Immediate actions to take to push for Ukraine diplomatic solutions

Photo credit: From the PeaceInUkraine.org resources
 

WILPF US is dismayed that the war in Ukraine continues, while U.S. government policies appear to seek weakening Russia as a state, rather than pursuing a peace that can save  thousands of Ukraine lives. 

The Peace in Ukraine coalition has flyers, posters, explanatory statements, and talking points on their website that provide alternative messages about diplomatic ways to end the Ukraine-Russia war – rather than only providing more arms. 

Two entities we can seek to influence in order to bring this deadly war to an end are the United Nations, in particular the Security Council, and the US government. 

Organize and act now to educate others and take action!

Messages for your Congressional Representative: deliver between Now and May 7^th

We urge all WILPF members to do some action on Saturday, May 7, especially.  Focus on educating your Congressional representatives and the general public about negotiations. Take these steps to pressure for a negotiated peace:

(1) Reduce the risk of nuclear war by removing intermediate and tactical missiles from NATO countries that host them and from the western Russian borders.

(2) Call for an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of Russian forces (see the WILPF open letter to the UN Security Council), and for Ukraine to declare itself neutral.

(3) Call for Ukraine to declare itself neutral

(4) Begin peace talks hosted by the United Nations, including NATO, Russia, Ukraine, and the USA.

We are keeping the demand message simple to simplify its distribution. Your Congressional rep may be home, so try to make an appointment to tell them you want them to work on these three actions. You can also correspond with them after May 7.

Messages to bring to the General Public on May 7

There is a peace alternative to the USA and NATO providing more and more weapons to Ukraine. WILPF US is part of a large coalition of peace groups called Peace in Ukraine, which has a website with resources to help us distribute various messages about ending the Ukraine-Russia war.

Go to your local Farmer’s Market, or other plaza with lots of foot traffic, especially on Saturday, May 7, and hand out the flyer you can download from the website. The resources section provides talking points, explanatory statements, flyers, and several posters. You can make your information sheet using the three demands listed above. As long as this war continues, we, the peacemakers, need to be talking to the public so that we can hand out flyers in public places after May 7.

Write letters to the editor of your local newspaper –aiming for publication around May 7^th

We must counter the widespread public opinion that sending more weapons to Ukraine is the way to win this war, it is not a winnable war, it has the potential to last for years, costing more lives, more US taxpayers’ money, more harm to the world economy and more degradation of the environment.  World Beyond War has written six different letters to the editor touching on these various outcomes of the war and what we should be demanding of our government.  These sample letters are posted here for us to edit and send to our newspapers, post on blogs, FACEBOOK accounts, and Instagram.

Thank you to those branches and members who demonstrated against Lockheed Martin in late April

Lockheed Martin is by far the largest weapons producer in the world. From Ukraine to Yemen, from Palestine to Colombia, from Somalia to Syria, from Afghanistan and West Papua to Ethiopia, no one profits more from war and bloodshed than Lockheed Martin.  In the April eNews we asked WILPFers to demonstrate outside one of the hundreds of Lockheed Martin facilities during the week of April 21 to 28. You can read about the branches that took part in this global mobilization in other articles [link to LockheedMartin article] this May eNews.

Please write disarmchair@wilpfus.org with your questions or comments, and let us know what’s happening for peace and sanity in your neighborhood!