– George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language,” 1946

Language influences our culture and the narratives that shape behavior and practices.

Words about War Matter is an initiative to revise the way the media, our partners, and those of us focused on ending war and deconstructing the military industrial complex describe warfare so that the language used does not further promote War and disappear the consequences of State violence.

A group of activists, scholars, and organizers wrote the “Words about War Matter” Language Guide for practitioners and the media to help people describe armed conflicts honestly and accurately. The guide seeks to ensure that War’s full story is told and to avoid people making assumptions that accept the worst aspects of War as standard, ordinary, or acceptable.

Recently the group working on this project generated a specific set of recommendations around Gaza. Here are 10 urgent suggestions to keep in mind when speaking about Gaza. These can be used by all who are working to end militarism and the ongoing conflicts that are pushing us closer to endless, escalating War.

1. Don’t repeat talk of barbarism, savagery, or animals.
   It’s racist and Islamophobic.2.  Don’t conflate a government with a people.
   Don’t talk about Palestinians or Israelis as homogenous groups.

   3.  Don’t use terrorism or terrorists.
   The terms have no clear definitions, have Islamophobic connotations, and do not get applied to the terror of states. Name the actions of groups using violence. Use: acts of mass violence, attacks on civilians, militants, and the names of armed groups.

   4.  Killed, murdered, or dead?
   Many describe Palestinians as dead while Israelis are killed, murdered, massacred (“1,200 Israelis killed; 25,000 dead in Gaza”). Dead/deaths erases responsibility for killing. War is killing, war is murder.

   5.  Don’t use language that humanizes some and dehumanizes others.
   Don’t say “Hamas killed Israeli children & families” but “the Israeli military killed Palestinian civilians.”

   6.  Don’t use sports metaphors.
   War is not sport. There are no “teams.” Sports metaphors hide war’s human damage.

   7.  Always critique government talking points justifying violence.
   Government words are usually spin or propaganda–“the defence of the indefensible,” as George Orwell said.

   8.  Don’t use surgical or precision strikes.
   War is never surgical, hygienic, or clean.

   9.  Avoid passive verbs (were killed, were murdered).
   Say who is doing what, who is killing whom. “The Israeli military killed Palestinians… Hamas fighters killed Israelis.”

   10.  Naming matters. Think carefully about what to call the violence.
   UN officials, legal advocacy groups, and international law scholars decidedly agree that this is a Genocide, defined as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”

   Terms such as war and conflict obscure who is responsible for the genocide and the scope of the destruction. If using the term humanitarian crisis, be clear that the Israeli government bears responsibility for creating it through its genocide of Palestinians.

The post Suggestions for Talking about Gaza and Other Wars appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

In the years following the September 11 terrorist attacks, peace and justice groups in Oakland, California have organized a number of successful public readings of Dr. King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech in front of our Federal Building.  We have involved local elected officials, community activists and students in the readings, which have often been preceded by press conferences linking the reading to issues of current concern.  The readers are instructed not to change Dr. King’s words or add any of their own.  Thus, local elected officials are compelled to hear Dr. King’s original words coming out of their own mouths.

Here’s a downloadable “kit” to help you organize a public reading in your community.

1. We have divided the speech into 16 sections, with an introduction.  We suggest that you print out the introduction and speech in an enlarged font and assemble several 3-ring binders including the full set of materials.
2. Invite local elected officials, community leaders, activist groups and high school students to participate in a public reading in front of your Federal Building, City Hall or other suitable location.  You may want to hold a press conference involving representatives of these constituencies in advance. You may need to secure a permit for a public assembly or sound system.
3. Set up a “podium” and some visuals.  The podium can be as simple as a music stand draped with a cloth, where you can support one of the open binders, and posters or banners depicting Dr. King and whatever messages you want to project.
4. Begin the reading by sounding a gong or bell, signifying a moment of silence, and have someone read the introduction.  You may wish to prepare a list of readers in advance, which you could post on butcher paper or a whiteboard. You should have an extra binder or two available so that readers can practice reading their sections in advance.
5. Provide your readers with a set of simple instructions so they will know that they should not make additional remarks. You may also wish to provide readers with badges identifying them as readers.
6. If there’s a lot of interest from prospective readers, you may wish to repeat the reading several times.  In Oakland we have done as many as three consecutive readings, ending with a symbolic ceremony at sundown.

Materials

• Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence, By Rev. Martin Luther King, 4 April 1967 (divided for reading)

• 2022 Introduction for California readings

• 2022 Introduction for readings outside California

• “Más allá de Vietnam: Un tiempo para romper el silencio” Por el Rev. Martin Luther King – Traducción al español de introducción (en 2 partes) y discurso (en 16 secciones)

• “Next Reader” dividers

• Guidelines for readers

• Badges for readers

• Readers list

• Short slide show from previous years’ readings in Oakland, CA

• “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence,” April 4, 2022 flier (English)

• “Más allá de Vietnam: Un tiempo para romper el silencio,” 4 de abril de 2022 volante (Español)

• Zoom reading of “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” by members of the California Poor People’s Campaign, recorded March 22, 2022

   

  (prepared by Jackie Cabasso, Western States Legal Foundation: wslf@earthlink.net)

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These egregious words seeking to reassure Raytheon shareholders that killing would continue across the Middle East and that Raytheon-made weapons would continue to be sold briskly to countries using them on civilians, served as a spur to action.

The Saudi air and sea blockade of Yemen (a food importing nation) is causing an unparalleled humanitarian crisis because vital food, medicine and fuel are not being brought into the country.  A child dies every 10 minutes from preventable causes and 400,000 children are in peril of starvation in the next weeks.

“We are heading straight toward the biggest famine in modern history. It is hell on earth in many places in Yemen right now…And now, to add to their misery the innocent people of Yemen have to deal with a fuel blockade…That blockade must be lifted … Otherwise millions more will spiral into crisis” (David Beasley. Executive Director, UN World Food Programme, March 11, 2021)

Despite President Biden’s promise to treat Saudi Arabia as a pariah state, the U.S.-Saudi Alliance remains in place. Starting in 2015 our two countries have devastated Yemen and destroyed much of its infrastructure with bombs and blockade. The U.N. reports that by the end of last year 233,000 Yemenis have died from the war: 100,000 from military action and 133,000 from starvation, disease and lack of basic infrastructure due to bombing and shelling. We don’t have the casualty numbers for the last 5 months, but they are enormous as starvation intensifies.

Meanwhile U.S. arms corporations:  Raytheon, Boeing and Lockheed among others have made billions of dollars by providing the bombs and other weapons to the Saudis. Raytheon Technologies bears particular responsibility for the crisis, as former lobbyists and corporate board members have served and are serving as U.S. Secretary of Defense (previously Mark Esper and currently Lloyd Austin). Raytheon spokesperson, Corinne Kovalsky, told the NYT in a May 2021 article, “We believe further dialogue regarding foreign military sales is best directed to official in the U.S. government.” This stunning disavowal was brought into the public arena a number of times at the readathon.

The U.S. continues to provide maintenance and sustainment assistance to the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF), which is essential to keeping Saudi aircraft flying.  Saudi Arabia continues to bomb areas in Yemen which has taken a heavy toll on civilians who already suffer from conflict-born hunger, a resurgence in preventable diseases and Covid-19.  The United Nations estimates that 80 percent of Yemen’s 31 million citizens – more than 24 million people – are in need of assistance and protection.

By reading news articles, poems by Adrienne Rich, Marge Piercy and Mahmoud Darwish, and from the Catonsville 9 trial transcript the crisis in Yemen was illustrated and illuminated to focus attention and understanding of the profitable arms trade that kills children in Yemen, Palestine and too many other places.  Father Daniel Berrigan’s prophetic words spoken during the trial: “Apologies good friends for the fracture of good order…the burning of paper instead of children…” and his rigorous question: “When at what point will you say no to this war?” are as alive in 2021 as they were in 1968.

Materials used are available for download to organize a readathon in your area.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0jtnjq82ua52med/Yemen-Readathon-Readings.pdf?dl=0

Youtube video of event:  https://youtu.be/C23VugiBiT8

The post Readathon Calls for End to U.S. Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia and End to Saudi Blockade of Yemen appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

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Last week, United for Peace and Justice had an active presence at the historic United Nations conference to negotiate a legally-binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons. The conference was mandated by a UN General Assembly resolution adopted in December of last year, to hold “a United Nations conference to negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination” in 2017.  Advocates of the ban treaty  hope to achieve an impact similar to that of the Mine Ban Treaty – that is, to stigmatize the weapons, even among possessor states that don’t join the treaty, as a step towards their eventual elimination.  (In 1997, 80% of the world’s countries negotiated a treaty aimed at eliminating anti-personnel land mines around the world, without the participation of the main offenders.)  In 2016, 113 of the 193 members of the UN voted in favor of holding the nuclear ban treaty negotiations and even more participated during the first week of the negotiations.

At the outset, none of the nuclear-armed states are participating in the negotiations.  On Monday, the opening day, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley held a widely-covered press briefing outside the  conference hall.  Flanked by nuclear allies including the U.K. and France, and claiming to represent almost 40 UN member states, Haley announced that they will be boycotting the negotiations. The absence of the U.S. and the other nuclear-armed states didn’t deter more than 130 countries,  as well as United for Peace and Justice and our international NGO (non-governmental organization) colleagues, from fully participating in the conference. On day one, when the “U.S., Russia, Britain, China, and their minions walked out of the UN,” NYC War Resisters League hosted a vigil across the street from the UN, at the Isaiah Wall, and marched to the UN Mission to the United Nations to demand total disarmament.

On the third day of the conference, UFPJ National Co-convener Jackie Cabasso, was among the dozen NGO representatives who addressed the conference on behalf of civil society. In her comments to the delegates, Jackie cited a new International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms paper, Selected Elements of a Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons, and its recommendations for the treaty to achieve the following three 3 points:

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

You can view Jackie making her comments on preambular elements of the prohibition treaty on UN web tv at 19:30 in the following video.

Jackie Cabasso is Executive Director of Western States Legal Foundation and a founder of Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons, which was recently nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. She also serves as the North American Coordinator for Mayors for Peace and during the week’s negotiations was coordinating with the Mayors for Peace delegation at the UN, including Des Moines, Iowa Mayor Frank Cownie, lead U.S. Mayors for Peace city.

UFPJ’s communications and organizing coordinator, Matt De Vlieger was also present for the meetings. He helped contribute to a statement that was delivered on behalf of Amplify: Generation of Change, an international youth network for the abolition of nuclear weapons.  The statement was made by Anna Ikeda of Soka Gakkai International who serves on Amplify’s steering committee with Matt and other international nuclear-abolition youth leaders. Amplify is currently accepting applications for their second International Youth Summit, which is planned to coincide with the next session of the  nuclear ban treaty negotiations at the UN Headquarters in New York in June.

If you follow our campaigns, you know that we’re constantly working out front and behind-the-scenes for the total elimination of nuclear weapons – asap! Just over a month ago, on February 14, Jackie traveled to Mexico City to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Tlatelolco to hand deliver a petition congratulating Latin American and Caribbean leaders on the success of the nuclear-free zone- a first of its kind.

For the past month, UFPJ has promoted the movement-wide petition in support of legislation requiring Congressional authorization for President Trump, or any successor, to unilaterally start a nuclear war. The petition drive  aims  at collecting half a million signatures for delivery in early May. If you haven’t already done so,please sign now.

We will continue to advocate and lobby when the ban treaty negotiations resumeJune 15 – July 7, and update you from the United Nations on the process and outcomes of the negotiations.  (For comprehensive reporting on the ban treaty negotiations visit Reaching Critical Will.) And please plan to join the June 17 Women’s March to Ban the Bomb in New York City and sister marches.

If you appreciate UFPJ’s continued campaign to build a world free from nuclear weapons, please make a monthly contribution of $5 to support this work.

In 2003, Jackie Cabasso established UFPJ’s Nuclear Disarmament/Redefining Security working group, which addresses nuclear disarmament in the context of demilitarization, war prevention, and justice. It is UFPJ’s longest running working group.

The post VIDEO: UFPJ Co-Convener Jackie Cabasso Addresses the UN Nuclear Ban Treaty Conference appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

We are asking for your organization’s endorsement to bring this campaign to life.

PLEASE FILL OUT THE PEACE PLEDGE ORGANIZATIONAL ENDORSEMENT FORM HERE:
http://peacepledge.unitedforpeace.org/endorse/

THE PEACE PLEDGE IS CALLING ON ORGANIZATIONS AND ACTIVISTS AROUND THE COUNTRY TO:

• Host meetings and teach-ins
• Bird-dog all candidates and incumbents on issues of militarism
• Engage in heavy lobbying with the new Congress
• Participate in solidarity actions and efforts to build meaningful partnerships and coalitions with
• movements that share our struggle
• Take action that raises awareness of opposition to militarism and war spending, including civil disobedience and nonviolent direct action,
• Wear and share Peace Pledge materials to begin conversations about UFPJ’s campaign

Our campaign acknowledges that we need a strong and active social movement to end the wars during the next Administration. Many indicators tell us that popular pressure for peace and justice is rising again and UFPJ is working to organize now, in preparation for a national re-mobilization.

AS AN ENDORSING ORGANIZATION, YOU WILL BE:

• Listed in a prominent place on our campaign website
• Invited to organizing strategy and briefing calls
• Encouraged to to share Peace Pledge communications with your lists
• Called on to engage publicly as a Peace Pledge organizer
• Expected to help us re-organize and re-build a powerful Antiwar movement that is able to successfully challenge the new Administration and New Congress on endless war.

We are fully committed to this cause and so are you in?

Click here to sign your group up as an endorsing organization of the Peace Pledge.

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“No matter which pro-war-candidate is elected to the White House, I pledge to continue organizing for peace.  I know that voting alone cannot and will not end America’s perpetual wars, so I am recommitting myself to nonviolent direct action and movement building.  

I will protest, vigil, lobby, sit-in, and take creative action to dismantle the war machine and build a culture of peace with racial, economic and social justice that redirects the billions spent by the Pentagon to fund crucial programs for our people, our communities and our planet.”  

Sign the Pledge here: http://peacepledge.unitedforpeace.org

The post PRE-ELECTION ACTION IN NYC FOCUSES ON TRUMP & CLINTON MILITARISM appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

So far, two dozen national and local peace organizations have already signed on to a letter to Congress urging them to reject the planned $1.15 billion foreign military sale to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The post TIME SENSITIVE: Organizational Sign-On to Stop Weapons Sales to Saudi Arabia appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

 The IPB world congress is less than a month away. Will a member of your UFPJ organization be joining us Sept. 30-Oct. 3 in Berlin, Germany?

The post Support “Disarm! International Peace Bureau Congress 2016” appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

The post Registration for the “No War 2016: Real Security Without Terrorism” Conference in Washington, D.C., September 23-25 is almost closed, as space is filling up. appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.