In a movement based upon moral dissent, defeat does not cause us to doubt our purpose or question the ends toward which we strive. We do not belong to those who shrink back, for we know the tragic truth of history. When oppressed people shrink back, they will always be forgotten and destroyed.
Reverend William J. Barber II
Calling for a Third Reconstruction
Fully addressing poverty and low wages from the bottom up
All out for June 21! Poor People's Campaign National Poor People's and Low Wage Workers Mass Assembly
On June 21, join poor people, low-wage workers, moral and faith leaders, and advocates online, simultaneously with a socially-distanced rally in Raleigh, NC, for a National Poor People's and Low-Wage Workers Mass Assembly. The assembly will include over 40 Poor People's Campaign state coordinating committees and 200+ organizing partners, including UFPJ. Learn more and register. From June 21, the Poor People's Campaign will launch a one-year campaign building towards a massive, generationally transformative Moral March on Washington and Poor People's and Low-Wage Workers' Assembly on June 18, 2022. People from every corner of the U.S. will converge on the nation's capital to demonstrate the power and resolve of poor people to make the Third Reconstruction a reality. GET INVOLVED!
Tell Your Representative to Repeal the Iraq War Authorization--Vote Expected This Thursday, June 17
The House is poised to vote on H.R. 256, Rep. Barbara Lee's (CA-13) bill to repeal the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force against Iraq (2002 Iraq AUMF), which authorized war against the Saddam Hussein regime. That war ended years ago, but the 2002 Iraq AUMF remains on the books, leaving it susceptible to abuse by any president. A clear example of such abuse came in January 2020 when the Trump Administration used the 2002 AUMF to justify the assassination of Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani. Congress must get this outdated and dangerous AUMF off the books to prevent any further abuse. Contact your representative immediately to support repeal.
Abolition 2000 Annual General Meeting, June 19, 2021 -- Register Here
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to devastate countries and populations, showing the complete uselessness of nuclear weapons in dealing with global security threats. In this context, the Coordinating Committee of the Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons invites all those concerned by nuclear weapons, nuclear energy and the nexus of these issues with climate change, human rights, pandemic recovery, women's rights, poverty, racial justice and youth, to join our Annual General Meeting (AGM) on June 19, this year framed within the question: How do we move from a dysfunctional world to a world free of nuclear weapons? As last year, the AGM will be held as an international online videoconference. UFPJ is an Abolition 2000 affiliated network. Learn more and register here.
Seeking Peace in Afghanistan: Saturday, June 19--11AM Eastern/8AM Pacific
Kelly Campbell, one of the founders of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows who traveled to Afghanistan in January of 2002 to highlight the devastating levels of civilian casualties, will be joined by Kathy Kelly, long-time peace activist who has been working with the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers in Kabul since 2010, and four Afghan panelists--Dr. Zaher Wahab, Tahmina Hashimi, Lailuma Sharifi Yama, and Nematullah Ahangosh--to explore the prospects for peace in Afghanistan. They will discuss the impact of two decades of war and the recent escalation in violence upon the lives of civilians, especially women and youth. Probing beyond the mechanics of troop withdrawal the speakers will explore the important role of civil society actors in peacekeeping, obtaining reparations, and building peace with justice for Afghanistan. REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR
National Action to End the Korean War (Virtual Korea Peace Advocacy Week), July 12-16, 2021--Deadline to Register is June 21
Join hundreds of people across the country in nationally coordinated virtual advocacy meetings to urge your Member of Congress to support a Peace Agreement to end the Korean War; life-saving humanitarian assistance; and other humanitarian issues such as lifting the travel ban, reuniting separated families, and repatriating the remains of U.S. service members. Prior to the advocacy week, you will be trained on how to lobby Members of Congress and be invited to educational webinars. During the advocacy week you will have 1 -- 3 meetings with Members of Congress and/or their staff. Register here by June 21. #KoreaPeaceNow, #EndKoreanWar, #PeaceTreatyNow. READ MORE
Iran's Presidential Elections: How Much Will Change?
Iran conducts presidential elections on June 18. Leila Zand is an Iranian-American peace activist and scholar focused on U.S. policy in the Middle East. Leila is currently CODEPINK director of Citizen Diplomacy with Iran. She lays out the conditions facing Iranian voters: their disillusionment with President Rouhani as a reformist; the effect on the election of Trump's withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Deal, and the general loss of hope resulting from the severe economic sanctions imposed on Iran. Revitalizing the nuclear deal, she writes, "Can bring back not only prospects of peace and tranquility for everyone in the region and the U.S. as well, but also might bring back a better perspective for the democratic movements in Iran." READ MORE
UFPJ Seeks Young Peacekeepers
UFPJ is seeking activist minded young people to work in teams and undertake projects of their own design that advance reform, spur debate, and catalyze change on a range of issues connected to war & militarism. Over a period of 26 weeks, UFPJ's National Organizer, George Friday (she/they), a nationally recognized expert in confronting racism, oppression, and privilege to build power, will conduct trainings for project participants who will develop workplans for local work. Trainees will organize educational online webinars and Town Halls focused on issues they have identified and that connect to peace and justice issues in their own communities. Ideally these young leaders will go on to support and sustain intersectional, multi-issue organizations and networks for the long term. READ MORE
"Readathon" Calls for End to U.S. Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia and End to Saudi Blockade of Yemen
On June 4, activists in New York City and Cambridge, Massachusetts organized outdoor public "readathons" to focus attention on sales by U.S. arms makers to Saudi Arabia and on the continuing blockade of Yemen. The Saudi-led war has ravaged Yemen's economy and created the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Readings ranged from news articles to poems to transcripts from trials of peace activists, including passages from Adrienne Rich, Mahmoud Darwish, and the Vietnam War era trial of the Catonsville 9. As Father Daniel Berrigan asked in 1968, "at what point will you say no to this war?" Watch a Youtube video of the event. Materials used are available to organize a readathon in your area. READ MORE
Guantanamo Military Commissions Update--Evidence About Torture is Out; Statements Obtained by Torture are In
Although President Biden has announced his intention to close the detention facilities at the Guantanamo Naval Base, some recent, deeply troubling developments in the ongoing military commission hearings at the base should be of great concern to peace and justice activists. Two decisions confirm that foremost among the goals of the extrajudicial legal system that was created to charge and try Guantanamo detainees is to prevent evidence from emerging in court concerning the C.I.A.'s rendition, detention and interrogation program and the torture that the detainees were subjected to. These highly concerning rulings will be especially important as the Guantanamo Military Commissions resume in July. READ MORE
Read the CODEPINK Divest Digest!
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A few weeks ago, CODEPINK Co-founder Medea Benjamin disrupted the General Dynamics Shareholders meeting to confront the CEO and the board with questions about the company's weapon sales. Medea's bold action reminds us of the importance of our continued work to Divest from the War Machine! You can read CODEPINK's Divest Digest to continue to be inspired by our work and learn how you can get involved in campaigns around the country, including our state-wide campaign in Vermont, a successful campaign at Portland State University, and how you can take action to demand that your representative stops taking campaign contributions from weapons manufacturers. Read the full digest here!
Memorial Day Protest & Arrests at Kansas City Nuclear Parts Plant: "We spoke truth, we cried, we witnessed, we rejoiced!"
On Memorial Day, in memory of the workers who died from toxic exposure at the old nuclear parts plant, and for all persons who have suffered and died due to the U.S. government's obsession with war, we nonviolently protested at the new Kansas City Nuclear Parts Plant. Our purpose was to highlight the insanity of spending billions on weapons that impose mass genocide when used either by accident or intent. Crossing the line was an intervention, an act of love, doing the nonviolent work of moving our world towards a future without war and its weapons. Silence is complicity, we protest because we cannot not protest. READ MORE
The Peace Boat Golden Rule Arrives in the San Francisco Bay Area
The Golden Rule, a sailboat that made history by protesting nuclear weapons attempting to sail into the nuclear testing zone in the Marshall Islands, has arrived in the Bay Area after a long voyage from Hawaii. The Golden Rule, a project of Veterans For Peace, will be in Berkeley for the summer. All are encouraged to visit the Golden Rule, to learn more about its history and about nuclear weapons issues today, and even to take a cruise in San Francisco Bay with the Golden Rule crew. They will also be happy to arrange a presentation for your organization, school or church. READ MORE
Listen: CODEPINK Radio Ep. 94
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The U.S. Senate recently voted on a disastrous and expensive anti-China bill disguised as an effort at technological innovation for the future. However, this bill dooms us to a future with more and more of our limited resources going to weapons and surveillance industries while undermining Climate Envoy John Kerry's negotiated climate agreement with China. This episode of CODEPINK's radio dives into the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act of 2021 that sets an aggressive war-like stance against China that will escalate tensions and increase the likelihood of accidental or intentional combat by increasing troop deployments, "military exercises," and weapon sales to countries around China in the Indo-Pacific. Listen here!
"Ban the Bomb": Listen to the Interview with Jackie Cabasso on KPFA Pacifica Radio
On June 6, KPFA Pacifica Radio's Philip Muldari interviewed Jackie Cabasso on his weekly "Sunday Show." The topic: "Ban the Bomb". This in-depth one hour interview comprehensively covers the current state of global nuclear weapons dangers including up-to-date information about U.S. nuclear weapons upgrades, the Biden nuclear weapons budget request, and the need to integrate nuclear abolition work into a broader, multi-issue "moral fusion" movement such as the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. Jackie, a UFPJ National Co-convener, is the Executive Director of Western States Legal Foundation, a "founding mother" of the Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons, and Mayors for Peace North American Coordinator. Listen to the interview here.
Donate to Send Syringes to Cuba!
Cuba is short about 20 million of the 30 million syringes it needs. CODEPINK has partnered with The People's Forum, The Saving Lives Campaign, NEMO - The No Embargo Cuba Movement, Puentes de Amor and Global Health Partners to bring much-needed syringes and medical supplies to Cuba. So far, we've raised so much money to send syringes to Cuba, we're increasing our goal to $100,000! Due to the U.S. blockade of Cuba, which has been in place since 1961, Cuba cannot access equipment, medications, and supplies if the vendor or the transportation company is U.S.-owned, has a U.S. subsidiary, or does business with the U.S. By giving generously and you will receive a tax-deductible donation receipt instantly. Donate here!
National Geographic: Drop Gal Gadot!
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Why is National Geographic having Israeli actress Gal Gadot host their program, Impact, where episode 5 highlights the story of an indigenous woman who is talking about displacement and climate change? Gal Gadot served in the Israeli military as a combat trainer during Israel's brutal 2006 war in Lebanon when indiscriminate Israeli airstrikes killed about 900 civilians. Clearly, Gal shouldn't be speaking on indigenous rights, as she directly took part in displacing Palestinians in Palestine. It is an insult that Gal Gadot should be hosting such a series that is supposes to "empower women" when she praises the army that harms and murders Palestinian women every day. Tell National Geographic to stop working with her!
The Power of the Pen
United for Peace & Justice (UFPJ) regularly signs onto letters and statements dealing with a broad range of important peace and justice issues, intended to influence government policy. To mark World Environment Day (June 5) and World Ocean Day (June 8) 2021, UFPJ joined more than 70 U.S. peace and environmental groups signing onto a letter "to strongly condemn the recent decision of the Japanese government to release approximately 1.25 million metric tons of radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean." The letter, spearheaded by the New York City-based Manhattan Project for a Nuclear-Free World 10 years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, was delivered to the Consulate General of Japan in New York on June 5. This month, UFPJ also joined more than 100 national organizations signing a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to block the delivery of $735 million in weapons to Israel. Faith based groups such as Churches for Middle East Peace, American Muslims for Palestine, and Jewish Voice for Peace joined with more secular groups like Friends Committee on National Legislation, Defense of Children International -- Palestine, Justice Democrats, Indivisible, Sunrise Movement, and DAWN on the letter, which was delivered to the Administration and Congress on June 8. The letter was picked up by Al Jazeera.
New UFPJ Member Group Resource Page!
We have added a page to our web site for member groups to say a bit about what they do and what kinds of resources they have available. We hope it will become a useful means for making new connections and facilitating cooperative work. Some member groups already have provided information, and we encourage all member groups to do so. Take a look at our United for Peace and Justice Member Group Resource page, and submit your group's resource information to ufpjnewsletter@gmail.com
UFPJ is a diverse network of peace and justice organizations. If your organization is interested in joining UFPJ, please read our Unity Statement, and if it is consistent with your principles click here to join.
Please donate to help us continue sending out "UFPJ Currents" to our members and supporters. And THANK YOU for all your work for peace and justice!
