At the grassroots level in occupied cities, people have come together in networks of mutual aid to care for one another where their government is not only failing them, but actively harming them through ICE raids and violent assaults by unidentified masked men.
"When Leaders Falter, the People Must Rise"
Bishop William J. Barber II and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
Trump's Dangerous Nuclear Testing Rhetoric
As the UN Secretary General warned on September 26, the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, "[N]uclear testing threats are returning, while nuclear saber rattling is louder than in past decades." With chaos and uncertainty arising from Donald Trump's October 29 factually challenged social media post, "Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately," the U.S. government's first ever No vote, two days later, on the annual General Assembly resolution in support of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty raises further troubling questions about U.S. intentions. Watch Fallout from decades of nuclear testing in Southern Nevada (6 minutes) Read more.
Photo: U.S. government
Webinar: Nov. 25 - Achieving the [Im]possible: Peace and Disarmament in the Middle East
On Nov. 25, at 7 pm EST/4 pm PST, Emad Kiyaei and Sharon Dolev will explore the power of civil society in shaping the future of the Middle East, and the roles and responsibilities of those engaging with the region at this critical moment. The discussion, hosted by the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament & Common Security, will introduce the Middle East Treaty Organization (METO) approach -- a practical, regional, and collaborative framework advancing peace and disarmament, grounded in trust-building and human security, and will look ahead to the next steps: how ideas become action, and how each of us can contribute to turning the [im]possible into a reality. Sharon Dolev is an Israeli peace and justice activist with a focus on eradicating nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction from the Middle East. Emad Kiyaei, from Iran, works at the intersection of political risk and disarmament. He is a director of METO. Register here.
Shop for Meaningful Holiday Gifts AND Support UFPJ!
United for Peace & Justice is delighted to let our readers know that Syracuse Cultural Workers, a founding UFPJ member, has generously offered to donate 20% of profits from sales generated by UFPJ! Syracuse Cultural Workers strives to nourish communities that honor diversity and creative expression and inspire movements for justice, equity and liberation while respecting our Earth and all its beings. Their calendars, posters, T-shirts, cards, buttons, stickers, and other merch support those movements and the people who build them. UFPJ is honored to be part of that group. Visit the Syracuse Cultural Workers online catalogue to shop a huge assortment of merch promoting active hope and resistance, peace, and almost every progressive issue you can think of! There's sure to be something suitable for everyone on your holiday gift list. Simply click here to place your order or enter Discount Code: UFPJ when you check out, and UFPJ will receive 20% of the profits. THANK YOU!!!
UFPJ's Second Northeast Gathering
On Oct. 19, UFPJ convened its second virtual gathering of peace and anti-war groups from the Northeast region. New Hampshire Peace Action, Massachusetts Peace Action, and Action Corps hosted the event. Coalition building, grassroots organizing, and peacekeeping were discussed. Small groups explored strategies for advocacy and legislation. They recommended ways to unite different issues to include labor and diverse groups to build a deeper and broader movement. Concerns about groups under attack were also discussed. The importance of nonviolent action and nonpartisan support was emphasized. The session concluded with agreement to expand activist networks, empower individual advocacy, and take tangible actions to build momentum. The group may meet again early next year. The recording in 2 parts is here and here.
Ypsilanti City Council Unanimously Affirms the City's Commitment to Peace, Opposes the Los Alamos -- University of Michigan AI Data Center and Joins Mayors for Peace
Ypsilanti, Michigan has gone on record against the construction of a "high-performance computing facility" that would service a nuclear weapons laboratory 1,500 miles away. At its Oct. 21 meeting, the Ypsilanti City Council unanimously approved a resolution affirming the City's commitment to peace and opposition to the proposed Los Alamos and University of Michigan AI data center. At the meeting, Ypsilanti resident K.J. Petri told the Council, "My grandfather was a rocket scientist who worked on Trinity…. This project is furthering inhumanity, this project is furthering destruction, and we don't need more nuclear weapons built by our citizens." As part of the resolution, Ypsilanti is joining Mayors for Peace, an international association of more than 8,500 cities in 166 countries led by the Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Read more.
Unchecked Barbarity: United for Peace and Justice Israel-Palestine War Resources
The UN Security Council has passed a resolution "Welcoming the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict." The passage of the resolution looks less like a path to peace than a sign of exhaustion on the part of the world's governments, creating vaguely defined structures dominated by Israel's foremost ally, the Trump administration, and containing even vaguer verbiage regarding future Palestinian statehood. Meanwhile, Israel's ceasefire violations continue and the killing of Palestinians and destruction of Gaza go on, as the world's governments turn their eyes away. All this further strains an eroding international law regime. As a UN human rights expert told the General Assembly last year, "Under our watch, we have been permitting the clock to turn back to an era of unchecked barbarity." Find these and other resources here.
Image: Rousseau Diderot, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
New Book Examines the Guantanamo Military Commissions -- America's Trial: Torture and the 9/11 Case on Guantanamo Bay
As the 24th anniversary of the Guantanamo law of war detention facilities built after the September 11th terrorist attacks approaches, a new book by journalist John Ryan offers a comprehensive account of the effort to prosecute the five Guantanamo Bay detainees accused of planning the 9/11 attacks. Ryan probes the central challenge the proceedings hinge upon, whether a democracy has the legal and moral authority to prosecute men it tortured. Tracing the nearly 14 years of 9/11 litigation taking place in the military commissions on the remote Caribbean naval base at Guantanamo, America's Trial ponders the cost the nation has paid for violating its values, its Constitution, and international law with the CIA torture program. Ryan recently discussed his work with legal scholar Karen Greenberg and founding member of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows Terry Rockefeller at the NYC Bar Association. View their discussion here.
The 9/11 Case Is Stalled Amidst Proceedings in Three Different Courts
The trial of the five men accused of planning and supporting the 9/11 attacks has fractured into three parts. Three of the defendants continue to pursue recognition of the pre-trial agreements (PTAs) they signed that were later nullified by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. This litigation is before the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, where a three-judge panel ruled 2-to-1 that Austin could withdraw the PTAs. The defendants now seek a hearing before the full court, but proceedings halted during the government shutdown. In the military commissions at Guantanamo the government is arguing that a defendant previously ruled incompetent to participate in his own defense, has been cured, despite having received no treatment. In the case of the fifth defendant, who chose not to sign a PTA, the judge ruled his confessions to the FBI are inadmissible; the government is appealing the decision in the Court of Military Commissions Review.
Webinar Recording: The Rising Generation's Peace & Justice Priorities
Through conversations with young U.S. and European organizers working on different aspects of peace, justice, and human rights, this Nov. 18 webinar, co-sponsored by the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security and Mass. Peace Action Education Fund, explores how a new generation of activists are reshaping long-term strategies for social change. The four speakers, Owen Madaus, Mina Damnjanovic, Linus Lanfermann-Baumann, and Nick Rabb, discuss how they got involved in organizing, what motivates them, and how today's political realities shape their activism. While focused on a range of issues including climate change, abolishing nuclear weapons, feminism, anti-war work, immigrant rights, and labor organizing, all land on a similar message. True social change, they agree, requires long-term thinking, building broad coalitions and allowing a new generation of organizers to lead in their own way. View the webinar recording. Use Passcode: F9v&fiYj
"When Leaders Falter, the People Must Rise"
In a Nov. 12 Our Moral Moment post, Bishop William J. Barber II and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove examine the most recent Congressional failings and kowtowing to Trump, accepting false promises to end the shutdown with no commitment to critical healthcare subsidies. "You cannot make a deal with an authoritarian who doesn't keep his word and refuses accountability," they write. "This is a lesson as old as Moses' confrontation with Pharaoh." They continue, "The rabbis say that the Red Sea didn't part to make a way for the people to escape Pharaoh's violence until Moses had waded into the water up to his neck. We need leadership that will wade in the water, and they need a mass movement at their back, making clear that this is a moral struggle, and we are moving forward together, not one step back." Read more. Thanks to the California Poor People's Campaign
Politicians Bargain, Sharpening Their Knives: United for Peace and Justice Ukraine War Resources
The U.S. and Russian governments are once again seeking to cut a deal over the heads of those most affected, the people of Ukraine and Europe. Terms of the deal include most of Russia's previous demands, such as ceding unconquered territory to Russia and significant limits on Ukraine's military capabilities. The leaked text evoked predictable responses, some rejecting it outright but others seeing it as providing a useful negotiating framework. Meanwhile, facing another winter of energy shortages due to Russian air attacks and a corruption scandal in the heights of their own government, Ukrainian socialist group Sotsialnyi Rukh has issued a statement: "Only through mass organisation and solidarity is victory in the war and fair reconstruction afterwards possible." Find more Ukraine War resources here.
Webinar Recording -- 100 Days: Preventing a Nuclear Arms Race After the New START Treaty
October 28, 2025, marked 100 days before the expiration of the New START treaty, the last treaty constraining the world's two largest nuclear arsenals. On this date, Win Without War hosted a webinar connecting the past harms of nuclear testing and production to the urgent need to stop a new nuclear weapons buildup today -- before we repeat past and ongoing harms. The webinar featured Mary Dickson, Utah nuclear testing downwinder and playwright, Allen Hester, Friends Committee on National Legislation, and Maylene Hughs, grassroots organizer with Physicians for Social Responsibility, Los Angeles and the Back From the Brink Campaign, with remarks from special guest, Michigan Representative Rashida Tlaib. Watch the recording here.
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