Monday, June 5th
5PM Pacific, 6PM Mountain, 7PM Central, 8PM Eastern

Dial-in Number: (605) 472-5575
Access Code: 944808
iPhone: (605) 472-5575, 944808#

Agenda (Eastern Times)

8:00 – 8:20 PM (20 mins) What you need to know about the Yemen crisis and Saudi Arabia arms sales – Kate Kizer, Director of Policy & Advocacy, The Yemen Peace Project (Bio Below)
8:20 – 8:30 PM (10 mins) Q & A
8:30 – 8:40 PM (10 mins) What you can do to end the war in Yemen? How can you stop the Saudi Arms sale? – Kate Gould, Legislative Representative for Middle East Policy, Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) (Bio Below)
8:40 – 8:55 PM (15 mins) Q & A
8:55 – 9:00 PM (5 mins) Next Steps

Briefing Call Cosponsors:
CODEPINK
Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL)
Just Foreign Policy
National Priorities Project
Peace Action
People Demanding Action
STAND: The Student-Led Movement to End Mass Atrocities
The Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM)
The Yemen Peace Project
United for Peace & Justice
US Labor Against the War
Win Without War

Please forward this email to your friends, family and colleagues.

About the Expert Briefers:

Kate Kizer

Director of Policy & Advocacy, Yemen Peace Project
Kate has worked on human rights and democratization in the Middle East for nearly ten years. Kate received her B.A. in Middle Eastern and North African Studies from UCLA, studied Arabic at the American University in Cairo, and is currently an M.A. candidate at Georgetown University’s Democracy and Governance program. Kate has also traveled extensively in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and Syria. Her writing and commentary have been featured in numerous news outlets, including Reuters, Al Jazeera America, Middle East Eye, OpenDemocracy, and the Huffington Post.

Kate directs YPP’s policy and advocacy program to ensure US foreign policy in Yemen reflects the needs and interests of Yemenis and Yemeni Americans.

Kate Gould

Legislative Representative, Middle East Policy
Kate Gould serves as the Legislative Representative for Middle East Policy. Kate directs FCNL’s lobbying on Middle East policy, and is one of only a handful of registered lobbyists in Washington, D.C. working to support diplomatic solutions to disputes between the U.S. and Iran and the conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Israel/Palestine.

Gould was profiled in 2015 as the “Quaker Lobbyist Behind the Iran Deal Fight,” by Congressional Quarterly, an outlet with readership that includes 95% of members of Congress. Kate’s analysis on Middle East policy has been published in The New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today, The Guardian, The Daily Beast, CNN, Reuters, AFP and other national outlets. Kate has appeared as an on-air analyst for various TV and radio programs, including the O’Reilly Factor on Fox News, The Thom Hartmann Show, The Real News Network and CCTV. She is a Political Partner at the Truman National Security Project, and serves as a board member of the Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellowship and Churches for Middle East Peace.

Before coming to FCNL, Kate taught Palestinian school teachers for AMIDEAST while coordinating a radio program on peacebuilding efforts at a joint Israeli-Palestinian think tank in Jerusalem. Kate also interned for Senator Jeff Merkley both in her hometown of Medford, Oregon and in his Washington, DC office. Kate is inspired every day by people she met in the Middle East who practice nonviolence in the face of so much violence: the Palestinian shepherds, Israeli rabbis, Palestinian women’s cooperative owners, therapists in Gaza treating children who have lived through three wars, and Syrian and Iraqi refugees who have started over to make a new life. Kate is a member of the Friends Meeting of Washington.

If you haven’t already, send a letter to Congress: No weapons to Saudi Arabia! No attack on Hodeida! Stop war crimes in Yemen!

The post Urgent Yemen Briefing and Action Steps: Stop the Saudi Arabia Arms Sales appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

There is an extremely important vote in the Senate this afternoon to block the current $1.15 billion weapons sales to Saudi Arabia. Call your Senators NOW at (202) 224-3121 to tell them that you support SJ Resolution 39 blocking this sale.

Based on what we’ve learned from our allies who have been working tirelessly to support and move legislation in Congress, we believe that a vote could reach the Senate floor as early as tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon.

**MANY SENATORS ARE STILL “UNDECIDED” OR ARE 50/50 ON THIS ISSUE… THAT’S WHY THEY NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU, NOW!!**

Your Senator has a rare opportunity to stop this inhumane war profiteering which, is soaked in the blood of thousands of innocent Yemenis. Those on Capitol Hill need to know that you are watching, that we are watching, and we will hold them accountable for their position on this uncontroversial issue.

Join others around the country by picking up your phone now to call the US Capitol Switchboard : (202) 224-3121. Their system will assist you in reaching your Senators and Congressperson.

• You can also go to the US Senate website to find out more information on your senator before calling! http://www.senate.gov/senators/
• You can read more about what’s going on in the Senate and House here,“Bid to block U.S. arms sale to Saudis faces tough opposition” (Reuters, 9/20/16).

After you’ve made your call, please help us track the responses you get from each office.

Message us and let us know who you spoke to and if they’re supporting, opposing, are leaning a particular way, or are undecided on the legislation to block arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

This is a special case where every one of our calls can and will make a difference.

I look forward to hearing from you.

And if you can, please donate $5, right now, so we can continue this ongoing campaign to stop war for profit.

The post Senate to Vote on Blocking Weapons to Saudia Arabia this Wednesday! Call (202) 224-3121, NOW!! appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

Click here for a PDF copy of the Signed Letter to President Obama: https://www.unitedforpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/UFPJ-Letter-to-President-of-USA-Barack-Obama-re-Hiroshima-and-Nuclear-Disarmament.pdf

The post UFPJ Delivers Letter w/ 1,500 Signatures to POTUS Ahead of Hiroshima Visit appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

It’s time to end the toxic legacy of the nuclear age and the threats posed by the existence of nuclear weapons and their evil twins, the 440 “peaceful” nuclear reactors desecrating our earth.

Let us use the tragic anniversaries of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the month of August to expand our circles in order to put our planet on the path to sustainability, ending the nuclear scourge once and for all. Let us use this month to reach out and dialogue with people and organizations beyond the peace movement and our usual partners, coalitions and friends; to educate, to inspire courage and creativity, to illustrate the steps we can take toward abolition, and to build a powerful constituency for a Nuclear Free Future.

We can have a Nuclear Free World!

Our main vehicle for coordinating activities and disseminating information will be the United for Peace and Justice Nuclear Free Future web pages at www.nuclearfreefuture.org, where you will find a variety of action ideas and educational resources. We encourage you to post your group’s planned activities to the calendar you will find on the home page, and endorse our Call to Action. Please share your plans for Hiroshima-Nagasaki memorials this August, but please think outside the traditional bounds and plan and share additional educational events, and actions throughout the month.

Read and endorse the full Call to Action here. And please help us spread the word!

Nuclear-Free Future Month is an initiative of the United for Peace and Justice Nuclear Disarmament/Redefining Security working group. Please show your support for UFPJ and this effort by making a donation of $25, $50 or $100 (or more)! Click here to donate securely on line.

Or make your check payable to United for Peace and Justice and mail it to PO Box 607, Times Square Station, New York, NY 10017. Please note on the memo line: “Nuclear-Free FutureMonth”.

The post Time to Phase Out Nuclear Power and Start a Treaty to Ban The BOMB! appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

We stand in solidarity with the hibakusha – the aging survivors of the atomic bombs dropped by the United States on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 65 years ago, who have recognized that, “Regardless of whether atomic energy is used for peaceful purposes or for destructive reasons, the result is the same and it poses serious risks to all populations.”

We stand in solidarity with Gensuikyo, the Japan Council against A& H Bombs, http://www.antiatom.org/GSKY/en/index.html which has declared: “As a movement working on the basis of the tragic experiences of Hiroshima and Nagasaki for the prevention of any more calamity and for a total ban on nuclear weapons, we… urge the Japanese government to make its all-out effort to avert the worst situation of catastrophic exposure of the entire nation to radiation…. The ongoing disaster at Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant once again shed light to the tremendous danger of continued dependence on nuclear power especially in Japan, the most earthquake-prone country of the world…. We have urged the immediate halt to the new construction of nuclear power plants, and called for an all-out examination of existing nuclear power plants…. Further, we urge it to give priority to the development and promotion of alternative energy resources.”

We stand in solidarity with the Citizens Nuclear Information Centre whose Urgent Demands Regarding the Nuclear-Earthquake Disaster at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plants, signed by 258 groups and 1010 individuals, were delivered to officials from the Japanese Agency for Natural Resources and Energy and the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency on April 4.  These demands include expanding the mandatory evacuation zone around the Fukushima Daiichi Plant from 20km to 30km, establishing compensatory measures for damage due to radioactive contamination of agricultural products within and outside the 30km zone, decommissioning all the nuclear reactors of both Fukushima Daiichi and Daini Nuclear Power Plants, and immediate redirection of Japan’s energy policy to a phase out of nuclear power generation.

We stand in solidarity with the Peace Boat, whose relief teams are on the ground providing direct assistance to the Japanese survivors in the earthquake and tsunami affected region, and with Peace Boat U.S., which is raising funds to support these emergency relief efforts by their affiliate organization in Japan. Peace Boat sent advance teams to the affected areas to collect information about the damage and needs, and to deliver aid including blankets, food and masks. They also delivered meals to two hospitals where patients had run out of food. Peace Boat is currently conducting assessments of the needs and current situation in each evacuation center in the area.

Gensuikyo’s members and member organizations are also providing relief in affected communities, even as they continue their newly launched signature campaign urging the complete abolition of nuclear weapons. From the first days following the earthquake, Zenroren, a public sector labor union has been sending doctors and medical relief into devastated communities. Shinfujin, the New Japan Womens’ Association, is arranging for children in areas of continuing nuclear risk to be sheltered with their members in other parts of Japan.

Shinfujin has also appealed to its friends in the U.S. peace community to ask President Obama and Congress to end the U.S. requirement that Japanese taxpayers provide what is euphemistically called a “sympathy budget.”  This allocation is roughly $2.6 billion a year and pays for Japanese workers at and upkeep of the more than 100 U.S. military bases and installations across Japan. As Shinfujin eloquently explains: “With the unprecedented scale of damage in Tohoku region… and the possible radiation contamination, we need money for the rescue work and for assisting the people who barely survived to recover. In the long run, Japan will need more and more money not only for the reconstruction of the disaster-stricken areas but also for recovering from the economic and human losses we are facing as a whole nation. We cannot afford sustaining U.S. military bases and daily life of the military families any more while we need money to help our fellow people living in sorrow, grief and fear to get back to their normal life as soon as possible, although life will not be the same as it used to be.”

UFPJ urgently calls for complete transparency and full disclosure by the Japanese and U.S. governments and the International Atomic Energy Agency regarding the status of the Fukushima nuclear facilities and the continuing radiation releases, as well as full public disclosure of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization monitoring reports of radiation plumes circling the planet that have so far been released only to the International Atomic Energy Agency and the World Health Organization, so that the abused public can make informed choices.

We call for independent safety inspections of all U.S. nuclear power plants and immediate closure of those found lacking. Local communities must be involved in assessing safety margins, such as uncertainties regarding the history of seismic activity in the region, and developing emergency and evacuation plans.

We call for cancellation of plans to build any new U.S. nuclear power plants, denial of permits for license renewals at existing plants, and phase-out and closure of all remaining plants.

We call for an end to off-shore oil drilling, mountain-top mining and “fracking” for natural gas; withdrawal from our addiction to fossil fuels, and a massive investment in clean, renewable, sustainable decentralized energy sources, including solar, wind and tidal.

We call for closure of U.S. military bases in Japan and around the world, and redirection of resources to meet human needs, including environmentally sustainable energy alternatives. And we reaffirm our call for the immediate commencement of negotiations for the verifiable, global abolition of nuclear weapons within a time bound framework.

To support direct humanitarian relief efforts in Japan, please donate to Peace Boat U.S.

Tax exempt contributions for Zenroren’s relief efforts can be sent via the U.S. United Electrical Workers Union.

*UFPJ works we many allied organizations in Japan – only a few are mentioned here. We worked closely with Gensuikyo, Shinfujin and Peace Boat in organizing the “No Nukes! No Wars!” marches and rallies in New York City in connection with the May 2005 and 2010 five-year review conferences of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

The post UFPJ Statement on Japan’s Triple Crisis appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.