NEWS
by the Disarm/End Wars Issue Committee
Because drones are the new weapon of warfare, used by the U.S., Britain, and Israel, we are asking WILPF Branches and members to take action against the use of drones in warfare. We propose two actions:
- Please sign the petition found here. Or you can print copies for your local Branch to distribute.
- Organize a monthly “Death Walk” against drone warfare. We have provided below a model for the walk.
Drones are in the news almost every day, those used for intelligence gathering and those used in warfare. They are controlled by the CIA and the Pentagon, by military personnel located in the U.S. at Creech AFB, NV and reportedly from Langley AFB in VA , close to CIA headquarters.
Why does the U.S. military use drone warfare?
Drones are used for targeted killing of Al-Qaeda and other suspects. While drone attacks are said to “save” the lives of American military, they threaten and have killed thousand of civilians in Pakistan and Afghanistan, including doctors and rescuers who were trying to assist victims. Livingunderdrones.org and their YouTube video contain an excellent report recently released by New York University and Stanford Law School. Researchers interviewed 130 people in Pakistan and related their stories of fear and anger at the U.S. for drone bombings. They are used in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, Mali and other areas where the U.S. is targeting “suspected” militants. More up to date information on drones is available from Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Protest actions against drones have taken place at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada; Beale Air Force Base, California; Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri; and Hancock Field near Syracuse, New York.
For those interested in carrying out a "death walk" in their own community, the drone "death walk" proceeds in the following manner: Participants dress in black, wearing a black scarf or hood and a plain white mask (masks are available at Party City, USA, among the Halloween masks). Participants walk silently, single file, with a drum beating at the back and at the front of the line (one drum is fine if resources are limited). Participants carry banners and signs and walk through a populated downtown area for one hour. Leaflets are distributed. Those who distribute the flyers do not wear masks, to avoid intimidating the takers. They may walk in the front and back of the line.
WILPF U.S. has signed on to a petition to U.S. government officials demanding an end to the use of drones in warfare. We will carry this on the walk for individuals to sign. Sample leaflets are available from End the Wars Committee or you can download them here. Contact Marge at mvc@igc.org or Joan at joanecklein@comcast.
Thank you for your donation! We deeply appreciate your support of the United States Section of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.
WILPF works to achieve through peaceful means world disarmament, full rights for women, racial and economic justice, an end to all forms of violence, and to establish those political, social, and psychological conditions which can assure peace, freedom, and justice for all.
If you are not already a member, please also consider joining WILPF.
You can do so by CLICKING HERE!
As a member of WILPF, you will be part of our global network, connected to women (and men) working for peace all over the world. Also, you will receive a free subscription to WILPF's magazine Peace and Freedom, which includes action alerts and updates on issues related to WILPF's campaigns and programs. By joining WILPF you are also connected to local organizing. We will help you contact a local branch of WILPF, if there is one, working at the community level in your area.
If you have any questions or would like more information please contact the Director of Operations. Or call our main office in Boston at (617) 266-0999.
Thank you again for donating to WILPF!
At times of great global crises women often take the lead.
It is our passion for peace that compels us—WILPF U.S., branches and YOU, to take the lead—the courageous steps—to build the way to a compassionate future. We are writing you today to ask you to continue to support our collective endeavors.
As our 100th anniversary approaches, WILPF members are inspired by the steps our founding members took at The Hague in 1915 to design a culture of peace to prevent future wars. We are proud that two of our members, Jane Addams and Emily Greene Balch received the Nobel Peace Prize for their work in the cause of world peace. Our work today builds directly on their legacy.
This spring, we challenged the U.S. Department of State to come up with a National Action Plan that would implement the true spirit of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which calls on nations around the world to involve women in all stages of peacemaking and peacekeeping. Were you involved in one of the consultations with women that took place in five US cities? WILPF’s leadership on issues of women, peace and security is critical because we are the only civil society organization to explicitly articulate the connections between belligerence in foreign affairs and gender inequality in domestic affairs. It’s imperative that WILPF voices promoting the human security approach continue to be heard on Capitol Hill.
Or perhaps you attended one of the local talks with Sameena Nazir, president of WILPF Pakistan, to learn more about the effects of U.S.-sponsored drone warfare on the civilian population of that country. At the end of her tour, Sameena delivered her message to a national audience via webinar, building international solidarity for the Pakistani movement resisting these attacks and, back at home, along with other members of the Pakistan WILPF section, hosted a delegation of U.S. activists en route to join a peace march in Waziristan.
Your gifts sustain a passion for peace, despite shifts in the political climate.
As a founding member of the Move to Amend (MTA) coalition, WILPF created the means for quickly building a powerful grassroots movement in response to the Supreme Court’s misguided ruling in favor of Citizen’s United. The seminal research and analysis of WILPF women served as a lens enabling activists to formulate resolutions promoting a constitutional amendment to abolish corporate personhood. Across the country, WILPF branches built awareness around the issue, staging dozens of events and providing speaking opportunities for MTA spokesperson David Cobb. As electoral politics heated up, “Corporations are not people” became a popular rallying cry in key senate races. With your support WILPF will publish an updated version of our Corporate Personhood Study Guide and re-package parts of the guide as interactive modules on the web.
A gift today will sow a passion for peace in future generations.
Donations of $200.00 or more may receive a copy of Catia Confortini’s new book,
Intelligent Compassion: Feminist Critical Methodology in the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
To donate online, click here or mail donations to:
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
11 Arlington Street, Boston, MA 02116
In collaboration with WILPF’s Reaching Critical Will project and the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons, members of our Washington D.C. branch used a WILPF mini-grant to launch a major campaign to end U.S. use of weapons containing depleted uranium. As you know, DU munitions generate a fine dust inhaled by civilians and soldiers alike. Intact munitions or fragments slowly break down, contaminating soils and groundwater, causing cancer and birth defects in the civilian populations.
This year, in partnership with the Science and Environmental Health Network, our Earth Democracy Committee initiated a national campaign to promote the conceptual framework of guardianship of future generations, as a means of protecting the commons of nature from further incursions of corporate interests. The campaign included events in seven cities across California and Ohio. In 2013 trained committee members will present programs throughout California to create local task forces committed to implementing the “Precautionary Principle” at the community level as one tool to implement guardianship and protection of public health and the environment, carry out an inventory of the local commons, and appoint a local “guardian” of the commons. The goal is to build grassroots support for progressive legislation at the state level.
The volunteerism of our members needs all the support that money can buy: materials, travel, communications technology. This year, both the WILPF U.S. and WILPF International websites were totally redesigned and WILPF’s International Secretariat launched a new monthly e-newsletter. WILPF delegations had an impact on the outcomes of meetings of the Commission on the Status of Women and the Arms Trade Treaty negotiations at the United Nations in New York. WILPF speakers have made important contributions to the national meetings of Veterans for Peace and the United National Anti-War Coalition. Through our internal minigrant program, we’ve been able to produce and distribute reports, DVDs, voter’s guides and much, much more.
As you can see, your gift to WILPF goes a long way. This coming year we hope to effectively challenge corporations like Monsanto, initiate and promote state legislation that recognizes clean water as a human right, build multilateral and cross-sector support for a nuclear weapons free zone in the Middle East, ramp up our advocacy on behalf of a comprehensive test ban treaty and continue taking direct action to prevent further missile testing by the U.S. government.
These national projects, inspired by our issue committees, cost money. We rely on your response to this annual appeal to help us expand our voice and reach new members.
Thank you for your gifts in the past and your passion for peace. That is what sustains us.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Sincerely,
Robin Lloyd, Chair of Development Committee
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