Ominously, all the nuclear-armed nations are engaged in a new nuclear arms race. Despite their animosities toward each other, they are united in opposition to the new Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW or Ban Treaty), and the original nuclear-armed states are continuing to ignore their obligations under the 1970 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to end the arms race at an early date and to negotiate “in good faith” the elimination of nuclear weapons.

Following the sudden end of the Cold War, after decades of difficulty in focusing attention on the crucial need for nuclear abolition, there are signs of a developing global nuclear abolition movement to respond to these dangers.

These include the July 2017 vote in the United Nations by 122 countries to adopt the Ban Treaty and the Nobel Peace Prize award to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons; the Don’t Bank on the Bomb Campaign; nonviolent direct acts of resistance such as the Memorial Day protest at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts and the April Kings Bay Plowshares Action; and unanimous adoption by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, in June, of a sweeping Mayors for Peace resolution “Calling on the Administration and Congress to Step Back From the Brink and Exercise Global Leadership in Preventing Nuclear War.”

Since 2006 UFPJ has declared August Nuclear Free Future Month.  Let’s keep the momentum going!

Take action! August 6^th and 9^th will mark the 73^rd anniversaries of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Rallies, marches, vigils and nonviolent direct actions are planned across the country and around the world. Click here to find an action near you. Click here to find more actions, listed by date. Join any and all of these actions that you can! 

Enroll your Mayor in Mayors for Peace! Mayors for Peace, founded in 1982 by the Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, is working for a world without nuclear weapons and safe and resilient cities as essential measures for the realization of lasting world peace. Mayors for Peace has grown to 7,632 cities in 163 countries, with 213 U.S. members, representing in total over one billion people. Mayors for Peace aims to reach 10,000 members by 2020, the 75^th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Click here to find out if your Mayor is a member of Mayors for Peace. Click here to find out how to enroll your Mayor.

During the 1980’s, fear of nuclear war was by far the most visible issue of concern to the American public and people around the world.  Yet following the end of the Cold War, nuclear weapons fell off the public’s radar screen. It was almost as if the planet itself breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, deeply embedded in the military-industrial complex, military planners and scientists at the nuclear weapons labs conjured up new justifications to sustain the nuclear weapons enterprise. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, in 1991 Colin Powell, then-Chair of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, declared: “We no longer have the luxury of having a [specific] threat to plan for. What we plan for is that we’re a superpower. We are the major player on the world stage with responsibilities… [and] interests around the world.”

At its first national assembly in 2003, United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) adopted a proposal put forward by Abolition 2000 member groups, to make nuclear abolition “a” priority. The proposal was adopted without much discussion or understanding. At the time we were focused on ending the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and nuclear weapons were seen by many as a peripheral issue. Over the years, nuclear weapons have moved from the periphery to the center of anti-war concerns and UFPJ’s work.

Today, nearly 15,000 nuclear weapons, most an order of magnitude more powerful than the U.S. atomic bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki— 92% held by the United States and Russia, continue to pose an intolerable threat to humanity.  All of the nuclear-armed states are upgrading their nuclear arsenals, and the dangers of wars among them are growing.

On January 25, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the hands of its symbolic Doomsday Clock 30 seconds closer to the end of humanity. It is now set at two minutes to midnight—as close as it’s ever been set since its inception in 1947. In moving the clock 30 seconds closer to the hour of the apocalypse, the Bulletin cited “the failure of President Trump and other world leaders to deal with looming threats of nuclear war and climate change”, and declared, “the world is as threatening as it has been since World War II.”

 We stand at a nuclear crossroads, in a sharply divided world. Last July the majority of the world’s countries voted to adopt a historic treaty to prohibit the possession, development, testing, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons. While the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) represents the total repudiation of nuclear weapons by most of the states that don’t possess them, the U.S. and the eight other nuclear-armed states, along with Japan, Australia, South Korea and all but one of the 28 NATO member states (The Netherlands) – all countries under the U.S. nuclear umbrella, boycotted the negotiations. (Click here for more information about the TPNW.)

We must keep both realities – the promise of the Ban Treaty and growing dangers of nuclear war – fully in mind as we urgently work for a world without nuclear weapons.

In June, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, (USCM), unanimously adopted a sweeping Mayors for Peace resolution “Calling on the Administration and Congress to Step Back From the Brink and Exercise Global Leadership in Preventing Nuclear War.” The resolution rejected the general hysteria that followed Trump’s meetings with Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin.

 Make no mistake. Donald Trump is a dangerous unhinged megalomaniac, unfit for office, who is taking a wrecking ball to the domestic and international orders – to the detriment of millions of ordinary people. Yet, the hysteria following his meetings with Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin is truly frightening. Media pundits and Congressional leaders from both parties would apparently rather remain poised for nuclear war than risk talking with “the enemy”.

The USCM resolution also “urges the United States government to reverse its stance and to embrace the TPNW as a welcome step towards negotiation of a comprehensive agreement on the achievement and permanent maintenance of a world free of nuclear arms”, and “calls on the President and Congress to reverse federal spending priorities and to redirect funds currently allocated to nuclear weapons and unwarranted military spending to support safe and resilient cities….”, along with other measures.

Click here to read the complete text of the USCM resolution. This resolution is designed to be used by a number of campaigns currently underway, including Back from the Brink, Divest From the War Machine, and the Treaty Compliance Campaign. Circulate it widely as an educational and advocacy tool. Quote it in op-eds and letters to the editor. Send it to your Congressional representatives. Consider asking your City Council to endorse the resolution. For more information contact Mayors for Peace North American Coordinator, Jackie Cabasso at wslf(at)earthink.net.

The post IT’S NUCLEAR FREE FUTURE MONTH: PROTEST AND SURVIVE! appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

We the undersigned support the many Native Nations gathered at Standing Rock to protect the Missouri River from illegal and unsafe pipeline construction in North Dakota.

Act now, to intervene on their behalf to respect the Fort Laramie treaties of 1851 and 1868 affirming the rights of Indians to this land should be honored at long last, shut down the Dakota Access Pipeline, and end the organized brutality against the prayerful Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and their peaceful supporters.

The post PETITION: We Stand with Standing Rock: Stop DAPL! End the Violence! Honor Treaties! appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

Secretary of State John Kerry and President Hamid Karzai are finalizing negotiations to keep as many as 10,000 troops in Afghanistan for years to come. The Obama Administration’s deadline to reach an agreement is Thursday, October 31.

If you support our troops, please take action right now, Call the White House (202-456-1111) or send an email www.whitehouse.gov/contact telling President Obama we want our men and women in uniform home NOW – leaving no U.S. troops or contractors in Afghanistan.

No compelling case has been made for why it is necessary to leave U.S. troops in Afghanistan.  All indicators literally scream for an end to the War in Afghanistan with a total withdrawal of all troops:

2,289 U. S. soldiers have died – almost 19,000 injured

the war is not almost over

our troops are still dying and sustaining lifelong injuries every day in Afghanistan

• Skyrocketing military suicides, PTSD and TBI injuries
   
• “Green on Blue” attacks, in which members of Afghan forces kill U.S. troops – highlighting the growing resentment against the U.S. occupation even among our Afghan partners    
  
  
• The Afghan people have suffered greatly, alarmingly high rate of civilian deaths http://costsofwar.org/article/afghan-civilians
  
  
• President Karzai is not a trusted partner and has been highly critical of the U.S. 
• The costs of this war, $550 billion, clearly outweighs any “supposed” benefits 
• The vast majority of Americans have supported a quick end to the Afghanistan war for years

It is time for President Obama to listen to the American people and give real support to our troops.

The post Call on the White House to Exit Afghanistan NOW! appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

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Occupy Wall Street, South

Break Up BOA’s Business as Usual!

May 6-9, Charlotte, NC

On May 6-9 people from across the country and world will be converging in Charlotte, NC, home of Bank of America’s Headquarters and their annual Shareholder meeting, to demand an end to their practices that are bankrupting our economy and wrecking our climate.

Homeowners, students, immigrants, environmentalists, workers, women’s groups, peace activists and more will be in Charlotte, bringing their stories, hearts and communities to the fight against Bank of America and the economic inequality, racial injustice and environmental destruction they have wrought.

Bank of America is:

• #1 forecloser of homes in the US,
• #1 funder of the US coal industry,
• Job killer by letting go of nearly 100,000 workers over the past several years,
• Bonus Buster paying its top five executives over $500 million in bonuses,
• Saddling students with a lifetime of debt, and
• Financing the war machine.

Bank of America, and its profits-over-people-and-planet business model, is drowning our democracy through huge financial contributions to lobbyists that are serving the interests of the 1% and are participating in corporate-funded groups like American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the Financial Services Roundtable.

As a global community united for real economic and racial justice, it is time that BoA is held accountable, invest in public needs and services, or face being broken up to achieve the justice we need. Whether you are a community member, homeowner, worker or student, we need to come together to challenge corporate power and create an economy and democracy that works for all of us.

Join the 99% for a Week of Actions

as We  Break Up Bank of America’s Business As Usual!

Week of Action!

Sun, May 6  

Interfaith Activities

Day of Training

Art making

Action Spokes Council

Mon, May 7  

Visibility Day with activities in high traffic areas and local banks!

Action Spokes Council

Tues. May 8 

Education Day with Press event and Alternative Summit!

Final trainings and action spokes council

Wed. May 9 

Break Up Business as Usual for Bank of America Shareholders!

May 9^th BOA Shareholder Meeting Action Plan:

On the morning of May 9 at 8 am, people from around the state, country and world will converge on the “Wall Street of the South” to participate in creative, mass non-violent direct action to “Break Up Business As Usual for Bank of America.” Our marches will carry our call for justice to the doors of the Shareholder meeting and surrounding areas.  On the day of the Shareholder meeting, people will have the opportunity to engage in a variety of creative educational, cultural, theatrical, visibility, and nonviolent direct action activities.

March Assembly Sites:

Housing Justice Now! Bank of America, N. Tryon @ 9^th St.

Stop Funding Coal and the Militarization of Our Communities! The Green, Tryon @ Levine Ave of the Arts

Corporations Out of Politics:  Pay Your Taxes Not Your Lobbyists! Old City Hall, Davidson @ 4^th St

For more information on how to get involved in organizing for the Bank of America Shareholder’s protest, visit www.ncagainstcorporatepower.org

Facebook event: Protest the Bank of America Shareholder Meeting

https://www.facebook.com/events/283287288413972/

Twitter: #MakeBoAPay

For questions related to general information, please email: nc.boa.general@gmail.com

For questions related to the Week of Actions, please email: BOA.actioninfo@gmail.com

Originally posted Here

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Occupy Wallstreet stands in solidarity with the calls for a day without the 99%

On May 1st, 2012, we are creating a new kind of holiday – A People’s Holiday – One that’s not just yet another flavor of consumerism, but is explicitly about imagining a world beyond consumerism.

Because our struggles are one.

We are all united: the system that declares unionized workers are bad for business is the same system that decides human beings are a commodity that can be “illegal”. It’s also the same system that causes students to graduate college with so much debt that they must chain themselves to a career in something they despise, rather than pursue their passions. It’s the same system that measures the value of people by what they consume, and that measures the value of artists by how much they sell. It’s the same system that believes you can put a price on a sustainable planet.

It’s a system of people.
It’s a system of us.

This system exists because we participate in it. So the first thing we need to do, to remove the power the system holds over us, is to change ourselves: to withdraw our participation.

We can withdraw, for one day, and begin to enact a new world, together: one of a return to old values, to mutual aid, to community, to hope and aspiration and faith — not in any leaders, but in each other, and ourselves.

(Im)migrants, Students, Workers, The Unemployed, The Underemployed, Mothers, Fathers, Sons, Daughters, Sisters, Brothers, Neighbors, New Yorkers, Comrades, Friends: We are all suffering while the 1% prosper, and if we do not personally feel the strain, we surely have loved ones who do. Whether we are looking for work, facing decreasing hours, braving dangerous working conditions for a paycheck that barely provides the means to survive, returning day after day to the boring jobs that drain our souls and prevent us from seeing our loved ones, collecting debt like a hobby because education, housing, and the cost of life are impossible to afford: it has become clear that the systems of the 1% were not created to support us and are incapable of doing so. Yet these very systems rely on our labor, our skills, and our compliance to function.

The 1% needs us to continue reaping their profits, but WE DON’T NEED THE 1%.
This May Day, Occupy Wall Street, in coalition with numerous other organizations and occupations, calls for a Day Without The 99%: No Work, No School, No Shopping, No Housework, No Compliance. Let’s take the streets, reclaim our communities, and support each other. NOT the 1%.

If you can’t strike call in sick. If you can’t call in sick hold a slow down. We know how to shut it down because we’re the ones that prop it up. If we continue to stand by while the 1% descimates our economy and destabalizes our lives, we will be powerless to challenge the forces that oppress us.

On May 1st, let us stand together to reclaim our jobs, our communities, our lives. Withdraw your consent and strike!

If you throw one stone, it’s a punishable offense. If a thousand stones are thrown, it’s political action

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