We come together to turn the tide, to overwhelm war with peace, and oppression with justice. . . . We seek to build a broad mass movement for peace and justice composed of all who are threatened by the new war program. We envision UFPJ as a movement-building coalition that coordinates and supports the work of existing groups and builds linkages and solidarity where none exist. . . . We will pay special attention in all aspects of our work to the inclusion and leadership of constituencies bearing the brunt of war’s impacts at home, such as people of color, youth, women, and workers.

During 2018, UFPJ focused on elevating campaigns that link U.S. wars abroad with the assaults at home on justice, human rights, democracy, and human and environmental needs. A year ago, at a meeting of UFPJ founders, former Co-Chairs, and current Coordinating Committee members, in St. Louis, we agreed to lift up the work of:

• The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival
• The Divest From the War Machine Campaign
• The Coalition Against U.S. Foreign Military Bases
• The Korea Collaboration Olympic Truce Campaign
  

As 2018 draws to a close, the Trump Administration has challenged all of us with new assaults on peace, human rights, justice, and our common security. Troops are massed on the U.S. Southern border to drive away migrants seeking asylum from violence. The devastating war in Yemen has created a horrific, humanitarian crisis with the overwhelming majority of the population on the brink of starvation, while Trump celebrates corporate profits made selling weapons to Saudi Arabia. Threatened U.S. abandonment of the lntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty has added to the heightened threat of nuclear war, raising it to levels not seen in decades.

Never has Dr. King’s description of the triple evils of war, racism, and poverty permeating U.S. society rung so true. UFPJ’s mission is clear. We must continue to organize our national network to serve its main purpose: uniting organizations and individuals to take bold action to stop wars and violence abroad; to redirect the resources squandered on killing to repair our communities; and to build a culture of peace and justice to secure our future. Our 2018 campaigns were central to that mission.

The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival

This grassroots movement to affect change at state and local levels through sustained nonviolence was launched to bring together the broad range of constituencies needed to achieve Dr. King’s “revolution of values” and confront the intertwined evils of racism, poverty, militarism, and ecological destruction.

In May of 2018, the Campaign kicked off with 40 Days of Moral Action. At rallies in more than 30 state capitols demanding policies to lift up the poor, people were arrested or risked arrest while joining in nonviolent direct action. Each week, from May 13 through June 22, highlighted a different theme:

• Week 1: Child Poverty, Women & the Disabled – Somebody’s Hurting our People
• Week 2: Systemic Racism, Voter Suppression and Immigration
• Week 3: The War Economy, Veterans & Education, Gun Violence
• Week 4: Ecological Devastation & Health
• Week 5: Systemic Poverty, Jobs, Income & Housing–Everybody’s Got a Right to Live
• Week 6: Challenging the Nation’s Distorted Moral Narrative–a New & Unsettling Force

The Days of Moral Action culminated on June 23^rd with a mass rally and 24-hour vigil in Washington, D.C. accompanied by a Global Day of Solidarity. Jackie Cabasso and Terry Rockefeller, UFPJ’s National Co-conveners, were there.

In the fall of 2018, the Campaign pivoted to address voter suppression. Citing the carefully targeted gerrymandering, reckless voter purges, and voter ID laws targeting brown and black people from Georgia to North Dakota, the Poor People’s Campaign offered a moral answer to the abuse of power we saw on Election Day. Then, in support of the families fleeing Central America who are desperately seeking a better life, the Campaign went to the Southern border to demand the demilitarization of border communities and the protection of migrants seeking refuge. The protesters, who included Fight for $15 workers, undocumented immigrants, and people impacted by the California wildfires, joined leaders from the American Friends Service Committee, Kairos Center, and Repairers of the Breach, to proclaim, “While politicians use the suffering of these refugee families to stoke a fear of who is coming towards our border, we are brought closer together in common suffering and hope.”

Divest from the War Machine

The “War Machine” is a massive, global, U.S. military apparatus that operates largely thanks to an alliance between the arms industry and policy makers. It prioritizes “defense” and corporate interests over human rights; military spending over diplomacy and aid; combat preparations over preventing wars; and profit over human life and the health of the planet. 64% of the federal discretionary budget goes to wars and militarism, rather than education, healthcare, or housing for the homeless. The companies that are part of this War Machine are making a killing on killing.  Their priorities will never be our priorities.

UFPJ and many of our member groups joined the campaign, spearheaded by CODEPINK, beginning with a week of action in February to gear up for locally based work and identify financial institutions to focus on. These include city, county, or state retirement funds; university, hospital or religious institution endowments; and union pension funds. Divestment can be a powerful tool for peace. Divestment campaigns have already resulted in over $5 trillion being divested from the fossil fuel industry. CODEPINK’s Weapon Free Funds toolkit provides valuable tips for local organizing. In the fall, Divest from the War Machine’s Back to School initiative focused on recruiting students to challenge the investments of their colleges and universities.

Coalition Against U.S. Foreign Military Bases

The Coalition was launched when more than 250 activists came together for the Conference on U.S. Foreign Military Bases, January 12-14, at the University of Baltimore. Its first actions included solidarity initiatives to demand that all charges be dropped against anti-Okinawa Base activists arrested in Japan. A Day of Protest Against Guantanamo followed on February 23^rd, in solidarity with the Cuban people’s efforts to take back their territory, illegally occupied by the U.S. National Days of Anti-War Action took place on April 14^th and 15^th, in New York, Chicago, Minneapolis and the San Francisco Bay Area.

November 16-18, the Coalition organized the first International Conference against US/NATO Military Bases, which was attended by nearly 300 participants from over thirty-five countries, and endorsed by over 700 organizations and activists. The conference called for the closure of all US/NATO military bases, with particular emphasis on U.S. bases in Guantanamo, Cuba, Okinawa, South Korea, and Ramstein, Germany; the old and new U.S./NATO bases in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Scandinavia, and Ireland, as well as the bases newly established by the U.S, France and their allies on and near Syrian soil. It also condemned the establishment of the new U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and its military bases in Africa.

Speakers highlighted the twin threats to humanity posed by global war and global warming, both driven by accelerating militarization. They emphasized the role of the U.S. and its allies, which have by far the largest military expenditures in the world. The Coalition will continue its activities in 2019.  Mass mobilizations against NATO’s 70^th Anniversary Summit in Washington DC, on April 4, are being planned in DC, in NATO member states, and elsewhere.

Korea Collaboration Olympic Truce Campaign

The on-again-off-again status of U.S.-North Korea negotiations to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, normalize relations and build a lasting and stable peace was a source of profound instability in 2018. Amidst the horror of North Korea’s nuclear tests and U.S. military threats, the South Korean people initiated a process to move the region away from crisis. It began with the nonviolent “Candlelight Revolution’s” overwhelming support for President Moon Jae-in’s commitment to engage with North Korea. Novel diplomacy between the two Koreas began with an inclusive Winter Olympics and led to the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula, adopted April 27 by North and South Korea, and the historic June 12 Trump-Kim summit in Singapore.

UFPJ and its member groups played an active role, coordinating through the Korea Peace Network. Women Cross the DMZ made visits to both North and South Korea, building peace together with Korean women. Veterans For Peace helped to write and distribute a People’s Peace Treaty with North Korea, endorsed by tens of thousands of people in the U.S. UFPJ signed onto and promoted a number of statements supporting the new diplomatic opening, including an Open Letter to the leaders of the U.S., South Korea and North Korea, signed by more than 100 U.S. peace, faith-based, professional, and Korean-American organizations, including the American Federation of Teachers. The March 28 Open Letter was presented by UFPJ National Co-convener Jackie Cabasso, at a well-attended press conference at the United Nations. At the June Summit, North Korea committed to work toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The U.S. and North Korea committed to recovering POW/MIA remains, including the repatriation of those already identified. President Trump committed to provide security guarantees to North Korea. Hyun Lee, a leading Korean-American peace activist, perhaps best summed up the historic meaning of the summit. It was “a historic breakthrough in U.S.-North Korea relations.”

That two nuclear-armed States, having moved toward possible war for many months, reversed course and took an important step away from the brink, a step that could lead to a completely new path after 65 years of armed confrontation ought to be a cause for celebration. Yet in the days following the Singapore Summit the response to the Summit Declaration by much of the U.S. media and many elected officials was dismaying. Two senators introduced an amendment to the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act to prevent President Trump from withdrawing troops from South Korea, where the U.S. has 83 bases and some 30,000 troops.

UFPJ will continue to push the Korean peace process forward. To this end, UFPJ joined and promoted a “Joint Statement of U.S. Civil Society Groups in Support of the Current Peace Process in Korea”, signed by more than 150 groups, published in The Nation on December 6.

UFPJ’s Annual Initiatives

UFPJ disseminated educational and informational materials and promoted local actions on our long-standing, initiatives, including:

• GDAMS [Global Day Against Military Spending]—April 15^th Thirty-eight community-based protests and actions in 15 states challenged our country’s warped and dangerous national budget, foreign and military policies. Pentagon spending will be $716,000,000,000 in 2019. Add another $66 billion for Washington’s wars from Afghanistan and Yemen to the Philippines. Before these increases, Pentagon spending equaled that of the world’s next eight biggest military spenders combined. Meanwhile, Trump proposes cuts to housing, food subsidies, education, legal assistance, and environmental protection. In this era of mounting assaults on the foundations of democracy, human rights and peace, each community-based action is a reassertion of commitments to democracy and human dignity.
• Nuclear Free Future Month—August Since 2006 UFPJ has declared August “Nuclear Free Future Month”. In 2018 we kept the momentum going. With tensions escalating between the U.S. and Russia and the U.S. and China, and with nuclear-armed states engaged in unpredictable conflicts that could catastrophically escalate on the Korean Peninsula, in the Middle East and South Asia it was a time for action. Ominously, all the nuclear-armed nations are engaged in a new nuclear arms race. Yet, despite their animosities toward each other, they are united in opposition to the new Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (or Ban Treaty).  And the original nuclear-armed states continue to ignore their obligations under the 1970 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to end the arms race and negotiate “in good faith” the elimination of nuclear weapons. August 6^th and 9^th marked the 73^rd anniversaries of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and rallies, marches, vigils and nonviolent direct actions took place across the nation and around the world. It was a key moment for citizens to enroll their mayors in Mayors for Peace!

Other Highlights of 2018

UFPJ member groups organized and participated in the following activities:

•  Protests against Raytheon, manufacturer of the weapons killing Yemeni civilians spread from Massachusetts to California.
• Code Pink’s December 1^st Peace with Iran Summit brought together researchers, journalists, and activists and to examine ways to support Iranian civil society and pressure the U.S. administration and Congress for a “no sanctions, no war” agenda, while pressing the U.S. media to do a better job covering the U.S.-Iran crisis.
•  No to Trump’s Military Parade—an Armistice Day weekend of action in DC.
• Protecting the Right to Protest in DC—urgent response to a Trump Administration proposal.
• Campaign Nonviolence, Week of Action September 15-23—as King stated, “Non-violence is resistance to evil and oppression. It is a human way to fight back.”
• Rise for Climate, Jobs and Justice March in San Francisco, demanding No Nukes! No Wars! No Warming!
• Keep Space for Peace—an international week of protest to halt the militarization of space.
• Women’s March on the Pentagon on the 51st anniversary of the 1967 march on the Pentagon.
• The Golden Rule—with a crew from Veterans For Peace, this boat sails for a nuclear-free world and a peaceful, sustainable future.
• Memorial Day Weekend Veteran-led protests of demand Stop Endless War! Build for Peace.
• End S. responsibility for the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and halt weapons sales to Saudi Arabia.
• Tell Congress: Save the INF Treaty—In response to Trump’s announcement of intent to withdraw from the INF Treaty, UFPJ member groups, Western States Legal Foundation and Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy helped develop a Roots Action-led online initiative, promoted by UFPJ, enabling constituents to contact their members of Congress to urge action to save the treaty.

About UFPJ

UFPJ is a network of national and local peace and justice organizations. Our Coordinating Committee, whose members all represent one of our member organizations, meets weekly to plan e-mail alerts for local, regional or national actions, and to provide endorsements and assistance that our member organizations request. Coordinating Committee members, all of them volunteers, manage all UFPJ’s communications. In 2018, UFPJ launched an organizational Facebook page as a supplement to our Facebook discussion group. This is our “newsfeed” page, and we have been very pleased to watch our “reach” grow from hundreds to tens of thousands in just a few months. In addition, UFPJ engages in some organizational functions including issuing statements in response to events and developments, and organizing national briefing conference calls on topical issues.

The Coordinating Committee is delighted to have the support and wisdom of our National Organizer, George Friday, UFPJ’s only paid staff member. George, who was one of the original National Co-Chairs of UFPJ, has been doing extraordinary work reaching out to our local groups and building alliances with new national partners, including the Black Alliance for Peace and the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. 

Cultivating the ground for peace requires preparation, strategy, and building authentic partnerships across many issues. Exactly what all of us at UFPJ plan for 2019!

The post United for Peace and Justice [UFPJ] 2018 Annual Report appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

The struggle for peace and justice has never been easy. Knowing that United for Peace and Justice is able to build on the experience of 15 years of organizing should give us all a sense of hope and possibility, even as the world faces the new dangers brought on by the Trump presidency. With all of the many issues that need our collective attention, now is the time for even greater activism to end the endless wars, to stop potentially catastrophic new wars, and to link the work for peace to the movements for social, economic and climate justice. UFPJ is well suited to help take us into the next phases of this work and meet today’s challenges. – Leslie Cagan, UFPJ Co-founder and first National Coordinator

Undeniably, 2017 saw a dramatic rise in threats to world peace and security. Our President tweeted nuclear threats to North Korea while refusing to certify the Iran Nuclear Deal—widely recognized as “the world’s most robust nuclear verification regime.” Congress approved a $700 billion military budget that exceeded the Pentagon’s request—yet could not find funds for human and environmental needs. And the number of refugees from war, violence, and climate change grew, while heartless politicians proposed building walls.

UFPJ began the year with an inspiring four days of resistance in Washington DC, January 19-22, where UFPJ National Co-Convener, Jackie Cabasso, spoke at an Antiwar/Antinuke rally and Matt De Vlieger, UFPJ’s Communications Coordinator, addressed the Occupy Inauguration rally. We marched with Disrupt J20 and met many of the different contingents at McPherson Square Park for a Festival of Resistance. To top it all off, many UFPJ member organizations joined the historic Women’s March on Washington, the largest march ever seen in DC, with millions more in the streets in sister marches throughout the U.S. and the world. This totally nonviolent march of extraordinary diversity clearly expressed that love not hate will make America great. UFPJ distributed thousands of “Stop Endless War” and “Fund Human Needs, Not War” signs and stickers to those marching in opposition to Trump’s destructive agenda.

Confronting Islamophobia

Early in the year, in response to the President’s efforts to enact his “Muslim Ban,” UFPJ organized a new working group on “Confronting Islamophobia.” Leaders of the working group hosted a national briefing call for activists and promoted local #NoMuslimBan protests in communities across the U.S., to let Trump know that he does not speak for us when he targets refugees and immigrants.

Endless Wars in Afghanistan and the Middle East

UFPJ has organized dissent to wars waged by the U.S. under three successive administrations, from Bush to Obama to Trump. From Shock-and-Awe, to the Tuesday Presidential Kill List authorizing illegal drone attacks, to unhinged nuclear threats against North Korea, UFPJ has stood against policies that inflict suffering overseas and impoverish our communities at home. This year we marked the very sad anniversary of 16 years of war in Afghanistan, which has become the forgotten war, even though it is currently our largest foreign military engagement, with more than 16,000 troops and tens of thousands of U.S. defense contractors on the ground.

While continuing pressure to bring the troops home from Afghanistan, UFPJ stepped up efforts to prevent U.S. attacks on Syria. Through petitions to Congress to block war funding and by organizing “rapid response actions” to protest military action, we called on our member organizations to protest, lobby, and educate the public about the folly of wider war in the Middle East and the need for diplomacy that includes all the relevant players in the region.

In what may be Trump’s “most reckless decision yet” UFPJ witnessed the president’s “de-certification” of the Iran Nuclear Deal threatening to undo what has been heralded as a great diplomatic success and the most robust nuclear verification program ever instituted. This rash act, undermining the international agreement and the entire diplomatic process that produced it, ultimately increases the threat of war. As analyst Phyllis Bennis reported, “Trump scorned pleas from key U.S. allies, members of Congress from both parties, and his own top security advisers, all of whom urged him to maintain the deal….[He] abandoned any pretense of maintaining U.S. credibility as a reliable negotiating partner.” UFPJ will respond by increasing grassroots support for the Iran Nuclear Deal.

Nuclear Threats against North Korea

The urgency of finding a path to diplomacy, not war, and promoting nuclear disarmament not threats was never so dire as when Trump threatened, in August, to “rain fire and fury like the world has never seen” on North Korea. UFPJ responded with advocacy action alerts and a series of online teach-ins. UFPJ promoted and will continue to promote the People’s Peace Treaty with North Korea, an alternative to the disastrous rhetoric emanating from the White House.

On Armistice Day, November 11, (celebrated by many as Veterans Day) scores of UFPJ member groups, led by Veterans For Peace, observed the anniversary of the end of World War I by engaging in nationally-coordinated, local actions to demand diplomacy not war with North Korea, and the abolition of nuclear weapons and war. The actions all promoted the perspective that WWI and all subsequent wars, including the endless wars of today, are fueled by a global arms industry and competing international interests seeking resources and hegemony, while the people of the U.S. resoundingly reject another war with North Korea.

In 2018, through our participation in the Korea Collaboration network, UFPJ will be calling on member groups to organize actions and educational events during the Olympic Truce period Feb. 2 – March 23, which encompasses the days of the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Actions will include teach-ins, vigils, petition gathering and building Congressional pressure in the districts and in Washington, DC.

Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons/Nobel Peace Prize to ICAN

One of the few truly inspiring events of 2017 was the adoption, on July 7, by a majority of the world’s countries of an historic treaty to prohibit the possession, development, testing, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons. While no nuclear armed or nuclear dependent states (with the exception of the Netherlands) participated in the negotiations, advocates of the treaty hope to achieve an impact similar to that of the Mine Ban Treaty – that is, to stigmatize nuclear weapons, even among possessor states that don’t join the treaty, as a step towards their eventual elimination. The treaty opened for signature on September 20. Fifty countries must sign and ratify the treaty for it to enter into force.

UFPJ and our international NGO [non-governmental organization] colleagues had an active presence at the historic United Nations proceedings. On day one, when the U.S., Russia, Britain, China, and their minions walked out of the UN, NYC War Resisters League held a vigil across the street from the UN and then marched to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations to demand total disarmament. On day three, UFPJ National Co-convener Jackie Cabasso, was among the dozen NGO representatives who addressed the conference on behalf of civil society, expressing hope that the treaty would achieve three goals:

1. Affirm the illegality of useof nuclear weapons under existing international law;
2. Affirm the illegality of the threat of useof nuclear weapons under the United Nations Charter and International Humanitarian Law;
3. Recognize the prohibition treaty as a step toward comprehensive nuclear disarmament.

You can watch Jackie’s address here.

UFPJ hosted a national briefing call on the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty, during which Jackie and John Burroughs, Executive Director of the Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy, explained the strategy and potential impacts of the treaty. The true significance of the treaty was confirmed when the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons [ICAN].  It was the absolutely right campaign at the right moment! The Prize validated the organizing by civil society that placed humanitarian concerns above “national security” giving new momentum to disarmament movements in the nuclear-armed states. UFPJ will redouble its efforts to promote that great achievement for humanity and the planet when the most terrifying and destructive of all weapons will finally be abolished, despite the recalcitrance of the U.S. and the rest of the “nuclear club.”

Humanitarian crisis in Yemen/U.S. Arms sales to Saudi Arabia

Throughout 2017, as Saudi Arabia continued attacks on Yemen, UFPJ tracked the mounting humanitarian crisis, where tens of thousands of civilians have been killed, 19 million people are on the verge of starvation, and a raging cholera epidemic has made more than half a million people ill. The undeniable fact is that the U.S. bears major responsibility for the crisis because we continue to sell the Saudi government weapons, despite clear evidence that the weapons are causing major human rights abuses. UFPJ worked with our member organizations to pressure Congress to impose humanitarian conditions on any forthcoming arms sales to Saudi Arabia, but while we saw growing support for restrictions, they were defeated. This struggle must continue in 2018.

Environmental Justice

Opposition to climate change and the struggle for environmental justice have assumed a much larger role in UFPJ’s campaigning and advocacy, as the undeniable links between militarism and climate change are recognized. UFPJ members joined the “Peace Hub” of the April 29 People’s Climate March and responded the following month with the Peace and Planet Conference: No Nukes, No Wars, No Walls, No Warming—a vitally important initiative to link together the dangers of war, warming, nuclear weapons, and the ways in which the people of the world are divided. The conference highlighted the impact of nuclear arms on the diverse communities most directly affected by their development, testing and use, and provided opportunities for vital networking and conversation.

UFPJ’s goal is to build a global movement to abolish nuclear weapons, raise public awareness of the renewed danger that nuclear weapons could be used in warfare, and recognize that if the climate change/environmental justice movement is to garner enough power to be successful, it must make common cause with those working for a world that is more peaceful and secure.

Military Spending

UFPJ was founded, in 2003, on the premise that we must link the wars abroad with assaults on justice at home, and understand how U.S. militarism is driven by the corporate economic interests it serves. We believe the peace movement must work to defund war, divest from “the War Machine,” and mobilize locally to oppose anti-human federal war budgets. In 2017, we supported the work of member organizations to do all of the above.

UFPJ promoted GDAMS—Global Days Against Military Spending—in parallel with U.S. Tax Day, to inspire activists across the planet to recognize how badly the world is over armed and peace is underfunded. In October, Jackie Cabasso addressed UFPJ’s member organization, CODEPINK’s Divest from the War Machine Summit and reported on the grassroots efforts to inspire cities and towns across the U.S. to endorse the U.S. Conference of Mayors‘ resolutions opposing the immoral Trump War Budget. UFPJ will be working in 2018 to promote the developing Divest from the War Machine Campaign and partner more closely with Mayors for Peace.

A Shout-out to UFPJ’s Member Organizations!

US Labor Against the War [USLAW] worked tirelessly to promote the AFL-CIO’s adoption of the historic Resolution 50: War is Not the Answer at its national convention, in October. In the resolution, the AFL-CIO declared that war must be “truly the last resort in our country’s foreign relations” and that we must “seek peace and reconciliation wherever possible.” It further called upon “the president and Congress to bring the war dollars home and make our priority as a nation rebuilding this country’s crumbling infrastructure, creating millions of living wage jobs and addressing human needs such as education, health care, housing, retirement security and jobs.”

UFPJ and many of our member organizations including the U.S. Peace Council, Veterans For Peace, and CODEPINK will begin 2018 at the three-day national conference on U.S. Foreign Military Bases, January 12-14 at the University of Baltimore, Maryland. These peace, justice, anti-racism, and environmental organizations come together with the goal of raising public awareness and organizing non-violent mass resistance against U.S. foreign military bases. Their unity statement proclaims that “U.S. foreign military bases are the principal instruments of imperial global domination and environmental damage through wars of aggression and occupation, and that the closure of U.S. foreign military bases is one of the first necessary steps toward a just, peaceful and sustainable world…. In addition, these military bases are the largest users of fossil fuel in the world, heavily contributing to environmental degradation [and] support of U.S. foreign military bases drains funds that can be used to fund human needs and enable our cities and States to provide necessary services for the people.”

UFPJ Organizational News

Despite challenges, UFPJ remains a viable national network, holding weekly calls of its all-volunteer Coordinating Committee, whose members represent national and local organizations and work to maintain the UFPJ website and to communicate with member groups through briefing calls, email blasts and action alerts. For the last two and a half years, we were able to employ Matt DeVlieger as UFPJ’s part-time Communications Coordinator. Matt was instrumental in increasing UFPJ’s presence on social media and in organizing many of our actions, meetings, and events in the New York City area. In August, Matt decided it was time to move into a new job. We wish him all the best and know he will continue to be a dedicated peace and justice activist.

UFPJ was very fortunate to be able to hire George Friday, a former UFPJ National Co-Chair, as our new part-time National Organizer. Her first task was to organize and facilitate UFPJ’s 15^th Anniversary meeting and she did a fantastic job! We came out with a packed work plan for the coming year, the highlights of which are described below. George is a highly skilled and experienced organizer and we are committed to keeping her on board, to help strengthen and expand our UFPJ network in the coming year.

UFPJ’s 15th Anniversary Meeting

UFPJ founders, former Co-Chairs, current Coordinating Committee members and crucial issue and movement leaders came together in St. Louis to commemorate UFPJ’s 15th anniversary and to address the immensely important work before us to dismantle the war culture in the U.S. that causes so much destruction around the world. We briefly reviewed our history, recalling that in October 2002 more than 70 peace and justice organizations gathered in Washington, DC to form a coalition to coordinate efforts to prevent U.S. war on Iraq. Looking forward, we reiterated the need to offer clear alternatives to war and to better communicate how war and militarism impact the lives of all people. We also discussed how we can better recruit, serve, and fully involve member groups.

On Friday December 1st we were joined by a panel of local activists involved in the protests around Michael Brown’s shooting in 2014, in Ferguson, MO and the community building efforts that the protests have inspired. George Paz Martin, a former UFPJ National Co-Chair opened the evening with a ceremony honoring the seven directions and those who came before us. Michael McPhearson, former UFPJ National Coordinator and current National Executive Director of Veterans For Peace, based in St. Louis, welcomed us. Then local activists, Elizabeth Vega, a community art activist; Cori Bush, U.S. Congressional candidate; and Kristine Hendrix, school board member, spoke, highlighting the need to build relationships and trust, placing racial and economic justice at the center of the struggle for true peace.

At its founding, UFPJ recognized how justice everywhere  is integral to peace, but in the current moment justice and human rights are under unprecedented attack in our own country. The militarization of communities by police departments purchasing and being given surplus military arms and military training, armed police in schools, and communities that experience police brutality on a regular basis have created a dangerously unlivable situation for too many people in communities across the country. The words of the activists from St. Louis laid the foundation for Saturday’s day of strategic thinking.

Movement Building; the New Poor People’s Campaign

The meeting participants unanimously agreed to support and participate in the new “Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival,” a grassroots movement working to affect change at the state and local levels through sustained nonviolence. We’re very excited about the potential for this campaign to bring together the broad range of constituencies we need to achieve Dr. King’s “revolution of values” and confront the intertwined evils of racism, poverty, a war economy, and ecological destruction.

Ending Endless Wars

We have our work cut out for us—including the many activities detailed in this annual report. Coming out of our 15^th anniversary meeting we are highlighting four campaigns as we enter 2018:

• The Divest From the War Machine Campaign
• The Korea Collaboration Olympic Truce Campaign
• The No Foreign Bases Campaign
• The Poor People’s Campaign

Cultivating the fertile ground for peace requires preparation, strategy, and lots of hard work. UFPJ anticipates that 2018 will present opportunities to renew partnerships with many of our member organizations and to grow our network for peace and justice by allying with many new organizations across the nation.

The post United for Peace and Justice [UFPJ] 2017 Annual Report appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

As 2016 ends, UFPJ looks back on a year of educating, organizing and protest that included our presence at Standing Rock, participation in the Iraq Tribunal, challenging weapons sales to the Saudi government, protesting both presidential candidates, raising the alarm about the growing danger of wars among nuclear-armed states, and promoting the Global Days of Action on Military Spending.

But the future demands greater activism, which is why UFPJ launched the Peace Pledge Campaign in October 2016. This campaign will carry over into 2017 with vigils, teach-ins, protests, demonstrations, and nonviolent civil disobedience . The threats we face are grave. The Iran Nuclear Deal – a huge success of 2015 – is now in jeopardy. Anti-immigrant sentiment and attacks on Muslims are on the rise. Climate change deniers are taking the reins of power. Trump and his cronies spread racism and misogyny, while militarized police forces tyrannize African-American and Native-American communities.

Yet there are signs that popular pressure for peace and justice is also rising, and UFPJ is working to organize now, in preparation for national mobilization. We are facilitating partnerships to build a “Movement of Movements” to challenge the forces of hatred, violence, war, privilege, and injustice. Since the election, UFPJ has been convening a series of national conference calls with an ever-growing number of peace and justice leaders and activists. We are discussing strategies and tactics, and building a calendar of planned protests, marches, and actions – now, at the Inauguration, during Trump’s First 100 Days, and beyond.

Amid all the dreadful post-election news, Standing Rock and support for Native American-led opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline have been a harbinger of the people’s movement for peace and justice we must build to challenge the turn to the right we are seeing in the U.S. and across much of Europe. UFPJ’s Communications and Organizing Coordinator, Matt DeVlieger (our only paid staff), and many of our member organizations have been present near the Oceti Sakowin Camp. They have been inspired by the peaceful and prayerful gathering, and by living with awareness that “Water is Life!” Hundreds of people signed up for UFPJ’s recent briefing call about Standing Rock and how to support those on the frontlines.We are cautiously optimistic about the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ decision not to grant an easement allowing the pipeline to cross under Lake Oahe – but we must and will work to sustain this victory.

UFPJ will stand in solidarity with the protests at Standing Rock and elsewhere as the struggles for indigenous peoples, water, and the future of our planet continue. There are other pipelines and other communities under militarized occupation at home and around the globe. We will build upon the momentum generated by Standing Rock and let it unite us in seeking dignity,
health, life, and justice for communities everywhere.

The peace movement saw other successes in 2016, notably in elevating Saudi Arabia’s violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Yemen to national and international attention. UFPJ co-sponsored the March 2016 “Summit on Saudi Arabia: Understanding the Kingdom and its Global Role,” organized by CODEPINK.  The Saudi’s indiscriminate bombing and shelling of Yemeni civilians led to serious efforts to limit arms sales to Saudi Arabia in the U.S. and the U.K., a struggle we must continue and win.

When Obama became the first sitting U.S. President to announce his plans to visit Hiroshima, UFPJ delivered a letter signed by 1,500 individuals insisting that he back up his disarmament rhetoric with meaningful action, and that he meet with survivors of the atomic bombs dropped by the U.S. on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Despite pre-visit assertions that he would not have time for such a meeting, Obama did ultimately speak with two hibakusha (A-bomb survivors), after laying a wreath at Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park. But President Obama, who in 2009 committed the U.S. to “seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons,” has a dismal record of nuclear disarmament. He has endorsed plans to spend $1 trillion over the next three decades to modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

Opposing this policy is the focus of UFPJ’s Nuclear Disarmament and Redefining Security Working Group. Each August, the Working Group sponsors “Nuclear-Free-Future Month” to build support for the abolition of nuclear weapons and energy. This year’s activities included a dynamic briefing call on “The Imperative of Nuclear Disarmament & New Priorities in an Increasingly Dangerous World”. This fall the majority of the world’s nations voted in the UN General Assembly to commence negotiations in 2017 on a treaty to outlaw nuclear weapons, a historic development, barely noted in the media. But the U.S., Russia, Britain and France vociferously opposed the resolution, and all indications are that the nuclear-armed states will not participate in the negotiations. UFPJ will continue in 2017 to raise awareness about increasing nuclear dangers, as well as the growing global demand for nuclear abolition. UFPJ National Co-convener Jackie Cabasso serves as North American Coordinator for Mayors for Peace, a worldwide organization of 7,196 cities in 162 countries working for the elimination of nuclear weapons. Mayors for Peace is a vital UFPJ partner.

UFPJ’s new Confronting Islamophobia Working Group includes Muslim-American activists, labor organizers, anti-violence trainers, and community organizers who are collaborating on developing trainings and materials to counter violence and hate crimes directed against Muslims and Muslim communities in the U.S. The group will be sharing information about trainings and will be organizing opposition to any and all efforts to create a “Muslim Registry,” re-create Congressional committees on “un-American activities,” or target Muslims in the U.S. with surveillance.

UFPJ’s Legislative Action Network keeps our member organizations and individual activists informed about bills before Congress and local legislatures. Most importantly, we advocate against military spending and promote spending on education, healthcare and other human needs, and efforts to address climate change. Total military spending in the FY 2017 budget will top $620 billion (for the Pentagon, nuclear weapons, and aid to foreign armies). Endless wars have cost millions of lives and trillions of dollars, while the needs of growing numbers of Americans go unmet. Europe is overwhelmed by the largest refugee crisis since World War II, while the UN begs for a mere $550 million to aid refugees who are the victims of these wars. Corporate interests of U.S. weapons manufactures are driving the insane, upward spiral of the military budget. We will ratchet up our opposition with more powerful lobbying, through protest and nonviolent direct action during the April 2017 Global Days of Action on Military Spending, and by organizing where we live to affirm the rights and humanity of all individuals, and demand that human and environmental needs receive the funding they require.

UFPJ is grounded in opposition to the endless, ongoing wars that wax and wane throughout the Middle East. Though there are fewer U.S. “boots on the ground,” the U.S. is bombing and has launched drone attacks in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan, and Libya. Recognizing that the war in Syria is one of the most complex wars in history, and that there are deep divisions within the peace movement about how to address it, in September UFPJ organized a national briefing call, “The Many Wars of Syria,” with Middle East expert, Phyllis Bennis

We didn’t anticipate a Trump Presidency when 2016 began, but UFPJ was present at events and forums throughout the U.S. and the world, working to lay the groundwork for a revitalized peace and justice movement. We were at the Left Forum in New York City in May, hosting panels and presentations on Cutting Military Spending, and tackling Forever War and the Nuclear/NATO Threat.

We co-sponsored the “No War 2016: Real Security Without Terrorism” conference in September in Washington, DC and the December “People’s Tribunal on the Iraq War”, which focused on the lies behind and the costs of that misbegotten war. Jackie Cabasso and representatives from several UFPJ member organizations spoke at the International Peace Bureau’s 2016 Congress in Berlin in October. Matt De Vlieger participated in the “No to NATO/No to War,” NATO counter-summit in Warsaw in July. UFPJ’s other National Co-convener, Terry Rockefeller, presented at the World Social Forum in Montreal in August.

UFPJ led and supported protest throughout 2016. In the run up to the election, we organized an antiwar march from the Times Square Army Recruiting Station to Trump and Clinton Campaign Headquarters, a peace rally at Hofstra University preceding the first Presidential debate, and local actions to coincide with the Democratic and Republican conventions in Philadelphia and Cleveland. UFPJ supported the Close the School of the Americas/Resist Militarization protests at Fort Benning; Democracy Awakening – get big money out of politics; Democracy Spring in DC and nationwide; protests against Saudi aggression against Yemen in New York City; and #ReclaimMLK – in support of the Movement for Black Lives, nationwide.

Throughout 2016, UFPJ strived to build and maintain a network of relationships that will serve as a basis to build on in these newly challenging times. UFPJ has the vitally important power to convene national peace and justice leaders with local groups, which are once again becoming active. We published over 100 events on our calendar this year to assist members groups and allies in their programming. We are working to build bridges across more issues and to unite activists working on a wider variety of issues, so that the forces for justice, equality, dignity, nonviolence, inclusion, and the wellbeing of our planet are aligned to confront the challenges of 2017.

Please visit our website for UFPJ action alerts, statements, recordings of briefing calls, sign on letters, petitions, reports and other resources.

The post In Solidarity & Action: UFPJ’s 2016 Annual Report appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

• “Time for the Global Superpower for Peace and Justice to Rise Again!” urged organizations and activists to unite for a series of coordinated actions starting with the 12th anniversary of the massive February 15, 2003 global protests against the then impending invasion and occupation of Iraq.
• “We the People, Silent No More” sought to re-energize peace education, organizing, and mobilization to prepare activists to address military endeavors and the shifting global order that is leading to more war and conflict.
• “Deepening Anti-Racism Work in the Anti-War Movement” a statement from Michael McPhearson, former UFPJ National Coordinator and currently the Executive Director of Veterans for Peace, examined how supporting the movement for racial justice and Black liberation will invigorate our peace movement.

UFPJ will work to strengthen our alliances with the movements for racial and environmental justice as it addresses war and conflict worldwide.

In February, UFPJ was able to hire a half-time communications coordinator and organizer who, working with an expanded and highly-committed volunteer Coordinating Committee, enabled UFPJ to greatly increase our output and networking capacity.  We successfully transitioned our large database and e-mail management system to a new provider, began updating the UFPJ website so we can feature more events and activities of the organizations that are part of the UFPJ network and make more resources available. We also ramped up our social media presence in a major way and began a process of systematically contacting member groups to update their information, survey their current needs and interests, and improve connectivity.  These developments enabled us to do significant work in the following areas.

Iraq

Iraq remains a central focus of UFPJ’s work. We see today, as we warned when we first came together in 2002 to oppose the invasion and occupation of Iraq, that the “War on Terror” has only bred more violence. Iraq’s destabilization has now spread over its borders to engulf an entire region. We continue to oppose US military intervention or strategies that include the US arming and training foreign military, paramilitary, or militia fighters. In 2015, we opposed the Obama Administration’s deployment of new troops (in addition to the more that 3,100 US troops already on the ground) and the building of a new military base in Iraq.  As part of our Spring call-to-action, UFPJ member groups hosted local rallies, teach-ins, and vigils on February 15th, to commemorate the anniversary of February 15, 2003, when UFPJ organized the largest global demonstration in history to say “No” to the invasion of Iraq. We also called on local groups to take action on March 19, the anniversary of the invasion, and promoted public discussions, teach-ins, and protests, including the National Spring Rising Anti-war Demonstration in Washington, DC.

• Obama’s Strategy for Iraq: Escalation

• Member Group Actions on Anniversary of US Invasion of Iraq

The Iran Nuclear Deal

This was a huge success for the peace movement, and UFPJ was at the center of national efforts to support negotiations with Iran concerning its nuclear program. While Republicans in Congress opposed engaging in diplomatic relations with the country that was once labeled part of an “Axis of Evil,” UFPJ promoted a campaign, with allied organizations, to support the agreement that will require international inspections and ensure that Iran’s nuclear program remains peaceful. Early on, when it was still unclear whether Congress would block diplomacy and perhaps even support war with Iran, UFPJ promoted a petition drive, which gained tens of thousands of signatures, generated large numbers of calls to Congress, held a national briefing conference call, and provided educational resources. This victory for diplomacy could lead to other non-military solutions to conflict in the region. UFPJ is currently working with many of the organizations that we partnered with on the Iran nuclear deal campaign to address the Syrian civil war and refugee crisis.

• Success on Iran Agreement is Owed to Member Groups Around the Country

• Iran Agreement: No Time for Silence!

• UFPJ Update: Supporting the Iran Deal & Working Beyond the Bomb

• National Conference Call on the Iran Deal, with Phyllis Bennis, Tyler Cullis, & Lara Friedman

• Iran Deal Resources (Articles & Links)

The Syrian Crisis

UFPJ staunchly opposes US military intervention in Syria and maintains that only robust and truly inclusive, international negotiations will end the strife and violence the Syrian people are facing. We supported a resolution introduced by Representatives Jim McGovern, Barbara Lee and Walter Jones, that was designed to force a Congressional decision on war against ISIS, and most importantly would have brought all US troops home in the absence of a decision. Unfortunately, this effort failed. In light of recent ISIS attacks on Beirut, Paris, and elsewhere, the US, and other nations’ escalation of airstrikes, as well as continued arming and training of militants on the ground, UFPJ will be making Syria a central focus of our organizing. We recently co-hosted a national conference call on understanding and dealing with the Syrian crisis, and have joined the Peace and Planet coalition call for local actions on December 10, International Human Rights Day, focusing on the human right to peace, with an emphasis on the Syrian humanitarian crisis.

• CALL FOR DEC. 10 HUMAN RIGHTS DAY/SYRIA ACTIONS

• AUDIO: Listen to the National Peace Conference Call on Syria with Phyllis Bennis

• War on ISIS? Oppose US Military Intervention in Syria

Occupation of Afghanistan

While the US military remains in Afghanistan, there will be no peace or security for Afghanistan or the US. UFPJ calls on the United States government to withdraw all forces from Afghanistan and to bring an end to the 15-year-long military debacle. The drones, bombing, night raids, and support for one of the most corrupt regimes in the world have not made life better or brought security to the Afghan people. President Obama’s October 15 announcement that the United States will retain troops in Afghanistan beyond his term in office came on the heels of a shocking US war crime, the October 3rd bombing of a Doctors Without Borders/Médecines Sans Frontières hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, which killed 22 people including doctors, nurses and children. UFPJ responded with a campaign that produced nearly 2,000 letters to Senators and Congressional Representatives calling for complete withdrawal of our troops. We will continue to lead on this issue and work to end this failed US foreign policy.

• Send a Letter to Congress: Stop the War Crimes in Afghanistan

• Call on the White House to Exit Afghanistan NOW!

• President Obama’s Prolonging Afghanistan Occupation

The Ukraine Crisis

The Ukraine conflict is a complex proxy war involving four of the world’s five original nuclear-armed nations: the United States, Russia, France, and the United Kingdom. The extent of support provided by outside powers was and remains unclear, obscured by virulent propaganda campaigns promulgated by all sides. The Ukraine war has also become both a cause and an excuse for the ratcheting up of tensions between the US (with its NATO allies) and Russia. UFPJ worked with many partner organizations and member groups to offer analysis, provide resources, and educate activists about the crisis. We will continue to monitor developments, especially as tensions between the US/NATO faction and Russia grow in response to events in Syria.

• UFPJ Statement: Moving Away From War in Ukraine

Abolition of Nuclear Weapons

Recognizing that the danger of wars among nuclear-armed nations is growing, UFPJ was a central partner in the Peace and Planet Mobilization for a Nuclear-free, Peaceful, Just, and Sustainable World in New York City from April 24-26, on the eve of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference. The mobilization brought together anti-nuclear, peace, climate, economic, and racial justice activists from around the world. It included a two-day conference with a spectacular line-up of speakers and 44 workshops, a peace festival, a global wave, and a demonstration at the United Nations. Peace and Planet’s goals were two-fold:

1. To demand immediate negotiations for the total elimination of nuclear weapons, and,

2. To strengthen and connect our movements.

It was endorsed by over 350 organizations in 20 countries, and over 7 million signatures were delivered to high-ranking UN officials who participated in our events. More than 7,000 people from many countries, particularly Japan, marched with us from Union Square to the UN. A “Global Wave” was launched at the April 26 rally in New York, with participants symbolically waving goodbye to nuclear weapons. The Wave traveled west, by time zone, with public events in Papeete, Manila, Amman, Bethlehem, Stockholm, Paris, London, Sao Paulo and points in-between, arriving back at the UN for the opening of the NPT Review Conference on April 27.  UFPJ’s part-time staff and volunteers were on the ground to facilitate organizing. We also put a significant effort into evaluating the events, to gage our success and to learn from both our shortcomings and our best practices.

• Your Demand for Peace Was Heard by the UN

• VIDEO: UFPJ Talks Peace Movement Solidarity with Our Friend Jeremy Corbyn

• Peace & Planet Summer: A Call to Commemorate the 70th Anniversaries of the Hiroshima & Nagasaki A-Bombings

• Live Stream the Peace & Planet Conference from Home!

• UFPJ Member Groups: Endorse the Peace & Planet Mobilization for a Nuclear-Free, Peaceful, Just & Sustainable World Now!

Please make a generous end of year donation so that UFPJ can be even more active in 2016.

The post United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) 2015 Annual Report appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

Amidst these deeply concerning developments, there was one very positive development: the growing support for negotiations with Iran and the lifting of the sanctions that have so devastated the Iranian people. UFPJ will be focused on promoting negotiations in the coming year.

2014 was also the year of two extraordinary developments: the rise of national protests of police use of deadly force and the militarization of policing following the tragic killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO and the climate change mobilization that took place in New York City in September. The energy of these two powerful movements for social justice and sustainability presented opportunities for our peace and justice network to build new bridges between progressive U.S. forces that we aim to continue to develop in 2015 and 2016.

UFPJ responded to all of these challenges and opportunities by organizing national educational calls, by producing resources and promoting the sharing of resources produced by our member organizations, and by offering individuals opportunities to join in protests and undertake other actions to effect change in our national policies. UFPJ’s all-volunteer, Coordinating Committee worked hard to increase our capacity – as an all-volunteer network – to keep our member groups and dedicated activists linked together for effective action and impact!

As Michael McPhearson, Veterans for Peace Interim Executive Director and former UFPJ National Coordinator underscored during a UFPJ briefing call in October: “It is our charge as peacemakers and justice-seekers to stand with the people of Ferguson and all those who are victims of state violence as we make clear the connections between the war at home and the wars abroad, such as the renewed U.S. bombing of Iraq and Syria.”

UFPJ was able to plan in advance for activities surrounding the People’s Climate March. We were a key partner in the “People’s Climate Convergence for People, Planet and Peace Over Profit” and organized a path-breaking workshop, “Uniting Our Strategies to Stop War and Save the Planet.” In addition, UFPJ was able to take advantage of the presence in NYC of so many of our network’s members to convene a “Peace and Justice Assembly” of member groups, friends and allies to discuss the synergies between opposing militarization and war at home and abroad, and promoting sustainability and reducing climate change.

UFPJ has pushed hard on many issues: ending U.S. military operations around the world, abolition of nuclear weapons, slashing the immoral U.S. military budget, redirecting resources to urgent issues like climate change and sustainable development, and standing in solidarity with those across the nation who are peacefully rising up against racism and militarization of the police. We continue to promote “Nuclear Free Future Month” and ongoing action to achieve the global elimination of nuclear weapons and nuclear power – building on the traditional August 6th and 9th Hiroshima – Nagasaki commemorations.

UFPJ’s Legislative Action Group regularly monitored U.S. actions and reactions, especially the threat of military action, in order to send out information about legislation on foreign policy, military spending, social justice, and other issues related to UFPJ’s mission. In addition to our regular information on such legislation as the NDAA and spending on the War in Afghanistan, UFPJ is actively promoting “Opposition to Military Action in Syria and Iraq,” and “Diplomacy Not War With Iran.”

UFPJ is making plans to hit the ground running in 2015! We are working with the Canadian Peace Alliance to commemorate the February 15 th anniversary of the momentous global protests in 2003 against the U.S.-led war on Iraq in the context of today’s wars and militarism. In the pipeline are briefing calls on Iraq/Syria, Iran, and alternatives to war, as well as a national networking call for our member groups. Continuing our efforts to educate the public about the need to end foreign wars and to promote justice at home, UFPJ will be supporting and promoting the Global Day of Action on Military Spending the week of April 13. We’re also gearing up for the Spring 2015 Mobilization for a Nuclear-free, Fair, Democratic, Ecologically Sustainable and Peaceful Future in New York City.

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