March 2022
As Dr. King said, our choice in the face of nuclear war is not between violence and nonviolence, but rather between nonviolence and nonexistence. We must choose peace, love, justice and life!
Bishop William J. Barber II and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis
Co-chairs of the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call to Moral Revival
Ukraine: Developments at the United Nations
With the UN Security Council paralyzed by the Russian veto, in two resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly a large majority of UN member states have strongly condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine as aggression in violation of the UN Charter. The International Court of Justice, the UN judicial branch, has also weighed in. The Court ordered the cessation of Russian military operations in a case brought by Ukraine claiming that Russia is abusing its rights under the Genocide Convention by waging a war of aggression to prevent an alleged but non-existent genocide. READ MORE
Ukraine War: Perspectives and Resources
The Ukraine war grinds on, with the terrible confrontation between highly destructive modern militaries accompanied by struggles to define the war's origins and meaning. United for Peace and Justice is maintaining a Ukraine resources page, frequently updated, with statements, commentary, videos, and background information on the war, including English language commentary from non-government sources in Ukraine where available. Two UFPJ coordinating committee members have written commentaries on the war, Gerry Condon of Veterans of Veterans for Peace (Message to Biden: Help De-Escalation in Ukraine or Risk Nuclear War) and Andrew Lichterman of Western States Legal Foundation (The Peace Movement and the Ukraine War: Where to Now?).
Statement on Russia's Attack on Ukraine from the Co-chairs of the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival
On Feb. 25, Bishop William J. Barber II and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, Co-chairs of the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, issued a powerful Statement on the Ukraine: "We are watching a war unfold with Russia's attack on Ukraine that has huge ramifications for the entire world, especially the poor. As always is the case with war and violence, poor and low-income people lose the most. In a war over geopolitics and oil, poor people become pawns as autocrats play dangerous and deadly games..... With the invoking of nuclear weapons, this reckless attack could lead to global disaster..... As Dr. King said, our choice in the face of nuclear war is not between violence and nonviolence, but rather between nonviolence and nonexistence. We must choose peace, love, justice and life!"
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." There's still time to organize a public participatory reading of the speech in your community 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 UFPJ's toolkit. READ MORE
Poor People's Campaign: We Need to Have a Meeting!
The Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival has launched a national Mobilization Tour leading to June 18, 2022 Mass Poor People's & Low-Wage Workers' Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls. As Bishop Rev. Dr. William Barber II, Co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign has declared: "We must stand together now; we cannot accept anything less than justice for all. We are called to assemble and march in the nation's capital as a moral fusion coalition in response to the pain caused to all of us when there are 140 million poor and low-income people in this country." Watch Bishop Barber's inspiring Call to Action, "We Need to Have a Meeting." UFPJ is proud to be a national mobilizing partner with the Poor Peoples Campaign. READ MORE
The Tangled Legal Issues Concerning the Afghan Bank Reserves
Last month, President Biden issued an executive order concerning $7 billion in assets of the Afghan central bank that were in limbo following the Taliban's takeover of the country. The administration said it will use half of the funds to benefit the Afghan people; the other half was set aside pending the resolution of lawsuits brought by some 9/11 families. Biden's actions have been widely misreported as "giving" half the money to the families. In reality, the executive order was an effort to "preserve certain Afghanistan central bank assets for the people of Afghanistan." Senior administration officials have explained the complex legal issues behind the order and the Department of Justice filed a Statement of Interest in the case involving the lawsuits by some 9/11 families that presents several arguments discrediting their claims. September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, which was founded in 2002 in opposition to war in Afghanistan, insists that ALL the Afghan bank reserves belong to the Afghan people and urges the Biden Administration to facilitate a prompt transfer. "What's Happening with Afghanistan's Assets?" offers a comprehensive overview of the legal and regulatory issues behind transfers.
Negotiate for Peace in Ukraine!
The United States played an important role in exacerbating the conflict that led up to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and it must now play a major role in the negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to achieve a ceasefire. The U.S. government must continue to reject a no-fly zone, to say no to NATO expansion, to offer an off-ramp for sanctions on Russia to be lifted, to support humanitarian aid to Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees, and to commit to a diplomatic solution to the war. See CODEPINK'S statement on Ukraine here, and Add your name to the following letter to President Biden and Congress asking them to support peace negotiations in Ukraine.
Open Letter: Solidarity with Russian Anti-war Protestors
CODEPINK has drafted an open letter in solidarity with Russian anti-war protestors, following a crackdown on protests and arrests of well-known activists: "We, women and other feminists (including men) of the world, express our solidarity with you as you protest the devastating invasion of Ukraine, and we join your call for Russian troops to immediately leave Ukraine. We are aware of the risks you face from police and civil authorities and thank you for your profound bravery and sacrifice. We are also moved by the tremendous courage of the Ukrainian people in the face of disaster." Read the letter and add your name here.
Help Feed the People of Yemen!
The war and blockade on Yemen is now entering its eighth year. A United Nations estimate put the death toll at over 375,000 by the end of 2021. There's been a scarcity of food, which will be exacerbated by the conflict in Ukraine, as Yemen imports 35% of its wheat from Russia and Ukraine. As Ramadan begins, let's keep the Yemenis in mind and help them materially. Join the Yemeni Alliance Committee, Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation, CODEPINK and Action Corps in supporting Yemeni families by sending them life-saving food baskets. Click here to help break the blockade to feed the people of Yemen!
Women Appeal for a Ceasefire, Ending the Threat of Nuclear War and for Peace
American women participating in a Women Transforming Our Nuclear Legacy dialogue and peacebuilding initiative have drafted an appeal calling for diplomacy over weapons and war. "We are in the most dangerous moment of the nuclear age since the Cuban Missile Crisis, with extreme tensions between the United States and Russia who together possess over 90% of the world's nuclear weapons. A nuclear war would mean the end of life as we know it, of all we love and cherish on this planet. We worry that events could spiral out of control and lead to an escalation to nuclear war due to accident, blunder, miscalculation or mistake." Add your name to the letter!
I Resigned My Diplomatic Post Over the US Invasion of Iraq. Will Any Russian Diplomats Do the Same?
Retired Colonel Ann Wright, who resigned from her post as a diplomat in March 2003 in opposition to the war on Iraq, has written a piece calling on Russian diplomats to resign in protest over the invasion of Ukraine. While recognizing that U.S. expansion of NATO, the Ukrainian government's treatment of ethnic Russians and the 8-year civil war in the Donbass region all played a role in leading up to the invasion, Wright argues that this still does not absolve the Russian government of its violation of international law. Of the diplomats, she writes: "if they resign, their voices of conscience, their voices of dissent, will probably be the most important legacy of their lives." Read the article here.
Major Change of Course in the 9/11 Military Commission
The prosecution in the military commission at Guantanamo initiated discussions on plea agreements with Khalid Sheik Mohammad and four other men accused of planning and supporting the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In exchange for guilty pleas from the five defendants, the government would drop the death penalty. September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, a founding member of UFPJ, has advocated for plea agreements since 2017, as the only way to reach judicial finality in a case that has been deadlocked over litigation concerning how much evidence of the CIA torture all of the defendants were subjected to would be presented to a military jury. After nearly a decade of pre-trial hearings, the start of an actual trial remains uncertain. The decision to pursue plea agreements appears to signal that the government recognizes the significant obstacles to a fair trial that the CIA's torture program created. While final agreements that the Departments of Defense and Justice sign off on are likely months away, The New York Times reported that "significant enough progress" was made in initial discussions that the judge cancelled the pre-trial hearing that had been scheduled for March.
President Biden: Lift the Venezuela Sanctions
In response to the war in Ukraine and rising gas prices, the White House sent an official to meet with the Venezuelan government in Caracas for the first time in 20 years. The meeting led to immediate positive gestures by President Maduro, who agreed to resume the dialogue with the political opposition and released a Venezuelan-American Citgo executive convicted of corruption. So far, the Biden administration has yet to reciprocate these gestures. The movement for Venezuelan solidarity is calling on President Biden to offer immediate sanctions relief, restore relations with the democratically elected Maduro government and free Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab. Sign the petition here!
The Cold War on China intensifies
In the latest Appropriations Act, Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin added a bill that would make it illegal for the State Department to use or create maps that depict Taiwan as part of China. This would directly contradict the Shanghai Communique, a 1972 agreement signed by the U.S. and China that leaves it up to the Chinese people on both sides of the Taiwan strait to peacefully settle the question of Taiwan. With this amendment, Rep. Tiffany would undo decades of diplomacy and unnecessarily inflame tensions at a time when we're close to another world war. Write to Rep. Tiffany to express your disagreement with his amendment!
Power of the Pen: UFPJ Endorses Bill to Restrict No-Knock Warrants in Wake of Amir Locke's Murder
United for Peace and Justice opposes racism and militarism abroad and at home. We are pleased to be among nearly fifty organizational endorsers of the Amir Locke End Deadly No-Knock Warrants Act, which will establish strict limitations on the use of no-knock warrants in drug-related investigations. The legislation, introduced on March 1, 2022, by Rep. Ilhan Omar and twenty-seven co-sponsors, also bans quick-knock warrants, all nighttime warrants, as well as the use of flash-bang stun grenades, other explosive devices, chemical weapons, or any military-grade firearm. The introduction comes after the murder of Amir Locke, who was shot and killed by the Minneapolis Police Department while executing a no-knock warrant. READ MORE
Hyun Lee Presente!
United for Peace and Justice is deeply saddened by the passing of Hyun Lee on March 7. Hyun was known for her calm, thoughtful presence and her intelligence, warmth, and ready laugh. Hyun was a tireless advocate for peace on the Korean Peninsula. Starting in 2018, she served as the U.S. National Organizer and then the Campaign Strategist for Women Cross DMZ and their Korea Peace Now! campaign. In addition to her organizing skills, Hyun was an expert on Korea and a brilliant analyst and strategist. Hyun served as a bridge between people, organizations, communities, and movements. She was completely bilingual in Korean and English and used this skill to help strengthen relationships between social movements and policymakers in Korea and the U.S. We will miss her very much. READ MORE
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