NEWS

Triangle WILPF Holds Virtual Retreat
Post date: Thu, 04/01/2021 - 04:35

From left, WILPF members Lori Hoyt, Lorna Chafe, Lucy Lewis, and Miriam Thompson at a Fight For $15 rally at the North Carolina State Capitol in Raleigh in 2019.

By Lorna Chafe 
Triangle (NC) Branch

April 2021

Triangle WILPF in NC held a virtual retreat on February 27, 2021, over a three-hour period with members and invited guests eagerly taking in the teachings of a panel of young Black activists from our communities.

The three panelists represented labor, with the southeast coordinator for Fight for $15; human rights, with our NAACP branch secretary and director of Training for Action Progress Leaders; and environment, with the NC field coordinator of our Energy Democracy Program. We asked each to discuss their vision for the future in their area of work, how WILPF and allied groups in the area could help to enable those goals, and how they felt their work intersected with others working on issues of justice.    

A common theme was the need to support the most impacted people in taking on leadership roles in the communities. “Cultivating and celebrating the lived experience” of those who know the hardships and giving them the voice to organize and act. Electing them to office and supporting them to bring about change is critical.

The labor movement will rise in power when there is solidarity between all workers and McDonald's workers strikes are honored by hospital workers, etc. The uniting of faith communities with the labor movement is crucial to creating strength. Organizing is the key to power so a local Power Academy will train a group of activists this summer while giving them the financial support to make it possible for them to attend.

There are so many fronts on which to fight egregious environmental actions from coal ash to cutting our NC trees to burn as wood pellets in European stoves. The Peoples Energy Plan is emerging over the next year and Triangle WILPF will play a role in bringing out voices of the community in listening groups.

After the inspiring speakers, we broke into five small groups to address how we and partner organizations could help to bring about some of the important outcomes mentioned and what we as individuals felt we could contribute. Representation from so many local partners in social justice made these conversations very rich and productive.

In addition to planning for listening groups on the energy plan needs, our branch will focus on supporting impacted members of our community for election to office where we can unite to bring about change. We will look to BIPOC for direction and give our support to their voices.

All struggles for freedom from oppression are linked. “We will only get what we are organized
to take.”
 

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Branch Happenings: Maine and Pittsburgh
Post date: Thu, 04/01/2021 - 04:22

The #NuclearBan Banner recently visited Suzanne Hedrick (top image), 38 years after she crisscrossed Maine with a mock missile to protest their proposed testing in Maine. Christine DeTroy (bottom image) launched the #NuclearBan Banner Campaign in January to celebrate the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapon’s entry-into-force with Mainers.

April 2021

Stop the Militarization of Space!

By Martha Spiess
Maine WILPF

Maine WILPFers, collaborating with four other Maine peace groups, organized a St. Patrick’s Day Zoominar on March 17 about The Space Force. It was one of our most well-attended talks ever. Bruce Gagnon of the Global Network against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space spoke about the militarization of space.

Aegis Ashore Site

Of particular interest to us was Bruce’s description of the Aegis Ashore Weapons Systems which effectively turns the entire US into a “target.” Bath, Maine, is the location of General Dynamic’s Bath Iron Works, where some of Maine’s best-paid jobs are found in building Aegis Destroyers. Ellen Thomas co-hosted this webinar and she also helped us coordinate it to be our first ever livestream as well!

Our #Nuclear Ban Banner Caravan visited the decommissioned Maine Yankee Atomic Power Plant to emphasize the two faces of nuclear weapons and to remind ourselves of the inevitable Climate’s Sea Level Rise and of nuclear power’s dependence on our rivers and waters for cooling. The #NuclearBan Banner Campaign was initially launched by Christine DeTroy in January to celebrate the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapon’s Entry-into-Force with Mainers. Just recently the #NuclearBan Banner visited Suzanne Hedrick, 38 years after she crisscrossed Maine with a mock missile to protest their proposed testing in Maine.
 

Learning from Liberian Women in Pittsburgh

By Susan Smith
WILPF Pittsburgh Coordinator

Pray the Devil Back to HellWILPF Pittsburgh hosted a rich discussion after a showing of Pray the Devil Back to Hell, a documentary directed by Gini Reticker. The film follows Leymah Gbowee, Asatu Bah Kenneth, and Vaiba Flomo as they lead other Liberian women and their supporters in a grassroots peace movement to end the long civil war in their country. The online showing enabled a small group of women from California, Canada, the UK, and of course Pittsburgh, to share ideas about their successes and tactics and ways those could apply to current work being undertaken.

Our discussion group was moved and inspired by the strength and persistence of the women in the film. They faced such an extreme survival situation for themselves and their children that they galvanized to focus all their efforts on one objective: peace. Our group agreed that it is much more difficult today to generate that level of commitment and organization in our countries because most of us do not experience such drastic threats in our daily lives.

Even those of us participating in the discussion prioritize different primary goals: environment, climate change, health care, nuclear weapons, a living wage, and money in politics. We discussed what impact rallies do, or do not, have on policy making. We agreed that the problems are interconnected and that the most effective movement will come from those who have nothing left to lose – through organizations such as the Poor People’s Campaign, Put People First, and the National Union of the Homeless. We must continue to educate ourselves and to watch for ways to support and encourage the inspired leaders who are emerging around us.

We encourage you to watch Pray the Devil Back to Hell, found various places online. To learn more about the film, go to: https://www.forkfilms.com/pray-the-devil-back-to-hell/. For more information about our branch see our Facebook page.

Photo: Official graphic for the documentary film Pray the Devil Back to Hell, directed by Gini Reticker, Fork Films LLC and ro*co films International.

 

 

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Webinar on March 14 Will Celebrate the Advancement of Cuban Women!
Post date: Mon, 03/01/2021 - 06:56
Kathryn Hall-Trujillo, MPH and Lianys Torres Rivera

Kathryn Hall-Trujillo, MPH, left, and Ambassador Lianys Torres Rivera, right, will speak at a March 14 webinar celebrating Cuban women.

By the Cuba and the Bolivarian Alliance Issue Committee

March 2021

“Feminist Solidarity! Celebrating International Women’s Day and the Advancement of Cuban Women”: Webinar to be held on March 14, at 2 pm PST, 3 pm MST, 4 pm CST, 5 pm EST
Click here to register in advance for this webinar

With this event, we will celebrate International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, connecting with the UN Commission on the Status of Women on the 25th Anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action on Global Women’s Human Rights.

We will celebrate the advancement of the women’s rights agenda in Cuba and Cuban women’s contributions in the fight against COVID-19.

But we must also offer an overview of how the pandemic has exacerbated the conditions of women globally, including in the US and Cuba. We will propose solutions and present steps that people the audience can take as part of those solutions.

Featured Speakers

Ambassador Lianys Torres Rivera currently serves as Chargé d’Affaires for the Embassy of Cuba in Washington, DC. 

She will speak on the role of the Federation of Cuban Women and status of Cuban women, advancement of a women’s rights agenda under the Cuban revolution, and Cuba’s compliance with the Beijing Platform on Women’s rights.

Kathryn Hall-Trujillo, MPH, is Founding Director of the Birthing Project, and an award-winning public health administrator, professor, and activist. She is visiting faculty at the Cuba National School of Public Health and serves on the Medical Advisory Board of IFCO as the administrator for US scholarships to Cuba’s ELAM.

She will speak on global pandemic issues for women and girls at the intersections of healthcare, education, mental health, economic security, and land rights, including women implementing solutions. 

Cultural Presentation: Isabella Borgeson, a Filipina mixed race, queer award-winning poet, is also a community organizer and educator from poetryfoundation.org  

On the international level, Cuba has been a leader for women’s rights. Cuba legalized abortion in 1965, the first country in Latin America to do so by 30 years, and 8 years before the US Supreme Court’s Roe v Wade decision. Cuba was the first country in the world to sign the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the second to ratify it. In Cuba, women currently represent 66.4% of those engaged in professional and technical work, and 66% of government officials, as well as about half of the representatives in parliament.

Don’t miss this global feminist perspective, with a chance to ask questions included!

Sponsors:

  • Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom - US 
  • US Women and Cuba Collaboration
  • US-Cuba Normalization Committee

Co-Sponsors:

  • NOW’s Global Feminism National Committee
  • Code Pink
  • A Legacy of Equality and Organizing (LELO)
  • Gallatin Valley Friends of Cuba
  • Birthing Project USA
  • National Network On Cuba
  • Canadian Network on Cuba
  • New York-New Jersey Cuba Sí Coalition
  • Table de concertation et de solidarité Québec - Cuba
  • The International Committee for Peace, Justice and Dignity
  • U.S.-Cuba-Canada Campaign for Medical Collaboration

 

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Join March 17 Zoominar: “The Space Force: Who Cares About an Arms Race in Space?”
Post date: Mon, 03/01/2021 - 06:44

A banner celebrating the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was placed in front of the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge in Maine.

By Martha Spiess
Maine WILPF

March 2021

Maine’s sole nuclear power plant, “Maine Yankee,” operated from 1972-1996. It was shut down due to accidents, excessive costs of design flaw repairs, and due to the efforts of extraordinary citizen activists. The Maine Branch of WILPF US has organized talks and Zoominars to learn more about what led to the decommissioning of this plant. We heard from Capt. Bill Linnell of Maine Safe Energy. We heard from Ray Shadis of Friends of the Coast about the casks of radioactive waste that are stored indefinitely on site in the picturesque town of Wiscasset. We heard from Doug Bogen about the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant, a sister plant still in operation on the coast of NH.

The pressing calls for small modular nuclear reactors as a “solution” to the climate crisis are getting louder. We now have concerns about these proposed SMRs and hope to hear from other WILPF chapters about this issue.

We invite you to attend our St. Patrick’s Day Zoominar “Space Force - Who Cares about an Arms Race in Space?” cosponsored with ME Veterans for Peace, Peace Action Maine, and others. The event will be held on March 17 at 12 noon EST, 11 am CST, 9 am PST. Bruce Gagnon will be talking about the Space Force and what Global Network is working on. You can register for the Zoominar here or for more information visit our Facebook page.

We still celebrate our #nuclearban EIN Banner Caravan Campaign/project which began at the home of WILPF Maine member Christine DeTroy and now has visited the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge (see photo above). Rachel Carson is one of Maine’s most celebrated environmentalists, writing Silent Spring at the time when nuclear waste was dumped overboard in concrete-lined barrels. FMI: message us via FB.

 

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This Year’s CSW Forum Panels Are Virtual; Attend Our March 18 Panel on the International Peace Train
Post date: Mon, 03/01/2021 - 06:40

In 1995, WILPF sponsored a “Peace Train” that brought 230 women and 10 men from 42 countries to the Fourth UN Conference on Women in Beijing. During the three-week trek from Helsinki, Finland, to Beijing the activists met with women’s groups and political leaders. Credit: WILPF archive. (Prizes for any WILPFer who identifies herself in this photo, taken in Helsinki Railway Station as they sing waiting to board the train, to Info@wilpfus.org.)

By Cherrill Spencer, Robin Lloyd, and Darien De Lu

March 2021

Women’s History Month and the UN Commission on the Status of Women collide beautifully in the month of March.

WILPF International and WILPF US have a long-standing relationship with the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). The NGO (non-governmental organization) CSW/NY organizes the civil society side of the CSW annual meeting. Its Forum will be virtual this year and is free to attend. So we should all consider registering even if it is just to attend the panel sponsored by the Women’s UN Report Network (WUNRN) and WILPF US and organized by WILPF US activists Lois Herman (also active in WUNRN), Robin Lloyd, and Darien De Lu.

There will be about 500 excellent virtual events happening during the NGO Forum portion of CSW65 between March 15-26, 2021, on the theme Women in Public Life - Equal Participation in Decision-making. You can register here and check “advocate” when that box comes up. You are not obliged to donate, but you must be registered to be able to participate in any of the CSW events.

WILPF US Panel and Video on the 1995 WILPF Peace Train

Peace Train to BeijingOur panel presentation takes place on Thursday, March 18, at 11:30 am PST/2:30 pm EST. It is about the WILPF International Peace Train (from Helsinki to Beijing), an amazing initiative 26 years ago. The special Peace Train to the Beijing 4th World Conference for Women in 1995 was a landmark experience for 230 women and 10 men, who came from 42 countries and who crossed two continents to reach the Beijing Conference.

Photo: A friendly Finn plays her guitar in Helsinki railway station to wish bon voyage to the WILPFers on the WILPF International Peace Train. Opening scene from the documentary by Robin Lloyd, used with her permission.

The Peace Train was organized by WILPF International. At the many train stops along the way to Beijing, the women on the train met with women’s and civil society groups, and political leaders. Excerpts from the Peace Train documentary film produced by Robin Lloyd will be shown at the CSW 65 NGO Forum event, to provide a multigenerational and international audience the memories of the Women's Beijing Peace Train, and its legendary experiences.

The train journey, over a period of about 21 days included – on the train – the Rolling School, where WILPFers put the hours of travel to good use! WILPF US member and former WILPF International Vice-President, Regina Birchem, helped organize the Rolling School. The experiences on the train and at the programs in cities along the way influenced riders’ participation at the 1995 UN Women’s Conference.

Inspired by the Women’s Beijing Peace Train, subsequently WILPF activists in the US organized multiple regional Peace Trains, and in Africa WILPF activists organized the Africa Women’s Peace Train.

 

 

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World Water Day and Earth Day Programs: Save the Dates for Two Free Webinars
Post date: Mon, 03/01/2021 - 06:31
Military Poisons Logo

By Marguerite Adelman
Earth Democracy Committee and Burlington WILPF

March 2021

Is your branch looking for safe ways to learn about and acknowledge World Water Day on March 22 and Earth Day on April 22? WILPF US’s Earth Democracy Committee and WILPF Burlington are offering webinars for each of these important environmental commemorations. 

On Sunday, March 21 – the day before World Water Day – we will be offering a webinar to introduce WILPF members and others to our new website, Military Poisons. This site exposes the connection between water and food and military PFAS contamination. The webinar will last one hour and will be held at 2 pm PST, 3 pm MST, 4 pm CST, 5 pm EST.

This newly designed website is both a resource and research tool for those who want to learn more about PFAS contamination and the military. (The new website will be launched closer to the event date). WILPF US member Pat Elder started the Military Poisons website when Earth Democracy’s California PFAS tour to military bases and presentations at 10 California branches was planned in March 2020.

With a WILPF US mini-grant and the technical expertise of Better World Creative, the website has been redesigned to make it more accessible and easier to navigate. Besides demonstrating the new website and how to research the confirmed and suspected military contamination sites in your state and region, we’ll introduce you to the newest PFAS and the Military Project that is starting in Vermont. You’ll hear about the Vermont Project and from those working on it, including Pat Elder, a PFAS investigative journalist; Patricia Hynes, women’s and public health expert; Marguerite Adelman, WILPF Burlington Team Leader; Kyendamina Cleophace Mukeba, Community Outreach Coordinator; and James Ehlers, Vermont Project Coordinator and Environmental Advocate.

World Water Day No DefenseOn Monday, April 22—Earth Day—we will be showing the award-winning documentary film No Defense and holding a discussion after the one-hour film. The Vermont International Film Festival will be hosting this free film showing. The time is yet to be determined. The documentary by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Sara Ganim focuses on PFAS contamination at the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda, Michigan.

The documentary has not yet been released for distribution…so this is a unique opportunity. This powerful film is about a community that has waited years for cleanup, and the people affected—people who are suffering, who are blowing the whistle, and who are fighting against one of the largest-known polluters in the country—the United States military.  

For decades, it’s been documented that a category of chemicals known as PFAS are harmful to life, yet the military continues to mandate their use at hundreds of sitesPFAS Logo across the country, contaminating surface water and drinking water. A discussion will be held following the film, including WILPF US experts Pat Elder, Patricia Hynes, and others.

If you would like to receive information about how to register for these two FREE events so that you can promote them with your WILPF members, please send an email to Marguerite Adelman at madel51353@gmail.com. Include your name, branch (if applicable), and email address.
 
 

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Upcoming March 26 Webinar “Honoring African Women Who Strive for Justice!”
Post date: Mon, 03/01/2021 - 06:26

The WILPF Africa Facebook page, used with permission.

By the DISARM/End Wars Issue Committee

March 2021

On Friday, March 26, the DISARM Committee will host a webinar “Honoring African Women who Strive for Justice,” at 11:30 am PT, 2:30 pm ET, 8:30 pm (Nigeria time)

Please click here to register in advance for this Zoom meeting. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

All who take part are invited to speak about the woman you want to honor, for 3 to 5 minutes. Please contact Robin Lloyd, robinlloyd8@gmail.com, ahead of time if you’d like to speak, and, if possible, send a photo of the honoree to Robin’s email address to use when you speak. (Men are welcome to propose women.)

Already a man from Côte d’Ivoire is proposing Edith Pulcherie, who is in prison for challenging the extension of the term of the president there. A new American in the US from Uganda will honor Barbara Itungo Kyagulanyi, the wife of Bobi Wine, who was an opposition candidate in the recent Ugandan election.

What African woman, or women’s group, do you know, or have heard or read about, today or in history, that should be honored? We want especially to hear suggestions from our WILPF sections in Africa. 

We’re looking forward to a richly participatory webinar!

Ask Your Congressional Rep to Sponsor the New Nuclear Abolition Bill

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton will soon be reintroducing her “Nuclear Weapons Abolition and Economic and Energy Conversion Act,” which was HR-2419 in the 116th Congress. It will have a new number this session.

Ms. Norton said that she will welcome co-sponsors of the bill BEFORE it is introduced this 117th session. In past sessions we have sought co-sponsors after a number was assigned. She agrees that the legislation will have more weight if more representatives join up front. The online letter you can send to your representative has a new access link.

In addition to contacting our own Representatives in the 117th Congress, we need to call and write to previous co-sponsors, asking them to contact Trent Holbrook at Ms. Norton’s office, (202) 225-8050, to say they want to be listed when the bill is reintroduced this session.

Here is a list of the HR-2419 co-sponsors in 2019-2020 by state, several of whom have co-sponsored multiple times: 

•    Rep. Barbara Lee [D-CA-13] 2019
•    Rep. Jan Schakowsky [D-IL-9] 2020, and 2017
•    Rep. Jim McGovern [D-MA-2] 2019, and 2017
•    Rep. Rashida Tlaib [D-MI-13] 2020
•    Rep. Andy Levin [D-MI-9] 2020
•    Rep. Ilhan Omar [D-MN-5] 2019
•    Rep. Carolyn Maloney [D-NY-12]
•    Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee [D-TX-18] 2020, and 2005

 

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Overcoming Despair and Finding Hope in Difficult Times
Post date: Mon, 03/01/2021 - 06:21

 

By Dorothy Van Soest
WILPF Liaison to the Poor People’s Campaign and WILPF Women, Money & Democracy Committee member

March 2021

Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.  
                                             – Former Representative John Lewis

Even when we lean on longtime Representative John Lewis’s inspiring words, it’s difficult not to despair when more than half a million U.S. lives are already lost to COVID-19 and 2,000 more continue to be taken daily. It can be hard to hold onto hope when our economy is collapsing, increased violence endangers our democracy, and ecological devastation threatens the survival of our planet. And optimism is sometimes hard to find when more and more people are living in cars, RVs, and tents and tens of millions are on the verge of eviction because powerful and indifferent forces ensure that a tiny sliver of people will receive an ever-larger share of wealth even as the hundreds of thousands working minimum wage jobs cannot afford basic essentials no matter where they live in our country.

Forward Together, Not One Step Back

Our job is to resist despair even in the face of so much pain, death, and blatantly intentional injustice. The challenge is as much psychological as it is political because we’re led to believe that we’re helpless, that if we can’t solve every one of the problems, we shouldn’t bother trying. But the antidote to helplessness is hope — defiant, resilient, persistent hope. Here are ten ways to find that hope and help us sustain our energy, especially when our spirits begin to flag. 

Use your imagination. Allow yourself to imagine the world you would like to inhabit and then believe it is possible to create it, no matter what evidence there is to the contrary. Imagine a world free of nuclear weapons and war. Imagine a world where adequate food, shelter, and access to health care are universal human rights for all. Imagine, as does WILPF’s Women, Money & Democracy Committee, changing the purpose and intent of our economy from structural inequity to structural equality.

Change the narrative. Challenge the dominant superior-inferior ideologies that, by valuing some people over others, create disposable people and make war inevitable.

Turn to history. Our spirits are buoyed by stories of others who faced equal or greater challenges, yet continued on to make a better world. Not the kind of myths about superheroes that make it harder for us to act, but the real stories about ordinary people who acted despite uncertainties and in the face of real danger. Sometimes their actions failed, sometimes they bore modest fruit, sometimes they triggered a miraculous outpouring of courage and heart. Today, when we join forces with the Poor People's Campaign* and with WILPF’s efforts to make the UN Treaty Abolishing Nuclear Weapons a reality, we stand on the shoulders of untold numbers of people in the civil rights and nuclear disarmament movements who joined together to take action and persevered against all odds. The point is that our efforts, combined with and multiplied by millions of people across the globe and over time, transform the world. 

No action is too small. Even one small step on the journey changes our perspective on the landscape. Action, either practical or symbolic, overcomes the inertia and apathy that accompanies the absence of hope. We don’t have to do everything, be everything, or be impossibly eloquent and confident and certain in a way that nobody is. Remember the incalculable numbers of people before us who slogged through decades of small, seemingly insignificant, and sometimes frustrating actions—and persisted despite the odds and obstacles.

Don’t be intimidated by “those who have power.” No matter how much power they have, they cannot prevent us from living our lives, thinking independently, speaking our minds, and following the still small voice that whispers the truth to our hearts.

Pair a deep-seated sense of social justice with pragmatism. People are not necessarily either with us or against us. There’s a vast amount of our neighbors who are not ideologically driven but they may still have strong opinions about some issues and be willing to work on beginning reforms in those areas. Consider that the Social Mecurity, Medicare, Voting Rights, and Affordable Health Care Acts were all reforms that proved, over time, to add up to a kind of revolution.

Reframe issues to effectively reach more people. Our brains allow us to have both conservative and progressive worldviews on different issues. Instead of negating the opposing positions of others, we can tune in to their worldviews and reframe issues based on what’s important to them.

Know when to step back. When we feel red-hot rage—no matter how justified—take a breath, look at the spiraling anger of others, and decide not to ratchet it up. We can be impatient with evil and, at the same time, be patient with people.

Hold our leaders accountable. Politicians will tell us this is not the time to ask for anything that costs money, that our country is in debt or at war. History proves otherwise. In 1935, even in the depths of a depression, people held their leaders accountable and got the Social Security Act passed; during the Vietnam War era, they got the Civil Rights, Medicaid, Medicare, Elementary & Secondary Education, WIC program, and Economic Opportunity Acts passed. And now, if we hold our politicians accountable and get President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID relief plan passed, countless lives would be saved and millions would be lifted out of poverty.

Believe that, in the long run, justice will win out. Join the Poor People's Campaign and one or more of WILPF's seven issue committees and cast your lot with others who believe it is possible to reconstitute the world.

 

*WILPF US is all in as an organizing partner of the Poor People’s Campaign

 

 

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Lebanon, the Forgotten Country
Post date: Mon, 03/01/2021 - 06:16

Riad El Soleh-Beirut, Lebanon - October 19, 2019: Lebanese protesters against the current government, and against corruptions in the country. Photo credit: Hiba Al Kallas / Shutterstock.com.

By Nada Farhat
MEPAJC member, WILPF US Jane Adams Branch, and WILPF Lebanon Executive Member

March 2021

Lebanon’s location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Sea and the Arabian landmass has shaped its rich history and diverse religious and ethnic culture. Lebanon’s geographic location has been both a blessing and a curse. The area has thrived with evidence of civilization more than 7,000 years predating recorded history. In more recent history, imperial powers have laid claim to its resources and access to trade routes.

On August 4, 2020, an explosion at Beirut’s port caused at least 204 deaths, 7,500 injuries, and $15 billion in property damage. The explosion left an estimated 300,000 people homeless. In a country with a population of 5.5 million, more than 1 million people live below the poverty line and the country is now hosting over 1.5 million refugees.

The Beirut Port explosion is not the only devastation in Lebanon: the political system has broken down and the country is in economic crisis. The government has a debt-to-GDP ratio that is the third highest globally. Unemployment reached 46% in 2018. Nothing can be accomplished when the country is politically sectarian, and each group is looking out for their own interests. Citizens have flooded the streets in protest. There is a countrywide condemnation of sectarian rule, the stagnated economy, unemployment, and political corruption. The government has failed to provide basic needs such as electricity, water, and sanitation. 

WILPF Lebanon Speaks Webinar

On February 9, 2021, the Middle East Peace & Justice Action Committee of WILPF-US hosted four speakers from WILPF Lebanon to analyze Lebanon’s current situation and initiate a shared action plan for the two groups. In the webinar, WILPF Lebanon Speaks: Challenges and Hope, speakers Ferial Abu Hamdan, Hala Kilani, Diala Chehade, and Shirine Jurdi not only shed light on the current situation, they offered solutions.

According to the speakers, the Lebanese people themselves are adequately equipped both educationally and mentally to overcome the current crisis. They shared that the protesters on the streets of Lebanon are demanding democracy, denouncing the sectarian system, and asking for a change from the old system that is written according to the census of 1932. Politicians and militia leaders are holding on to this census because it is the only way their existence in the government continues to be guaranteed, since the demographics of Lebanon have shifted.

Diala Chehade specifically focused on Israel, explaining that all Lebanese parties condemn the crimes committed against the Palestinian people and support the cause of Palestine. She questioned the role of the United States in peacebuilding in the region, and said she believes the US can only redeem its role by acknowledging and supporting the International Criminal Court (ICC) in its role to hold Israel accountable for their treatment of the Palestinians.

With their presentations and the discussion that followed, the stage was set for an action plan. The webinar may be viewed on the WILPF US YouTube channel.

Working for a Comprehensive Middle East Peace Process

As Lebanon seeks to preserve its independence against the religious and political sects that keep forcing turmoil in the country, they are met with countless empty promises of outside help. After the blast, many countries came to aid in the initial devastation; however, continued support is vital with a country on the verge of civil war. All of this is taking place while religious sects continue to undermine the movement of civil society.

The hope is for a comprehensive Peace Process to develop in the Middle East as a whole. The people of Lebanon and neighboring countries deserve to live in peace and to have flourishing economies. 

To that end, the WILPF US section is working to divest from the investments in weapons and arms as well as to “Move the Money” away from the military to social spending. We are also working on a Weapon of Mass Destruction Free Zone in the Middle East (see "Keep Pushing for WMDFZ in the Middle East").

After World War II, United States interests regarding Lebanon shifted to protecting oil interests and supporting the state of Israel. Lebanon will never be able to overcome Israel’s regime destruction while Israel has the full support of the US government.  

The resilience of Lebanon’s people has been exemplified throughout the numerous wars the country has battled. After the 2006 war of Israel on Lebanon, internally displaced persons exhibited a high level of community resilience which resulted from this community’s economic and cultural factors and led to its ability to rebuild from the inside. (Nuwayhid, et al. 2011)

It’s time to call upon the US in its foreign policies to impose accountability on the corrupt government in Lebanon. This accountability will unveil the hidden agendas of the Lebanese politicians and their interest groups. With terrorist groups reigning supreme over the government, it has been left to the civilians to challenge the shortcomings of its corruption. 

Lebanon is being overlooked internationally after the recent Beirut Port explosion, the government’s collapse, a struggling economy, and endless border troubles; it is time we stand for change.

References:

Lebanon Economic Monitor: The Deliberate Depression
Aljazeera.com: 'Deliberate depression': World Bank's dire warning on Lebanon
Nuwayhid, I., Zurayk, H., Yamout, R., Cortas, C.S. 2011."Summer 2006 War on Lebanon: A Lesson in Community Resilience." Global Public Health, 6 (5): 505-19.

 

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Are You Ready to MOVE THAT MONEY?!
Post date: Mon, 03/01/2021 - 05:59

What could we do with $74B taken from the Pentagon’s budget? Photo used with permission from the National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies.

By Cherrill Spencer, Coordinator of Resource Preparation Team for the Call for Peace Campaign
Nancy Price, Team Member

March 2021

WILPF US is continuing our Call for Peace Campaign which you can read about in this President’s Corner from October 1, 2020. It has two demands: to the United Nations Security Council to extend the current global ceasefire and to the US Congress to cut all military spending by 50% and move the money to fund human needs.

Three related action-oriented themes have been chosen for WILPFers to work on; the first was to celebrate the Entry into Force (EIF) of the new Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which WILPFers did with great gusto on January 22 (as reported in the Februrary eNews). The other two are to get Congress to Move the Money from the military budget to programs that help US residents, and to advocate for the continuation of the UN Secretary General’s call for a global ceasefire.

Actions to Take Now to Get the Money Moving!

Please take some simple actions today as part of the Move the Money to Human Needs Campaign.

Number one is calling your congressional representative: We invite you to take some simple steps now because already the House Armed Services Committee of this new 117th Congress is quietly at work on the National Defense Authorization Act for the 2022 Fiscal Year Pentagon budget (the 2022 Federal fiscal year starts on October 1st 2021).

Just as quietly, corporate lobbyists from the weapons industries are hard at work trying to influence the Armed Services Committee members to support increased spending, especially on the big-ticket weapons of war, and to make sure the nuclear “modernization” program that includes nuclear weapon systems remains on track, while many, including President Biden, want to review and possibly cut this program. (Read "The U.S. Doesn't Need New Missiles in the Ground" by the Bloomberg Editorial Board.)

Significantly, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki reported on February 16 that the release of the Biden Fiscal Year 2022 Budget would be delayed perhaps into April or May, thus postponing the timetable for consideration of the annual National Defense Authorization Act Bill and the Defense and Energy and Water appropriation bills.

Above: Graphic representation of cutting the Pentagon budget. Used courtesy of Pax Christi.

Thus, it is important to contact your Representative now as described in Move the Money Actions to Take Today. We need to support those who on July 21, 2020 voted for the 10% cut in the NDAA budget and, most urgently, to help build membership in the new House Defense Spending Reduction Caucus announced by Reps. Mark Pocan and Barbara Lee on July 28, 2020. Even if your representative is a Republican, all of whom voted NO against the 10% cut, it is important to make a call.

Join the Grassroots Local Resolution Movement to Move the Money!

You could begin now to discuss whether your local branch would consider planning a local Move the Money to Human Needs campaign to get your city council to pass a resolution about reducing the bloated Pentagon budget. If you are a member of the Jane Addams branch, you can also think of what organizations and friends to work with. At this point, it’s certainly possible through phone calls, emails, and virtual meet-ups to begin a discussion about organizing in your community.   

There is a wealth of materials at https://moneyforhumanneeds.org where you can first read about the campaign. Then click on Get Involved for the “ABCs of Getting a Local Campaign Started” and the “Experience of New Haven, Connecticut” where in November 2020, 83% of those voting endorsed the resolution in the form of a referendum. Be sure to look at the Fact Sheets and at Downloads you can find sample resolutions.

It’s time for WILPF to add to this list of ongoing and past campaigns: Presently, there is a resolution before the New York City Council promoted by Move the Money NYC, and resolution efforts are underway in Denver and Boulder, CO, Los Angeles, CA, Pittsburgh, PA, and Baltimore, MD.

In November 2020, Connecticut passed a public referendum, and Milwaukee, WI, passed one in 2019, and Nevada City, CA, in 2018. In 2017, the U.S. Conference of Mayors passed the “Opposition to Military Spending Resolution” at their  85th Annual Meeting, and some resolutions were passed in Charlottesville, VA, Montgomery County, MD, Evanston, IL, New London, NH, Ithaca, NY, West Hollywood, CA, Wilmington, DE, and by the California Democratic Party.

So, it’s time to begin to add to the 2021 list and grow this grassroots resolution movement! If you wish more information, please call or email Nancy Price in Davis, CA, member of the Move the Money for Human Needs Coordinating Committee, to discuss how to proceed: nancytprice39[at]gmail[dot]com or 530-758-0726 – in Pacific Time.

More Resource Guides Coming

More resource guides are being prepared to provide you with hard data about the US Military Budget and what monies removed from it would be better spent on.

We have a team of volunteers researching and writing resource guides to inform and encourage WILPF members to take action on our Call for Peace themes from several points of view. For example, our Middle East Peace and Justice Action Committee is preparing a guide that describes US Military expenditures in the Middle East region, shows the awful destruction caused by these weapons, and lists what these dollars could accomplish if redirected toward constructive rather than destructive purposes. This will be Call for Peace guide #5 and it will also describe how you can work to accomplish this goal of moving this money.

Our Earth Democracy committee is looking into moving money from the so-called Defense budget to actions that help combat climate change and environmental degradation (this will be Call for Peace guide #7). The Poor People’s Campaign has a detailed moral budget with 14 demands of the Biden administration to move money from the military budget into projects that will help our much-too-numerous poor population. Our resource guide #9 will include steps to transform our national defense from domination to true defense and give examples of programs that will help poor women and children.

These three new guides and several more will be distributed via emails to your branch contacts and liaisons during March, so give them a nudge if you have not received any new Call for Peace resource guides by the 25th of March!

Give yourself a pat on the back if you’ve read to the bottom of this eNews article, since we know not many do, and let’s get going on moving billions of dollars out of the US military budget and into programs that serve people rather than the already-too-rich weapons manufacturers.

 

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