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Anti-War

Re-Centering Anti-War And Anti-Imperialism As Working Class Issues

Today is the day that the multi-national, multi-racial working classes express solidarity with all those who labor, who have nothing but their labor power to sell in order to eke out a living for themselves and their families. Today, workers from all nations, races, genders and nationalities proclaim that – despite differences – there are common interests that bind us and can serve as a basis for a common political stance and program of liberation from the ravages of capitalist exploitation and great power domination.

America’s Growing Military Footprint Is Sparking An Anti War Resurgence

Trump’s new discretionary budget will shovel 61 percent of the country’s social oxygen into the Pentagon’s fiery furnace. That’s $727 billion worth of schools, libraries, green jobs and infrastructure, housing, hospitals, nutritional support, healthcare, and other social needs that will go unmet. As if NRA-driven gun sales, white supremacist militias, anti-woman violence, armed ICE raids, and mass incarceration weren’t enough, capitalism is now giving us another reminder of its inherent violence in the form of a big new boost to spending on the military and overseas interventions. Trump’s new discretionary budget will shovel 61 percent of the country’s social oxygen into the Pentagon’s fiery furnace. That’s $727 billion worth of schools, libraries, green jobs and infrastructure, housing, hospitals, nutritional support, healthcare, and other social needs that will go unmet.

Come Out For #SpringAgainstWar, April 14-15, Everywhere

A coalition of peace and social justice groups is calling for a set of major protest actions on the weekend of April 14 and 15, everywhere from large cities like New York, Oakland, Washington DC, Atlanta, Minneapolis and Chicago to smaller actions in Kalamazoo, Buffalo, El Paso, Portland, Maine, Portland, Oregon and Greenwich, Connecticut. Information can be found on SpringAction2018.org and various regional Facebook pages. The April 14 and 15 action plan was kicked off by a diverse set of activist groups and leaders, led by the energetic United National Antiwar Coalition and the #NoForeignBasesmovement, but representing a variety of organizations including World Beyond War, Black Alliance for Peace, Code Pink, Veterans for Peace, United for Peace and Justice, Green Party of the United States and many, many more.

Bond Denied For Kings Bay Plowshares Activists

Seven Catholic plowshares activists were arrested early Thursday morning, April 5 at the Kings Bay Naval Base in St. Mary’s, Georgia. They entered the base late in the evening of April 4, 2018 in an attempt to nonviolently transform weapons of mass destruction and inspire Americans to reject racism, militarism and economic injustice. They are being held at the Camden County Public Safety Complex in Woodbine, Georgia.  On April 6 at 9:30 a.m. the seven had a first appearance in Camden County court before Chief Magistrate Judge Jennifer E. Lewis. They were charged with two felonies, Possession of Tools for the Commission of a Crime and Interference with Government Property, and a misdemeanor, Criminal Trespass. Despite their well-established commitment to nonviolence and integrity and a clear promise to reappear, the seven were denied bond for the felony charges.

If We Want To Support Refugees, We Need To End The Wars That Create Them

The concept of sanctuary, providing refuge and protection to people who are marginalized and oppressed, has a long history in the United States—even when the United States itself is responsible for that repression. An early example of sanctuary in the United States is the Underground Railroad of the 19th century, which helped people escape slavery through routes and houses identified as safe by abolitionists and freedom seekers. In the 1950s and 60s, African-American organizers of the civil rights movement often held meetings in churches. Immigrant justice advocates have pioneered “sanctuary churches” since the 1980s. These days, the concept is most often associated with so-called “sanctuary cities”—state and local jurisdictions that say they refuse to cooperate with federal efforts to deport undocumented residents. These cities have been relentlessly targeted by the Trump administration.

Join CODEPINK’s Week of Action To Divest From War Machine February 5-11, 2018

UFPJ along with many of our members groups have joined the Coalition to Divest from the War Machine and are preparing to be part of CODEPINK’s week of action, February 5-11. The War Machine prioritizes “defense” and corporate interests over human rights, military spending over diplomacy and aid, preparing for combat over preventing wars, and profit over human life and the health of the planet. The War Machine is a massive, global, U.S. military apparatus that operates largely thanks to an alliance between the arms industry and policy makers. The companies that are part of this War Machine earn their profits from the spread of war and militarism.  Their priorities are not our priorities!!

Lesson From Conference Against U.S. Foreign Military Bases

This past weekend I attended a historic groundbreaking conference in Baltimore, organized by the Coalition Against U.S. Foreign Military Bases. This conference adds a new element to the anti-war movement in the U.S. We aren’t just opposed to the wars, we are opposed to empire itself: the 800 military bases around the world in 80 countries that perpetuates endless war and the policies that follow.  We had panels speaking about different regions of the world: Africa, Asia, South America, Middle East, Europe, NATO, and Environmental Impacts of Military Bases. Each category focuses on the U.S. military impacts of bases in that region or country. You know one thing I didn’t hear during the entire conference? That the U.S. is protecting those countries and regions. In fact, quite the opposite.

Israeli Teens: ‘We Refuse To Enlist Out Of Commitment To Peace’

Sixty-three Israeli teenagers have published an open letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu on Thursday, declaring their refusal to join the Israeli army due to their opposition to the occupation. “The army carries out a racist government policy that enforces one legal system for Israelis and another for Palestinian in the same territory,” they write. “Therefore, we have decided not to take any part in the occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people… for as long as people live under an occupation that denies their human rights and national rights – we cannot have peace.” The group calls itself the “2017 Seniors’ Letter,” continuing a long tradition of similar letters sent by high school seniors announcing their refusal to join the army, dating back to 1970 (the writer of this text was a signatory of the 2001 letter). Members of the group have stated they are willing to be imprisoned for their conscientious objection

Kathy Kelly Says Let Yemenis Live

On May 2, 2017, before becoming Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, as Minister of Defense, spoke about the Saudi-led coalition’s war in Yemen, a war he orchestrated since March of 2015. "A long war is in our interest," he said, explaining that the Houthi rebels would eventually run out of cash, lack external supplies and break apart. Conversely, the Saudis could count on a steady flow of cash and weapons. "Time is on our side," he concluded. Powerful people in the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Sudan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Morocco, Senegal and Jordan have colluded with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince to prolong the war against Yemen. The Saudis have employed Sudanese fighters from the terrifying Janjaweed militias to fight in small cities along Yemen’s coast line.

The Antiwar Movement Then & Now

By Staff of Vietnam Full Disclosure - It is offered—not in expectation of agreement—but to provoke a serious discussion about the current state of antiwar politics. Burns and Novick in their PBS documentary: The Vietnam War could not ignore the antiwar movement, but exhibit little interest in its dynamics, except in its supposed hostility to American GIs. Since my interest still lies in how to build a more effective antiwar movement, I want to focus on the lessons learned and not learned by the Vietnam antiwar movement as a prelude to exploring how we might move forward to confront the multiple wars and threats of war that beset our world. Of course, there was not one unified antiwar movement, but a conglomeration of tendencies featuring contending critiques, strategies and tactics. What follows is an attempt at a succinct, dispassionate description of those tendencies, which no doubt risks over-simplification. I will look at three general perspectives. I will begin with a critique of tendencies with which I was associated. The first set of tendencies included the anti-imperialists, militants, and Marxist-Leninists. Members of these overlapping, but distinct groupings, all grasped the depth of the problem that the war in Vietnam exposed. The war was not a mistake or an aberration from the general direction of US global policy. Its goal was to dominate the world and, in this particular case, to gain a strategic foothold in mainland Asia.

United Against War And White Supremacy: Korean Americans Speak Out

By Staff of Zoom in Korea - Donald Trump recently responded to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s mention of direct communication channels with North Korea by tweeting, “I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man.” He went on, “Save your energy Rex, we’ll do what has to be done!” Americans are increasingly worried about a possible nuclear war with North Korea. But some appear unconcerned about the potential fallout, as, in the (in)famous words of Trump, “If thousands die, they’re going to die over there.” To Korean Americans, such callousness is dehumanizing to the people of Korea and Asia Pacific. The so-called “thousands over there” are our families and friends. A war in Korea would be devastating to Koreans in diasporas around the world and will almost certainly involve the surrounding region, including China, Japan, and Guam. On October 10, HOBAK (Hella Organized Bay Area Koreans) invited Korean Americans to join a conversation via twitter about U.S. militarism and provocations in Korea and around the world: As tensions continue to rise, and threats of war continue, it is critical to uplift Korean voices and their stories, and to ground ourselves in more comprehensive analyses of the current situation.

Holding Out A Vision For Solutions Not Endless War

By Will Griffin for Veterans For Peace - Economic conversion, defense conversion, or arms conversion, is a technical, economic and political process for moving from military to civilian production. The sixth Maine Peace Walk for Conversion, Community and Climate is concentrating on the serious need to convert Bath Iron Works (BIW) to peaceful and sustainable production.

Armistice Day

By Staff of Veterans for Peace - Veterans For Peace calls on all members and all peace-loving people to take a stand for peace this Armistice (aka Veterans Day), Saturday November 11. We call for nationally coordinated local actions to demand diplomacy not war with North Korea, and the abolition of nuclear weapons and war. Veterans For Peace joins with the wider peace movement for actions before and after November 11th. In 2017, ninety-nine years after the end of World War I, “the war to end war”, the world finds itself on the brink of a nuclear war, again. The threat of a horrific nuclear exchange is possibly higher than it has ever been. The President of the United States Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to attack North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea - DPRK), going so far as to say, while speaking to the U.N., that the U.S. will “totally destroy” the country. North Korea has also caused great alarm with its own threats, while testing long-range missiles and nuclear bombs. Twitter confrontations and saber rattling have only served to escalate tensions. The road to war is a slippery slope on which one misstep can lead to the beginning of catastrophic war. Even the use of conventional weapons would lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. Millions will die if there is a nuclear exchange.

Anti-war Nuns Carry Message Of Nuclear Disarmament

By Debbie Kelley for The Gazette - The sisters also will hold free public presentations: at noon Oct. 9 at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs in the Kraemer Family Library; at 7 p.m. Oct. 10 at Colorado College's Gaylord Hall, on the main floor of Worner Campus Center, 902 N. Cascade Ave.; and a potluck dinner at 6 p.m. Oct. 11 at 420 Mesa Road. "We're coming as peacemakers and peace advocates, to teach and show our concern," Platte said. "Our politicians could be heroes of these times, if they start working with nations rather than against nations." Leading up to the Colorado Springs events, Platte and Gilbert will conduct a vigil on Oct. 7 at the N-8 missile silo in Weld County, where in October 2002 they poured blood on a Minuteman III missile loaded with a 20 kiloton nuclear bomb, one of 49 high-trigger nuclear weapons stored in Colorado. Their action symbolized taking it offline. They were convicted of sabotage and received harsh sentences: 41 months for Platte and 33 for Gilbert. In September 2000, Platte, Gilbert and three other Catholic nuns were arrested for civil disobedience at Peterson Air Force Base and jailed. The charges were subsequently dropped. They've also served time in other states for nonviolent acts of civil disobedience.

Armistice Day 99 Years On And The Need For Peace

By David Swanson for World Beyond Wars - Believe it or not, November 11th was not made a holiday in order to celebrate war, support troops, cheer the 17th year of occupying Afghanistan, thank anybody for a supposed “service,” or make America great again. This day was made a holiday in order to celebrate an armistice that ended what was up until that point, in 1918, one of the worst things our species had thus far done to itself, namely World War I. World War I, then known simply as the world war or the great war, had been marketed as a war to end war. Celebrating its end was also understood as celebrating the end of all wars. A ten-year campaign was launched in 1918 that in 1928 created the Kellogg-Briand Pact, legally banning all wars. That treaty is still on the books, which is why war making is a criminal act and how Nazis came to be prosecuted for it. “[O]n November 11, 1918, there ended the most unnecessary, the most financially exhausting, and the most terribly fatal of all the wars that the world has ever known. Twenty millions of men and women, in that war, were killed outright, or died later from wounds. The Spanish influenza, admittedly caused by the War and nothing else, killed, in various lands, one hundred million persons more.” — Thomas Hall Shastid, 1927. According to U.S. Socialist Victor Berger, all the United States had gained from participation in World War I was the flu and prohibition.

Urgent End Of Year Fundraising Campaign

Online donations are back! Keep independent media alive. 

Due to the attacks on our fiscal sponsor, we were unable to raise funds online for nearly two years.  As the bills pile up, your help is needed now to cover the monthly costs of operating Popular Resistance.

Urgent End Of Year Fundraising Campaign

Online donations are back! 

Keep independent media alive. 

Due to the attacks on our fiscal sponsor, we were unable to raise funds online for nearly two years.  As the bills pile up, your help is needed now to cover the monthly costs of operating Popular Resistance.