avril Haines for her complicity in suppressing evidence of CIA torture,”.
Morell, a CIA analyst under Bush and Deputy and Acting CIA Director under Obama, has defended the agency’s “enhanced interrogation” program, objecting to use of the word “torture” to characterize waterboarding, sleep deprivation, starvation diets, sexual humiliation, hypothermia and painful bodily contortions. Morrell also falsely claimed that torture “worked” in foiling terrorists plots. In addition, Morell defended the CIA’s destruction of nearly 90 videotapes documenting brutal interrogations at CIA black site prisons.
As CIA Deputy Director from 2013-2014, Avril Haines overruled the CIA Inspector General in choosing not to punish agency personnel accused of hacking into the Senate Intelligence Committee’s computers during their investigation into the CIA’s use of torture. She was also part of the team that suppressed evidence of CIA torture by redacting the Senate Intelligence Committee’s landmark torture report, reducing a 6,000 page document to 500 pages.
Both Morell and Haines supported Trump’s nomination of Gina Haspel to CIA Director — a nomination that then-Senator Kamala Harris, other prominent Democrats, and Senator John McCain opposed. Haspel supervised a black site prison in Thailand and authorized a memo authorizing the destruction of CIA videotapes documenting torture.
Jeremy Varon, Witness Against Torture: “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris promised to restore transparency, integrity, and respect for the rule of law to government. So how can their National Security team be led by people who endorsed, or tried to cover up, the clear crime of torture? It makes no sense.”
Djamel Ameziane, Former Guantanamo Prisoner (2002-2013): “Elevating torture apologists to a leadership position within the Biden administration will damage the USA’s standing and give the world’s dictators succor and comfort.”
Jeffrey Kaye, Author, “Cover-Up at Guantanamo: “Morell and Haines have put loyalty to CIA torturers above adherence to US treaties and domestic law, as well as basic morality. To allow them to serve in government would send a message to all that accountability for torture is passé, and that war crimes will always be dismissed with a wink from those in high office.”
John Kiriakou, Former CIA officer who blew the whistle on agency torture: “Morell has disingenuously said that he was unaware of the CIA’s torture program at the same time that he was the Agency’s fourth-ranking officer. As deputy CIA Director and Acting CIA Director, he oversaw illegal activities around the world. I can’t believe that any sane person could or would consider Mike Morell as a serious candidate for CIA Director.”
Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK: “We can’t allow the new Biden administration to include people who have been involved–in any way–in heinous acts of torture. That’s why we are part of a groundswell of opposition to both Mike Morell and Avril Haines for key intelligence positions. No torture apologists should be allowed to serve in this administration. Period.”
Torture Survivor Mansoor Adayfi on Morell’s assertion that torture is effective: “In Guantanamo, when they put you under very bad circumstances—like 72 hours under very cold air conditioning, and you are tied to the ground and someone comes and pours cold water on you—you are going to tell them whatever they want you to say. I will sign anything, I will admit anything!,” says Dayfi.
Torture Survivor Moazzem Begg on his treatment at Bagram Air Base before arriving at Guantanamo: “They tied me up with my hands behind my back to my legs, kicked me in the head, kicked me in the back, threatened to take me to Egypt to be tortured, to be raped, to be electrocuted. They had a woman screaming in the next room whom I believed at that time was my wife. They bought pictures of my children and told me I would never see them again.”
Colonel Larry Wilkerson, torture whistleblower: “Kidnapping, torture and assassination have no place in a democracy and turn the CIA into a secret police …Abuses of the kind documented in the Senate’s report could happen again.”
James Dorsey, attorney for released Guantanamo detainee Ahcene Zemiri. “As a Marine Corps veteran, I have always understood that when our servicemen have been captured and tortured in the past, a real source of strength for them has been knowing that their country would never engage in such conduct. “
Also available for interviews:
James Dorsey, Attorney, represented released Guantanamo Detainee Ahcene Zemiri 651.762.2837 (h) 612.492.7079 (o) [email protected]
Send a message to Michigan's Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) today.
American Rivers, a national conservation group, has designated the Menominee River on the Michigan-Wisconsin border, one of the 10 most endangered rivers in the U.S. because of the threat of toxic sulfide mining next to the river.
Please go to American Rivers' website and send a message to Michigan's Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) toban the dangerous tailings dam associated with toxic mining and deny a permit for the proposed Back Forty mine:
Alert sent to WNPJ by Al Gedicks of the Wisconsin Resources Protection Council-[email protected]
Nukes + climate change is a dangerous combo
Dear Pamela,
Nuclear power is not a solution to climate change. In fact, it’s part of the problem.
When you take the entire nuclear fuel chain into account, nuclear is actually a netproducerof greenhouse gases. Not only that, but nuclear facilities are highly vulnerable to flooding, super-storms, and other weather events caused by climate change.
Who’s protecting us from the climate-related dangers of nuclear? That should be the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) job—but Congress has muzzled it, and the NRC has become cozy with the industry it should regulate.
After you email Congress, you’ll have a chance to help us scale up this new campaign. Your support will be matched dollar-for-dollar by a generous donor. Please give generously!
But whether you contribute or not, please share theWho’s Protecting Uscampaign widely with your friends and family. The dangers of nuclear power are real, and we need our leaders to protect us.
Thanks for all you do!
The NIRS Team
Diane D'Arrigo Luis Hestres Denise Jakobsberg Tim Judson
KOREA PEACE NOW! Peace Action of WI Zoom Meeting October 8, 2020, Thursday at 7 PM, central time
Update from the Korea Peace Network by National Peace Action’s Kevin Martin and UWM Professor Nan Kim of Women Cross DMZ
The Korea Peace Network, coordinated by Peace Action President Kevin Martin, is a network comprised of peace, social justice, human rights, faith, veterans and Korean-American groups and individuals advocating peace on the Korean peninsula.
War with North Korea should be avoided at all costs. Even a limited military strike would very likely lead to war with North Korea, which would imperil millions of lives. It’s time to try diplomacy without preconditions. Successful diplomacy is about open-minded dialogue, not making demands. Urge your members of Congress to join our call for direct diplomacy with North Korea, and an end to the Korean War.
Women Cross DMZ
On May 24, 2015 thirty women peacemakers from fifteen countries, including Nan Kim, crossed the De-Militarized Zone from North to South Korea on International Women’s Day for Peace and Disarmament. They held peace symposia with hundreds of Korean women in Pyongyang and Seoul and walked with 10,000 women on the streets of Pyongyang, Kaesong and Paju. They walked to call world attention to the un-ended Korean war, unite families, and ensure women’s leadership in the peace building process.
Stop Teaching War and Killing at Marquette University!
End Militarism!
Stand with Us Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020, at 11:30 AM
Rally be at 14th and Wisconsin, in front of the Raynor Memorial Library.
Marquette Hosts Three Department of Defense military programs, the Department of Navy/Marines, Department of Army, and Department of the Air Force. These three Department of Marquette are fully funded by the Department of Defense and serve all colleges and universities in Southeastern Wisconsin that are forced by US government to offer ROTC training for students in order to qualify for all US funds and grants by the Solomon Amendment of 1996. The law requires colleges and universities to offer ROTC training but not to host it. MU is the host for all colleges and universities in SE Wisconsin MU also supports militarization via Defense grants and investments.
Golden Eagle Battalion Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program at Marquette, Martin Luther King, Jr
Sponsored by the Ad Hoc Stop Militarism at Marquette University Committee of the End the Wars Coalition of Milwaukee. Signs will be provided.
On Thursday, April 9, fast from sunrise to sunset in solidarity with the people of Yemen.
Calling all students, activists, individuals:
National Fast for Yemen
On Thursday, April 9, fast from sunrise to sunset in solidarity with the people of Yemen. Together, we will abstain from food and water to call attention to the millions of Yemenis facing starvation, thirst, disease, and political violence.
“An estimated 85,000 children under five may have died from extreme hunger or disease since the war in Yemen escalated”
Abstain from food and water from sunrise to sunset in solidarity with the millions of Yemenis facing thirst and starvation.
Donate
“Share a meal” with a Yemeni by donating the equivalent of your fast-breaking meal to one of the reliable relief organizations provided on our website.
Last year (April 11, 2019), hundreds of students, activists, and individuals fasted in solidarity. We received 656 online pledges to fast from 5 continents, 17 countries, and 39 U.S. states. These included: students at 97 universities (81 in U.S.), 31 high schools (23 in U.S.), and 2 middle schools. Donations exceeded $2,750 (over $1,425 for Save the Children and $1,368 for Doctors Without Borders).
Let’s bring awareness to Yemen’s cause. Let’s fast for Yemen.
This episode will be available to Times subscribers in the U.S. on April 25.
Producer/Director Alyse Shorland
U.S. defense contractors used the promise of new jobs to persuade the government to approve billions of dollars’ worth of arms sales to foreign allies with little regard for how the American-made bombs, jets and other weapons are used.
The Trump administration has repeatedly cleared the way for lucrative contracts with Saudi Arabia, building on a 2015 decision by the Obama administration to support the Saudi-led war in Yemen — a conflict that’s killed thousands of civilians and led to a dire humanitarian crisis with no end in sight. “We found ourselves locked into this terrible situation, unable to wrap it up, and handing it off to an administration that was going to handle it even worse than we did,” Stephen Pomper, a former special assistant to President Barack Obama, told “The Weekly.”
New York Times investigative reporters Walt Bogdanich and Michael LaForgia wanted to know why the war in Yemen continued despite reports of massive civilian casualties. Their reporting led them to look at the role of American defense contractors, including Raytheon, which makes precision-guided bombs that the Saudis have been using in Yemen. Raytheon, which has close ties to the Trump administration, depends on Saudi Arabia for 5 percent of its annual revenue, and needs U.S. government approval to sell its weapons overseas.
“Everybody in Yemen knows that the bombs causing this suffering are made in the United States,” said Representative Tom Malinowski, Democrat of New Jersey, who served as a senior State Department official during the Obama administration.
We are delighted to announce that on March 25, we’ll be launching a web-based educational program, “Commonsense on Syria.” This series of 10 webinar sessions aims to expand the discourse on Syria here in the United States (and elsewhere) by presenting interactive, web-based panel discussions among people with real expertise on Syria. Our panelists will represent a range of views, including views that have been un- or under-represented in Western corporate media over the past decade.
“Commonsense On Syria” will run biweekly, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, from March 25 through April 25. Each session will start at 1 pm New York Time and will last 45-60 minutes.
The full schedule of the 10 sessions is given below. Registration is required for each session: it is currently open for the first two sessions. Click on the links to register:
The first session of the series, March 25, will be “Introduction to Syria, its people, and history pre-2011” and will feature two great experts:
** Amb. Peter Ford, who was the United Kingdom’s ambassador to Syria, 2003-2006. Ford went on from there to be the chief representative of the head of the UN agency UNRWA to the Arab world. In that capacity he traveled throughout the Arab world, including on a number of occasions to Syria, which is host to more than 500,000 UNRWA-registered Palestinian refugees.
** Prof. Joshua Landis, who is the Sandra Mackey Chair and Director, Center of Middle East Studies & Arabic at the University of Oklahoma. Landis has published widely on Syria and is the publisher of (and a frequent writer at) the “Syria Comment” blog.
JWE President Helena Cobban, who has also researched and written widely on Syria, will be moderating the discussion.
Session 2, March 28:
Session 2 will be “The Syrian Uprising in the context of the Arab Spring”, and will feature a probing discussion (moderated by Helena Cobban) between these two great panelists:
** Prof. Richard Falk, a world-renowned expert on international law who spent six years, 2008-14 as the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of the Palestinians of the Occupied Territories. (We are also proud that Falk is a member of the Just World Ed board.)
** Ms. Vanessa Beeley, a British journalist who has reported from Libya, Syria and elsewhere. Beeley was a finalist for the 2017 Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism whose groundbreaking work from Syria has been endorsed by John Pilger and other leading investigative reporters.
Schedule for the whole series:
Details of the presenters for the other sessions in this webinar series will be posted as we are able to confirm them, but the basic schedule for the entire series is currently planned to be as follows. Check back here frequently to see details of the additional panelists as they are confirmed.
Date
Topic
Mar. 25
Introduction to Syria, its people, and history pre-2011
Mar. 28
The Syrian Uprising in the context of the Arab Spring
April 1
US policy toward Syria
April 4
Western media’s role, including on the chemical weapons issue
On Feb 18th at noon, Congresswoman Gwen Moore has agreed to take a picture with peace activists standing under a peace billboard (see below) at Wells and James Lowell (7th St).
Please join us for a photograph to promote this national peace billboard campaign. (details below). Be there by noon. Gwen is scheduled to be there for only 15 minutes. She will make a statement. Other brief statements will be made by Peace Action (Julie Enslow), FCNL (Roger Hansen), UNA and others. Call Jim Carpenter (414) 347-0353 if you need more info. See you Tuesday :)
Billboard at Wellsand James Lovell: 3% of U.S. Military Spending Could End Starvation on Earth
A billboard at the south-east corner of Wells and James Lovell (7th) Streets, across the street from the Milwaukee Public Museum through the month of February and again for the month of July when the Democratic National Convention is held nearby, reads:
"3% of U.S. Military Spending Could End Starvation on Earth"
Is it a joke?
Hardly. Milwaukeeans and others around the country with little money of their own to spare have been chipping in to put up billboards like this one in an effort to call attention to the biggest elephant in the American room -- even if, in political mascot terms, it's a hybrid elephant-donkey: the U.S. military budget.
Organizations that have contributed to this billboard include World BEYOND War, Milwaukee Veterans For Peace Chapter 102, and Progressive Democrats of America.
Paul Moriarity, president of Milwaukee Veterans For Peace remarked: "As veterans, we know that endless wars and the Pentagon's corporate handouts do nothing to make us safe. We waste hundreds of billions of dollars that would be better spent on pressing needs like education, health care, and averting catastrophic climate change. Educating and reminding people of the true costs of war is a primary mission of Veterans For Peace. We are happy to be a partner in this effort by World BEYOND War."
World BEYOND War has put up billboards in numerous cities. The organization's Executive Director David Swanson said the approach has helped create conversations that otherwise don't happen. "In the most recent presidential primary debate on CNN, as is typical," he said, "the moderators asked the candidates what various projects would cost and how they would be paid for, but lost all interest in cost when it came to questions of war. The single biggest item in the federal discretionary budget, taking up over half of it alone, is perhaps the least-discussed item: military spending."
Jim Carpenter, local contact for the Progressive Democrats of America, said he believes Senator Bernie Sanders is correct when he says we must "bring together the leaders of the major industrial nations with the goal of using the trillions of dollars our nations spend on misguided wars and weapons of mass destruction to instead work together internationally to combat our climate crises and take on the fossil fuel industry. We are uniquely positioned to lead the planet in a wholesale shift away from militarism."
As of 2019, the annual Pentagon base budget, plus war budget, plus nuclear weapons in the Department of Energy, plus military spending by the Department of Homeland Security, plus interest on deficit military spending, and other military spending totaled $1.25 trillion (as calculated by William Hartung and Many Smithberger).
The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors in 2019 passed a resolution that read in part:
"WHEREAS, according to the Political Economy Research Institute of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, spending $1 billion on domestic priorities produces 'substantially more jobs within the U.S. economy than would the same $1 billion spent on the military'; and
"WHEREAS, Congress should reallocate federal military outlays toward human and environmental needs: aid toward the goal of providing free, superior education from pre-school through college, end world hunger, convert the United States to clean energy, provide clean drinking water everywhere needed, build high speed trains between all major U.S. cities, finance a full-employment jobs program, and double non-military foreign aid."
"End world hunger," said Swanson, "is rightly only one small item in the list of what would be possible by redirecting a portion of destructive and counter-productive military spending. It would, however, constitute a major shift in foreign policy. Imagine what the world would think of the United States, if it were known as the country that ended world starvation. The decrease in hostility could be dramatic."
World BEYOND War explains the 3 percent figure this way:
In 2008, the United Nations said that $30 billion per year could end hunger on earth, as reported in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and many other outlets. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UN FAO) tells us that number is still up to date. Thirty billion is only 2.4 percent of 1.25 trillion. So, 3 percent is a conservative estimate of what would be needed. As noted on the billboard, this is explained in some detail at worldbeyondwar.org/explained
On Tue, Nov 19, 2019 at 10:49 PM Erik Sperling of Just Foreign Policy <[email protected]> wrote:.
We are circulating a letter in Congress now. I've pasted those details below. We NEED people like Rashida Talib, Barbara Lee, Gwen Moore -- and any other champions that folks may be connected to -- on this letter. So anything you can do to do outreach to Congressional offices would be huge. To give you a sense of how horrific the climate is on the Hill right now around this, check out this pretty irritating article: https://thehill.com/policy/international/americas/471180-sanders-doubles-down-on-bolivia-coup-few-follow-suit
Getting a good turnout on this letter would really go a long way to change the narrative and support Bernie's terrific comments.We did two blasts to our list with petitions, one targeting the NYT for endorsing the coup, and one targeting members of Congress. Thanks
Letter Urging Trump Administration to Reverse Dangerous Bolivia Policy
Sending Office: Honorable Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. Sent By: [email protected]
Request for Signature(s)
Administration’s Support for Military-backed Regime and Silence on Violent Repression Contributes to Spiraling Crisis
Current Signers (4): Hank Johnson, Ilhan Omar, Susan Wild, Raúl Grijalva
Deadline Wednesday, November 20, COB
Dear Colleague,
Please consider signing a letter to Secretary Pompeo expressing concern over statements and actions of Trump administration officials that have contributed to the escalating political and human rights crisis in Bolivia following the contested elections in October 2019.
About two dozen Bolivians have been killed, and hundreds more wounded by security forces using live ammunition against demonstrators after the country’s elected president, Evo Morales, resigned under pressure from the military. The Trump Administration has fully embraced an unconstitutional power grab that installed far-right conservative leader Jeanine Añez, who called indigenous religion “satanic” and declared that “the bible has returned to the palace”, sparking fears among Bolivia’s indigenous majority. Añez issued a decree exempting the military from prosecution for their actions to repress demonstrators, and has threatened to arrest pro-Morales legislators and journalists for “sedition”.
The letter urges the Trump Administration to change course and support democracy and human rights, by calling for the restoration of constitutional order and an end to all persecution and attacks targeting indigenous people and supporters of Evo Morales. Further, the letter urges support for new elections that permit all parties to fully participate, and calls for the Administration to denounce racist rhetoric and attacks against Bolivia’s indigenous majority. Lastly, the letter also expresses concern over the Trump Administration’s repetition of unsubstantiated claims made by the OAS that further polarized the country.
For any questions, or to add your name, please contact Chelsea Grey in Rep. Johnson’s office, at [email protected] or 5-1605.
We are deeply concerned that recent statements and actions on the part of senior Trump Administration officials are contributing to an escalating political and human rights crisis in the Plurinational State of Bolivia following contested elections held on October 20, 2019.
On November 10, Bolivia’s democratically elected president, Evo Morales, announced that he was stepping down after the commander of Bolivia’s armed forces called on him to resign. In a live television broadcast, Morales stated that a coup was underway and that he was resigning in order to avoid further bloodshed and unrest. Other resignations of top officials followed, resulting in a dangerous constitutional power vacuum. On November 12, opposition Senator Jeanine Añez declared herself President of Bolivia, in violation of Bolivia’s constitution. She received immediate support from the high command of the country's armed forces.
Over the last week, Morales allies have faced attacks and threats and anti-coup protests have been violently repressed by security forces, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Bolivia’s de facto authorities have issued a decree exempting members of the military from prosecution as they engage in the violent suppression of demonstrations. Morales meanwhile has received asylum in Mexico and pro-Morales legislators and journalists have been threatened with arrest for “sedition.”
Given this context, we are troubled by statements from Administration officials, including President Trump, that welcome these developments in Bolivia that bear all the hallmarks of a military coup d’Etat. On November 11, the White House released a statement saying that “Morales’s departure preserves democracy” and that “we are now one step closer to a completely democratic, prosperous, and free Western Hemisphere.” On November 12, Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Michael G. Kozack recognized Senator Añez as “interim constitutional president of Bolivia.” The Administration has been silent as demonstrations made up largely of indigenous Bolivians have been fired at with live ammunition.
We urge you to consider an immediate change in course and to take action to support democracy and human rights in Bolivia. While there is legitimate debate surrounding Morales' decision to run for a fourth term, it is simply not acceptable for the U.S. administration to welcome the forced removal of a democratically-elected leader before the end of their mandate. Our government should call for the prompt restoration of constitutional order, and for an immediate end to all persecution and attacks targeting leaders and supporters of Evo Morales and his political party. Additionally, we call for the adoption of protective measures for those facing threats.
Your Administration should support calls for dialogue mediated by the United Nations and other international bodies. It should also support new elections and work with other countries in the region to ensure adequate conditions that guarantee that every voter and every candidate can safely and freely participate in the next election campaign and electoral process. The legitimacy of Bolivia’s government will depend on whether former President Morales’ party, which continues to be supported by millions of Bolivians, can fully participate in these elections.
We wish to also express our concern regarding statements made by officials from the Organization of American States (OAS), a multilateral organization that receives the majority of its funding from the U.S. government. In particular, unsubstantiated and misleadingstatements made by the OAS electoral mission in Bolivia on October 21, which subsequently were echoed by the State Department, contributed to further polarization at a moment in which violent politically-motivated incidents were taking place throughout the country. United States officials should exercise greater caution and assess the merits of Organization of American States officials’ claims before repeating them, particularly when post-election tensions are high.
Finally, we are deeply dismayed that the Administration has failed to denounce racist attacks targeting Bolivia’s indigenous communities and their symbols, such as the Wiphala pan-indigenous flag which is one of the country’s official flags. Evo Morales was Bolivia’s first indigenous president and Bolivia’s 2009 constitution enshrines rights and protections benefiting indigenous peoples that experienced centuries of oppression and racist discrimination. Self-declared interim President, Jeanine Áñez has a history of appalling statements about indigenous people, including tweeting comments that refer to indigenous religious rituals as “satanic”, and after supplanting former President Morales, she declared that “The bible has returned to the palace”. Your Administration should be publicly critical of attacks and racist hate speech targeting members of indigenous communities and call for the constitutional rights of Bolivia’s peoples to be respected.
Bolivia’s escalating crisis threatens to spiral into violent internal conflict. The Administration’s current approach is dangerously misguided and could well contribute to a further breakdown in the rule of law in Bolivia and a full-blown humanitarian emergency, with large migrant outflows. We strongly urge you to revise this approach and support the prompt restoration of constitutional order, dialogue between opposing political factions, fair and inclusive elections and respect for the human and cultural rights of all Bolivians.
Sincerely,
Current Signers:
Hank Johnson
Ilhan Omar
Susan Wild
Raúl Grijalva
.
Emergency Rally! Against the Military Coup in Bolivia!
Special Stand for Peace
Saturday, Nov.16, Noon, at Martin Luther King, Jr. and Locusts St.
Party for Socialism & Liberation, Peace Action of WI, WI Bail Out the People Movement, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Veterans for Peace of Milwaukee-Chapter 102, and many other
Dreaming of Freedom: Stories of Palestinian Liberation
Oct. 26, Saturday at 6:30 -9 PM
First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee, 1342 n Astor, Milwaukee, WI 53202
Come hear Yousef Aljamal, A Gaza-Palestinian justice activist, writer and scholar, who is on a speaking tour of the US. Learn about the incarceration of Palestinian children by the Israeli military and the ongoing crisis in Gaza, which has endured 13 years of continuous seige.
Hosted by Jewish Voice for Peace- Milwaukee, Milwaukee Palestine Action Network, US Palestinian Community Network, Co-sponsored by Peace Action of WI
Child Detention: Palestine to Milwaukee to the US- Mexico Border
Oct. 26, Sat, 2-4 PM
Mitchell St Public Library, 906 W Mitchell St
Palestinian activist Yousef Abjamal and local Milwaukee activists will discuss the connections between child detention in Palestine and detention of migrant children on the US- Mexico border.
ACTION ALERT
National Call-in Day for Korea Peace Tuesday, October 8, 2019.
The American Friends Service Committee, Korea Peace Network, Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network, Peace Treaty Now, United for Peace and Justice, and Win Without War are jointly announcing a National Call-in Day for Korea Peace, on Tuesday, October 8, while our Congress members are back in their local District Offices.
On this important day, please take just 3 minutes to call your District Office and urge your House Representative to co-sponsor H. Res. (House Resolution) 152: Calling for a formal end to the Korean War. The Korean War -- now 70 years-old -- is the longest continuing US conflict in the world. It’s time to end it, and we need your help!
SUGGESTED SCRIPT A (For those who have not co-sponsored H Res 152 Hi, my name is ____, calling from ____(city/town)____. I’m calling to urge Representative _____ to co-sponsor House Resolution 152: Calling for a formal end to the Korean War.
You can use any (or all) of the following options for supporting arguments:
The Korea issue is bigger than Donald Trump or Kim Jong-un. We should not lose sight of what’s at stake: the lives of 80 million Koreans in North and South Korea and 28,500 US troops in South Korea. Also, there are tens of thousands of Korean Americans who have family members in South and North Korea who will be impacted. For lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, we must end the Korean War with a formal peace agreement now, so that genuine diplomacy can begin. Please urge Representative __________to co-sponsor and support H.Res.152. Thank you.
The American public is tired of endless wars. It’s time to shift our national priorities from war to jobs and human needs at home. The Korean War -- now 70 years-old -- is the longest US conflict in the world. Let’s finally end the Korean War so that genuine diplomacy can begin. Please urge Representative __________to co-sponsor and support H.Res.152. Thank you.
SUGGESTED SCRIPT B (For those who have already co-sponsored)
Hi, my name is ____, calling from ____(city/town)____. I want to thank Representative _________ for co-sponsoring House Resolution 152: Calling for a formal end to the Korean War. I appreciate (her/his) support very much and hope (she/he) will find opportunities to urge other colleagues in the House to do the same, as well as voice support for Korea peace in public statements and presentations whenever possible. We need more champions for peace in Korea! Thank you.
CAMPAIGN NONVIOLENCE
DEMONSTRATION AGAINST WAR
SEPT. 16, 2019, 5-6 PM
Milwaukee Lakefront- Bradford Beach Overpass
Sponsored by Peace Action of Wisconsin
Co-sponsors: Veterans for Peace, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Building Unity, United Nations Association of Milwaukee, Racine Coalition for Peace and Justice, Racine Central America Solidarity Coalition, Friends Committee on National Legislation- Milwaukee, Palestine Action Network- Milwaukee, WI Cuba Coalition, and more tba
TheUNGA resolutionestablishing the day calls for progress on anuclear weapons convention– a global treaty involving both nuclear-armed and non-nuclestates in the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons under strict and effective international control.
Civil society is encouraged to organise events or take action on this day to promote the complete elimination of nuclear weapons. See below for suggested actions.
UN High Level Meeting on Nuclear Disarmament
The United Nations General Assembly will host aHigh Level Meeting on Nuclear Disarmamentat the UN Headquarters on September 26. UN Member States will be represented by their Presidents, Prime Ministers, Foreign Ministers or UN Ambassadors. The event will aslo be live-streamed onhttp://webtv.un.org/.
A limited number of NGOs will be able to attend the event. In addition, the UN Office of Disarmament Affairs will select two representatives from civil society to speak. Registration and application to speak closes on August 23.Click hereto register.
Suggested Action:Encourage your Prime Minister/President to participate in theSep 26 UN High-Level Meeting on Nuclear Disarmament, and to use this opportunity to call on all states to commit to never launch a nuclear war, and to negotiate an agreement for the the complete elimination of nuclear weapons (nuclear weapons convention);
Kekhashan Basu, Youth Ambassador for the World Future Council and member of the Abolition 2000 Youth Network, was one of the two civil society representatives selected to speak at the UN High Level Meeting on Nuclear Disarmament last year (2018).
The Man who Saved the World
September 26is also the anniversary of the incident in 1983 when a nuclear war was almost launched due to malfunctions in the Soviet nuclear weapons early warning system, which erroneously detected a US ballistic missile attack against Moscow. The incident is graphically portrayed in the award winning docu-drama ‘The Man who Saved the World.’
Suggested action:Organise a screening of ‘The Man who saved the World’ or other local event for Nuclear Abolition Day
Global week of action on Peace, Climate, SDGs and Nuclear Abolition
Suggested action: Join theMove the Nuclear Weapons Money campaignto cut nuclear weapons budgets, end investments in nuclear weapons (including investments by your bank, city, pension fund, university, sovereign wealth fund etc…), and shift these budgets and investments to promoting peace, protecting the climate, ending poverty and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
List of Nuclear Abolition Day events and actions around the world
UNFOLD ZEROis a platform for United Nations (UN) focused initiatives and actions for the achievement of a nuclear weapons free world. It's a project of Basel Peace Office, Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign, PNND, PragueVision, Aotearoa Lawyers for Peace and Global Security Institute.
UNFOLD ZERO
Hosted by Basel Peace Office
c/o Seminar für Soziologie, Universität Basel, Petersgraben 27
Tell Congress to fund the needs of the people and the planet, not more war!
If you can’t join us in Washington for Advocacy Day, there’s still so much you can do to be part of the Global Days of Action.
Line 5 pipeline was originally built in 1953, and continues to operate 20 years past its engineered lifespan, transporting crude oil each day through the heart of the Great Lakes, in northern Wisconsin and Michigan. Ongoing severe erosion has further heightened the threat of a pipeline rupture which could destroy local waters, harm wildlife, and create a public health crisis in the area. A rupture would mean contamination throughout the Great Lakes, which holds one-fifth of the world’s freshwater and provides drinking water to over 40 million people.The pipeline is violating Indigenous rights and sovereignty as it continues operation illegally on the territories of the Bad River Band. Line 5’s upstream and downstream greenhouse gas emissions amount to about 87 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually. This is at a time when the climate crisis is more severe than ever, impacting communities worldwide, from heatwaves to extreme flooding — we don’t need more fossil fuels, what we need is for governments to listen to Indigenous and frontline communities, respect Indigenous sovereignty and end the era of fossil fuels, which needs to include permanently shutting down Line 5!Please take action with us and one of our close partners Earthjustice and urge the Biden administration to shut down the Line 5 pipeline immediately:Riyaz Kanji is widely viewed as a leading trial and appellate litigator on behalf of Indian nations and tribes across the country.
MADISON CHAPTER
Martin Fleck
Palestine in Pictures: June 2021
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