By supporting Palestine, we could be working to save the world. We are finding new traction for vital movements for peace and justice.... It is a movement-building moment. Don't linger in depression. Get fired up and find your voice. Find your place in this movement and be part of the solution. Another world is possible! Gerry Condon Representing Veterans For Peace in Cairo
Poor People's Campaign - Faith Calls at Midnight: A New Year's Eve Interfaith Watch Night Service of Lament, Hope and Call to Action, Dec. 31, 2023 As we gear up for 2024, the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival is entering a season of intensification. State coordinating committees are preparing for a year of mass mobilizations, assemblies, and a robust non-partisan Get Out The Vote (GOTV) effort. Mark your calendar for March 2, 2024, nationally-coordinated Mass Mobilizations at State Capitals, and June 15, 2024, the Poor People's and Low-Wage Workers' Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls! Start the year by joining Repairers of the Breach, the NC Poor People's Campaign, the NC Council of Churches and Union Baptist Church in Salem, NC for an interfaith Watch Night service on New Year's Eve at 6pm ET, rebroadcast at 10pm ET. Click here to join this moving service, featuring Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, Co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign.
Emergency Summit for Gaza with Jesse Jackson -- Chicago, January 12 and 13 Since American officials have been visiting Gaza, airstrikes, which were already constant, have massively increased. In response to the U.S. government's failure to stop this horror, the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) is partnering with Rev. Jesse Jackson in calling for an Emergency Summit for Gaza, on January 12 and 13 in Chicago. Speakers will include Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Fahed Abuakel, Dr. James Zogby, Peter Beinart, Congressman Johnathon Jackson, Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Rabbi Phyllis Berman, Dr. Nina Turner, Illinois State Representative Abdelnasser Rashid, Rev. Frederick Haynes, and Wesley Granberg-Michaelson. Register now to attend the rally in Chicago. For those who cannot attend in person, you can register to attend virtually.Enough to the occupation. Enough to war. Enough to violence. Enough to hate. It's time for peace.
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Witnessing Genocide and Dealing with Despair: What I Learned While Trying to Get to the Rafah Border Last month, Veterans For Peace former Board President Gerry Condon was part of an international delegation that travelled to Cairo, Egypt with the goal of reaching the Rafah border crossing with Gaza. Their aim was to exert pressure to open the border for the immediate entry of urgent humanitarian aid to 2.3 million Palestinians facing starvation and death as Israeli airstrikes continued to pound innocent civilians. Unfortunately, their efforts were blocked. As Gerry writes: "Watching this genocide being perpetrated in real time before the eyes of the entire world is shocking and depressing.... One can take encouragement, however, from the huge outpouring of outrage and compassion throughout the U.S. and worldwide.... Don't linger in depression. Get fired up and find your voice. Find your place in this movement and be part of the solution."
Germany's All-Out Assault on Palestinians and Jews in Real Time Bear witness to the alarming social and political upheaval in Germany as it undergoes a profound transformation, with unprecedented attacks on the peace movement and those advocating for justice in Palestine. This firsthand account, narrated by Matt De Vlieger, UFPJ's former National Organizer, also a Jewish activist living in Berlin, gives a living tour of aspects of the suppression of pro-Palestinian voices, the alarming misuse of anti-Semitism accusations, and the harsh crackdown on demonstrators. For a dive into the complexities of a nation grappling with its history and a hazardous recalibration of political alignment, and the disturbing pattern of institutional repression affecting diverse communities from the Palestinian diaspora to critical Jews and progressive cultural institutions, read more.
Webinar: The Gaza War: Short- and Long-term Implications for the Middle East, January 10, 2023, 7:00pm EST While the massacres of October 7 must be absolutely condemned, in no way do they justify the Israeli devastation of Gaza. What must be done to end the war? To prevent escalation to a still more catastrophic regional war? To begin the difficult diplomacy to ensure that the rights, dignity and security of both the Palestinian and Israeli peoples? To create U.S. policies that defuse rather than exacerbate militarism, divisions and tensions across the Middle East? To restore essential services and begin reconstruction for more than two million people? This webinar will feature Assaf Kfoury, Irene L. Gendzier and Richard Falk, three extraordinarily experienced and well-informed Middle East scholars who have long been devoted to creating a just Israeli-Palestinian and Middle East peace. For more information and to register, click here.
WEBINAR RECORDING: Labor for Peace in Palestine; SEIU 1021 and Jobs with Justice Teach-in On Dec. 7, SEIU 1021 and Jobs With Justice San Francisco came together to host an online teach-in, "Labor for Peace in Palestine." SEIU 1021 President Theresa Rutherford kicked off the online teach-in, emphasizing the gravity of the conflict. SEIU 1021 leader and Palestinian American Linda Khoury-Umili, explained the history of the Zionist movement. North Bay Jobs With Justice Executive Director Max Bell Alper introduced himself as an anti-Zionist Jew who grew up in Israel. Middle East Children's Alliance Executive Director Zeiad Abbas Shamrouch went into detail about the devastation happening in Gaza and Palestine. The teach-in concluded with a question-and-answer session. Read more. Watch the video recording here (available in English and Spanish).
WEBINAR RECORDING: Unions for Ceasefire Now! Press Conference, Washington D.C., December 14, 2023 On December 14, labor leaders and members of Congress joined in a press conference on Capitol Hill, demanding a cease fire in Gaza. United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain; Chelsea Bland, President of the Metropolitan DC Area Chapter of the Coalition of Labor Union Women; Janvi Madhani, United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers; Gene Bruskin, National Labor Network for a Ceasefire joined Congress members Cori Bush, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Andre Carson, and Ro Khanna. Bruskin, speaking on behalf of a network of over 130 unions, said, "Only the U.S. can stop this madness. We have provided Israel with tens of billions of dollars of the most advanced military weapons in the world for decades. If the U.S. demanded that it stop, it would stop." Watch the recording here.
The Siege of Gaza: United for Peace and Justice Resources on the War Earlier this month, the heads of five leading aid groups stated in a New York Times op ed that "as the leaders of some of the world's largest global humanitarian organizations, we have seen nothing like the siege of Gaza." The war has highlighted the gaps and contradictions in the rationale for the unstinting support of the Israeli government, not only by the U.S. government but in Europe as well. Masha Gessen writes from Berlin in the New Yorker that "[f]rom the earliest days of Israel's founding, the comparison of displaced Palestinians to displaced Jews has presented itself, only to be swatted away." Find these references and more on the regularly updated United for Peace and Justice Gaza War resource page.Image: Rousseau Diderot, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Ann Wright Testifies Before United Nations Security Council; Calls for Gaza Ceasefire In Dec. 11, 2023, testimony to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) about the dangers of weapons sales and transfers, their devastating human toll, and the evils of military-industrial complexes, former colonel and U.S. diplomat, Ann Wright condemned Israel's unconscionable Gaza mass murder and devastation and appealed for an immediate ceasefire. In her 29-year career in the Army and Army Reserves, Colonel Ann Wright served at the NATO subcommand Allied Forces Central Europe, and later as a diplomat serving in U.S. Embassies in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia, Afghanistan and Mongolia. She resigned from the U.S. government in March 2003 in opposition to Bush's war on Iraq. She is a member of, and advisor to, many peace and anti-war groups. Read more and watch a video of her testimony to the UNSC.
WEBINAR RECORDING: The Russo-Ukrainian War and the Return of History, Quincy Institute, December 12, 2023 Many of the roots of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the tensions leading up to the invasion, are to be found in the old, complex and contested historical relationship between Russians and Ukrainians. To discuss this history and its role in the present conflict, Anatol Lieven, Director of the Eurasia Program at the Quincy Institute, was joined by the distinguished Ukrainian historian Serhii Plokhy. They talked about Dr. Plokhy's latest book, The Russo-Ukrainian War: The Return of History. The Ukraine war, said Plokhy, "can to be best explained, at least in my opinion, in the context of the disintegration of the Soviet Union, and the broader history of the disintegration of the Russian Empire." Watch the webinar here.
Reflections on the Second Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons The Second Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) took place from November 27 -- December 1, 2023, at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The TPNW meeting served as the centerpiece of a wide range of nuclear disarmament activities. Some 700 individuals, representing over 100 nongovernmental organizations took part in a dynamic, interactive process with the member states. In what could be viewed as a much broader, week-long nuclear disarmament conference, more than 65 side events, including panel discussions, art exhibitions, concerts, and awards ceremonies were held inside the UN and around New York City. The TPNW meeting manifested a growing recognition that rising threats of nuclear war are intolerable and that the only solution is the total elimination of nuclear weapons. Read more.
TPNW Side Events: Tectonic Geopolitical Changes and Their Nuclear Implications; Urgency of Nuclear Disarmament Nov. 28, during the Second Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at the United Nations in New York, the Coalition for Peace, Disarmament, and Common Security (CPDCS), the International Peace Bureau (IPB), and the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung (RLS) gathered leading analysists and movement leaders from 13 countries in a round table on Tectonic Geopolitical Changes & Their Nuclear Implications. Texts of their important remarks are posted here. On the evening of Nov. 29, CPDCS, IPB, RLS, Peace Action New York State, and Brooklyn for Peace held a standing-room-only public forum on the Urgency of Nuclear Disarmament. Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director of Western States Legal Foundation and UFPJ National Co-convener, spoke at both events. Texts of speakers' remarks as well as a video recording are posted here.
Rep. Jim McGovern Takes House Floor to Call for Abolition of Nuclear Weapons On the heels of his participation in the Second Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), on Dec. 13, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) took to the House Floor to sound the alarm: "If we don't eliminate the use of nuclear weapons around the world, nuclear weapons will eliminate us. The U.S. should aim to abolish all nuclear weapons, restart negotiations and work towards a more peaceful future." Reps. McGovern and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) have introduced H. Res. 77 in the U.S. House of Representatives. H. Res. 77 calls on the U.S. to embrace the goals and provisions of the TPNW and to adopt the Back from the Brink Campaign's comprehensive policy prescriptions for preventing nuclear war. There are currently 42 co-sponsors. Is your Rep. one of them? If not, please use the resources here to get them on board.
Kansas City, MO: Critical Node of the New Arms Race - RESIST The already massive Kansas City Bomb Plant is slated to double in size in 2024 due to the U.S. government's insistence on spending trillions of our taxpayer dollars to build more "new and improved.... nuclear weapons -- weapons that can never be used if we intend to survive as a species. This bomb plant is one of the eight National Nuclear Security Administration operating sites throughout the country. It alone is responsible for more than 85% of the non-nuclear components, an integral part of the production of these weapons. Without this plant nuclear weapons can't be produced. WE MUST RESIST. Catholic Workers, Kansas City area non-profits and citizens are planning a Day of Action on Monday, April 15. Read More.
WEBINAR RECORDING: The Biden-Xi Summit; Its Implications for the Future of U.S.-China Relations The November 15, 2023, San Francisco summit between Presidents Biden of the U.S. and Xi Jinping of China is now history. While we can all breathe a little easier as a result of their joint pledges to reduce tensions and improve cooperation on climate change and other issues, the structural forces that drive U.S.-Chinese competition in the military, economic, technological, and diplomatic arenas persist. In this December 13 webinar, hosted by the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament & Common Security, experts analyzed the Biden-Xi Summit and its implications for the future of U.S.-Chinese Relations. Speakers: Michael Klare, defense correspondent for The Nation; Yun Sun, Director of the China Program at the Stimson Center; and Zhiqun Zhu, Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Bucknell University. Watch the recording here.
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By supporting Palestine, we could be working to save the world. We are finding new traction for vital movements for peace and justice.... It is a movement-building moment. Don't linger in depression. Get fired up and find your voice. Find your place in this movement and be part of the solution. Another world is possible!
As we gear up for 2024, the 
Since American officials have been visiting Gaza, airstrikes, which were already constant, have massively increased. In response to the U.S. government's failure to stop this horror, the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) is partnering with Rev. Jesse Jackson in calling for an Emergency Summit for Gaza, on January 12 and 13 in Chicago. Speakers will include Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Fahed Abuakel, Dr. James Zogby, Peter Beinart, Congressman Johnathon Jackson, Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Rabbi Phyllis Berman, Dr. Nina Turner, Illinois State Representative Abdelnasser Rashid, Rev. Frederick Haynes, and Wesley Granberg-Michaelson. 
Last month, Veterans For Peace former Board President Gerry Condon was part of an international delegation that travelled to Cairo, Egypt with the goal of reaching the Rafah border crossing with Gaza. Their aim was to exert pressure to open the border for the immediate entry of urgent humanitarian aid to 2.3 million Palestinians facing starvation and death as Israeli airstrikes continued to pound innocent civilians. Unfortunately, their efforts were blocked. 
Bear witness to the alarming social and political upheaval in Germany as it undergoes a profound transformation, with unprecedented attacks on the peace movement and those advocating for justice in Palestine. This firsthand account, narrated by Matt De Vlieger, UFPJ's former National Organizer, also a Jewish activist living in Berlin, gives a living tour of aspects of the suppression of pro-Palestinian voices, the alarming misuse of anti-Semitism accusations, and the harsh crackdown on demonstrators. For a dive into the complexities of a nation grappling with its history and a hazardous recalibration of political alignment, and the disturbing pattern of institutional repression affecting diverse communities from the Palestinian diaspora to critical Jews and progressive cultural institutions, 
While the massacres of October 7 must be absolutely condemned, in no way do they justify the Israeli devastation of Gaza. What must be done to end the war? To prevent escalation to a still more catastrophic regional war? To begin the difficult diplomacy to ensure that the rights, dignity and security of both the Palestinian and Israeli peoples? To create U.S. policies that defuse rather than exacerbate militarism, divisions and tensions across the Middle East? To restore essential services and begin reconstruction for more than two million people? This webinar will feature Assaf Kfoury, Irene L. Gendzier and Richard Falk, three extraordinarily experienced and well-informed Middle East scholars who have long been devoted to creating a just Israeli-Palestinian and Middle East peace. 
On Dec. 7, SEIU 1021 and Jobs With Justice San Francisco came together to host an online teach-in, "Labor for Peace in Palestine." SEIU 1021 President Theresa Rutherford kicked off the online teach-in, emphasizing the gravity of the conflict. SEIU 1021 leader and Palestinian American Linda Khoury-Umili, explained the history of the Zionist movement. North Bay Jobs With Justice Executive Director Max Bell Alper introduced himself as an anti-Zionist Jew who grew up in Israel. Middle East Children's Alliance Executive Director Zeiad Abbas Shamrouch went into detail about the devastation happening in Gaza and Palestine. The teach-in concluded with a question-and-answer session. 
On December 14, labor leaders and members of Congress joined in a press conference on Capitol Hill, demanding a cease fire in Gaza. United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain; Chelsea Bland, President of the Metropolitan DC Area Chapter of the Coalition of Labor Union Women; Janvi Madhani, United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers; Gene Bruskin, National Labor Network for a Ceasefire joined Congress members Cori Bush, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Andre Carson, and Ro Khanna. Bruskin, speaking on behalf of a network of over 130 unions, said, "Only the U.S. can stop this madness. We have provided Israel with tens of billions of dollars of the most advanced military weapons in the world for decades. If the U.S. demanded that it stop, it would stop." 
Earlier this month, the heads of five leading aid groups stated in a 
In Dec. 11, 2023, testimony to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) about the dangers of weapons sales and transfers, their devastating human toll, and the evils of military-industrial complexes, former colonel and U.S. diplomat, Ann Wright condemned Israel's unconscionable Gaza mass murder and devastation and appealed for an immediate ceasefire. In her 29-year career in the Army and Army Reserves, 
Many of the roots of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the tensions leading up to the invasion, are to be found in the old, complex and contested historical relationship between Russians and Ukrainians. To discuss this history and its role in the present conflict, Anatol Lieven, Director of the Eurasia Program at the Quincy Institute, was joined by the distinguished Ukrainian historian Serhii Plokhy. They talked about Dr. Plokhy's latest book, The Russo-Ukrainian War: The Return of History. The Ukraine war, said Plokhy, "can to be best explained, at least in my opinion, in the context of the disintegration of the Soviet Union, and the broader history of the disintegration of the Russian Empire." 
The Second Meeting of States Parties to the 
Nov. 28, during the Second Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at the United Nations in New York, the Coalition for Peace, Disarmament, and Common Security (CPDCS), the International Peace Bureau (IPB), and the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung (RLS) gathered leading analysists and movement leaders from 13 countries in a round table on Tectonic Geopolitical Changes & Their Nuclear Implications. 
On the heels of his participation in the Second Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), on Dec. 13, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) 
The already massive Kansas City Bomb Plant is slated to double in size in 2024 due to the U.S. government's insistence on spending trillions of our taxpayer dollars to build more "new and improved.... nuclear weapons -- weapons that can never be used if we intend to survive as a species. This bomb plant is one of the eight National Nuclear Security Administration operating sites throughout the country. It alone is responsible for more than 85% of the non-nuclear components, an integral part of the production of these weapons. Without this plant nuclear weapons can't be produced. WE MUST RESIST. Catholic Workers, Kansas City area non-profits and citizens are planning a Day of Action on Monday, April 15. 
Peace advocates continue to call for negotiations and 
The November 15, 2023, San Francisco summit between Presidents Biden of the U.S. and Xi Jinping of China is now history. While we can all breathe a little easier as a result of their joint pledges to reduce tensions and improve cooperation on climate change and other issues, the structural forces that drive U.S.-Chinese competition in the military, economic, technological, and diplomatic arenas persist. In this December 13 webinar, hosted by the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament & Common Security, experts analyzed the Biden-Xi Summit and its implications for the future of U.S.-Chinese Relations. Speakers: Michael Klare, defense correspondent for The Nation; Yun Sun, Director of the China Program at the Stimson Center; and Zhiqun Zhu, Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Bucknell University.