NEWS

Post date: Tue, 09/17/2013 - 15:32

Statement on Syria by the WILPF-US Middle East committee

We, the United States section of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF-US), call on President Obama not to issue a unilateral Executive Order for the United States to take military action against Syria, nor to request the US Congress to approve such military action.

Unilateral military intervention will only kill more civilians and possibly bring on a multinational war that could spin out of control.

These conflicts in Syria have already caused the deaths of more than 100,000 people, mostly civilians, and more than two million refugees have fled to neighboring countries. We need to bring the moral strength of the United States to bear, to help the Syrian people in reaching an end to this war, to stop all arms transfers, and to send humanitarian funds and other relief immediately.

We demand that the United States use its might to press for a negotiated solution that will bring all parties to the negotiation table and to recognize the terms and force of existing international laws and treaties, including the right of the Syrian people to self-determination, and of treaties both within and outside the aegis of the United Nations.The US must work with Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, and other arms suppliers to bring about an immediate and complete multilateral ceasefire to be followed by presidential elections to allow the Syrian people to choose the leader the majority will elect.

We, the United States of America, have the capacity to help the whole area regain peace and stability. WILPF US urges President Obama to assure that the United States of America's power is used to wage peace, and not more war.

We would also remind President Obama that the whole Middle East should be made into a Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone and are demanding that the 2012 Helsinki conference that was cancelled, to be convened most urgently.

We are in total agreement with the statement that the WILPF Geneva office issued on behalf of WILPF International: "Syria, Chemical Weapons, and Avoiding Military intervention."

TPP Materials

Post date: Mon, 09/16/2013 - 18:12

Derail Fast Track Stop the TPP poster.pdf

Septembe_17_OWS.pdf

TPP_Action_Alert_Background.pdf

Fast_track_talking_points.pdf

TPP_Talking_Points.pdf

Post date: Mon, 09/16/2013 - 11:24

Take Action Now!

Email President Obama by clicking here.

Email Congress by clicking here.

(Letters will appear when you click the link. Be sure to sign your name, as well.)

Read WILPF International's Position on the Violence in Egypt

Photo: Egyptian women angered by the recent violence used against them in clashes between army soldiers and protesters chant anti-military slogans in Tahrir Square. The sign reads: "The military are liars, down with military rule!"

The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) has been working for almost a hundred years for the prevention of wars and the advancement of negotiated resolution of conflicts. In the last month, we have seen a military coup d'etat take place in Egypt, overthrowing a democratically elected president and, in the last week, there have been over a hundred civilians killed by the army, a thousand wounded, and horrendous human rights abuses.

In the light of these human right abuses, the killings, and the lack of implementation of democratic measures by the new government to re-establish some justice for the people of Egypt, we, the United States Section of WILPF, are demanding an end to US military aid to Egypt to put pressure on the military regime.

While Egyptians are struggling for their democratic rights, we activists in the US want to extend solidarity to these Egyptians.

The US military aid to Egypt consists mostly of money taken from US tax payers and given to weapons makers that then disburse it to the Egyptian government and military in the form of F‑16 jets, Apache helicopters and many tanks. US military aid accounts for a third overall of Egypt’s defense budget and pays for 80% of its weapons systems, and there is no question about US supplied weapons being used against civilians since news reports show Apache helicopters being used to shoot into crowds of protesters. These attacks are illegal under US law.

Two US laws place conditions and restrictions on how foreign governments can use US foreign assistance: the Foreign Assistance Act (PL 87-195) and the Arms Export Control Act (PL 90-629). Otherwise the US is implicated and blamed for the violations of human rights perpetrated with our military assistance.

To promote human rights as a cornerstone of US foreign policy, the Foreign Assistance Act directs the President "to formulate and conduct international security assistance programs of the United States in a manner which will promote and advance human rights and avoid identification of the United States, through such programs, with governments which deny to their people internationally recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms, in violation of international law or in contravention of the policy of the United States.” [22 U.S.C. Section 2304, available at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2010-title22/html/USCODE-2010-title22-chap32.htm. As cited in U.S. Military Aid to Israel: Policy Implications and Options by Josh Ruebner, available at: http://aidtoisrael.org/article.php?id=3180.

Post date: Tue, 09/10/2013 - 12:22

pilgrim_indian_point_nuclear_accident.pdf

Keep Space for Peace Week

Post date: Tue, 09/10/2013 - 11:45

By Carol Urner, Co-Chair DISARM/End Wars Issue Committee

In September, we are focusing on Keep Space for Peace Week preparations and supplying resources for branches and membership on drones and other action poosibilities October 5 to 12. Our 2013 campaign for abolition of nuclear weapons also continues.

We are sending out this week copies of the poster, the Space Alert fall 2013 newsletter and the event flier which you can use to report your own or Branch planned actions for the week. The mailing of 150 goes to Branch contacts and those few on our committee whose addresses we have. Contact carol.disarm@gmail.com with your name and full address if you want a copy of the poster and event registration flier while supplies last. The Autumn Space Alert with background and resources for the week is also included. More posters and fliers should be available from Global Network at the prices given on the event flier. Copies of the newsletter are free though you are asked to pay the postage.

Do read the Space Alert online and send it around by email. It is very impressive in color and you can lift off photos and cartoons for your own publicity. Just note the source as Space Alert, Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, Fall 2013. All of these can also be viewed on line along with reports of last year’s events and the list of those planned for this year. Explore the Global Network web pages for more background and resources. You can also subscribe to Bruce Gagnon’s blog.

By now the ambitious visions of Rumsfeld and Cheney in the Bush administrations have been fully realized. See the initial plan in Vision 2020. The booklet is now out of print but, some 15 years after its first publication by the Pentagon the plan is being carried out and our reorganized military seems well on the way to turning our mother earth into a barren planet like the one pictured on the cover, surrounded by satellites and the weapons they guide.

This is a good opportunity to plan another event on drones which are a horrifying example of the long list of horrors our new Pentagon programs hold for us. There is even speculation about possible use of drones to carry nuclear weapons. Marge Van Cleef and I will try to help you with more resources specific to your own needs and targets. For coalition work CODE Pink has been one of the strongest and most effective nationally and also participated in KS4P week last year.

Some of you might like to watch two different events at the Democracy Convention in Madison, Wisconsin featuring Medea Benjamin on drones. They were videoed by our DISARM-End Wars co-chair Ellen Thomas during the August 7 to 11 sessions.

September Steps Toward Global Nuclear Weapons Abolition

There is still time to sign the online petition urging President Obama to participate in the first ever high level United Nations meeting on abolition of nuclear weapons. It takes place in New York City on September 26, a few days after the opening of the 67^th Session of the General Assembly. RCW will be monitoring and posting analysis and documents at this link.

Ellen and I, as DISARM/End Wars co-chairs, now expect to hunker down into Branch by Branch and member by member DISARM Eye on Congress legislative action on HR 1650, which calls for nuclear weapons abolition by 2020. We also plan to follow up with Branches on the US Conference of Mayors 2012 and 2013 resolutions and especially with those Branches in Mayors for Peace Cities. The three documents and background information and how they fit into our campaign for nuclear weapons abolition by 2020 are all covered in our August newsletter.

During August Ellen Thomas and Carol Urner took our nuclear abolition campaign to the Madison Democracy Convention; and what wonderful WILPFers we found in the Madison Branch! A video of our own workshop produced by Ellen Thomas is here below.

Image courtesy of Global Network Summer/Fall 2013 Space Alert, page 2

WILPF Statement on Syria

Post date: Tue, 09/10/2013 - 11:26

by Rose Daitsman, Chair, Advancing Human Rights/CEDAW Issue Committee

The following is a summary of the statement of the International Board of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom on Syria, Chemical Weapons and Military Intervention released on August 30, 2013. The full statement may be found at wilpfinternational.org.

The use of chemical weapons is a serious violation of international law, regardless of which party to the conflict perpetrated the attack. But the use of chemical weapons, however abhorrent and illegal, should not be used as a pretext for military intervention. Other options are available and must be pursued.

The prohibition against using chemical weapons is just as binding as a treaty and is similarly binding on armed groups. Consequently, if either the government or a rebel faction uses chemical weapons, they can be held accountable for this violation of international law. The alleged use of chemical weapons must not be used as a pretext for military intervention.

Ensure effective investigation of the attack through an extension of the existing mandate of the UN inspections.
Seek a UN Security Council resolution to secure the hand-over of any WMD in the possession of any party to the conflict
Request the UN Security Council refer the matter to the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Support a political solution through inclusive peace talks.

Law is not about quick “fixes” often demanded by governments, or the immediate justice that is wanted by victims. However, it provides a process which is critical to engage with if we want to move away from violent retribution and towards processes of peace and justice.

WILPF calls, yet again, for choosing peace over violence, and political over militarized solutions.

Sustainable peace cannot be built on more violence.

Peace Movers in Afghanistan

Post date: Tue, 09/10/2013 - 11:06

Calling for Peace: Impressions from our Journey

A visit to Afghanistan in May 2013

Every once in a while you find an extremely thoughtful analysis that does justice to the complexities of a very knotty problem. The attached piece, “Calling for Peace: Impressions from our Journey,” is such an analysis. It is about the current situation in Afghanistan witten with clarity, sensitivity and recommendations for a clear path to ending the conflict there. It tells the story of a one week visit to Kabul by a group of seven people from Germany who have been working for peace in Afghanistan for 10 years. Significantly, three members of the group were born in Afghanistan, now live in Germany, and frequently visit their home country. They were able to open up many doors and provide valuable insights. The leader of the delegation was Reiner Braun, Executive Director of IALANA, International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms in Germany. With affiliates in 18 countries, it could be characterized as a generalized peace organization. This article has had widespread coverage in Germany and is the basis for a planned international conference October 13 in Strausberg. (Joan Ecklein spoke by phone with Reiner Braun in Germany and obtained this background information.)

In this valuable analysis two points are notable:

The unequivocal need for all foreign troops to leave Afghanistan so that the Afghan people can have their country back both literally and figuratively. Interviewees in Afghanistan emphasized that all segments of the population desprately want foreign troops out, so much so that they fear the terrible cruel violence that will probably erupt against all the foreign troops still in Afghanistan. NATO troops are a special source of distress.
The current Taliban are very different from the older Taliban in that they are more flexible and are opening schools for girls. They, along with all other segments in the society, need to be part of the peace process.