I am
tired of being
psychologically assaulted and watching the world be destroyed on a daily
basis.
Handmade
sign at the
New York City
No Kings
Day
Demonstration
No Kings Day!! What’s Next?
Over 7
million of us
were in the
streets on
Oct. 18!
No Kings Day was
historic. No
Kings Day was
one of the
largest,
nonviolent,
lawful, protests
in American
history. It was
also one day –
and one day does
not define a
movement. The No
Kings Alliance
will be updating
Calls To Action
(CTAs) on this site every
Wednesday. The
Trump
administration
is as
unpredictable as
it is dangerous.
We can’t know
exactly what the
flashpoint will
be next week,
much less in a
month. This
page will
allow us the
flexibility to
fight back
against their
authoritarian
agenda in real
time through
weekly CTAs. The
Next Steps page
also has a link
where you'll
find resources
to ensure you
and your
community know
what to do
when faced with
federal agents
or law
enforcement. Watch
the What's
Next? Follow
up mass call
recording.
Now Is the Time for Moral Courage:
An interview
with Bishop
William J.
Barber II
Mass
mobilizations
like No Kings
Day are always
about more than
a day. Seven
million
Americans took
to the streets
in every major
U.S. city and
hundreds of
towns and
villages on
October 18 to
say, "Enough."
They were making
a public
commitment to
stand against
tyranny. Bishop
William J.
Barber II,
Co-chair of the
Poor Peoples Campaign:
A National
Call for Moral
Revival,
was interviewed
by Ali Velshi on
MSNBC about how
mass
mobilizations
are always about
educating the
public,
inspiring moral
imagination, and
instilling
courage for
people to take a
moral stand for
truth and
justice every
day of the week.
Watch the interview
here.
Can Nonviolent Struggle Defeat a
Dictator? This
Database
Emphatically
Says "Yes!"
The Global
Nonviolent
Action Database
details some 40
cases of mass
movements
overcoming
tyrants through
strategic
nonviolent
campaigns.
However,
occasional
actions that
simply protest a
particular
policy or
egregious action
aren't enough.
How can
nonviolent
struggle defeat
a tyrant? There
are many great
resources that
answer this
question, but
one is the Global Nonviolent
Action
Database,
or GNAD, built
by the Peace
Studies
department at
Swarthmore
College. Freely
accessible to
the public, this
database — which
launched under
the direction of
George Lakey
in 2011 --
contains over
1,400 cases of
nonviolent
struggle from
over a hundred
countries, with
more cases
continually
being added by
student
researchers. Read more.
WEBINAR RECORDING: Troops in the
Street: What
Does an
Authoritarian
Takeover Look
Like?
On October 8,
Historians for
Peace and
Democracy hosted
a webinar,
"Troops in the
Street: What
Does an
Authoritarian
Takeover Look
Like?" It
featured
historians
Barbara Ransby
and Barbara
Weinstein who
discussed
questions
related to the
current crisis
including: What
does an
authoritarian
takeover look
like? How have
authoritarian
takeovers been
effectively
resisted? And,
what can we do
to resist one
today? Watch the recording
here.
Originally
formed in 2003
under the name
Historians
Against the War,
the initial
focus of
Historians for
Peace and
Democracy
was on halting
the George W.
Bush
administration's
march to war in
Iraq. In 2017,
at the outset of
the first Trump
administration,
the organization
changed its name
and announced it
would seek to
integrate its
work against the
dangers of war
abroad with
threats to
democracy at
home.
We Are Neighbors Not Enemies!
On September
30, 2025, in
Quantico, VA,
President Trump
told a gathering
of military
leaders they
should use
American cities
as "training
grounds" to
fight against
what he called
an "invasion
from within" in
Democratic-led
cities, such as
Chicago and NYC.
Some current and
former defense
officials are
concerned that
"the deployments
appear
authoritarian
and threaten to
drive a wedge
between the
military and
American
citizens." In
light of these
continuous,
disturbing
developments, a
West Point grad
built a website jam-packed
with valuable
information
to assist
civilians,
veterans and
military
personnel in
resisting orders
that violate the
Constitution
while protecting
all of our
rights.
Definitely worth
your time to
review. Please
share widely.
It won't be the
current rogue
government that
keeps us safe,
it will be all
of us, as a
community.
On Authoritarianism, Democracy and
Militarism
"As an
anti-Zionist Jew
born in 1946 my
understandings
of
authoritarianism
are rooted in
lessons from the
Nazi Holocaust
and World War
II," states
Joseph Gerson,
President of the
Campaign
for Peace,
Disarmament
and Common
Security.
As co-president
of the International Peace
Bureau (IPB),
Joseph was
speaking at
IPB's triennial
conference in
Barcelona, Spain
on October 23.
IPB was among
the very first
Western peace
organizations,
founded more
than a century
ago and was the
1910 Nobel Peace
Prize recipient.
Joseph
concluded:
"Friends, we
make our road by
walking. I look
forward to our
journey which
must include
revitalization
of the United
Nations Charter
order and
renewed respect
for
international
law and the full
implementation
of the Nuclear
Nonproliferation
Treaty."
Read the full text of
the speech
here.
Photo: IPB;
L -- R: Corazon
Fabros,
Philippines;
Joseph Gerson;
Tyson Smith
Berry Jr.,
Liberia;
Gabriel, World
Beyond War,
Venezuela
Urge
Your Local and
State
Officials to
Speak Up for
Nuclear
Disarmament
Sixty-three
years ago, on
October 28,
1962, the Cuban
Missile Crisis
ended. The world
breathed a big
sigh of relief
as the U.S. and
USSR stepped
back from the
nuclear brink.
Fast forward to
today -- New
START, the last
remaining treaty
limiting U.S.
and Russian
nuclear
arsenals, is set
to expire in
exactly 100
days. The world
survived the
Cuban Missile
Crisis because
of leadership --
a few people
making good
decisions and
choosing
diplomacy over
war and
confrontation.
We once again
need such
leadership,
which must be
encouraged from
the ground up,
from communities
and community
leaders --
speaking
together to
demand Congress
and Washington
get serious
about preventing
nuclear war. Please urge your local
and state
elected
officials to
speak up and
sign Back from
the Brink's
letter to
Congress
urging nuclear
disarmament
leadership.
A House of Dynamite: reviews and
resources
A House of
Dynamite
(2 minute
trailer)
premiered on
Netflix in
October. The
film offers a
fictionalized
view of the
pressure-filled
decision making
facing the
President and
his advisors on
warning of a
possible nuclear
attack. Peace
Action President
Kevin Martin
reviews it
here
Several
organizations
have provided
watch guides,
including:
ReThink Media's
Messaging Guidance
and Digital & Owned
Media Tip
Sheet; the
Nuclear Threat
Initiative's
"A House of
Dynamite"
Discussion
Guide and
Fact-Based
Explainer;
the Center
for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation's
"One Person's
Pre-Watch
Guide to "House of
Dynamite';
the Union of
Concerned
Scientists' Five
Things to Know
Before
Watching "A
House of
Dynamite",
and the
Back From the
Brink Campaign's
"A House of Dynamite"
Screening
Package.
WEBINAR RECORDING: Some Way Out of
Here -- Peace
and Justice
Movements and
Priorities
The Campaign
for Peace,
Disarmament
and Common
Security and
Massachusetts
Peace Action
(MAPA) organized
this webinar
examining the
current state of
our movements
and the
challenges we
face. Three
activists
reflect upon
"what are, and
what should be
our priorities"
in these ugly
and increasingly
dangerous times.
From genocide in
Gaza, to the
grinding Ukraine
war, kidnapping
of innocent
immigrants on
our streets,
massive and
disorienting
geopolitical
changes, and an
escalating,
many-sided arms
race, our
movements need
to intervene and
build greater
resistance. Hear
from Cole
Harrison
(Administrative
Director of
MAPA), Ann
Wright
(a retired US
colonel and
former diplomat,
on the role of
citizen
activists and
the hundreds who
have
participated in
the Gaza
flotillas) and Nick
Rabb
(a scholar and
organizer based
in Los Angeles,
active with the
climate justice
and university
anti-militarism
movements).
WATCH
HERE.
The
Ceasefire and
its Meanings:
UFPJ
Israel-Palestine
War Resources
A shaky ceasefire is in
place, but
one still
punctuated by
Israeli military
action not only in Gaza but
throughout the
region.
While Trump's broader
peace plan
purportedly
provides "a
credible pathway
to Palestinian
self-determination
and statehood,"
that pathway is
vague and
aspirational,
with every step
dominated by the
United States,
Israel, and
governments they
choose to work
with rather than the
Palestinians
themselves.
The most
immediate
obstacle to
viable
Palestinian
statehood
remains the
forces in Israel
still determined
to expand its
borders, with
right-wing
Knesset members
advancing a bill to
annex the West
Bank and
West Bank Israeli
settlers
escalating
their attacks
against
the Palestinians
who live there.
Find these and other
resources here.
Image:
Rousseau
Diderot,
CC BY 4.0,
via
Wikimedia
Commons
The Impacts of the Wars in Gaza and
the Middle
East Since
October 2023
from the Costs
of War Project
The Costs of War
Project
at Brown
University has
released four
new papers on
the human and
material impacts
of the Gaza war
and related
conflicts since
October 7, 2023.
They cover not
only direct
impacts in Gaza
but also effects
on the broader
region, and the
costs of U.S.
military
assistance to
Israel and of
U.S. military
operations in
the region. The
topics include
the human toll in
Gaza,
concluding that
over 10% of
Gaza's
population has
been killed or
injured,
mass
displacement
in Gaza, Iran,
Israel, Lebanon,
and the West
Bank, U.S. military aid
and arms
transfers
to Israel, and
costs of U.S.
military
activities in
the wider
Middle East since
October 2023.
Image: Jaber
Jehad Badwan
CC 4.0
International
A Drone and Missile War on
Infrastructure:
UFPJ Ukraine
War Resources
With the latest turns
in the U.S.
government's
topsy-turvy
Ukraine
policy,
Trump has
imposed
sanctions on the
Russian's
federation's oil
industry, while
first
considering and
then deciding
against
providing long
range, highly
accurate
Tomahawk cruise
missiles to
Ukraine. The
significance of
such weapons has
grown as the
focus of the
war, stalemated
on the front
lines, has shifted towards a
large-scale
drone and
missile war
aimed
at destroying
each country's
oil, gas, and
broader energy
infrastructure.
With the Russian
government's
diplomatic
efforts focused
on driving a
wedge between
the U.S. and
Ukrainian
governments, its
propaganda
efforts have
shifted to
painting
Europe as its
main adversary
as Europe takes
a more central
role in
Ukraine's
support. Find these and
other
resources on
the UFPJ
Ukraine War
resource page.
Alameda County Board of Supervisors
Approves
Landmark
Ethical
Investment
Policy, but
Then Hits the
Pause Button
Following a
contentious
public hearing
with hundreds in
attendance, on
Oct. 3, the
Alameda County,
CA Board of
Supervisors
adopted a broad
ethical
investment
policy
-- conditional on
it going through
a financial and
peer review
process. The
policy
discourages the
investment of
county money
into companies
that facilitate
"severe or
persistent human
rights
violations" and
make at least
10% of their
revenue from
fossil fuels,
firearms,
tobacco,
textiles,
electronics,
security and
correctional
facilities, and
defense
industrials. It
also aligns with
the United
Nations' Guiding
Principles on
Business and
Human Rights. It
was drafted by
county Treasurer
Henry Levy, who
in 2024 divested
the county from
Caterpillar,
which sells
heavy equipment
to the Israeli
military. He
subsequently
developed the
policy under
direction from
the Board.
Read more.
Photo:
California
Poor People's
Campaign
The Power of the Pen
This month,
UFPJ was among
62
organizational
signers of a
letter urging Congress
to move
quickly to end
the Trump
administration's
lethal attacks
and mounting
military
campaign in
the Caribbean
by
passing the War
Powers
Resolution to
constrain the
Administration.
UFPJ was among
108
organizations
that sent a
letter
condemning
Executive
Overreach
Regarding
Extrajudicial
Killings in
International
Waters And
Militarized
Responses in
U.S.
Communities
to the relevant
Congressional
committees. And
UFPJ was among
80 organizations
sending an open
letter
expressing grave
concern about
the Trump
administration's
imposition of
sanctions on
three prominent
Palestinian
human rights
organizations --
Al-Haq:
Law in the
Service of Man
(Al-Haq),
Al-Mezan
Center for
Human Rights
(Al-Mezan), and
the Palestinian
Centre for
Human Rights
(PCHR)
-- due to their
engagement with
the
International
Criminal Court
and efforts
investigating
potential war
crimes committed
by the
government of
Israel in Gaza.
UFPJ is a diverse network of peace
and justice
organizations.
READ
ABOUT THE
BENEFITS OF
MEMBERSHIP.
If your
organization
is interested
in joining
UFPJ, please
read our UNITY
STATEMENT,
and if it is
consistent
with your
organization's
principles
contact our
National
Organizer,
George Friday,
at info.ufpj[at]gmail.com.
PLEASE
DONATE
to help us
continue
sending out
our monthly
newsletter
"UFPJ
Currents" to
our members
and
supporters.
And THANK YOU
for all your
work for peace
and justice!
