We are not a violent insurrection responding to the prompts of greedy extremists; we are a nonviolent resurrection of the promise of a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Poor People's and Low Wage Worker's Mass Assembly
June 29, 2024
2024 Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Hiroshima and Nagasaki A-bomb Survivors The Nobel Committee has announced its decision to award the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize to Nihon Hidankyo, the grassroots movement of "Hibakusha," atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, "for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again." The Committee warned,"The nuclear powers are modernizing and upgrading their arsenals; new countries appear to be preparing to acquire nuclear weapons; and threats are being made to use nuclear weapons in ongoing warfare…. Next year will mark 80 years since two American atomic bombs killed an estimated 120,000 inhabitants of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.... Today's nuclear weapons.... can kill millions and would impact the climate catastrophically. A nuclear war could destroy our civilisation."Read more.
GOTV! (Get Out The Vote) A Message from Bishop William J. Barber II, National Co-Chair, Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival "In each of the so-called battleground states, poor and low-income voters made up several times the margin of victory in 2020. We know that across the nation, this sleeping giant of voters has the power to decide election outcomes. That's why over the past month, Poor People's Campaign organizers in over two dozen states -- including poor and low-wage impacted people themselves -- have been canvassing, tabling, and conducting outreach in neighborhoods with high concentrations of poor and low-wage infrequent voters. We sent 8.7 million text messages to poor and low-wage infrequent voters."Watch the Oct. 21 PPC National Virtual Pep Rallyfeaturing faith leaders, impacted people, and allies who are working to mobilize 15 million of America's over 135 million poor and low-wage persons during this year's crucial elections, and GOTV!
9/11 Case at Guantanamo Remains in Legal Limbo; Status of Pre-Trial Agreements to be Argued in November; Judge Again Pushes Back Date of His Retirement The military judge in the 9/11 case instructed prosecution and defense lawyers to prepare to argue on the legality of the Secretary of Defense's decision to revoke plea agreements reached with three of the 9/11 defendants, including 9/11 "mastermind," Khalid Sheik Mohammed, this past summer. The judge has scheduled arguments for the first day of the next hearings, Nov. 4, the day before the 2024 presidential election. So, the current judge will almost certainly rule on whether the 9/11 case proceeds, to a sentencing hearing for the three men, or whether the case continues on an uncertain path, with no trial date set and the current judge planning to leave the case in the middle of next year. Read more about the September and October 9/11 military commissions HERE.
Webinar Recording: "Genocide and the Widening Middle East Wars" With missiles flying between Israel and Iran, Lebanon, and Yemen, no end in sight to the Gaza genocide, and the U.S. deepening its engagement as Israel's ally and weapons supplier, Massachusetts Peace Action, the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security, Historians for Peace and Democracy, and Brooklyn for Peace organized an exceptional webinar, "Genocide and the Widening Middle East Wars." Discussing the wars' origins, dynamics, consequences, and ways to stop the killing were Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies, Assaf Kfoury of Boston University, and Ervand Abrahamian of Baruch College and the Graduate Center of the City University. Learn more about the speakers.Watch the webinar HERE.
Video Recording--Counterpoint: "Should the Global South Condemn Russia's War of Aggression on Ukraine as an Act of Imperialism?" On Sept. 26, Foreign Policy's podcast Counterpoint, recorded a live episode during the UN General Assembly meeting in New York, to address the question, "Should the Global South Condemn Russia's War of Aggression on Ukraine as an Act of Imperialism?" This fascinating debate featured Kenya's former UN ambassador Martin Kimani and Indian historian and journalist Vijay Prashad. Some observers in the Global South have accused Russia of behaving like a neocolonial power--redrawing borders, rewriting history, and trampling on Ukraine's sovereignty, much like Africa's colonizers once did. Critics of the West's stance argue that NATO expansion, U.S. imperial ambitions and interventions across the globe, and the Biden administration's Gaza policy have led countries in the Global South to see Washington and its allies as hypocritical. Watch HERE.
Webinar recording: From the Summit of the Future to a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World On Sept. 22, world leaders meeting at the UN for theSummit of the Future adopted a Pact for the Futurewhich included commitments to strengthen multilateral action on key issues impacting on the future including to prevent nuclear war and achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world. Peace and disarmament groups had submitted much stronger disarmament proposals, some of which were included in the Peoples Pact for the Future. On Oct. 1, the Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons, with partners, hosted an online follow-up event, From the Summit of the Future to a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World, with international nuclear disarmament activists. The webinar was held in two sessions, with different speakers in each. Watch Session 1 HERE and Session 2 HERE. Watch the message from Ela Gandhi, granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi HERE.
Webinar recording - How We Ended The Cold War But Lost The Peace: Why Progressives Should Push For A Sane Alternative Foreign Policy On October 17, Katrina vanden Heuvel, Editorial Director and Publisher of The Nation, spoke at this webinar. She used history mixed with first-hand experience and a "front row" seat, to explain how US-Russian relations did not have to descend to their lowest and most dangerous point. She followed by laying out elements of a progressive policy of sanity, restraint and diplomacy that is not isolationist but realistic and crafted as a "foreign policy for the middle class." Katrina vanden Heuvel served as Editor of The Nation from 1995 to 2019 and is currently its Editorial Director and Publisher. The webinar was sponsored by Brooklyn For Peace, with co-sponsors:Bay Ridge Peace Action, Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives, Peace Action New York State, The Indypendent, and United for Peace & Justice. Watch the recording here.
Webinar recording - Reiner Braun: Report Back from Chinese Geopolitics Conference On Oct. 9, theCampaign for Peace, Disarmament, and Common Security hosted a webinar featuring Reiner Braun, who had just returned from an international conference in Shanghai, titled "Socialist Perspectives on International Relations and Security Policies in a Historic Shift towards Multi-Polar World," organized by the Party-related Chungui Institute for Development and Strategic Studies and the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung. Reiner is the past General Secretary of the International Peace Bureau. With decades of experience in the German and European peace movements, he has been a leading figure in promotion of Common Security diplomacy. In this webinar, Reiner shared what he learned about Chinese and others' perspectives on the tectonic geopolitical changes that are underway and their implications for peace, justice, and climate advocates.
"Freedom for Palestine" Conference in Cape Town, South Africa, October 17-20, 2024, Demands an Immediate Israeli Cease Fire Gathering together in Cape Town's historical landmark, the Castle of Good Hope, hundreds of South African and international activists metto demand an end to apartheid and genocide in Palestine, and to denounce the US support for Israel's war in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. Watch the conference video HERE. Among the participants was Lee Siu Hin, national coordinator of National Immigrant Solidarity Network, which recently launched Panda Aid to deliver emergency humanitarian relief in Gaza and to Gazan refugees in Egypt. An outdoor rally on the third day of the conference drew over a thousand protesters.
Exhausted, Ukraine and Russia Seek More Aid: United for Peace and Justice Ukraine Resources Both warring governments are leaning more heavily on help from allies as their casualties mount and materiel dwindles, but allies of both are expressing worries about the risks of wider war. President Zelensky's Five Point plan for victory, calling for expanded aid and more direct NATO involvement in Ukraine's defense, met with a tepid response. At the recent BRICS summit, Putin faced calls from China's President Xi for "no escalation of fighting and no adding oil to the fire by relevant parties"and from India's PM Modi to seek an early end to the war. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, responding to reports of possible movement of North Korean troops to Ukraine, warned thatdeploying foreign forces would risk further escalation. Find more resources at the UFPJ Ukraine War Resources page.
Video recording: Peace Action NY State Honors UFPJ Founding National Organizer Leslie Cagan with William Sloan Coffin, Jr. Peacemaker Award On Sept. 30, Peace Action NY State held its annual William Sloan Coffin, Jr. Peacemaker Award ceremony. The award is presented to activists who have exemplified activism and who have made an impact in achieving a more peaceful world. This year, the two awardees were United for Peace & Justice founding National Organizer Leslie Cagan, and Professor Rashid Khalidi for his contributions through his writings and advocacy for peace in Gaza and the Mideast region. Following the presentations, Rex Alex, one of the Stonybrook University student Peace Action organizers, led a stimulating back-and-forth discussion with Cagan and Khalidi. UFPJ congratulated Leslie with a full-page ad in the Program Booklet. Watch the full program here(Leslie's remarks begin around 37:50). Check out UFPJ's ad here (go to the inside back cover). Photo: Matt Weinstein
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The Nobel Committee has announced its decision to award the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize to Nihon Hidankyo, the grassroots movement of "Hibakusha," atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, "for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again." The Committee warned,"The nuclear powers are modernizing and upgrading their arsenals; new countries appear to be preparing to acquire nuclear weapons; and threats are being made to use nuclear weapons in ongoing warfare…. Next year will mark 80 years since two American atomic bombs killed an estimated 120,000 inhabitants of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.... Today's nuclear weapons.... can kill millions and would impact the climate catastrophically. A nuclear war could destroy our civilisation." 
"In each of the so-called battleground states, poor and low-income voters made up several times the margin of victory in 2020. We know that across the nation, this sleeping giant of voters has the power to decide election outcomes. That's why over the past month, 
The military judge in the 9/11 case instructed prosecution and defense lawyers to prepare to argue on the legality of the Secretary of Defense's decision to revoke plea agreements reached with three of the 9/11 defendants, including 9/11 "mastermind," Khalid Sheik Mohammed, this past summer. The judge has scheduled arguments for the first day of the next hearings, Nov. 4, the day before the 2024 presidential election. So, the current judge will almost certainly rule on whether the 9/11 case proceeds, to a sentencing hearing for the three men, or whether the case continues on an uncertain path, with no trial date set and the current judge planning to leave the case in the middle of next year. Read more about the September and October 9/11 military commissions 
With missiles flying between Israel and Iran, Lebanon, and Yemen, no end in sight to the Gaza genocide, and the U.S. deepening its engagement as Israel's ally and weapons supplier, Massachusetts Peace Action, the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security, Historians for Peace and Democracy, and Brooklyn for Peace organized an exceptional webinar, "Genocide and the Widening Middle East Wars." Discussing the wars' origins, dynamics, consequences, and ways to stop the killing were Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies, Assaf Kfoury of Boston University, and Ervand Abrahamian of Baruch College and the Graduate Center of the City University. 
On Sept. 26, Foreign Policy's podcast Counterpoint, recorded a live episode during the UN General Assembly meeting in New York, to address the question, "Should the Global South Condemn Russia's War of Aggression on Ukraine as an Act of Imperialism?" This fascinating debate featured Kenya's former UN ambassador Martin Kimani and Indian historian and journalist Vijay Prashad. Some observers in the Global South have accused Russia of behaving like a neocolonial power--redrawing borders, rewriting history, and trampling on Ukraine's sovereignty, much like Africa's colonizers once did. Critics of the West's stance argue that NATO expansion, U.S. imperial ambitions and interventions across the globe, and the Biden administration's Gaza policy have led countries in the Global South to see Washington and its allies as hypocritical. 
On Sept. 22, world leaders meeting at the UN for the 
On October 17, Katrina vanden Heuvel, Editorial Director and Publisher of The Nation, spoke at this webinar. She used history mixed with first-hand experience and a "front row" seat, to explain how US-Russian relations did not have to descend to their lowest and most dangerous point. She followed by laying out elements of a progressive policy of sanity, restraint and diplomacy that is not isolationist but realistic and crafted as a "foreign policy for the middle class." Katrina vanden Heuvel served as Editor of The Nation from 1995 to 2019 and is currently its Editorial Director and Publisher. The webinar was sponsored by Brooklyn For Peace, with co-sponsors: Bay Ridge Peace Action, Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives, Peace Action New York State, The Indypendent, and United for Peace & Justice. 
On Oct. 9, the 
Gathering together in Cape Town's historical landmark, the Castle of Good Hope, 
Both warring governments are leaning more heavily on help from allies as their casualties mount and materiel dwindles, but allies of both are expressing worries about the risks of wider war. President Zelensky's 
The plight of the hundreds of thousands of people in Northern Gaza 
On Sept. 30, Peace Action NY State held its annual