Antiwar Effort Gains Momentum Growing Peace Movement's Ranks Include Some Unlikely Allies

By Evelyn Nieves
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, December 2, 2002; Page A01

Daphne Reed of Amherst, Mass., organized Mothers Against War. (Nathan Martin For The Washington Post)

• A comprehensive guide to The Debate About Iraq WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM JIMMY CARTER, George Shultz, Sen. Zell Miller, Charles Krauthammer, Richard Holbrooke, Michael Kelly, Gen. Wesley Clark and many others.

AMHERST, Mass. -- The idea was hatched on a bright day in August, when Daphne Reed was celebrating her daughter's and granddaughter's birthdays, and the talk around the living room sofa turned to war. Reed began worrying that her 25-year-old grandson, who spent four years in the Coast Guard, might be called to serve if the United States were to invade Iraq. Her family also wondered why the United States was threatening to invade Iraq even before United Nations weapons inspections began. And Reed fretted over the particular suffering that would befall Iraqi women; their sons and husbands would be killed, she said, and the women would be left in the rubble to fend off contaminated water and starvation.

"I said that ALL MOTHERS SHOULD AUTOMATICALLY BE AGAINST WAR," Reed said. "It was against their nature to be violent instead of nurturing." Maybe, she said, it was time to start a movement -- MOTHERS AGAINST WAR .

Reed's response is just a tiny part of a growing peace movement that has been gaining momentum and raises the possibility that there could be much more dissent if U.S. bombs begin falling on Baghdad. The retired Hampshire College drama teacher e-mailed about 15 parents in her address book. Reed reached people such as Elaine Kenseth, whose five children include a son she adopted from the killing fields of Cambodia. Aileen O'Donnell, a veteran of the women's movement. Joanne and Roger Lind, whose son was a Vietnam War conscientious objector. And Elizabeth Verrill, who had never been involved in political causes. Before long, Mothers Against War had 50 core members, and thousands of supporters around the country and the world.

Most members of Mothers Against War are grandmothers in their seventies whose lives are already full. Yet they spend hours a day on the Internet, reading and spreading information on Iraq and the United States and planning for marches, e-mail campaigns and teach-ins. Having lived through the Vietnam antiwar movement, which took years to build, the Mothers Against War are buoyed to find themselves part of a fast-growing movement of people from every walk of life, from every political stripe.

The extraordinary array of groups questioning the Bush administration's rationale for an invasion of Iraq includes longtime radical groups such as the Workers World Party, but also groups not known for taking stands against the government. There is a labor movement against war, led by organizers of the largest unions in the country; a religious movement against the war, which includes leaders of virtually every mainstream denomination; a veterans movement against the war, led by those who fought Iraq in the Persian Gulf a decade ago; business leaders against the war, led by corporate leaders; an antiwar movement led by relatives of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks; and immigrant groups against the war. There are also black and Latino organizations, hundreds of campus antiwar groups and scores of groups of ordinary citizens meeting in community centers and church basements from Baltimore to Seattle.

It has reached a point where United for Peace, a Web site started by the San Francisco-based human rights organization Global Exchange for groups to list events commemorating the Sept. 11 anniversary, has morphed into a national network coordinating events for more than 70 peace groups nationwide. "We're taking the . . . Web site and rebuilding it as a one-stop shopping for the antiwar movement," said Andrea Buffa, who co-chairs the new network. "It's a campaign of all different kinds of groups, from the National Council of Churches to the International Socialists organization; I just got a call from the Raging Grannies of Palo Alto, who want to join. We're bringing groups together to develop a consensus statement and a calendar of coordinated antiwar events."

After large rallies in Washington and San Francisco on Oct. 26, the next big day to test the antiwar movement's might is Dec. 10, International Human Rights Day. Hundreds of groups plan events, rallies and civil disobedience to capture the nation's attention, including demonstrations in Lafayette Park across from the White House and at a military recruitment center in downtown Washington. Otherwise, antiwar groups, which tend to rely on the Internet to receive and spread information, operate largely without the attention of the media or Capitol Hill. Yet many of those speaking out against an attack on Iraq represent large numbers of Americans, including John J. Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO (with 13 million members); the National Council of Churches (which represents 36 Protestant and Orthodox denominations, with 50 million members); and the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (the leadership arm of 65 million Roman Catholics).

Quietly Organizing

Among themselves, the groups are quietly organizing their ranks. A letter Sweeney sent to Congress in early October expressing deep reservations about the justifications for an invasion has begun to resonate among the rank and file, said Bob Muehlenkamp, a labor consultant and former organizing director for the Teamsters union. Several hundred thousand union members, he said, have signed up against the war, with more joining every week. He expects the numbers to balloon when leaders hold an organizational breakfast meeting for all unions in New York on Dec. 18. "UNION PEOPLE ARE THE MOST PATRIOTIC OF AMERICANS," Muehlenkamp said, "yet you can't find all-out aggressive support for a Bush war." Union members have the same concerns as others opposed to the proposed war, including a belief that the Bush administration has not weighed the economic consequences or made the case for an unprecedented attack, he said. But they have their own concerns as well. "For unions," he said, "IT'S THEIR KIDS THAT ARE GOING TO BE DOING THE FIGHTING. IT'S OUR SONS AND DAUGHTERS WHO COULD DIE."

The National Council of Churches, which includes Lutherans, Episcopalians and President Bush's denomination, Methodists, is facilitating antiwar events for traditionally liberal institutions and conservative churches, said the Rev. Robert Edgar, its general secretary. "Average, ordinary people," Edgar said, "who come from evangelical Christian conservative roots are organizing against the war." Edgar, who served in Congress as a Democrat from suburban Philadelphia from 1975 to 1987, recalled that he was a freshman Democrat during the last days of the Vietnam War. Even then, he said, he and other lawmakers had to fight to end U.S. involvement. He also remembered that it took the church -- meaning most mainstream religious institutions -- 12 years to start opposing that war. "Whereas, the threat of war now has even middle churches, not just liberal churches, involved in antiwar activities," he said.

During its annual meeting last month, the National Council of Churches issued a statement praising the National Conference of Catholic Bishops for reiterating its position against a U.S. invasion. "We thought it was important to acknowledge their important work," Edgar said. Now, he said, the National Council of Churches -- fresh from its "What Would Jesus Drive?" television ad campaign to promote fuel efficiency -- is launching a "SEASONS OF PEACEMAKING" campaign, "moving beyond statements to actions. On December 8 through 15, there will be a series of actions across the country. THE BIGGEST DAY, HE SAID, IS DEC.10, WHICH IS SIGNIFICANT, NOT ONLY BECAUSE ITS HUMAN RIGHTS DAY BUT ALSO BECAUSE IT IS THE DAY THAT FORMER PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER IS TO RECEIVE HIS NOBEL PEACE PRIZE. "CARTER, AS AN EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN, REPRESENTS A GREAT NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN THE ANTIWAR EFFORT," EDGAR SAID.

Indeed, on that day, religious groups across the country plan to stage mass acts of civil disobedience. Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, founder of Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, plans to join church groups in New York and get arrested, he said, for the first time. "I've never engaged in civil disobedience before," he said. "But if some country was going to do this to us -- have a little preemptive war with the U.S., bomb our people, kill or maim people because they thought that at some time we might bomb them, we'd say that's a war crime. I feel that getting arrested is the biggest statement that I could make to say that what the Bush administration is doing is wrong."

That day, as well as the weekend of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Jan. 18-19, is important for the smaller groups across the country as well. Damu Smith, founder of the Washington-based Black Voices for Peace, said his group plans to begin a poor people's peace movement similar to the one King was organizing before his murder in 1968. Black Voices is planning its own rallies and forums in Washington, as well as participating in planning national events as a member of the steering committee for United for Peace, he said. "Before Doctor King died," Smith said, "he was speaking out forcefully against the United States involvement in Vietnam. He made the point that the money being spent on bombs was money that could never be spent on addressing poverty. We are taking up Doctor King's legacy."

While African Americans and other minorities have been underrepresented in some national campaigns, such as the environmental movement, Smith, executive director of the National Black Environmental Justice Network, said that he has had no trouble recruiting against the proposed war. The group, which he began a few weeks after Sept. 11, 2001, in response to a lack of African American voices in the policy debates and newscasts surrounding the attacks, has more than 3,000 members, he said. Not all are African American. "We get calls from people who say, 'I'm white, but I want to join your group,' just as in the civil rights movement. It's such a shame that the media has not focused on what is happening because there are so many voices working together."

Remembering Another War

Those who still remember the horrors of the Vietnam War, like the members of Mothers Against War, find themselves connected to this new antiwar movement on a personal as well as ideological level. The other day, as half a dozen core members sat in Daphne Reed's living room, they remembered friends who had fled to Canada to shield their sons from the military draft, friends who died in the war, and lives forever changed by the war. Joanne and Roger Lind, 77 and 78, respectively, are retired professors of sociology and social work, whose son received his draft card as soon as he turned 18 in 1965. As Quakers, the Linds were actively working toward peaceful solutions to the crisis, including organizing teach-ins. Their son became a conscientious objector, and did community work, known then as alternative service. "But sons of our friends were not so lucky," Joanne Lind said. "THEY SERVED TWO YEARS IN PRISON."

Elaine Kenseth, at 59 the youngest of the group, remembered that her friends started getting married in 1964 before finishing school so that their men could be exempt from the draft. "Others left for Canada. THEY LIVED THERE UNTIL PRESIDENT CARTER CREATED AMNESTY FOR THEM."

She became active in helping refugees of the war resettle in Western Massachusetts, and adopted her Cambodian son, when he was 16. "When we say we're mothers against war," she said, "we're also saying we're mothers seeking peace. WE ARE ACTIVELY SPREADING PEACE IN THE WORLD."

Reed, recalling the four wars she has seen this country involved in during her lifetime, said she is often motivated by a single memory decades old. She was visiting the nation's capital, she said, when she saw a man without a face. "Yes," she said, "without a face. He had nothing but a plastic mask with two holes for eyes and one for mouth. It still swims before my inner vision, provoking an agony of grief that no one had been able to stop the war that took away that man's face."

© 2002 The Washington Post Company

I am writing this letter, trying to appeal to all mothers. I too am a mother. If you place a rattle in an infants hand eventually he will learn to shake it. Then also if a little boy, mine or yours, has a gun in his hand he will learn to shoot it. Look, it's all right if you want your child to fight a war, if you don't mind going through nine months of life just to lose them. But my nine months were not easy. If you feel his life is all his own and his mistakes are his own...but I feel differently. I have (no extra sons to give away).

For generations guns and rifles, cowboys and Indians, pre-planned wars and such have been established pastimes for my brothers, my father...uncles, brothers, girlfriend's brothers, cousins, they were all lost to this pastime...I'm appealing to you to help try a new way. Let's have a generation of no war toys. Perhaps then there will come of it a generation who has to go to their dictionary...to hunt up what the word war means. Maybe I'm wrong, Maybe "Johnny" will still have an instinct for war. But maybe I'm right, and maybe neither of us have to lose a child or husband. And then nine months won't seem so terribly long...to me a mother.

Nancy Elizabeth Guarraci

As I walk along the river I always seem to feel a shiver,

Although its hot outside, since my Johnny-Jim has died.

When at the picture show, what's playing I don't know.

Although it's playing loud and clear, my Johnny-Jim's not near.

As I lay me down to sleep, when all the lights are dim.

I lay awake and crave the arms of my sweet, sweet Johnny-Jim.

 

As I drift into an uneasy sleep, into my mind the nightmares creep.

I feel the heat, I see the sights, my Johnny's eyes were filled with fright.

He knew that he would have to die, my very name was his last sigh.

As he laid there and I could see no more, I woke and wondered why men make war.

Nancy Elizabeth Guarraci

MORNING - MOURNING

I turn and stretch only half conscious of the sun peeking in, dancing gaily in rythm with the gentle wind...

Ummmm, and I snuggle warmly and securely within my deliciously wrinkled bed.

Oh the heat is intense, the night spent only partially asleep and mostly alert, waiting and listening.

The sweated soil sticking uncomfortably on my back. Gees a foxhole makes a lousy bed. That sun is pure hell.

Let's see, half past ten. Gee I better get going. Got to get the kids to pre-school and then it will be time to pick up Charley at the station. Boy the days go fast.

We hardly have any time together, especially on thursdays. That's Charley's bowling night, and Fridays is my night.

Man, it must be nearing six at least. A few hours till mail call. Gaud, I wish I could be with Mary and the kids. The kids! Why I'll bet Tommy is walking by now, and hell, little Betty must be so-high, in first grade.

Damn the days are long. Dear God, my head aches from the noise here. My heart aches for the waste here. Damn it, I wish this day would end.

Nancy Elizabeth Gurraci.

A Post-Mortem on the Peace Movement?

By Cynthia Peters

December 26, 2001__Today a Village Voice reporter called to interview me for a story he is writing. His assignment? To do a post-mortem on the peace movement. "But wait," I say. "A post-mortem is what you do when something's dead."

"Right," he agrees. "Who says the peace movement is dead?" I ask, trying to suppress a rising anxiety. Had it somehow been killed off in the last couple of hours when I had my attention elsewhere? After all, just this morning someone from the nearby town of Natick had called me. She's trying to get a local peace and justice group off the ground, and wanted advice. A couple of weeks ago, I was out in Newton meeting with a group that is launching its own local effort.

All over the city, in neighborhoods like Dorchester, Revere, East Boston, Allston-Brighton, Roslindale -- grassroots groups are mobilizing. The same is true in the outlying towns of Somerville, Malden, Taunton, Waltham, Belmont, Cambridge, Lexington, and others. Only yesterday, there was a meeting of the United for Justice with Peace (UJP) community outreach subcommittee -- a group that is helping to coordinate all these grassroots efforts, provide mailing lists, send speakers, develop strategy, and generally lend support.

Meanwhile, the pre-9/11 peace and justice groups and community-based groups have added a new dimension to their work. Now, along with whatever they were doing before (tenant organizing, immigrant rights, etc.), they have integrated into that agenda the work of contesting the new domestic repression and international aggression. And students all over the country are mobilizing on campuses. The students, faculty and staff of Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, voted overwhelmingly recently to condemn the "war on terrorism." Their resounding rejection of the U.S. war abroad, and its attendant domestic repression ends with a promise to "commit the full resources and energies of our community" to ending hunger, war and economic injustice.

Turns out, this reporter read about the death of the peace movement in the mainstream press, not a medium which is exactly known for its in-depth reporting on social change struggles. He also went to a peace rally at Rockefeller Center in New York, attended by only about 250 people. I can't speak for New York, but I know what's happening around Boston. We would probably have a similar outcome if we held a city-wide demonstration at this particular time. But that doesn't mean there is no movement. If large demonstrations have faded, and people have focused their attention on their communities, that is entirely proper.

The New York Times won't cover it, but going to our neighbors, to our co-workers, and to our communities, is the only way to build something that might cause the New York Times -- and more importantly our government -- to actually sit up and take notice. And it's the only way to create a political home for -- to channel the energy of -- those newly aroused to social change work by Bush's war. And there are currently many of those. I hear from them by email every day, and I talk to them out in my own neighborhood.

"Please help me."

"I need direction."

"I feel so hopeless."

"This war is making me sick to my stomach."

These are some of the most common refrains. Many came in by email recently in response to my ZNET commentary "A Veil on the Truth," which detailed the U.S.'s blocking of peacekeepers being sent to Afghanistan, where they are desperately needed to secure the aid routes in a country full of starving people. No matter how you feel about the U.S. "war on terrorism" or about the need for a military strike against al Qaeda, there is no justification for the crime against humanity currently unfolding in Afghanistan, for which the United States, and by extension, U.S. citizens, can be held directly responsible.

This is not a difficult moral judgement to make. Yet if you make it -- if you choose to absorb this awareness -- then you have to live with that sick feeling in your stomach. Not only that. You have to take responsibility for it. Neither choosing to understand nor taking responsibility are easy, but they are not the hardest thing you have to do once you head down this path. The hardest thing is holding the following two seemingly completely divergent facts in your mind: 1) The situation is desperately urgent; and 2) The only possible response is the painstaking work of educating people, changing people's minds, and creating channels for social change.

In my local peace and justice group, we have been organizing since the beginning of October. We are out tabling twice a week; we have persuaded cafes, beauty salons, and CD shops to display our "alternative information binders"; we hosted a teach-in, which hundreds attended; we are building local/global bridges by connecting with other neighborhood organizations; we are rallying neighbors to do congressional visits. We are a steady, dedicated, and growing group.

Yet "steady," "dedicated," and "growing," has a way of seeming screamingly insufficient next to the untold human loss caused by the U.S. war. Organizing for social change means walking the fault line of extant human rights catastrophes on one side and tedious efforts leading to incremental -- often defensive -- change on the other. At one of our meetings, someone reminds us of the terrible toll starvation will take on the Afghan people. "We have to do something," she says. "This is what we're doing," somebody replies, indicating the work of our small group. Indeed. Urgency is correct, as well as the desire to do something, but we have to give expression to those feelings in the day-to-day work of movement building -- much of it tedious and seemingly no match for the emergency at hand. Yet movement building is the only match for the emergency at hand.

It's here, in this disconnect between horrific conditions all around us, and the slow plodding work of changing those conditions, that we lose so many potential activists. The hardest conversations I have with people when I'm tabling don't have to do with whether the war is just or not, but whether there's any point in doing anything about it. As activists, we must not just berate people with all that's wrong, all that hurts, but offer viable strategies for taking a stand against the pain, and a vision of what could lay on the other side.

Furthermore, we must nurture connections between local and global struggles -- giving peace and justice activists who came together around this new war in Afghanistan a chance to hear directly from peace and justice activists who have been fighting battles on the local scene for decades. Tenant organizers, anti-death penalty activists, and welfare rights groups bring a wealth of experience and fortitude to their political work. They know how long change takes. They have created political "homes" for people that make it possible for them to stay engaged for the long-term. The events of September 11 and Bush's "war on terrorism," have aroused questioning minds and potential activism. For many, it is not too much of a leap to understand and oppose the inhumane consequences of U.S. foreign policy.

What is harder is the subsequent challenge of straddling the gap between the urgency of those consequences and the slow, careful work of organizing. We don't get much help for this difficult work. The mainstream media plies us with the Pentagon's spin on the war, all the while treating us as agents only insofar as we consume their advertising. We hear over and over again about the intricacies of shopping online; NBA trades, game strategies, and team trivia; the minutia of market fluctuations; as well as detailed accounts of the interior decorating decisions of the rich and famous. But there are no articles about citizenship, democratic participation, and the processes by which we might make our voices heard. At a time of acknowledged national and international crisis, the media would have us think there is no role for public citizens other than waving the flag and buying red, white and blue Christmas sweaters.

So it's not surprising we feel helpless, hopeless and sick to the stomach. We understand what's wrong; we understand we must take responsibility; but no action on our part seems adequate. When we forge ahead anyway, merging our individual effort with the efforts of others to educate, agitate, and make our dissent known -- even when we are doing it energetically with a great deal of forward momentum -- we discover the Village Voice has sent a reporter to cover our demise.

I did my best to convince the reporter that his post-mortem was premature. But in the end, he's not really the one I need to be talking to. I'd rather spend my time responding to the ones who feel lost right now -- the ones who understand the criminality of the U.S. war and who see to whom the benefits of domestic repression accrue, but who don't know what to do about it. To them, I say: Start an organization in your town; link it to organizations in other towns; create forums for people to learn from each other and relate; help shape the agendas of already existing organizations to respond effectively to changing circumstances; build bridges between local and global efforts; lobby congress; write letters to the media; stand out on the street corner with alternative information; collect contact information for those who want to get involved; share articles by email; reach out to like-minded souls; build a supportive community around you that will help you do the work for the long-term. And, most importantly, don't give up. The war-makers and the corporate suits don't give up. They devote all their resoures to advancing their agenda. And they're so worried about people like us devoting our resources to an alternative that they try to kill us off in our infancy.

Cynthia Peters (cppk@email.msn.com) is a political activist, writer and editor.

IRAQ ACTIVIST KATHY KELLY SENTENCED TO FEDERAL PRISON

January 28, 2004...Yesterday in Columbus, Georgia, Kathy Kelly, co-founder of Voices in the Wilderness and three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee, was sentenced to three months in federal prison for enacting her habit of bearing witness against US military violence, this time by crossing onto the property of Ft. Benning military base in November of 2003, as a form of protest against the School of the Americas/Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (SOA/WHISC). You can read "Hogtied and Abused at Fort Benning," her account of the inhumane treatment that she received by her arresting officers.

By visiting the SOA Watch website, you can find more information about the SOA/WHISC, which has trained many of the military dictators and soldiers who have massacred hundreds of thousands of people of Central and South America, especially indigenous people. You can also learn about other ways to support the project of closing the SOA/WHISC. Just as the US occupation in Iraq fails to provide for the security of ordinary Iraqis, the SOA/WHISC has, at the very least, failed in its stated task of 'security' for Latin America and, in actuality, created more insecurity and fear for millions of people in the Global South. Kathy's act of crossing the line with 27 other witnesses for peace, including VitW friend Rev. Jerry Zawada, O.F.M., is a sign of the commitment to nonviolent direct action which Voices in the Wilderness clings to as a hopeful road to peace and social justice in our world.

Alongside Kathy, Fr. Jerry Zawada, an Iraq Peace Team member and recent VitW delegate to Iraq, was sentenced to six months in federal prison (he was convicted of trespassing at the SOA/WHISC last year as well), Faith Fippinger, a former Human Shield in Iraq, was sentenced to three months in prison, and Scott Diehl, a CPT member who was in Iraq during the 2003 invasion, was also sentenced to three months in prison. May we all begin to draw the connections between the destruction caused by surging US militarism in Iraq and its effects elsewhere, wherever that may be. Here in the United States, military recruiters continue to steal the lives of students in our poorest schools and US police officers (such as those in Miami during the recent FTAA protests) are being ordered to beat down and trample their fellow US citizens who nonviolently protest the architects of social injustice.

Below, please read Kathy Kelly's statement before Judge Faircloth.

If you'd like to find new ways to resist the militarism of our time, go to the "What We Can Do" section on the VitW website.

Voices in the Wilderness is still facing a lawsuit of its own from the federal government; we'll keep you updated on the proceedings of that case (http://vitw.us/summons). If you haven't already, please sign our petition to John Ashcroft and the Justice Department.

In the meantime, Kathy and Jerry wish to extend their gratitude for the support of the VitW community at this time. They are going into this prison witness with a confidence that such witness brings us all closer to those who suffer injustice and, in essence, closer to true peace. In peace and with hope for social justice, Voices in the Wilderness Chicago

Please find us at http://www.vitw.org, where you can also read Kathy's statement and other new entries from friends of VitW in Iraq. Thank you!

Statement before Judge G. Mallon Faircloth, who sentenced me to 3 months in federal prison after I pled not guilty but stipulated to the facts of a charge for a November 22, 2003 entry onto Fort Benning, an open US military base in Columbus, GA.

by Kathy Kelly Columbus, GA January 26, 2004

I'm fortunate to have been influenced by the life and witness of some extraordinary individuals, many of whom have appeared before you in court, several of whom are now co-defendants. Their witness in this court has been valuable, constituting a rich and sad drama.

It's important to continue bringing before this court testimony from or about those who can't appear, people whom we've met when visiting places directly affected by US expenditures on military training and military solutions. Quite often these solutions are based on threat and force, rather than considerations of mercy and compassion.

A report in the London Observer yesterday quotes US Armed forces medical personnel warning that 20 percent of the veterans returning from Iraq will suffer post traumatic stress disorders -already 22 soldiers have committed suicide.

Families of these soldiers, whose arms will ache emptily for loved ones that will never return, can, I believe, find understanding in the families of others far away from the US who similarly feel bereaved.

In 1985, very aware of Joe Mulligan's and Bernie Survil's work, I traveled to San Juan de Limay, in the north of Nicaragua. Children there were radiant and friendly, many of them too young to understand that during the previous week US funded contras had kidnapped and murdered 25 people in their village. Later that summer, I fasted with Nicaraguan's Foreign Minister, himself a Maryknoll priest, and listened to stories pour forth as many hundreds of Nicaraguan peasant pilgrims vigiled and fasted in the Mon senor Lezcano church to show solidarity with the priest-minister's desire to nonviolently resist contra terrorism. Rev. Miguel D'Escoto urged us to find nonviolent actions commensurate to the crimes being committed. This experience gave me reason to believe that the US could have used negotiation and diplomacy to resolve disputes with Nicaragua.

The Christian Peacemaker Teams maintained a steady presence in Jeremie, in the southern finger of Haiti, throughout the time when the US had determined it was too dangerous for US soldiers to be there. In 1995, I was there for the three months just before the US troops returned. Throughout this stretch of history, the US spent more money on troop movements, equipping troops, training troops, – than it spent on meeting human needs. The Commandant of the region, Colonel Rigobert Jean, commented publicly that he was "ashamed and embarrassed that it was left to the 'blans' (Creole for foreigners) on the hill to preserve peace and security in the region." He was referring to our five person team. Again, I had reason to believe that unarmed peacemakers could be relied on to create greater security in areas of conflict.

Indelibly marked in my memory from that summer are the Creole words that children could no longer suppress as evenings drew to a close and they longed for adequate meals. "M'gen grangou," I'm hungry.

More recently, in Iraq, during the US bombing in March and April of 2003, I saw how children suffer when nations decide to put their resources into weapons and warfare rather than meeting human needs. All of us learned to adopt a poker face, hoping not to frighten the children, whenever there were ear-splitting blasts and gut wrenching thuds. During every day and night of the bombing, I would hold little Miladhah and Zainab in my arms. That's how I learned of their fear: they were grinding their teeth, morning, noon and night. But they were far more fortunate than the children who were survivors of direct hits, children whose brothers and sisters and parents were maimed and killed.

Judge Faircloth, we have experienced and seen the deadly effect of US military policy on mothers and children, on families. We have held the children and tried to comfort them under bombs.

It is because of these experiences that we feel so strongly. And this is why I'm willing to go into the US prison system and experience again, as we have before, the suffering of all of these women who are being separated from their families in the American prisons. It's important to hear the voices of women trying to comfort their own children over the telephone, children they won't see be able to hug and cuddle, – I remember my friend Gloria, in the prison telephone room: "Momma's gonna tickle your feets, oh baby, momma's gonna tickle your feet, you momma's baby." Gloria and many thousands of other mothers locked up in a world of imprisoned beauty would never tickle their baby's feet, because they'd been sentenced to mandatory five year minimums.

Sometimes I think we face a wilderness of compassion in this country. But when I think of the many voices that have tried, in this court, to clamor for the works of mercy rather than the works of war, I feel at home, I feel grateful, and I feel a deep urge to be silent and listen to the cries of those most afflicted, – their cries are often hard to hear – but when we hear them, we're called, all of us, to be like voices in the wilderness, raising their laments and finding ourselves motivated to build a better world.

For more information about Voices in the Wilderness, please visit the website at www.vitw.org. Thanks!

ACTION ALERT * UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
http://www.unitedforpeace.org | 212-868-5545
To subscribe, visit http://www.unitedforpeace.org/email
===========================================
Thanks so much to everyone who responded to our urgent appeal for funds last week, to support the organizing work for March 20, the global day of action on the one-year anniversary of the Iraq War. We have nearly reached our early February goal of $20,000. We're still a few thousand short, so if you haven't made your contribution yet, please donate today by visiting http://www.unitedforpeace.org

IN THIS UPDATE:
1. Dozens of March 20 events now planned around U.S.
2. Military families and veterans to rally at Ft. Bragg
3. NYC: Joint march and rally planned

MARCH 20 AROUND THE UNITED STATES
Crawford, Texas; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Long Beach, California; Tallahassee, Florida: These are just a few of the dozens of communities large and small around the United States where March 20 events are already planned.

Now is the time to plan your community's involvement in this global day of action. We in the United States have a special responsibility to take to the streets on the one-year anniversary of the Iraq War to show the depth of U.S. opposition to the Bush Administration's policies of war and occupation.

Join the day of action! List your community's event on the United for Peace and Justice website at: http://www.unitedforpeace.org/calendar_gxinput.php

Visit our website for leaflets that can be adapted for use in any community planning a March 20 event: http://www.unitedforpeace.org/mar20

MILITARY FAMILIES AND VETERANS TO RALLY AT FT. BRAGG
On March 20th, as the world once again says NO! to war, military families and veterans of the military will take center stage in Fayetteville, North Carolina - the home of Fort Bragg -- as the North Carolina Coalition for Peace and Justice demands that the United States government provide REAL support for G.I.'s and other military personnel by bringing them home now.

This rally will draw attention to the stop-loss policy that keeps personnel in the service beyond the time that they originally committed to, inadequate psychological and emotional services for military personnel and their families, and other key issues of interest to military families and veterans. It will also demand that the government commit billions to education and the creation of jobs, not war and occupations.

Visit http://www.ncpeacehub.org/ for more information, or contact Bryan Proffitt at bproffitt33@yahoo.com

NEW YORK CITY: JOINT MARCH & RALLY PLANNED
Plans are moving ahead for a major East Coast regional mobilization in New York City for March 20. An agreement has recently been reached between two coalitions for a joint march and rally in New York City. United for Peace and Justice makes this announcement on behalf of the March 20th Mobilizing Committee, the coalition of national anti-war coalitions we pulled together. Below you will find the joint statement issued by the two coalitions.

The New York City March 20 event will begin at noon in Midtown Manhattan; details about location are still being negotiated with the police and parks department. Check our website at http://www.unitedforpeace.org/nyc for updates, and if you're not already receiving our separate New York City action alerts, sign up at http://www.unitedforpeace.org/email

Visit our website at http://www.unitedforpeace.org/nyc for downloadable NYC March 20 leaflets, plus a ride and housing board. You can also pick up leaflets and stickers at our New York City office during normal business hours: 351 W. 41st Street, 5th floor (between 8th & 9th Avenues); 212-868-5545.

The next general mobilizing meeting for March 20 in New York City will take place on Tuesday, February 17 at 6:30PM, at 235 W. 23rd Street (between 7th & 8th Avenues). All are welcome to attend.

Member groups of the March 20th Mobilizing Committee include:
- United for Peace and Justice
- National Youth and Student Peace Coalition
- US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
- Not in Our Name
- Campus Anti-War Network
- And others

The U.S. occupation of Iraq has spiraled into a living nightmare without end as the death toll mounts daily. Here at home, new questions are asked about why this war ever happened, but the Bush Administration continues to lie and evade the truth, hoping people will forget by Election Day.

Now is the time for the voices of peace and justice to speak out. On March 20th a clear, strong message must be sent to the Bush Administration: "End the Occupation of Iraq! Bring the Troops Home! Now!"

The war against Iraq and the military and corporate occupation of that country are tied to other critically important issues. As we build the March 20th demonstrations around the country, we will help draw out the connections that must be made. Precisely because it is an election year, now is the time to put the largest possible number of people in the streets.

JOINT STATEMENT BETWEEN MARCH 20th MOBILIZING COMMITTEE AND MARCH 20th NATIONAL COALITION CONCERNING NEW YORK CITY MARCH AND RALLY

On March 20th, the one year anniversary of the U.S. war against Iraq, a Global Day of Action will bring hundreds of thousands of people into the streets in cities around the world. In New York City the March 20th Mobilizing Committee and the March 20th National Coalition are organizing a unified demonstration opposing the criminal and empire-building policies of the Bush administration and their impact abroad and at home. We will march for an end to the U.S. occupation and corporate control of Iraq and to bring the troops home now. We will march for an end to the occupation of Palestine. We will march to fund human needs, restore cuts in social programs and against the ever-expanding attacks on all immigrants, labor rights and everyone's civil liberties - and we will stand united against racism here and abroad. We represent diverse communities and organizations opposed to the Bush Administration policies for many reasons, but on March 20th we will march together. By working!
together our two coalitions are confident we will mobilize a massive turnout on March 20th and send a strong, clear message.

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MARCH 20: The World STILL Says No to War!
Global Day of Protest on the One-Year Anniversary of the Iraq War
Visit http://www.unitedforpeace.org/mar20 to endorse, download leaflets, find a list of local protests, and more
===========================================
ACTION ALERT * UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
http://www.unitedforpeace.org | 212-868-5545
To subscribe, visit http://www.unitedforpeace.org/email

Momentum is growing for the National March on the
Democratic National Convention. There are only a few days
left to help build this demonstration against the war
policies of John Kerry.

The Coaltion to Protest the DNC has obtained permits for a rally at Boston Common. Activists, unionists, clergy, and others are coming from all over the Eastern U.S. to protest the Bush-Kerry war on Iraq and on working people here. The city is under great pressure from activists, lawyers, and even the media to allow our peaceful protest to proceed along Causeway St., in front of the Fleet Center, site of the DNC. At the bottom of this email is a Boston Globe editorial defending the rights of protestors to march in front of the DNC.

Join Us!

For a march on the Democratic National Convention to say: Bring the Troops Home Now! Money for Jobs, Education, and Healthcare, not for Colonial Occupation!

Get involved!

Come to Boston on July 25th--let's make our voices heard loud and clear---Bring the Troops Home Now! No more of Bush & Kerry's War on Iraq and on working people!

Help out at the Rally and March. Volunteers will be needed to make this demonstration a success. Look for the Boston ANSWER tables to find out how to get involved.

Call Boston ANSWER at 617-522-66226 for more information.

March on the DNC!
Sunday, July 25
call 617-522-66226
www.answerboston.org for more information

BOSTON GLOBE EDITORIAL

Room for disagreement
July 21, 2004

PROTESTERS WANT to march down Causeway Street in front of the FleetCenter on Sunday, the day before the Democratic National Convention opens. Causeway Street will not be a public way that day, so the city refuses to give marchers a permit. This is an example of security run amok. A federal judge ought to force the city to keep the street open for the march.

The city is building a fence blocking public access to Causeway Street, leaving only an expanded sidewalk for pedestrians on the side away from the FleetCenter. This closure will create a "hard zone" for maximum security precautions during convention week.

In the post-9/11 era, it makes sense to reserve Causeway Street for emergency vehicles and for people with security clearance on days when the convention is in session. Before that, however, the rights of other citizens should not be abridged.

Organizers of the protest expect 2,000 people to march from Boston Common on Sunday. The police want to channel them away from Causeway onto neighboring streets and have them end up at the designated protest area on Canal Street. "This is a march against the Democratic National Convention. The symbol of marching to the convention site is the essence of the protest," said Dustin Langley, media coordinator for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, in a telephone interview. "We have a right to march because John Kerry and the Democratic Party are complicit in the war in Iraq and complicit in the war against working people." Whatever the merits of Langley's remarks, the strength of a democracy is shown by its willingness to give ample expression to minority views.

Mary Jo Harris, who is handling legal issues for the Boston Police Department, said yesterday that security officials have no objection to small groups of protesters handing out leaflets on the Causeway Street sidewalk on Sunday. The rights of all the protesters ought to be protected, not just a few.

A march in front of the FleetCenter would force the police to deploy more officers than they would if the protest were diverted to side streets. That would put extra pressure on already hard pressed security forces. It made sense for the city to refuse Senator John Kerry's request for a concert on the Esplanade in the middle of convention week because it would have added to the burden on the police.

A protest, unlike a concert, is an essential act of democracy and need not be snuffed out by security concerns. Federal Judge Douglas P. Woodlock should side with free expression on Sunday. A protest, unlike a concert, is an essential act of democracy and need not be snuffed out by security concerns. Federal Judge Douglas P. Woodlock should side with free expression on Sunday.

Iraq War Crimes Tribunal Thursday, August 26 call 212-633-6646 for more information
www.PeopleJudgeBush.org for more information

Help build a massive display of opposition to the Bush agenda! Please make the most generous donation you can today. ACTION ALERTS


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Location Set for August 29 Protest
MARCH PAST MADISON SQUARE GARDEN,
RALLY ON MANHATTAN'S WEST SIDE

United for Peace and Justice has set the location for our much-anticipated August 29 "World Says No to the Bush Agenda" march and rally on the eve of the Republican Convention.

In a major victory for UFPJ, the march will go directly past Madison Square Garden, site of the Republican National Convention (RNC). We will step off from 23rd Street, march north on 7th Avenue, then head west on 34th Street and south on the West Side Highway for our rally, with the stage at Chambers Street.

The decision comes after months of high-profile and testy negotiations over the rally site, in which UFPJ put forth five proposals, including Central Park and Times Square, only to be met by an ultimatum from the administration of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to take the West Side Highway site.

"Rather than prolong the fight over the rally site, we and organizers around the country can now focus on building the largest possible demonstration against the Bush administration's policies," said Leslie Cagan, UFPJ's national coordinator. "We're appalled by the bullying tactics of Republican Mayor Bloomberg, who tried to stop our February 15, 2003 protest and once again is undermining fundamental constitutional rights. Take action, join us in the streets!"

August 29, New York City
The World Says No to the Bush Agenda!
On Sunday, August 29, one of the biggest and most important protests in a generation will take place in New York City: a massive march and rally on the eve of the Republican National Convention, organized by United for Peace and Justice. If you're alarmed by the direction that the Bush Administration has taken this country, you will want to make your voice heard at this historic gathering, where we will march against war, greed, hate and lies. Already, many thousands of individuals and hundreds of groups - anti-war, civil rights, immigrant, religious, labor, feminist, environmental, and many more - are planning to participate in this demonstration. The Republican National Convention - and the protests - will be covered by media outlets around the world. It is vital that we bring the largest possible number of people to New York City on Sunday, August 29 to speak out against the actions and plans of the Bush Administration.
More »

UFPJ Stickers Available Now
A Quarter Million in Print!
Our "Bush Lies, Who Dies?" stickers are showing up all around the country: We've now printed a quarter million of these eye-catching items. With more than 10,000 civilians and over 850 U.S. soldiers killed so far in this illegal and unjustified war, it's time to raise the volume of protest. We're making these bold stickers available at our cost: $25 per 500 (the minimum order, shipping included) - but we strongly encourage you to include an additional contribution to help support our ongoing work. To order, send a check made payable to "United for Peace and Justice" to P.O. Box 607, Times Square Station, New York, NY 10108, along with your shipping address and the number of stickers you're ordering.

Boston Social Forum
Boston, Massachusetts, July, 23 , 00:00 am
The BSF has been called to help activist answer questions about our collective future within this region, within our world, and to envision a better society. Through a series of workshops, cultural events, plenary sessions, and convocations of the entire forum, progressive organizations will showcase their analysis of the present, and their ideas for the future in the context of challenging corporate globalization. More »

War and the Economy: Too Many Guns, Not Enough Butter
San Jose, California, July, 26 , 05:30 pm
Participatory education workshop exploring the connections between war/militarism and the assault on workers, health care, education, and other social programs in the U.S. Focus will be on trade unionists, but everybody is welcome! Light dinner included. More »

Vigil for Peace & Justice
West Hartford, Connecticut, July, 31 , 11:30 am
Please join other concerned citizens for a weekly vigil on the green in West Hartford Center. Exercise your right to free speech!

Nuclear Free Future Run
Portsmouth, Ohio, July, 31 , 07:30 am
We run and walk to bring focus not only on the horror of Nuclear Weapons but the damage caused to the Earth by the production not only of these Weapons but also by the use of Nuclear Energy.

Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) National Peace Conference
Eagle Rock, California, August, 5 , 02:00 pm
Join the oldest and largest interfaith peace organization in the United States in voicing the call for worldwide peace and justice.

Just 1 Day
South Portland, Maine, August, 22 , 12:00 am
Just 1 Day is a global day without war - anywhere. The leaders of every nation, faith and faction group have been or are being asked to commit to this global day of peace on August 22, 2004. It is being headed up by the world wide interfaith ministry, A Circle Of Friends, based at the Peoples United Methodist Church in South Portland, Maine. We need people to help us get the news out accross America, in the media and to write to President Bush to ask that he commit the United States to this day of peace. (As of 6/8/04 he has not). Visit the web site to learn much more about A Circle Of Friends and the Just 1 Day project. Join Us!!!

Women Against War
New York, New York, August, 28 , 07:00 pm
Hoping to exploit the painful memorie of Ground Zero, the Republicans have chosen New York City for their national convention. Big mistake! Citizens from the city and around the country are organizing a huge COUNTER CONVENTION to tell the Republicans we've had enough of Bush's lies and cover-ups, wars and occupations. Join CODEPINK for a special event.

CCNY Hospitality Center
New York, New York, August, 29 , 10:00 am
Community Church of New York Unitarian Universalist will open its doors to all who seek a place to get off the streets for a short time during the days of the Republican National Convention. Our Hospitality Center will be open Sun, 8/29 from 2pm to 10pm and Mon thru Thurs, 8/29-9/2 from 10am to 10pm. Water, light snacks, bathrooms, a floor on which to sit or lie down, and information about other events happening during the RNC will be available. We're located at 28 East 35th Street, New York City (brownstone with the red door).

Women's Peace Rally and March
New York, New York, August, 29 , 11:00 am
With hundreds of thousand of people in New York City to protest the Republican National Convention and thousands of journalists in town to cover it, this will be the perfect time to send a message to the world that the women of the United States are determined to work for a world based on non-violence and respect for all human life - not war, militarism, and aggression.

URGENT FUND APPEAL

Support the Movement for Peace & Justice! The re-escalation of the war in Iraq challenges us to strengthen our opposition to the US occupation. United for Peace and Justice urgently needs your financial support to make our work against this war as effective as possible.