The call was held at 8:30pm EDT, 5:30pm PDT on Wednesday, March 15. Over 213 activists from around the country RSVP’d in advance.

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Click here to find the resources discussed on our call.

Featured Panelists:

• Abed Ayoub, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
• Shannon Al-Wakeel, Muslim Jusitice League
• George Friday, Movement to End Racism and Islamophobia
• Donna Nevel, Network Against Islamophobia, JVP
• Mary Zerkel, American Friends Service Committee

On the call we cover Trump’s Muslim ban 2.0, and how designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization will negatively impact Muslim civil society, and why Obama’s Countering Violent Extremism program will be even more problematic under Trump.

We also review training curriculum and resources that our members groups have created and that you may use to host a workshop, lead a training, and improve solidarity through action in your community.

We hear from activists around the country about what they are doing to confront Islamophobia in their communities.

Click here to find the resources discussed on our call.

Listen to this valuable call and please chip in $5 today to keep UFPJ running in our 15th year.

The post LISTEN: National Briefing Call on Confronting Islamophobia appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

Regarding the facts:

Talking Points from Phyllis Bennis, Director, New Internationalism Project Institute for Policy Studlies

Tom Hayden – A Call for Forceful Diplomacy http://www.pdamerica.org/component/k2/item/1809-tom-hayden-a-call-for-forceful-diplomacy

9 Ways America Has Fueled the Bloody Civil War in Syria: America has undermined opportunities for ceasefire in Syria and a peaceful political transition. AlterNet- by Nicolas J.S. Davies

McClatchy News Service, “To some, US case for Syrian gas attack, strike has too many holes,”  http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/09/02/201027/to-some-us-case-for-syrian-gas.html#.Uid-LFcpg_g

Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, “Which Syrian Chemical Attack Account Is More Credible?”  http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/09/01/which-syrian-chemical-attack-account-is-more-credible/

International Law:

Oona A. Hathaway and Scott J. Shapiro “On Syria, a U.N. Vote Isn’t Optional,”  New York Times Op Ed, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/04/opinion/on-syria-a-un-vote-isnt-optional.html

“The Rush to Bomb Syria: Undermining International Law and Risking Wider War,” Western States Legal Foundation Briefing Paper, http://wslfweb.org/docs/wslfsyriabrief1.pdf

What Makes America So Prone to Intervention?: A conversation with Stanley Hauerwas, pacifist theologian, on Syria and why “humanitarianism” is a red herring.
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/09/what-makes-america-so-prone-to-intervention/279393/ 

Faith Group Statements Opposing Military Action in Syria—Not Exhaustive:

Letter from Trappist Nuns in Syria: “Blood Fills our Streets, our eyes, our hearts”  (http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Blog/2538/a_letter_from_trappist_nuns_in_syria_blood_fills_our_streets_our_eyes_our_heart.aspx#.UiOiqGSDR7P).

Pope Francis: violence begets violence http://paxchristiusa.org/2013/09/03/syria-pope-francis-war-begets-war-violence-begets-violence-calls-for-peace-for-syria/

Pax Christi International:  http://paxchristiusa.org/2013/08/29/statement-dialogue-is-the-only-way-towards-an-end-of-the-violence-in-syria/

Pax Christi USA:  http://paxchristiusa.org/2013/08/31/syria-war-is-still-a-defeat-for-humanity/ (links to US Bishops and Pope’s statements on web site)

US Conference of Catholic Bishops: http://www.usccb.org/news/2013/13-157.cfm

Sisters of Mercy of the Americas:  www.sistersofmercy.org

NETWORK: National Catholic Social Justice Lobby: www.networklobby.org

Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns and action items from CMSM, incl.  Syrian bishop speaking out against U.S. Military Action: http://maryknollogc.org/alerts/urge-congress-dont-attack-syria

NCR Article:  What moral theologians say about getting involved in Syria http://ncronline.org/news/global/what-moral-theologians-say-about-getting-involved-syria

Sojourners:  http://sojo.net/blogs/2013/08/29/syria-we-must-use-moral-compass-guide-our-moral-outrage

Pax Christi USA:  http://paxchristiusa.org/2013/08/31/syria-war-is-still-a-defeat-for-humanity/ (links to US Bishops and Pope’s statements on web site)

Mennonite Church USA:  http://www.mennoniteusa.org/?s=syria&x=0&y=0 and http://washingtonmemo.org/category/issues/middle-east-issues/

United Church of Christ and Disciples of Christ:  http://globalministries.org/news/mee/churches-address-president.html and http://www.ucc.org/news/syria-refugees-08022013.html

Presbyterians (PCUSA): http://www.pcusa.org/news/2013/8/30/stated-clerk-issues-statement-wake-escalating-viol/

The post Syria Resources appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

In the 1980s, during Reagan’s war in Central America, there was a movement called the Pledge of Resistance. The basic idea was that you sign a pledge that if Reagan invades Nicaragua, you’re willing to get arrested in mass civil disobedience. Of course, people involved in the Pledge of Resistance did not just sit around waiting for Reagan to invade Nicaragua to take action. They lobbied Congress to cut off funding for the US-organized Contra terrorists who were killing Nicaraguan civilians; they wrote letters to the editor; they gave talks in church basements; they organized material aid to Nicaragua; they opposed Reagan’s air war in El Salvador and US military aid to the death squad government there. The pledge was to “resist” US “intervention” in Central America by all the nonviolent means at our disposal, but the willingness to participate in mass arrests in the event of a US ground invasion was a fundamental animating idea.

We need a Pledge of Resistance now to prevent a war with Iran. If members of Congress know that if they refuse to pledge to vote against war with Iran, their district offices are going to be occupied, that they and their staffs are going to be dogged at every public appearance, that their names are going to be mud in local media, support for another war will evaporate.

Moreover, a pledge to resist “all options are on the table” will allow local activists to force a national discussion which traditional, establishment media have so far largely excluded: the one in which proposed cuts in domestic spending and proposed military spending are examined on the same chalkboard, so everyone can see and discuss the trade-offs that are implicit in the choices that are being proposed. This dialogue will allow antiwar activists to pursue the holy grail of antiwar activism: connecting the cost of the endless war with cuts in domestic spending for human needs.

The post Why We Need an Iran Pledge of Resistance appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

by Peter Finn

AUSTIN – The suspect’s house, just west of this city, sat on a hilltop at the end of a steep, exposed driveway. Agents with the Texas Department of Public Safety believed the man inside had a large stash of drugs and a cache of weapons, including high-caliber rifles.

The post Domestic use of aerial drones by law enforcement likely to prompt privacy debate appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

Polling.com The polls from this site seemed mix. People are not necessarily for war, but they seem to believe a firm stand to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons is in order.

War on Iran? Most American, Israeli Citizens Oppose: 64% of Israelis favor a nuclear-free zone – Common Dreams staff

National Journal: United Technologies/National Journal “Congressional Connection Poll”   Jan 30, 2012 – Those surveyed were asked “how far do you think the United States should go to prevent” Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Some 47 percent favored economic sanctions against Iran, but only 13 percent said the U.S. should “go farther and take covert action against Iran such as sabotage and assassination of scientists working on their weapons program,” and just 17 percent would go still farther and “take military action against Iran, including bombing weapons facilities inside the country.”

Anwar Sadat Chair at the University of Maryland and the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) Nov 10-116, 2011 University of Maryland poll Nearly two-thirds of Israeli Jews, 64 percent, favor establishing a nuclear free zone in the Middle East – even when it was spelled out that this would mean both Israel and Iran would have to forego nuclear weapons . See PDF of poll here.

Politico November 11, 2011 Poll: Half Could Support Iran Attack (This is a really mixed survey. You must read this one.)

CBS/Vanity Fair Poll October, 2010: This is an old poll, but the the response to the question, Which would cause you to support a war with Iran? is very interesting. It looks like the survey is still open. This link leads to comments about the survey and this leads directly to the survey. Part of the results: 30% say the support war only if Iran attacks U.S. soil and 27% say nothing can get them to support war.

The post Public Opinion about military Action Against Iran appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

Here are links to Iranian voices speaking on the threat of war and two articles about the drive to war with Iran.

We also saw that the Iran-Iraq war led to what happened in the 1980s. Violent crimes rose and a revolution whose main slogan was ‘freedom’ and ‘independence,’ and had chosen the Islamic Republic in order to realize these goals, instead reached a point where it killed and oppressed its opponents. Supporters of human rights like us, who established the Defenders of Human Rights Center, were persecuted and imprisoned. In the end, the goals of the 1979 revolution were not realized.

Download PDF of report here.

Network of Iranian Labor Units: NILU is an independent labor organization involved in several unionization drives in Iran. In addition, we are dedicated to providing assistance to Iran’s fledging trade union movement with expertise, resources, information, and international trade union support. This is done through our website.

Is Iran the Root of All Evil Glenn Greenwald: Salon  – The Washington Post‘s David Ignatius yesterday reported that Leon Pantta believes there is “a strong likelihood that Israel will strike Iran in April, May or June,” while the Face of American Meritocracy, NBC News‘ Luke Russert, today said that ”NBC can report Sec of Defense Panetta says there’s a greater than 50% chance Israel will attack Iran in the coming months.” If that does happen, many Americans will undoubtedly be entirely supportive because they know (at least the ones who read American newspapers and listen to their government officials) that Iran is the Evil-est since Saddam’s Iraq:

Why Aren’t We Negotiating With Iran? Foreign Policy: Michael M. Walt – The drumbeats for war with Iran keep pounding, as you can read about here and here.  There are some features of the campaign that are scarily (or maybe comically) reminiscent of 2002-2003 (as Glenn Greenwald documents here), but for now there’s one key difference. Back in 2002, the neocon-heavy Bush administration led the charge to sell the invasion of Iraq. Today, by contrast, the case for war is being made primarily by other countries (i.e., Israel), or by assorted think tanks, lobbying groups, and national security commentators in the United States. The Obama administration isn’t leading the campaign, having correctly concluded that a war is neither necessary nor wise. In particular, they do not seem to have bought into the rampant threat inflation that forms the core of the hawks’ case for war.

The post Manufacturing the Iran Threat appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

We need a break, and as Congress returns to Washington they’re thinking of giving us one. Extended unemployment benefits and payroll tax cuts are on the table again. But check out how they might pay for that. Congress could eliminate Saturday mail delivery, cut federal employee benefits, cut healthcare spending, and sell public property to wireless companies and developers.

These proposals would ask the people hardest hit by the recession to pay for their own relief. It’s like cutting off your arm to quiet your leg.

We have a better idea: make taxes fair and cut unnecessary military spending.

At a time when some of the richest corporations pay no taxes, and some of the wealthiest families pay lower tax rates than you and I, it is outrageous to take more from working people. Let’s make the folks who crashed the economy pay a little bit of the cost.

And at a time when the Pentagon is eating 60c on every dollar in the federal discretionary budget, it’s time military spending took a serious hit. A far smaller military would make us far safer by not deploying forces around the world and getting us into wars we don’t need.

Basic framing for the winter-spring campaign

We want to make two points over and over.

One is choice. It’s either-or. Us or the Pentagon. War or economic recovery.

The other is real security. We’d be much safer with a much smaller military. Troops, bases, ships, warplanes stationed around the world aren’t defending you and me. They’re drawing us into fights we don’t need and can’t win.

Info you can cite

Few Cities Have Regained Jobs They Lost, Report Finds (article in 1/18/2012 New York Times)

Back from break, Congress faces payroll tax talks (AP story in 1/16/2012 Boston Globe)

Other budget battles coming up

Jan 24 – State of the Union address

Early February – president releases his budget, then others release theirs (GOP, Progressive Caucus, Rep. Markey); arm-wrestling over the budgets continues through March

Sometime in here – hawks introduce their “exempt the Pentagon” bill

End of March? April? House votes on budget

April 17: Tax Day and Global Day of Action on Military Spending

The post New Priorities Network: How do we pay for unemployment insurance and payroll tax cuts? appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.