We know that there is NO MILITARY SOLUTION to the conflicts in Iraq and Syria. Our movement needs to organize to ensure that we do not repeat the disastrous policies of the past.

Phyllis Bennis (IPS) reviewed recent developments in Iraq and the larger region, offering crucial perspective on challenging the current narrative concerning ISIS, the existing terrorist threat, the legitimacy and motives of the current Iraqi government, and the responsibility the U.S. government bears for the developing conflict. She presented arguments for the only solution to Iraq’s current conflict – a ceasefire, an arms embargo, negotiations involving all the regional players, and a commitment to reconciliation.

Terry Rockefeller (September 11^th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows and UFPJ) offered perspectives on the emerging humanitarian crisis and efforts by Iraqi civil society activists to address the sectarian conflict that is devastating their country.

Rusti Eisenberg (Co-coordinator of UFPJ’s legislative action working group) discussed on-going efforts to pressure Congress and the White House to reject US military engagement and how peace and justice activists need to move this work forward.

If you appreciate these timely briefing calls, please make a donation to UFPJ so that we can continue to keep our member groups and dedicated activists linked together for effective action and impact.

The post LISTEN: IRAQ – US do no harm! There is NO military solution (Audio) appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

Rep. Barbara Lee as House Foreign Affairs Committee Holds Hearing Proposed Iraq Legislation

To this point the only organized expressions of Congressional opinion have occurred in the House.Rep. Barbara Lee has taken the lead on this.

Last month, when the House of Representatives was deliberating on the FY 2015 Defense Appropriations Bill, she offered two amendments aimed at preventing US military intervention in Iraq. While both amendments were defeated, they gained significant support:

Rejected 165-250 Lee (D-CA) amendment to prohibit the use of funds to be used for the purposes of conducting combat operations in Iraq.

Rejected 182-231 Lee (D-CA) amendment to prohibit use of funds to be obligated or expended pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002.

 

More recently, Rep. Lee joined with Republican Representative Scott Rigell in circulating a letter to the President encouraging diplomacy and insisting that any use of military force must be debated and authorized by Congress. Eighty members of Congress have signed on. This letter is now re-opened for signers.

See list of signatories and text below:

Dear Mr. President:

We join you and with those in the international community who are expressing grave concern over the rise in sectarian violence in Iraq over the last days and weeks. The consequences of this development are particularly troubling given the extraordinary loss of American lives and expenditure of funds over ten years that was claimed to be necessary to bring democracy, stability and a respect for human rights to Iraq.

We support your restraint to date in resisting the calls for a “quick” and “easy” military intervention, and for your commitment not to send combat troops back to Iraq. We also appreciate your acknowledgement that this conflict requires a political solution, and that military action alone cannot successfully lead to a resolution.

We do not believe any such intervention could be either quick or easy. And, we doubt it would be effective in meeting either humanitarian or strategic goals, and we are certain that it could very well be counter-productive. This is a moment for urgent consultations and engagement with all parties in the region who could bring about a cease fire and launch a dialogue that could lead to a reconciliation of the conflict that is spreading like a conflagration through the region.

Any solution to this complex political crisis can only be achieved through such an effort, and nothing short of that can successfully bring stability to Iraq or the region and only if the process and outcome is inclusive of all segments of the Iraqi population.

As you consider options for U.S. intervention, we write to urge respect for the constitutional requirements for using force abroad. The Constitution vests in Congress the power and responsibility to authorize offensive military action abroad.

The use of military force in Iraq is something the Congress should fully debate and authorize. Members of Congress must consider all the facts and alternatives before we can determine whether military action would contribute to ending this most recent violence, create a climate for political stability, and protect civilians from greater harm.

We stand ready to work with you to this end.

Sincerely,

Justin Amash

Karen Bass

Earl Blumenauer

Julia Brownley

Paul Broun

Cheri Bustos

Michael Capuano

Lois Capps

Tony Cardenas

Andre Carson

Judy Chu

Katherine Clark

Yvette Clarke

Emanuel Cleaver

Steve Cohen

John Conyers

Lloyd Doggett

Anna Eshoo

Peter DeFazio

Rosa DeLauro

Lloyd Doggett

John J. Duncan Jr.

Keith Ellison

Sam Farr

Los Frankel

John Garamendi

Chris Gibson

Alan Grayson

Raul Grijalva

Janice Hahn

Alcee Hastngs

James Himes

Rush Holt

Michael Honda

Jared Huffman

Hakeem Jeffries

Henry C. “Hank” Johnson Jr.

Walter Jones

Marci Kaptur

Kathy Kastor

William Keating

Joseph P. Kennedy III

Ann McLane Kuster

John. B. Larson

Barbara Lee

Sheila Jackson Lee

John Lewis

Zoe Lofgren

Alan Lowenthal

Stephen Lynch

Carolyn Maloney

Thomas Massie

Jim McDermott

Betty McCollum

Gloria McLeod

James McGovern

Michael Michaud

George Miller

James P. Moran

Jerrold Nadler

Grace Napolitano

Rchard Neal

Richard P. Nolan

Eleanor Holmes Norton

Beto O’Rourke

Fran Palllone

Ed Pastor

Dnald Payne

Colin Peterson

Chellie Pingree

Mark Pocan

Charles Rangel

Reid Ribble

Scott E. Rigell

Bobby Rush

Matt Salmon

John Sarbanes

Kurt Schrader

Robert C. “Bobby” Scott

Jose Serrano

Krysten Sinema

Louise Slaughter

Jackie Speier

Mike Takano

John Tierney

Bennie Thompson

Niki Tsongas

Nydia Velazquez

Maxine Waters

Peter Welch

The post Call Your Rep to Sign on to Lee/Rigell Letter Opposing US Military in Iraq appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

The Senate is back in session and will soon be considering the Nuclear Weapons Free Iran Act (S 1881). The clear purpose of this bill is to undermine the promising diplomatic opening to Iran, undertaken by the Obama Administration. 

The vast majority of Americans are tired of war and want peaceful solutions to problems. But the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and Israel’s hard-line Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are lobbying furiously to prevent these negotiations from succeeding. This joint effort has already produced 47 co–sponsors in the Senate.

The post Your Voice Is Urgently Needed! To Advance Diplomacy and Avoid War appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

However, in response to intense lobbying by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and Israel’s hard-line Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a bi-partisan group of Senators is threatening to scuttle the deal by passing legislation (S. 1881) that would impose additional sanctions on Iran before giving the negotiations a chance to succeed. We have made some progress, with 20 Senators now opposing the bill in support of diplomacy. But, with 59 co-sponsors, and 19 Senators not publicly decided, we need to keep up the pressure to make the bill veto-proof. (See below.) A similar bill could be introduced in the House any time.

Good news! A New Israeli Peace Movement

In December 2012, Israel and the U.S. scuttled a United Nations-mandated conference in Helsinki to commence negotiations to establish a Nuclear Weapons and Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone in the Middle East.

As recently described in the UK Guardian: “The exotic tale of the bomb hidden in the desert is a true story, though. It’s just one that applies to another country. In an extraordinary feat of subterfuge, Israel managed to assemble an entire underground nuclear arsenal – now estimated at 80 warheads… with a minimum of international outcry or even much public awareness of what it was doing.”

We have been led to believe that there is no opposition in Israel to its own nuclear weapons. However, last month an unprecedented coalition of former and current members of the Israeli Parliament (Knesset) with Israeli peace and human rights organizations held a historic international conference in Haifa, For a Nuclear Weapons and Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Free Zone in the Middle East. The Haifa Conference Declaration, signed by former and current members of the Knesset, members of the French and German parliaments, and leading Israeli and international anti-nuclear, peace and human rights activists, calls for prompt convening of the stalled Helsinki Conference as a permanent diplomatic solution to the ongoing threat of catastrophic war in the Middle East.

As former Knesset member Issam Makhoul, the first member to raise the question of Israel’s nuclear weapons, in 2000, declared in Haifa: “The security of Israel will not be safeguarded by disastrous war threats, but by achieving a political solution, in the framework of a WMD Free Zone in the Middle East. This is the new wind that is blowing from Geneva, this is the new wind that is blowing from the agreement reached in Syria about their Chemical weapons arsenal, and this is the wind blowing on all the peoples of the region and the world in this day and age. For this message to be realized, all sides are needed to attend the UN-sponsored Helsinki Conference on a WMD and Nuclear Weapons’ Free Zone in the Middle East.”

Please share news of this exciting new Israeli peoples’ peace initiative with your elected representatives, your fellow activists, and your friends!

Keep Up the Pressure on Congress!

Call both of your Senators, toll-free, at 855-68-NO-WAR (855-686-6927). If they are co-sponsors of  S.1881, the “Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act” let them know you want them to withdraw their name. If they are not co-sponsors, let them know you expect a NO vote! If they have publicly taken a position in opposition to this dangerous bill, thank them. Click here to find out where your Senators stand.

The post Iran, Israeli Peace Movement & Pressuring Congress appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

This week the House of Representatives will be voting on two dangerous bills:

Representative Cantor  (R-VA), with the support of some Democrats, will introduce legislation calling for increased sanctions on Iran and zero enrichment of uranium. This bill could totally derail on-going negotiations, make a final deal impossible, and put us on a path to war. Its aim is in fact to undermine a diplomatic solution.

Also this week, the House will be voting on a final version of the 2014 National Defense Authorization Bill. This measure includes $80.7 billion to continue the war in Afghanistan, on top of a $552.1 billion base budget for the Pentagon. Coming at a time, when we are experiencing cuts in food stamps, public housing, Head Start and a host of federal programs that our people urgently need – this bill is outrageous!

Please call your Representative today on the Capitol Switchboard

1-855-686-6927 with two messages:

• I strongly urge you to vote against Rep. Cantor’s legislation on Iran, which would tie the hands of our negotiators and prevent a diplomatic solution.
• I strongly urge you to vote against the 2014 Defense Authorization Act, which continues the war in Afghanistan and squanders billions of dollars on wasteful weapons systems at a time when we are not adequately funding the urgent needs of our people.

Call Today! Then Ask Your Friends and Family to Join in this Vital Effort.

Capitol Switchboard 1-855-686-6927

The post ACT NOW: Stop Iran Legislation & National Defense Authorization Act 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.

Click here for more information about the November Vigil at the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia

The American people are decisively rejecting the “military solutions” approach of the Pentagon-driven U.S. foreign policy. Let’s build on that! Mass mobilizations of people who organize themselves to struggle collectively for a better world, are a key element for our success as a movement.

United for Peace and Justice is supporting the November Vigil to Close the SOA, Resist Empire and End U.S. Militarization, that is taking place fromNovember 22-24, 2013 at the gates ofFort Benning, Georgia.

Together with social movement activists from Chile, Guatemala, Mexico, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Colombia and from across the Americas, we will carry our protest to the place where the Pentagon is training repressive foreign militaries for its dirty work in Latin America: the School of the Americas (renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation) in Fort Benning, Georgia. Join and take a stand against U.S. militarization, and oppressive U.S. foreign policy. Commemorate those who have been killed, and celebrate the resistance. Join us and make your travel plans now!

Thousands will converge at the gates of the SOA, where we continue to reaffirm life and our creativity in the face of Empire. We will come together as a community to mourn, resist, learn, heal, and celebrate.

The weekend includes a rally with speakers and musiciansfrom across the Americas, a solemn funeral procession to commemorate the martyrs, art, music and street theater to celebrate the resistance, a protest at a for-profit immigrant prison, nonviolent direct action, a conference with workshops, film screenings, trainings etc., a puppetista pageant, concerts, a Peoples Movement Assembly, Son Solidario, community, grassroots movement building, and more (click here for the Schedule of Events).

We need everyone’s energy, creativity and participation (Click here for information on what you can do.). The ongoing repression in Honduras following the SOA graduate-led military coup, the expansion of U.S. military bases in Colombia and Panama, and the militarization of the U.S./Mexico border are grim examples of what we are up against. We must come together to reaffirm our commitment to ending militarization and injustice. We see hope as movements throughout the hemisphere are standing up for dignity and self-determination.

Please join the mobilizing efforts,download, print and distribute theNovember Vigil Flyer.

See you at the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia!

The post Nov. 22-24: Close the SOA, Resist Militarization appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

Over the next week, Congress will be voting on the decision to attack Syria.  We must use every peaceful, non-violent means available to stop the rush to war. It is critical we contact our elected representatives now before the momentum for war is irreversible.

• Learn the facts: click here for a compilation of resources on the crisis in Syria
• Contact your Representative through phone and email, and visit their offices if you can. Find your Representative and their contact information here, or call the Congressional Switchboard at 202-224-3121.  Let the UFPJ legislative working group know what results you get with your calls and visits; contact the UFPJ legislative working group conveners at rustiandgael@unitedforpeace.org
• Sign the Petition, Tell Congress: Don’t Bomb Syria
• Participate in a local action or plan one of your own – click here for lists of current actions being planned, or click here to register your action on the UFPJ website.  Organize a peaceful protest, march, vigil in your local communities (city hall, federal building, etc) anytime this week, call for “NO attacks on Syria!”
• Join the No War with Syria Thunderclap. Speak in one powerful voice to Congress on September 9 as they meet to vote on military action in Syria!

The use of chemical weapons is monstrous, and a violation of international law.  UFPJ condemns the use of chemical weapons by any party and calls for all countries to cooperate in finding out what happened in Syria, and in identifying and prosecuting those responsible for any chemical weapons use. However, there is no basis in international law for the United States to decide for itself who the guilty parties are, and to punish them by a military assault that will kill many innocents along with those presumed guilty. It will also risk a far wider war.  Even before the first missile has been launched, the war caucus in Congress has been pushing President Obama for a more open-ended military campaign aimed at toppling the Syrian government.

The alternative is not “doing nothing.” Instead, the United States should be cooperating with the rest of the world through mechanisms provided by the United Nations and the Chemical Weapons Convention, to find out what has happened and to formulate a truly international response.  This is not merely an option, it is a legal requirement.  Under the circumstances here, where Syria has not attacked any other country, no country may decide for itself to use military force.  The U.S. government also should exert its considerable power and influence in other ways that lessen, rather than increase the intensity of conflict and the risk of wider war. The U.S. should join with Russia and other powers that provide support to the warring sides to press for a cease-fire and negotiations. All parties should stop the flow of weapons not only to Syria but into the region, and should commit to a Middle East ban on all nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons.

Those who advocate going to war against Syria know that their case is weak, and that the majority of the American people are against another war of choice. Most Americans want an end to endless war making that drains resources from their communities and sends our children across the world to kill the children of others, serving the purposes only of a rich and powerful few.  The artificial urgency of those who campaign for war is a sign of weakness. They want to commit the country to war before the American people have time to learn the facts and organize ourselves in opposition.  Congress is split, with members knowing that another war is unpopular and risky. Polls show that Americans reject a military attack on Syria by a two-to-one majority. WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

The post Act Now to Stop U.S. War with Syria appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

Please take action and make your voice heard.  Let’s stop a US attack in Syria before it starts. 

• Sign this petition and help spread it through social media!
• Call the White House at 202-456-1111 or  the Switchboard at 202-456-1414
• Call your elected Representatives and Senators in their State or District offices (they are on recess) – Demand NO military intervention in Syria. To find the phone number: http://capwiz.com/fconl/directory/congdir.tt?action=myreps_form
• Organize a peaceful protest, march, vigil at your local communities (city hall, federal building, etc.) anytime this week, call for “NO attacks on Syria!”
• If the U.S. attacks Syria, organize local actions, after the attack begins, either 6PM on same day if the attacks begin during U.S. day time (local Syria evening time), or 5PM the next day if the attacks begin during U.S. evening time (local Syria day time)
• Download 4 posters here! 

Download poster PDF here!

For peace with justice,

Michael McPhearson, Veterans For Peace

Jackie Cabasso, Western States Legal Foundation

Michael Eisenscher, U.S. Labor Against War

Rusti Eisenberg, Brooklyn for Peace

Lisa Fithian, Alliance for Community Trainers (ACT)

Lee Siu Hin, National Immigrant Solidarity Network

Siri Margerin, Civilian Soldier Alliance

Gael Murphy, UFPJ Legislative Working Group

Terry Rockefeller, Peaceful Tomorrows

The post Take Action: No U.S. Military Intervention in Syria appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

UFPJ Plan of Action for the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington: Shining a Light for Peace, Jobs, Justice and Freedom

We will gather together in Washington DC and in communities across the country to commemorate this great march and to renew our commitment to keep marching for a just future.  We are taking an action for peace in Washington DC on Friday night and we will be making our call for peace, jobs, justice and freedom visible throughout the day on Saturday.  We hope you can join us.

Whether you’re coming to DC or commemorating the event locally, click here to download posters.

Friday Night, August 23: ACT FOR PEACE

Assemble at 8 PM at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial for some commemorative words and wreath laying, followed by the Light Brigade visuals at the Reflecting Pool and candle light procession to the MLK Memorial where we will close with some more words and wreath laying ceremony

Saturday, August 24: SHINE A LIGHT

8am-10am: Meet-up at 14th and Constitution to pick up signs and information to distribute. Find a buddy and help get the peace message out!   To volunteer, email info.ufpj@gmail.com

11am: Assemble near the Vietnam Veteran Memorial near the paths north of the reflecting pool under the trees, between 21st and 22nd Street. There are not reserved spaces for the march, so it may be very crowded. We will look for each other and gather if we can, and if not we will all be out there making the message of peace visible for all to see.  The march will begin around 12:30pm.

For the full schedule of events for the weekend, click here

The post Commemorate 50 Years of Marching for Justice appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.