Truth may be unpleasant, complicated and unexpected, it may reveal that there are no good guys or bad guys, only good behavior to reward and bad behavior to restrain…. Since you want peace, prepare for peace.
Yurii Sheliazhenko
University of Economics and Law, Kyiv, Ukraine
Author, "Will Truth Invade Ukraine?"
Time to start stopping the wars: No war in Ukraine, then no war anywhere.
The Ukraine crisis has moved into a new, more dangerous phase. The Russian government has recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions as governments, apparently abrogating the Minsk agreements process intended to resolve their status. It is sending its armed forces into those regions, purportedly as "peacekeepers." Russia's moves could spark an escalation of the long-running war in Ukraine. It also increases the danger of a military confrontation between the United States, its NATO allies, and Russia, the world's most heavily armed nuclear nations. The peace movement must be a global people's movement, aligned with the policies of no government. It is time for the people of the world to cry Enough! No more war threats, no more War! See the January 29 Statement on the Ukraine Crisis by the United for Peace and Justice Coordinating Committee here. For more from a variety of organizations and perspectives, see UFPJ's new Ukraine Crisis resources page.
Ukraine Crisis: The Stakes are High
John Burroughs of the Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy offers a view of the crisis, its causes, and its international law implications. He notes that the long-term causes include the reckless 2008 declaration that NATO membership is in principle open to Ukraine and Georgia, and more broadly the long history since the mid-1990s of US and NATO disregard of Russian security interests and proposals. Nonetheless, the immediate cause is the Russian government's menacing behavior, including its troop deployments and nuclear exercises. Such threats are unlawful under the UN Charter. He concludes that the UN Charter mandates peaceful resolution of disputes. Continued diplomacy is not only required but the only rational course of action. Read more.
Webinar: Diplomatic Paths to Resolution of the Ukraine/European Security Crisis: Russian, European & U.S. Perspectives, March 2, 10 a.m. EST
Speakers include: Alexey Gromyko, Russian Academy of Sciences (Russia), Tarja Cronberg, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Finland) and Daryl Kimball, Arms Control Association (United States). Former government officials, advisors and peace advocates have been pressing for a wide range of diplomatic paths to a just and enduring peace for Ukraine and Europe as a whole: immediate risk reduction, Ukraine's identity and sovereignty, nuclear weapons and conventional military treaty negotiations, and respect for post-Cold War commitments that no nation will seek security at the expense of others. Initiated by the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security. Click here to register.
This April 4: Organize a Public Reading of Dr. King's "Beyond Vietnam" Speech in Your Community
On April 4, 1967, exactly one year before he was killed, in his prophetic speech, "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence," Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. declared: "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death." King's speech laid bare the relationship between U.S. wars abroad and the racism and poverty being challenged by the civil rights movement at home. And King called for a "revolution of values." UFPJ encourages groups around the country to organize public participatory readings of the speech this April 4 as part of the Poor People's Campaign Mobilization for the June 18 Mass Poor People's & Low-Wage Workers' Assembly and Moral March on Washington. Click here for our toolkit. Read more.
Mobilizing for The Mass Poor People's & Low-Wage Workers' Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls, June 18, 2022
The Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival has launched a national Mobilization Tour leading to the June 18, 2022 Mass Poor People's & Low-Wage Workers' Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls. The Mobilization Tour will make at least 10 stops (initially virtually, then in-person) across the nation to do M.O.R.E. – mobilizing, organizing, registering, and educating people for a movement that votes, leading to the historic Assembly and March in Washington, DC on June18. The Mass Poor People's & Low-Wage Workers' Assembly & Moral March on Washington will be a generationally-transformative declaration of the power of poor and low-wealth people and our moral allies to say that this system is killing ALL of us and we won't be silent anymore. Learn more and sign up!
"Meet the Big 5: How the Military-Industrial Complex Controls Politics" webinar recording
On January 24, the War Industry Resisters Network, a new coalition of groups opposing war profiteers at the local level presented "Meet the Big 5: How the Military-Industrial Complex Controls Politics." The Big 5 are Raytheon Technologies, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and General Dynamics. Presenters Neta Crawford, William Hartung, and Christian Sorensen examined the influence of these companies over Congress and the Executive Branch under both Democratic and Republican presidents. Watch the recording here. Click here for Christian Sorensen's work at War Industry Muster. Click here for Neta Crawford's work at the Costs of War Project. Click here for William Hartung's work at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Click here to join the War Industry Resisters Network.
UFPJ Joins 105 Peace, Justice, Humanitarian and Human Rights Organizations Demanding That Biden Overhaul U.S. Civilian Harm Policies
105 non-governmental organizations from the U.S., Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria, Pakistan, and Yemen agreed, "For two decades, U.S. operations overseas have killed tens of thousands of civilians around the world – primarily from Brown, Black, and Muslim communities." The letter, which was drafted after pathbreaking investigative reports by NY Times, continues, "the Defense Department has summarily dismissed countless credible claims of civilian casualties and regularly failed to conduct effective or transparent investigations." It calls on President Biden to publicly address the longstanding structural flaws in how the United States investigates and responds to civilian deaths and injuries in its operations. Read the letter in full. Senator Durbin convened a hearing of the Senate Judicial Committee on drone strikes and acknowledged the letter from civil society.
Veterans For Peace Releases Nuclear Posture Review
UFPJ member group Veterans For Peace has released its own assessment of the current global threat of nuclear war, ahead of the anticipated release of the Biden Administration's Nuclear Posture Review. The Veterans For Peace Nuclear Posture Review warns that the danger of nuclear war is greater than ever and that nuclear disarmament must be vigorously pursued. President Biden is expected soon to issue a U.S. Nuclear Posture Review (NPR). Veterans For Peace anticipates that the Biden Administration's NPR will continue to reflect the unrealistic goals of full spectrum dominance and justify the continuing expenditure of billions of dollars on nuclear weapons. The document makes recommendations for how the U.S. could provide leadership to begin a process of worldwide disarmament. Read more.
Virtual Events Marking the 68th Anniversary of the Bikini Nuclear Bomb Test
Before dawn on March 1, 1954, the United States conducted the Bravo hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. Bravo was about 1,000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima atomic bomb. The bomb test impacted people in the Marshall Islands and contaminated Japanese fishing boats, disrupting the international tuna industry. Gensuikyo, the Japan Council Against A & H Bombs, will hold online 2022 Bikini Day Events on Feb. 28 and March 1 (Japan time), with English to Japanese simultaneous interpretation. Part 1: 2022 Bikini Day Gensuikyo National Conference, Sunday, February 27, 2022. 8 – 9:30 pm PST/11 pm – 12:30 am EST. Register here. Part II: 68th Anniversary 2022 March 1st Bikini Day Rally, Monday, February 28, 2022, 8 – 10:30 pm PST/11pm – 1:30am EST. Register here. Learn more.
Remarkable Court Sentencing of Nuclear Weapons Protesters, Kansas City MO
Watch this uplifting video of the Feb.18, 2022 sentencing of four Kansas City, MO anti-nuclear protesters by an extraordinary judge. The first 2:40 minutes is Ann Suellentrop, long time nuclear disarmament activist, singing "Do Not Be Afraid," as photos of the line-crossing and arrests at the National Security Campus run by Honeywell are shown. This plant makes or procures 80-85% of all non-nuclear parts needed for the U.S. nuclear arsenal. At 2:45 you will hear the Judge's remarkable comments, read by a PeaceWorks activist. Judge Bland cited the defendants' references to Martin Luther King, Jr., stating that Dr. King was his personal hero. He noted that in the eyes of the law King was a criminal but if people aren't willing to take a stand for a noble cause, nothing changes. Read more.
"Reducing the Threat of Nuclear War: Rebuilding a Broader Movement" conference video
With rising tensions between nuclear armed states and Congress funding new and upgraded nuclear weapons, the need to reduce the threat of nuclear war has become acute. On January 29, MIT Radius, Massachusetts Peace Action, and others held a virtual conference, "Reducing the Threat of Nuclear War: Rebuilding a Broader Movement," with an emphasis on coordinating efforts and expanding outreach to constituencies outside the world of nuclear disarmament advocates. Speakers included Joseph Gerson, William Hartung, Shailly Gupta Barnes, Phyllis Bennis, and Larry Cohen. Part I was followed by 15 breakout sessions (not recorded). Part 2, "Moving Our Ideas Into Political Action," chaired by Jodie Evans, featured recorded remarks by Rep. Barbara Lee and Senator Ed Markey. Watch Part 1. Watch Part 2.
Support Workers Opposing Google's Pursuit of Pentagon Contract
Google is aggressively competing to win a piece of the DOD's Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability (JWCC) contract. A few years ago, the corporation turned down a chance to pursue a similar contract, saying that the contract would violate Google's artificial intelligence principles to not develop technology that causes harm, yet the JWCC will produce exactly the sorts of developments in military technology the lead to impacts like unfettered surveillance and the devastating civilian casualties caused by drone warfare. Stand with the Google employees saying "No!" to the JWWC. Demand that Google's CEO Sundar Pichai listen to the workers and respect the company's AI principle of doing no harm and refuse to pursue the Pentagon's JWCC contract. Sign the petition here.
"It can't be illegal to help a people" -- The Persecution of Alex Saab
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CODEPINK's Leonardo Flores wrote an important piece explaining the persecution of Alex Saab, a political prisoner. Alex Saab is virtually unknown in the United States, where he is currently languishing in a Miami prison, but he has been vital to Venezuela's ability to survive the brutal economic war being waged by the U.S. He is a political prisoner whose case has parallels to that of Julian Assange. Both have been subjected to extraterritorial reach by U.S. authorities, as neither are U.S. citizens, and their alleged crimes took place outside of the country. Assange is in jail for telling the truth. Saab is in jail for helping feed Venezuelans. Read more about Alex Saab here.
What We Must Do for Afghanistan
After 20 years of war, peace advocates welcomed an end to the war in Afghanistan. Yet when the U.S. military pulled out, the Biden administration also choked off assets to Afghan banks and the economy by freezing the reserves of the Afghan Central Bank held in the U.S. It also imposed sanctions on those doing business with Afghanistan and cut aid. Jobs and income disappeared, people cannot afford to buy food and mass starvation is now occurring. On February 14, Valentine's Day, Peace Action organized "Love to Afghanistan" vigils across the country to pressure Congress to increase aid to Afghanistan and end the sanctions policies and asset freezes that humanitarian groups say are driving the current famine. Read Jean Athey's compelling call to action, "What We Must Do for Afghanistan."
Tell Biden Not to Steal from the Afghan People!
On February 11, President Biden issued an Executive Order regarding the $7 billion of Afghan funds invested in the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank. Biden called for the money to be divided in two, with half going to compensate 9/11 families who had been suing the Taliban for sheltering Al Qaeda and the other half going to humanitarian aid. But the Afghan people are not responsible for 9/11 and more than humanitarian aid, they need their money to be returned to their Central Bank to shore up their collapsing economy. Moreover, these funds are not Biden's to distribute. They belong to the Afghan people. Join CODEPINK in expressing outrage at Biden's cruel, unilateral measure and calling on him to reverse this decision.
Tell the NYT: Learn from Eileen, Don't Demean!
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The New York Times has an obvious bias when it comes to reporting on China and COVID. Now they've reached a new low by using Eileen Gu, an 18-year-old girl who chose to ski for China, to further drive Sinophobia and fuel aggression and war on China. With headlines like "Why is U.S.-born Eileen Gu skiing for China?" and "Eileen Gu Is Trying to Soar Over the Geopolitical Divide," it appears that the New York Times has decided to hop on the trend of questioning Eileen for her decision to ski for her mother's native country. Gu said herself that "[t]hrough skiing, I hope to unite people, promote common understanding, create communication, and forge friendships between nations." Tell the NYT to learn from Eileen: Be kind, not mean!
Webinar on the Uyghurs in China -- Recording Now Available
The Committee for a Sane U.S.-China Policy presented a webinar, "The Uyghurs of China: Who They Are, Human Rights Abuses, Implications For U.S. Policy?" January 25. The panelists were Garner Bovington, author of The Uyghurs: Strangers in Their Own Land and professor of Central Eurasian Studies at Indiana University, Kate Kizer, human rights advocate and columnist at Responsible Statecraft, Alkan Akad, China Specialist, Amnesty International, and panel chair Paul Joseph, Committee for a Sane U.S.-China Policy steering committee, and Professor Emeritus, Tufts University. A recording of the webinar is now available.
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