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.

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This week peace activists around the planet are participating in events to protest the military budgets that wreak destruction and rob human needs programs. Join the Global Days of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS), April 18-28, in your community. We must act boldly to help our neighbors recognize how badly the world is overarmed and peace is underfunded.

Host or participate in an event in your community. Unite around new priorities, protest the war-economy, and promote policies based on peace, diplomacy, and funding human needs. This year’s Global Days of Action on Military Spending span U.S. tax day (April 18) to the release of the annual world military expenditure figures by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) (April 28).

Here’s how you can get involved with GDAMS in the coming days:

• Find and participate in a GDAMS event near you
• Add your events to UFPJ’s event calendar
• For hosts: find event planning tools, reports, posters, banners, logos, flyers – even special masks!
• Join the GDAMS Thunderclap campaign on social media
• Take and publish a GDAMS selfie on social media
• Download and share new Infographics on military spending
• Check out the GDAMS US page
• National Priorities Project has up-to-date resources on how the Pentagon and our military economy robs from life sustaining social programs

We hope you will take action, along with our parters around the globe this GDAMS!

The post Defund War! Join Global Days of Action on Military Spending in Your Community, April 18-28 appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

Last year, the UFPJ coordinating committee decided to represent our network at the Left Forum 2015 by tabling. We had been too preoccupied with organizing for the Peace and Planet conference, march, and rally to adequately organize any panels, but we did support and promote the panels of our member groups. We tabled all three days, between the Jacobin Magazine and US Labor Against War.

Through the three workshops (not including others we attended) we engaged about eighty-five attendees of the Left Forum. Hundreds of others have already viewed video of our panels’ online live-stream on Facebook.

Another dozen or so people joined the small social meet-and-greet we planned at a nearby lounge to connect with other Peace Movement activists and organizers.

We also met dozens of people who identify as members of UFPJ in conversation between panels, and at the many tables in the conference center lobby.

Overall, it was a meaningful experience for us to connect in person, in one place, with other peace movement leaders and movers to assess the state of our movement and discuss plans for our shared future. It was also made clear to us how necessary it is to have UFPJ as a reasoned and experienced body in a broader Leftist gathering.

You can view video of some of the discussions we had and read background info below.

Thanks to those of you who participated and donated online makes this peace-work possible. Please donate here, to keep our program going in this time of need.

Video

US Militarism’s Expanse and the Need for a Movement to Cut Military Spending and Invest in Human Needs

United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) was formed in 2003, as millions of people around the world said no to the impending U.S. invasion of Iraq. Thirteen years later, despite the fact that we inhabit a war culture and machine with a vast reach and capacity never seen before, UFPJ continues to stand strong in opposition to endless war. It falls upon us as peace activists to inspire American people – and people around the world – to call for an end to war, to protest drone attacks and nuclear weapons modernization, to wage campaigns to cut the military budget, to stand up in our communities to bring attention to the futility of war, and to demand a full focused effort on diplomacy and redirection of resources to meet human needs and protect mother earth. It’s time for the movement for peace and justice to rise again!
Read the accompanying statement here: https://www.unitedforpeace.org/2016/03/02/us-militarisms-expanse-and-the-need-for-an-international-movement-to-cut-military-spending/

The Imperative of Nuclear Disarmament in an Increasingly Dangerous World

We live in an era of fluid, contentious, complicated, provocative and potentially dangerous military geopolitical struggles for power and influence. Almost every month, even every week, we see signs of intensifying military and political tensions between the United States and Russia, especially in regions already marked with strife such as in Syria and Ukraine, and separately between the United States and China, across the South China Sea and North Korea. As all these countries have, between them, over 15,000 nuclear weapons, the possibility of any of these tensions quickly escalating into nuclear war is significant. South Asia continues to be a potential nuclear flashpoint, especially in the region of Kashmir. Instead of trying to reduce the danger from these nuclear weapons, all of these countries are in the process of modernizing or further advancing their nuclear weapons programs. All of this is happening in a world where elites envision and plan for continually escalating competition for increasingly scarce resources. Military planners, in turn, interpret this as a sign of impending armed competition in both conventional and high tech arenas. How should people on the left think about what is happening and how should they organize against these dangerous trends? This panel will discuss these questions, by drawing upon the activist/scholars’ research and their work with local, national and international campaigns to eliminate the dangers of nuclear war.

No to NATO/No to War!

NATO is an imperial alliance. Beyond the ostensible goal of containing the USSR, now Russia, NATO reinforces US interventions across the Middle East and North Africa. With the war against Serbia, NATO began wars violating the UN charter, followed by Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya. Eight NATO nations are at war in Syria. The Ukraine crisis, with potential nuclear dimensions, is rooted in NATO’s expansion. Violating the commitment not to move NATO closer to Moscow, President Clinton began the expansion to Russia’s borders and new “partnerships” with Ukraine, Georgia, Asia nations and the Global South. Given the history of invasions of Russia, Moscow’s militarized responses to NATO expansion were predictable. July’s NATO summit will be in Warsaw. It will build on President Obama’s commitment to quadruple spending for U.S. Eastern Europe war preparations. Activists from across Europe will demand peaceful alternatives in a counter-summit. Bahman Azad, professor of economics and sociology, serves on the Executive Board of the US Peace Council, active in Veterans For Peace and the International Campaign in Solidarity with the Iranian People’s Green Movement. Joseph Gerson is Director of the American Friends Service Committee’s Peace & Economic Security Program. He serves on the steering committee of the No to NATO/No to War Network, the board of the International Peace Bureau and is Co-Convener of the Peace & Planet Network.

Chair/Facilitator: Jackie Cabasso View Bio

Speakers/Co-Facilitators: Bahman Azad View Bio, Joseph Gerson View Bio

The post Report Back: UFPJ Tackles Forever War & Nuclear/NATO Threat at Left Forum 2016 (Video) appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

The Middle East and Central Asia
U.S. military intervention continues unabated – in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Libya, leaving chaos in its wake and millions of refugees fleeing war zones.  Administration advisors push to return boots on the ground in areas that Daesh (ISIS) moves into. In Syria, the U.S., Russia and now France – three nuclear-armed nations – are bombing side-by-side and on different sides. Turkey, a NATO member with U.S. nuclear weapons based on its soil, faces off against Russia,and it appears that the U.S. is arming Kurdish Turkish opponents fighting Daesh across the border in Syria.

The humanitarian crises resulting from these wars are horrific and include: the bombing of hospitals – allegedly by both the U.S. and Russia, lack of food and water in war-torn areas, destruction of entire cities and communities, millions of children losing years of education, (can add some more horrors).

The U.S. (the largest weapons seller in the world) and European allies also are selling Saudi Arabia – the biggest supporter of terrorism in the world — billions of dollars of weapons, which then are being used to slaughter innocent civilians in Yemen and repress democracy in Saudi Arabia..

Europe and NATO
In Ukraine and Eastern Europe, the U.S. and its NATO allies and Russia are backing opposite sides in a confrontation involving four nuclear-armed countries. Both NATO and Russia are building up their forces along Russia’s border, and increasing the tempo of exercises of both nuclear and conventional forces. The Obama administration’s new military budget calls for a massive increase in funding to support this dangerous buildup.

These military interventions continue with little Congressional debate and no real discussion about the merits (if any) and risks (many) involved – leaving the American people on the sidelines and further endangering U.S. troops in futile, endless wars.

The Far East
To add to these dangerous conflicts, the U.S. and China, another nuclear-armed nation, are facing off against each other in the seas bordering China and other Asian nations. In January, North Korea conducted its 4th nuclear test (claiming it was an H-bomb). In a show of force, the U.S. responded by deploying a B-52 bomber capable of carrying nuclear weapons on a low-level flight over its ally South Korea. North Korea’s subsequent satellite launch has further inflamed tensions in the region.

As the U.S., Russia, China and the other nuclear-armed nations spend billions of dollars to modernize their nuclear arsenals, the danger of wars among nuclear-armed states is growing.

The War at Home
The increasing militarization of police in  communities across the U.S., coupled with an ever-growing disparity in wealth, adds to the violence, racism, and oppression experienced by those marginalized by our society. People of color, immigrants, low-income workers and homeless people face unending harassment, intimidation, aggression, incarceration, and even murder by police and vigilantes. The legal system is failing to provide justice as erroneous or draconian use of the criminal justice process ruins the lives and futures of many.

An increasing technological “surveillance state” monitors civilian activities and conceals governmental and corporate criminality. Calls for closing borders, monitoring of Muslim communities, and ever-present racism fuel xenophobia, islamophobia, and hate crimes. In the face of these threats new campaigns are emerging.  Black Lives Matter, Immigrant Rights, and Indigenous Rights movements are demanding self-determination and real security. As peace activists we must also confront this never-ending war at home and stand with our fellow activists who are calling for economic and racial justice.

Cutting Military Spending
Total military spending in the Administration’s recently released FY 2017 budget request continues to increase, amounting to nearly $623 billion, including the Pentagon budget, nuclear weapons and aid to foreign militaries. The budget provides $583 billion for the Pentagon alone in 2017, a $2 billion increase over 2016.The Pentagon budget is more than ten times the budget allocated for diplomacy under the Department of State. Compared to $7.5 billion for military efforts to fight Daesh, the budget provides just $4 billion for dedicated diplomacy and humanitarian relief around the region.

These endless wars have cost millions of lives and trillions of dollars, while the needs of growing numbers of Americans here at home go unmet. Europe is overwhelmed by the largest refugee crisis since World War II, with huge daily migrations (6,000 people per day) and drownings of people so desperate to escape war zones that they undertake perilous journeys to a place that might be safer. Meanwhile, the United Nations is begging for a mere $550 million in aid for the refugees who are the victims of war.

The post US Militarism’s Expanse and the Need for a Movement to Cut Military Spending and Invest in Human Needs appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

This year, April 5 – 18, have been designated as Global Days of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS), days to campaign against military spending and to promote spending on to life-affirming, sustainable social programs. The International Peace Bureau is coordinating plans at the international level. United for Peace and Justice is part of the U.S, planning group.

Click here to find ideas, resources and reports from previous years’ GDAMS.

April 4 is the anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, and also of his remarkable speech, “Beyond Vietnam: Time to Break Silence,” delivered in 1967, exactly one year before his death. Identifying the U.S. government as “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today,” Dr. King powerfully described the inextricable links between militarism, racism and poverty in the struggle for peace and justice. His words were both precautionary and prophetic, providing both a diagnosis and a cure – “a true revolution of values”—for our society’s gravest illnesses, “the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism and militarism.” And they apply more than ever today.

Consider organizing a public participatory reading of “Beyond Vietnam” in your community as part of GDAMS. UFPJ has prepared a “how to” kit, with everything you need, including the text of the speech. (Whatever else you do, be sure to read or listen to this speech!)

Start planning a GDAMS action in your community now! And let the rest of the world know about it by adding it to the UFPJ events calendar.

 Please support UFPJ by making a donation today.

Read more of our analysis  here: “US Militarism’s Expanse and the Need for an International Movement to Cut Military Spending”

The post Join the Global Days of Action on Military Spending (April 5-18) appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

STOP FUNDING WAR BUSINESS AS USUAL!

Call your Representative!

Time to stop favoring the Pentagon over urgent human needs at home.

Ask Them to Vote NO! on HR 2397.

Call 202 224 3121 (Capitol Switchboard) and ask for your Rep.

To Find Out your Rep : http://www.contactingthecongress.org/

Background: On June 13, the House Appropriations Committee passed H.R. 2397, the FY 2014 Department of Defense Appropriations Act approving $512.5 billion for the Pentagon base budget (not counting the cost of military construction and nuclear weapons), and $85.8 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations, which is largely for waging war in Afghanistan. For text: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr2397]

Despite countless floor speeches full of moral platitudes about democracy, social justice and peace and hard evidence that the US’ imperial model is unsustainable, the majority in Congress continues to vote for the needs of a powerful military industry at the expense of the needs of most Americans.

This is not just militaristic Republicans. When the House of Representatives voted on the 2014 Defense Authorization bill last month, the majority of Democrats voted in favor (103-90). See Roll Call http://www.gop.gov/votes/113/1/244 to see how your Representative voted. Without strong pressure from us, the results are likely to be the same for the Defense Appropriations Bill when it comes to the floor. perhaps as early as Tuesday afternoon..

The DoD Budget ignores the Budget Control Act’s requirement that half of the $110 billion in additional annual cuts must be shared between military and non-military programs. Instead, the Pentagon budget is 5.4 percent over this year’s spending while the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education are slashed 18.6 percent below this year’s already reduced funding. Energy, conservation, and environmental protection programs will be cut between 11 – 22 percent. It’s neither wise nor fair.

Under sequestration it’s business as usual for the Pentagon and upheaval for the poor and vulnerable as more cuts to critical human need programs are imposed to protect funding for war, weapons and spying. During this fiscal year, the cuts to programs like Head Start, Meals on Wheels, student grants, affordable housing, further reduced services from some of the most needy communities – including families, children, low income mothers, students and elders. Our allies at the Coalition for Human Needs are keeping track of the impact across all 50 states here: http://www.chn.org/background/sequestration-state-fact-sheets-2013/ .

Below is a recent example of how the Pentagon and it’s private sector partners deal with the sequester and waste billions of taxpayer dollars:

…Northrop Grumman’s political strategy “is entirely predictable — hire the right people, target the right people, contribute to the right people, then link them together with subcontractors and go for the gold,” said Gordon Adams, who served as the senior White House budget official for national security from 1993 to 1997 … To read more :http://www.publicintegrity.org/print/12969

Defense Contractors Are Making the Noise!

Members of Congress Need to Hear From Us !

Call 202 224 3121 (Capitol Switchboard) and ask for your Representative

Tell them to Vote NO on another $598 bill Pentagon Spending Bill

Keep the Dream of justice and peace alive, call your Rep and please forward this email widely l…

The post Stop Funding War Business As Usual! CALL-IN TODAY 202-224-3121 appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

The word is that HR 2937 FY 2014 Defense Appropriations Bill ($598.1 billion) will come to the floor the beginning of next week.

As of yesterday, 155 amendments to the bill have been submitted. For the list : http://rules.house.gov/bill/hr-2397 Some of these amendments are for items most of us support: blocking US military engagement in Syria, restricting the use of drones, moving prisoners out of Guantanamo, curtailment of surveillance activities by the NSA. Others point in the opposite direction–attempting to further strengthen US military activity. Most relevant point is that as of now, Republican leadership is considering a rule, which would prevent substantive amendments from being brought to a vote.

While United for Peace and Justice supports all amendments designed to curtail US militarism, we believe that the overall Defense Appropriations Bill should be strongly opposed and that members of Congress must be held accountable for their vote. Hundreds of billions of dollars for more wars and wasteful weapons is a national disgrace at a time when our government is cutting back on Meals-On Wheels and slots for Head Start, along with countless other human needs programs across the country.

Is this only the House Republicans, who are the problem? Unfortunately not.

When the House of Representatives voted on the 2014 Defense Authorization Bill last month, the majority of Democrats voted in favor (103-90). That unfortunately includes some members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. See Roll Call http://www.gop.gov/votes/113/1/244 to see how your Representative voted.

Without additional pressure from us, the results are likely to be the same for the Defense Appropriations Bill.

For sample alert, check out Brooklyn for Peace message to Representative Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn) who supported the 2014 Defense Authorization Act.

http://brooklynpeace.org/?p=3581#more-3581

It’s not too soon to start calling Congressional switchboard and asking your member of Congress to vote NO!

202-224-3121

New action alert from UFPJ to follow …

Rusti and Gael

co-conveners of UFPJ Legislative Action Working Group

The post HR 2937 FY 2014 Defense Appropriations Bill ($598.1 billion) will come to the floor the beginning of next week appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

However, there is more work to do as Washington is not moving in the right direction. Today we have Federal budget sequester cuts hitting communities that have already faced years of local budget reductions. Yet the war in Afghanistan continues and Congress gives the Pentagon so much money that it votes to fund weapon systems and projects the generals do not even want! (Read story here.) How ludicrous is that? Unfortunately, with corporations spending millions on lobbyists and donations to push their influence on Capitol Hill, it makes complete sense.

The Jobs-Not-Wars campaign is organizing local actions or events from Friday, June 21st to Wednesday, July 3rd that highlight the disparities between runaway military spending and cuts to social spending in the federal budget, as these play out in our communities. We will place a spotlight on the priorities and needs of the majority of people. The aims of this initiative are:

To make visible the sites and corporations where military contracts enrich a few, or serve immoral and useless wars, and the places and people hurt by federal budget cuts to social programs;

To put forward the vision and prospect of converting military spending to projects that both generate jobs and serve desperately needed and socially constructive ends;

To help create coalitions of local people, especially involving communities, organizations, agencies and individuals who have not worked together before; and to reach folks that previous actions have not reached.

Join a scheduled event or plan one yourself: Take action. It’s going to take pressure from us, the people to move the nation in the right direction. Let’s empower and motivate each other to speak out. Help plan an event or action. You be the start of an event by planning one yourself. Have you been affected by budget cuts? Do you or someone you know have a story to tell? Contact us to help you connect to a local group and to tell you story.

As events are planned, the Jobs-Not-Wars campaign will post information on its website www.job-not-wars.org Check there often to find events near you. You can download this toolkit to help you organize. If you are involved in planning an event, be sure to send us information so that we can list it (info@jobs-not-wars.org)

Please donate to UFPJ to help us with this effort.

We will keep you updated.

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