NEWS

by Disarm/End Wars Issue Committee

During February, the United States and Russia engaged in dangerous games of nuclear chicken over Ukraine. Ironically, on March 1, Helen Caldicott Foundation’s seminar discussed nuclear weapons and the possible extinction of humanity. WILPF’s Ray Acheson facilitated that last day. View videos here.

We are still here and once again escaped either nuclear devastation or Armageddon as  we earlier did with the Cassini launch and on Colonel Petrov’s watch in Russia’s nuclear bomb central control room in 1984. (Read Eric Schlosser’s Command and Control for these any numerous other instances.) This time we owe thanks to the relative sanity of Angela Merkel and her European supporters. But the nuclear games continue and so does the possibility of human extinction. So what positive responses can we now make?

First, We Need to be Well-Informed

We need to keep investigating, asking questions and seeking the solid truth about what is happening now in the Ukraine and between the United States and Russia. For those who have not followed the news as we have teetered on the edge of nuclear war, you could well start with the WILPF statement on No United States Military Aid to Ukraine.

Fran Foulkrod  shared some of her sources for the Ukraine statement with us. She, as chair of WILPFUS Rapid Response, did the original research and first draft for the statement. Here are a few of them:

1. Professor Stephen Cohen did an interview on Democracy Now which is important reading for us. Here is a transcript
2. The Nation examines the Svoboda party which is often identified as neo-Nazi. It is now a key player in the government of western Ukraine.
3. A Huffington Post blog also identifies those the author considers to be neo-Nazis in the new post-coup government.  
4. And here is an article from Global Research.  Let’s keep reading, asking questions and looking for what is true beneath the propaganda we encounter all around us.

    

And then we need positive actions! 

For a first positive action read the open letter to the US Senate from David Swanson of Roots Action and World Beyond War. You can sign it on line if you agree with its content.

Join us in crafting additional statements and letters on Ukraine and the nuclear danger. On our monthly call February 22 committee members agreed that this statement would be just the first step in a concerted effort to prevent war, along with its nuclear threats, in Ukraine. We also want to understand the role of NATO in Ukraine, and examine its morphing into a rapidly growing global military alliance led by the US. And what about the dangers of playing military games near sensitive borders? Or toppling elected governments in order to install leaders which our own government prefers? Let us look individually and together for truth and non-violent solutions among the lies and propaganda that surround us.

And we need to learn how to work more positively with Russia in solving common problems together, despite our differences. The nations of Latin America and Europe seem more successful in multilateralism, and we can learn much from them. We recommend that those who want to build bridges between our countries subscribe to newsletters from Sharon Tennison, a US citizen devoted to building bridges between our two countries now that the cold war has ended, and before a hot war can begin. She is also inviting others to join a tour of Russia in which one of our WILPF members will participate. You can unsubscribe at any time.
 

And as for Long Term Solutions

1. Participate in March 18-21 Spring Rising if you can get there. Or observe the anniversary of the shock and awe invasion of Iraq and the launching of “the war of terror” on the Middle East. This is a call to end all war and WILPF is a co-sponsor.
2. Registration is now open for Peace and Planet April 24-26 in New York City on the weekend before the United Nations Review Conference of the Nuclear weapons Non-Proliferation treaty (NPT) begins. WILPF is again a co-sponsor.
3. Registration for WILPF members at the NPT will begin shortly. Details are constantly updated at WILPF Reaching Critical Will. Participation gives you opportunity to observe United Nations working for disarmament first hand, and also opportunity to meet with and question government delegates and ambassadors, and to attend side events organized by both governments and NGOs.
4. WILPF members, begin planning for you or someone else from your Branch to join WILPF at D.C. Days in Washington D.C. May 17 to 20. WILPF is now represented on the Board and committees planning for these amazing days and you are welcome to join us and share our concerns on nuclear weapons, power, waste and uranium mining with Congress and key Administration officials. Registration will open soon and this is a way to really make a difference! Explore ANA D.C. Days now and begin collecting funds necessary to meet transportation and housing costs.

Please share your own thoughts and sources with the rest of us. If you are a member of the Disarm/ End Wars Issue Committee you can use our list serve. If not, you can contact our committee co-chairs: Ellen Thomas and/or Carol Urner.

Photo: Ukraine: UNICEF and ECHO assist children and families in bomb shelters. Natalia and her little brother Ivan spend all night and major part of the day inside the bomb shelter in Donetsk. Their mother is afraid to let them go outside because of the shelling. September 28, 2014.   ©UNICEF/Ukraine/2014/F.Volpi

by Cindy Domingo, Cuba and the Bolivarian Alliance Issue Committee

Dr. Norma Vasallo Barrueta has received clearance for a US tour from April 18 to June 10, 2015. WILPF had invited the University of Havana professor for a 2014 speaking tour, but she received her visa too late – a tactic used to undermine US tours.

We invite branches to invite Dr. Vasallo, professor of social psychology and director of the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Havana, to their cities.  She can speak on the achievements and challenges of Cuban women past and present, the impact of economic and social changes in Cuba for Cuban women and their families and Cuban women’s identities through the generations.  She is a respected international scholar and feminist and has just published a new book, Distant Sounds, Nearby Voices, Feminist Viewpoints.

Unfortunately, while Dr. Vasallo was granted a US visa, Isel Calzadilla Acosta, who was invited by WILPF to come this spring to speak about the struggle against homophobia in Cuba, was denied a visa last week.  The discrepancies used in issuing US visas to Cubans is one of the topics currently being negotiated between the US and Cuban governments.

Please contact Cindy Domingo, chair of the Cuba and Bolivarian Alliance Issue Committee at cindydomingo@gmail for more information.  Financial assistance may be possible for this tour.

Human Right to Health and Safe Food Campaign Infographic Cards can be ordered pre-printed and ready to distribute at farmer’s markets, food co-ops, health expos, retail distributors of toxic herbicides, or as leave-behinds for visiting with city officials, city council, legislators, members of Congress, or farmers who might consider transitioning to more sustainable weed control methods. For ordering info and postage costs, go to the campaign’s site