VFP eNews: Olympic Truce Action, Women Call for Action and More!
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Join Veterans Challenge Islamophobia Week of Actions
Starting January 27th, join Veterans For Peace and the Veterans Challenge Islamophobia campaign for the We Are All America week of action. Lasting through February 3rd, actions are planned to protest the one-year anniversary of the first iteration of the Muslim Ban and show solidarity with those still impacted by the current bans on people from nine Muslim-majority nations and refugees.
Veterans For Peace, Veterans Challenge Islamophobia and countless other local and national Muslim, immigrant, refugee, and civil rights organizations have joined together to keep up the public pressure and media coverage to stop the Muslim and refugee bans now. January 27th is a critical date, as people and policy makers across the country remember the actions they took that day and can be challenged to recommit to solidarity with Muslims, refugee, and all people targeted by this administration.
If you haven’t yet, sign the VCI Statement
Veterans For Peace Chapters and Members - Email challenge@veteransforpeace.org to let us know how you are participating or to get more information on organizing and events near you.
Stop Banking the Bomb Veterans For Peace and the VFP Golden Rule Project are proud to endorse the Stop Banking The Bomb campaign against PNC Bank.
About the Campaign
The Stop Banking The Bomb campaign against PNC Bank is one part of an international strategy to get the U.S. government to listen to its people. PNC Bank has loaned $1.186 billion dollars to eight corporations who manufacture nuclear weapons. As the seventh largest bank in the U.S., we believe if PNC Bank “divests” of these immoral loans, they will send a powerful message to the U.S. government and the whole world.
Campaign organizers will be contacting local VFP chapters and providing them with an "Action Pack" so that they are resourced to carry out simple, but powerful actions at their local PNC bank branches.
Visit their Facebook page.
Take Action for Ahed Tamimi
16-year-old Palestinian Ahed Tamimi hasn’t seen a day of freedom. She's spent her youth protesting a foreign army that has jailed, shot, and killed her unarmed relatives. After defending her home from Israeli invasion, she now faces years in prison.
Michael Hanes wrote on facebook: "We stayed with the Tamimi family in Nabi Saleh Palestine. We stayed with Mr. Bassem Tamimi as representatives of Veterans for Peace. We witnessed the bullying from Israeli soldiers as they attacked children and women. I was physically assaulted and all of us were gassed and had live rounds shot in our direction. The reality of how the State of Israel and it's leaders are behaving with blatant crimes against humanity needs to be called out and stopped! My heart goes out to the Tamimi family for all you have and are currently enduring. Your voice and actions are echoes of strength for all of humanity."
If you would like to show support for Ahed Tamimi, and let Israel know the world is watching, flood her jail with mail. Send cards to:
Ahed Tamimi
HaSharon Prison Ben Yahuda PO Box 7 40 330 Israel
And share this video from IMEU (Institute for Middle East Understanding) on Facebook
Back to TopAthletes for Peace: Open Letter to the U.S. Olympic Committee
As former and current atheltes, we value the Olympic spirit and tradition of bringing men and women from diverse nations together for peaceful competition and performance. The Olympic Truce represents an important opportunity to defuse tensions and begin the work of reconciliation on the Korean peninsula. We therefore call upon the US Olympic Committee to fully support both Korean governments’ current efforts to restore a peace process.
We in the United States have a special responsibility to demand diplomacy, not war, with North Korea. Let us firmly take hold of the opportunity provided by these winter Olympics to bring this long standing, dangerous and damaging conflict to a peaceful and positive resolution.
Athletes for Peace is initiated by Massaschusetts Peace Action and we invite all peace-loving organizations to cosponsor it with us and participate in a coordinating committee.
Find out more ways to take action during the Olympic Truce!
Sailing for a Nuclear-Free World - A Party with a Purpose The Veterans For Peace Golden Rule Project will be hosting a fundraising event February 25th in Newport Beach. Guests will be invited to see the Golden Rule, which will be docked right next to the venue, and to enjoy wine, snacks, conversation with the crew, the premiere of the film “Peace Sail: The Story of the Golden Rule” and a silent auction.
This once-in-a-lifetime party will be on Sunday February 25, from 3-5 pm at the Newport Boy Scout Sea Base (1931 West Coast Highway, Newport, CA). Tickets will be $30,available at EventBrite
For more information, see our website! VFP HATS ARE BACK
VFP HATS ARE BACK IN STOCK!
We are happy to announce that VFP hats are back in stock after a manufacturing delay throughout the holidays.
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In This Issue:
Olympic Truce Action: Diplomacy NOT War The Winter Olympics and Paralympics, to be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, offer a unique moment to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula. On a very encouraging note, in November 2017, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for an Olympic Truce, or a cessation of hostilities during the Winter Games, which gained the support of 157 Member States including both Koreas and future hosts of the Olympic Games: Japan, China, France and the United States.
The Olympic Truce represents an important opportunity to defuse tensions and begin the work of reconciliation on the Korean peninsula. The United States should fully support both Korean governments' current efforts to restore a peace process. Veterans For Peace has issued a statement of support for these unity efforts.
Let's build on this momentum! We in the United States have a special responsibility to demand diplomacy, not war, with North Korea. An ad hoc network, the Korea Collaboration, calls for weeks of action during the Winter Olympics (February 9 - 25) and Paralympics (March 9 - 18), as well as the broader period of the Olympic Truce (February 2 to March 25). We call on groups and individuals to organize actions or other events in your communities.
p.s. Check out the Korea Peace Campaign for more ways to get involved in Veterans For Peace efforts and resources to learn more about Korea.
VFP Signs on to Letter Requesting Extension of TPS for Syria
TPS is set to expire for Syria on March 31, 2018. TPS is temporary protected status that is designated for countries that are experiencing ongoing armed conflict, environmental disasters, extraordinary country conditions among others.
There are a number of groups, who are fighting to make sure that TPS is re-designated and extended for Syrian nationals.
Over 500,000 people have been killed, 6 million are internally displaced and suffer from food insecurity in Syria. 2 million persons were displaced in 2017 alone, with 6,550 persons displaced a everyday due to violence. Currently there are approximately 6,900 Syrians with TPS status in the United States.
The Veterans For Peace "Save Our VA" Work Group Needs Your Help!
The Veterans for Peace Work Group is seeking volunteers to help Save Our VA! There is a lot to do and a variety of ways to get involved! We hope to help set up 100 or more Save Our VA Action Teams in 100 or so communities with VA healthcare facilities in January and February of 2018.
"IF YOU ARE WILLING TO TRY TO HELP US, PLEASE COMPLETE AND SUBMIT THIS SURVEY. We will then contact you about helping to organize this effort. What ever local people decide - that is what will be done. This is NOT a top down driven effort. We, as members of the Vets for Peace Work Group, will try our best to help your local team be successful by giving advice where we can!"
There are still some banners available for ordering for a discounted fee, contact Buzz Davis for details!
Also if you and your members have images of your "Save the VA" banners or actions, post them here! Make sure you comment with information after you upload!
Women Call For Action On Many Injustices At March
Monique Salhab of Veterans for Peace did two tours in Iraq and 10 years in the service. "I think about what the military represents to women," she said from the stage, "not only in the service but also throughout the world. The military represents violation, represents consumption." Read the whole article
Many chapters marched! Make sure to upload your pictures to our google folder!
Also check out this note from Spokane!
We put together a table and parade contingent for the Women's March, Sunday January 21st. Many thanks to all those who helped set up, take down, tabling and parading!! Special acknowledgements go out to Daisy and Beverly who carried our parade banner. Also to Earl who helped throughout the entire event. Also to our reliable standby contributors, George, Arthur, Jay, Tom, Jim & Alice, and Hollis. Mikel & Kay were also spotted in the crowd. Our friends, Valery, and Dave B. joined us periodically. Thanks for extra effort from Rusty and Nancy for parading and tabling. And recognition to Michael for ordering brochures on "What Every Girl Should Know Before Joining The Military," for arranging donations, and for handing out brochures at the vendor's fair!
Feb 2-March 25 - Olympic Truce Call to Action: Diplomacy Not War!
Feb 8 - Militarization of African Communities at Home and Abroad, New York, NY
Feb 25 - Sailing for a Nuclear Free World-A Party with a Purpose, Newport Beach, California
Feb 25-Mar 4 - CODEPINK: Women for Peace trip to Cuba
March 3-8 - Greenpeace Action Camp
March 4-21 - Veterans For Peace Vietnam Tour
May 14-16 - 2018 UN High Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament, United Nations, New York
June 22-24 - Global Network Against Weapons in Space, Oxford, UK
June 24-July 1 - Action Week Against Air Base Ramstein, Germany
July 9-10 - NO to NATO Counter Summit, Brussels, Belgium
July 10-18 - International Action Camp Against Nuclear Weapons in Germany, Buchel, Germany
Aug 23-26 - 2018 VFP National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota
Sept 19-21 - 2nd Annual Conference in Havana, Cuba on "Realities and Challenges of Being a Zone of Peace in Latin America and the Caribbean"
Nov 27-29 - International Youth Conference: Reaching High for a Nuclear Weapon Free World, Prague, Czech Republic
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