NEWS

The Tucson Branch was one of several WILPF US branches whose members participated in January 2020 demonstrations calling for “No War with Iran!” Photo: Deborah Livingston.

By Darien De Lu
WILPF US President

February 2020

As President of WILPF US, I issued this statement – the result of the work of many individuals – on January 23, 2020. It grew from two other statements: one a draft by Heidi Meinzolt, the Europe Region Representative on the WILPF International Board, and the other by the WILPF US Middle East Issue Committee. The final version benefitted from assistance by and input from members of the US Board, the Middle East Committee, and additional individuals; I thank them all.  

I encourage members to use this statement in various ways. The Fresno, California Branch has already presented it to their U.S. Representative, and at large members also can meet with their Representatives’ staff to present and discuss it. Branches may benefit from deeper discussions of points raised in the statement. Both the Middle East and the Disarm issue committees can respond to your inquiries and requests for more information on these topics. To contact them, see Issue Committee Chairs listing on the WILPF US website.

WILPF US has endorsed the Hands Off Iran! global campaign, and we encourage members to sign the petition, found at Hands Off Iran, the multilingual website for this global campaign.

Below is the text of the statement, which can also be found here.

WILPF US Statement on Iran and the Middle East
Jan. 23, 2020

    The US Section of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF US), condemns the illegal killing of General Qassim Soleimani and at least six other people who died in the US drone attack at the Baghdad airport on January 3, 2020. We reject the US government’s unilateral stand as the world police and Trump’s focus on attacking and killing an individual, rather than using diplomacy.
    In the current situation, with Iraq totally destabilized and Iranians suffering from violence, insecurity, hunger, lack of prospects and imposed sanctions, this assassination adds fuel to the fires smoldering in the Middle East. In addition, this US action can undermine the ongoing peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan and damage the international consensus that has developed on peace efforts, not only for Afghanistan but for the whole region.
    Wars in the Middle East must end. This latest US escalation of violence is part of a long record of aggressive intervention by the US, NATO, and US allied forces in this explosive region.
    The US military base in Ramstein, Germany, was probably used for this recent attack. WILPF US joins with the German peace movement in calling for the end of such warlike operations by this US base on German soil. WILPF US condemns the logistic cooperation of the Ramstein base for drone attacks like this one and other military operations in the Middle East. We urge the US to halt the proposed enlargement of the Ramstein base and to work to close this base and other US bases in over 130 sovereign countries around the world.
    We further appeal to all governments and institutions to immediately stop the spiral of military escalation and to invest in diplomacy and active peace strategies. A war between the US and Iran would cause great suffering to people in Iran, Iraq, and throughout the region; and it would benefit only those few who profit from wars. WILPF calls the public’s attention to the continuous bombings and ongoing weapons transfers in numerous parts of the Middle East region.
    We must not tolerate the US government’s casual disregard for the reverberations of this assassination. Since its founding over 100 years ago, the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom has been pointing to some root causes of war and violence: power relations, economic profit, and the humiliation of the “other.” In the fragile situation of Iran after the US exit from the nuclear treaty, attacking and destabilizing the current Iran regime is not helpful. When the US attacks the Iran government, Iranians’ popular support for their country is only strengthened. Also, feelings of hate and revenge are amplified in the Iranian population, feeding the spiral of violence.
    Contrary to supporting the development of diverse and democratic inclinations in Iran, the actions of the US government open the way for a more radical and militarized regime. The people of Iran are caught in the middle.
    WILPF US has repeatedly criticized the ongoing US government threats and strategy of deterrence through weapons of mass destruction.  War destroys cultures, the natural environment, and human beings. By continuing to raise the threat of using nuclear weapons against Iran, as well as other states, the Trump administration’s rhetoric stirs up uninformed attitudes among more extreme segments of the US electorate. War – even in the minds of people – is unacceptable.
    The US administration fails to discuss or publicize the dire global and political consequences that make unthinkable any – even very limited – use of nuclear weapons.  WILPF US emphasizes that there is no justification for the use of nuclear arms.  
    The US must lead by example. It is time for a new foreign policy. The ruins of Syria show us what our country can become. Spreading weapons and hate can bring only war and destruction, not just to the Middle East but to the US and to the world.
    We want no war with Iran! We urge the US Congress to refuse to support preparations for war and to take a clear stand against this illegal assassination. Congress must resist this push towards war on the part of the Executive Branch and reclaim its authority to decide when to go to war.  
    The women’s movement in Iran had been making gains, but women throughout the Middle East continue to suffer and be victimised by the ongoing conflicts. Women must be included in peace negotiations. A new direction is needed, creating a different international environment and with many visions on how to build peace through diplomacy. Women in Iran, in Iraq, and throughout the Middle East and North Africa region have great expertise in negotiation and dialogue. Their knowledge of how to strengthen human rights and reject extremism is a precious resource which the world needs to utilize.
    The way toward peace and democracy is built on such diplomacy; strengthening the voice of the people; and supporting the rebuilding of schools, roads, and other infrastructure.
    Consequently, the US government should take action to stop the war in Yemen; help rebuild Iraq and Syria; support the peace effort in Libya; help assist Jordan with the burden of many refugees; bring a just and lasting peace in Palestine; and restore human, civil, and economic rights in Gaza. Calling for an international peace conference in the Middle East would be a first step for the US to bring many nations together on steps toward peace and to support a new, positive agenda for the region.
    Creating and preserving peace must be our priority. Only by diverting the money and human resources wasted on war can we fund the global changes needed to protect our planet from the devastating effects of the climate crisis. We appeal to the peace movement to unite! Continue with courage and strength to discredit profit making from military adventures, to stop weapons production and marketing, to move the money from war to human and environmental needs, and to stop dehumanizing international relationships.
        

Puppets from the Bread and Puppet Theater (Glover, VT) joined our rally – Guardians for Peace and Planet – in front of the Burlington International Airport last summer, to prepare for the onslaught of twenty F-35 nuclear-capable jet bombers said to arrive by June 2020. Photo: Robin Lloyd. View more photos from the demonstration.

By Robin Lloyd
Co-chair, Disarm/End Wars Issue Committee

February 2020

WILPF Disarm invites all WILPF members and friends to join us at three important peace conferences taking place on the East Coast this spring, leading up to the 75^th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki this August. With the peace and climate movements joining hands, WILPF’s holistic analysis bringing together the environment, human rights, and corporate responsibility needs to be heard at these events.

At each conference we will not only do tabling and leafleting, but we will plan a CoffeeKlatch for WILPFers to gather and conspire together. After all, we won’t be having one of our Triennial Congresses until the summer of 2021. We are also seeking funding for transportation and lodging to enable more members to take part in these conferences.

We welcome the resources and insights of other issue committees and will keep the rest of our WILPF community informed. In our outreach we will stress four goals: building support for the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty and ICAN; the Norton bill and its connection to the Green New Deal; building a network to cancel the F35 nuclear bombers in our communities; and raising awareness and participation in events commemorating the 75^th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August.

The Three Events
 
1. April 23-25, Riverside Church, NYC: World Conference 2020 to Abolish Nuclear Weapons | Resist and Reverse Climate Change | For Social and Economic Justice. The conference call to action states: The Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty, expected to come into force in 2020, is a beacon of hope, and has become a priority for many of the world’s non-nuclear nations. [This conference, held] on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings -- at a time of increasing nuclear danger and the threats of wars -- will serve as one of the last and greatest opportunities to put the experiences of the Hibakusha at the center of international attention. It will be a critical time to highlight their continuing warnings that “human beings and nuclear weapons cannot coexist.”

Planning to attend (so far) are: Dianne Blais (Virginia), Odile Hugonot Haber (Ann Arbor, MI), Cherrill Spencer (Palo Alto), Marge Van Cleef (Philadelphia), and Robin Lloyd (VT). Three WILPF members, Nuri Ronaghy, Alan Shorb (both from Ojai CA), and Ellen Thomas (NC), attended the A and H bomb conference in Japan last August, and will be attending this conference.

In addition, we will take part in the march to the UN and will contribute our many signatures gathered during the last few years to the millions collected by the Japanese peace movement to give to the UN at the opening of the NPT conference. (We’re still gathering signatures, so send us your filled up petition papers!)

2. May 22-25, Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance (OREPA) in Maryville, Tennessee: “The New Nuclear Arms Race: An International Conference Sponsored by Nukewatch, the Nuclear Resister, and OREPA” which aims “to build collaborative relationships with people around the globe working to abolish nuclear weapons.” Register here. OREPA’s main focus is stopping nuclear weapons production at the Y12 Nuclear Weapons Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The Trump administration has chosen to expand plutonium pit production at this weapons complex in violation of many environmental laws. WILPF members who have attended sessions of the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) know of the huge piles of nuclear waste contaminating communities around the country. We urge WILPF members to attend this conference to strengthen our connections to groups working on health concerns of radioactive contamination. (Also, ANA is holding its DC Days in Washington DC right before the OREPA conference: a great opportunity to do lobbying with seasoned anti-nuclear activists.)

3. May 26-31, Ottawa, Canada: World Beyonod War's NoWar 2020 Conference in Ottawa, “#NOWAR2020: Divest, Disarm, Demilitarize,” is being held in proximity to CANSEC 2020, a huge North American military trade show. Canadian Voice of Women for Peace are a big part of this conference. We plan to build connections to the Canadian women’s peace movement and expand our network of communities opposed to the F35 nuclear bomber. We especially hope that members of Tucson and Madison WILPF will be able to attend this conference. If the stars align, we will announce the North American Network Opposed to the F35 at this event. Robin and Burlington WILPF will be the coordinators of our participation in this conference.

We’ll keep our eye on the prize: Abolish nuclear weapons – so puppets can live in peace!

Among those gathered at San Francisco City Hall for the PPC march on December 11, 2019, were Peninsula/Palo Alto branch member Cherrill S. (left), with Jackie Cabasso of Western States Legal Foundation, and the North American Coordinator of Mayors for Peace, and Betty T. of San Francisco WILPF.

By Judy Adams
Peninsula/Palo Alto Branch

February 2020

WILPF members were among the hundreds who marched from San Francisco City Hall to Glide Memorial Church on December 11, 2019, as part of the Poor People’s Campaign nine-month “We Must Do M.O.R.E.” national tour.

Branch members, anonymous volunteers, and ProBono photographers Deborah Hoag and Leon Kunstenaar took many photos of the event, and a slideshow can be viewed here.

After marching through San Francisco, the marchers gathered at Glide Memorial United Methodist Church for a Mass Meeting where they heard from community members directly impacted by systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, militarism and the war economy, and the corrupt moral narrative. Rev. William Barber and Rev. Liz Theoharis, co-chairs of the PPC, also spoke at the meeting.

The church was packed, with big banners at the front and back made by volunteers, including Rev. Rowan F. of the San Jose Branch (on the far right in the photo, in her motorized wheelchair), who helped make one of them. Signs at the ends of each pew (in both Spanish and English) stated the issues the PPC focuses on (such as “The War Economy is Immoral”).

At the front of the church the speakers, guest preachers, and a small jazz group and gospel choir were seated. At a pew arranged for WILPF members were Bay Area WILPFers Barbara B., Betty T., Rowan F., and me (Judy A.) Before the program began, I and a volunteer held up our branch PPC/WILPF banner inside the church to show WILPF’s support as a national PPC partner.

Clergy and community activists spoke movingly of the loss of jobs, homes, and businesses in the black community in the San Francisco area, where poverty, depression, addiction, lost hope, and violence can grind people down. Rev. Theoharis and an array of other speakers spoke powerfully about the moral imperative of the PPC to change these conditions, challenging all of us to build on the four pillars of the PPC: to end poverty, racism, militarism, and the devastation of the planet.

A jazz quartet, drumming, gospel choir, and soloist raised our spirits, and there were repeated chants of “20-2020,” representing June 20, 2020, when the PPC will convene another “moral congress” in Washington, DC.

Near the end of the program, Rev. Barber came to the pulpit, then walked to the steps below the pulpit and invited the poor among us to join him. Pointing to the rest of us in the congregation, he reminded us that the movement’s goal was not for others to speak for the poor, but for the poor to find the power within to speak for themselves. As he made clear, the moral revival is theirs to make and ours to support.
Photo: Deb Hoag, Pro Bono Photo.

We left the church inspired to act, to do MORE in our communities: Mobilizing, Organizing, Registering and Educating, to fight poverty, not the poor.

A recent photo of the Juliana 21 plaintiffs. Used with permission of Our Children’s Trust.

By Nancy Price
Co-chair, Earth Democracy Issue Committee

February 2020

Amazingly, but perhaps not unexpectedly, on January 17, 2020, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals “reluctantly” concluded that the Federal Judiciary can do nothing to stop the U.S. Government in causing climate change and harming children. The Juliana 21 have vowed they will continue to fight for justice in the biggest climate lawsuit in America.

In a July 2019 eNews article, I announced that Earth Democracy and WILPF had agreed to join the Amicus Brief in support of the Our Children’s Trust Juliana v United States lawsuit. This landmark Youth Climate Justice Lawsuit aimed to secure the legal right to a safe climate and a healthy atmosphere for present and future generations, by upholding their constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property.

On July 4, 2019, in Portland, OR, the Ninth Circuit Court heard arguments from both sides to determine if the case was constitutional, that is, did the youth of the Juliana 21 have “standing,” and therefore, could the case be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.

But on January 17 of this year, Our Children's Trust announced in a press release that a divided Ninth Circuit Court “reluctantly” concluded that the youth plaintiffs’ case in Juliana v. United States must be made to the U.S. Congress, the president, or to the electorate at large. This decision finds the federal courts cannot provide the youth with a remedy for their climate injuries.

In her blistering dissent, District Judge Josephine L. Staton wrote that the youth plaintiffs brought the suit “to enforce the most basic structural principle embedded in our system of liberty: the Constitution does not condone the Nation’s willful destruction.”

Judge Staton argued that the youth do have standing, and lambasted the U.S. government’s continued inaction on climate change:

In these proceedings, the government accepts as fact that the United States has reached a tipping point crying out for a concerted response — yet presses ahead toward calamity. It is as if an asteroid were barreling toward the Earth and the government decided to shut down our only defenses. Seeking to quash this suit, the government bluntly insists that it has the absolute and unreviewable power to destroy the Nation.

Julia Olson, executive director and chief legal counsel of Our Children’s Trust and co-counsel for the youth plaintiffs, commented:

The Juliana case is far from over. The Youth Plaintiffs will be asking the full court of the Ninth District to review this decision and its catastrophic implications for our constitutional democracy.

The Court recognized that climate change is exponentially increasing and that the federal government has long known that its actions substantially contribute to the climate crisis. Yet two of the judges on the Panel refused to set the standard for redressing the constitutional violation, to protect our Nation’s children.

The standard is a question of science that should be determined at trial. The majority opinion ignores the fact that we have yet to go to trial on the issue of redressability.

A good article about the decision can be found at grist.org.

STAY TUNED: Earth Democracy will continue to bring you updates on this important case. Please, when you go to candidate events, ask where they stand on the climate and do they support the Juliana v. United States case. If not, educate them!