Friday, May 25, 2018

From Veterans For Peace- Memorial Day and Poor People's Campaign!

Veterans For Peace
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Poor People's Campaign Week 3 to Focus on Militarism

On May 29th, VFP chapters will join with the Poor People's Campaign to speak out against militarism and the war economy.
We have created some great flyers to help spread the message of Veterans For Peace at the weekly gatherings!
Flyers for Poor People's Actions
You can also check this press release that we sent out nationally for ideas on what you can send out locally!
We know that many of you will be in D.C. for the Memorial Day and PPC activities, (and if you are planning on participating in the PPC actions, make sure to notify shawna@ivaw.org)! 
However, if not in D.C., we would love to know if your chapter is particpating in the Poor People's Campaign actions on May 29th.  Please fill out this form!

#WomenPeaceKorea

In light of Trump's cancellation of Korean peace summit: 
TAKE ACTION: Join us to remind world leaders of commitment to UN Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security to include women’s movements in international mediation – which includes the Korean peace process.
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An Update from the Save Our VA Working Group:

A message from Buzz Davis:
After a very significant effort by anti-war veterans groups/members, a tremendous effort by AFL-CIO unions and their members, and citizen allies making what I bet was tens of thousands of calls to senate offices -- and the excellent union lobbyists working all hours to help senators understand the VA MISSION bill and to help all of us understand what the hell was happening -- the greatest "deliberative body" in the world voted 92 to 5 to pass the VA MISSION bill.
92 Republican and Democratic senators voted yes.  The bill has now passed Congress and Pres. Trump will sign it into law probably on Memorial Day.
The members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chaired by Rep. Raul Grijalva (who our members visted!) and Rep. Mark Pocan including the only senator in the Caucus, founding caucus member Bernie Sanders did the right thing and VOTED NO.
Peace and thanks to each of you for all your efforts (which no one understands but each of you)!!!! 
We made a dent in the VA MISSION act hoax and we can make more of a dent in the weeks ahead!
Stay Tuned!

Deadline Approaching! Request for Convention Workshop Proposals!

One of the most important activities during the Veterans For Peace Annual Conventions are the workshops. Most of them are organized and led by Veteran For Peace members. We greatly appreciate the time and effort you put into creating your workshop.
Please remember that there is limited space for workshops and many applicants. As a result, not all workshops will be selected.
Workshops that follow the theme of the convention – Reclaim Armistice Day, 1918-2018: End All Wars, and or address these issues :
  • Abolition of Nuclear Weapons
  • Making Peace Possible
  • Decolonization: Expanding our understanding of militarism
  • U.S. Intervention Around the Globe will receive high preference but are not guaranteed acceptance.

VFP Announces Winner of Zinn Fund Grant

The Howard Zinn Committee is proud to announce that we have awarded VFP Chapter 168 of Louisville, Kentucky, a $500 grant to assist the chapter in creating a weekly VFP Radio Hour.
The chapter broadcasts weekly on local radio and their program is available for download as a podcast. The Howard Zinn Fund would like to thank VFP members Carol Trainer, Patrick King, Steven Gardiner, and John Wilborn for their vision in producing this project.
You can now listen to a podcast of VFP #168's 1st VFP Radio Hour program, broadcast on FORward radio, 106.5 LP-FM. Their first show was hosted by VFP member Patrick King and is entitled "Veterans For Peace: Who We Are."

VFP Chapter in Albany, NY at State Capital

John Amidon from Chapter 10 in Albany, New York sends us a report of the May 21st action at their state capital as part of the Poor People's Campaign.
"The Poor People's Campaign, 5/21/18 at the Capital Building in Albany, NY. A tremendous witness against, racism, Islamophobia. discrimination against the poor and the need for prison reform, etc."

VFP Members Nominees for U.S. Peace Memorial Prize

The U.S. Peace Memorial has just announced their 2018 Nominees for their annual Peace Prize and they include four Veterans For Peace members!
Congratulations to Daniel Ellsberg, Nancy Mancias, David Swanson, Sally-Alice Thompson, and S. Brian Willson!
The US Peace Memorial Foundation directs a nationwide effort to honor Americans who stand for peace by publishing the US Peace Registry, awarding an annual Peace Prize, and planning for the US Peace Memorial in Washington, DC.  These projects help move the United States toward a culture of peace by recognizing thoughtful and courageous Americans and U.S. organizations that have taken a public stand against one or more U.S. wars or who have devoted their time, energy, and other resources to finding peaceful solutions to international conflicts.

Chapter 10 is Hosting a Peace Writers Contest

Veterans For Peace, Chapter 10and the Kateri Tekakwitha Interfaith Peace Conference are sponsoring a writing contest to help celebrate the 20th Kateri Tekakwitha Peace Conference.
The purpose of our contest is to encourage everyone to find their voice for peace and to end war and war preparations.  The imperative for this is the ‘fierce urgency of now”and the literal survival of humanity.  What we would like to see are letters (250 words or less) and op-eds  (500 to 700 words)  which illustrate the connections between poverty, racism, climate change and militarism.  We also encourage connections to the Poor People’s Campaign
In This Issue:

Memorial Day Activities in Washington D.C.

In Washington D.C. this Memorial Day weekend, Veterans For Peace will hold their annual "Letters to the Wall"  at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, hold a peace ceremony at the Korean War Veterans Memorial and host our own touring memorial, The Swords to Plowshares Belltower. 
On Tuesday, May 29th Veterans For Peace will participate in the Poor People's Campaign: National Call for a Moral Revival that will focus on The War Economy: Militarism, Veterans and the Proliferation of Gun Violence.
WE NEED YOUR HELP and can even provide free overnight accommodations at the Belltower night-watch tent (if you can stay up for a night shift) or at the historic William Penn House, a Quaker boarding house at the other end of the mall on Capitol Hill. We are also in urgent need of people to help with the noble labor of unloading the Belltower trailer on Friday night at 9 pm, setting up on Saturday morning (beginning at 7 am), night watch at the Belltower security tent through Monday night, and breakdown on Monday night and Tuesday morning.

Don't Forget to Sign Up for Advocacy Days!

Please plan to join in DC for Korea Peace Network Advocacy Days, June 11 - 12. Monday, June 11 will be an in-person strategy session and legislative briefing/training at the United Methodist Building, 100 Maryland Ave, NE, across the street from the Capitol and Supreme Court. The next day(s) are for meetings with congressional and administrative officials to press for peace and diplomacy.

Here is the registration page (and please forward to other interested peace-mongers)

Chapter 181 Builds their New Chapter Strategically!

Rick Staggenborg from Chapter 181 sends in this report of how their new chapter is strategically building relationships and using VFP campaigns, such as Save the VA and Armistice Day, as ways to spread the message of Veterans For Peace!
From Rick:
Chapter 181 Douglas County continues to introduce itself to our very conservative community by being part of the Save the VA campaign through tabling, leafleting, demonstrating and writing editorials.

Swords to Plowshares Belltower Releases New Video

If you contact Roger he may even be able to help your chapter mount a local effort to build a smaller portable Belltower with a real bell of your own, for your own outreach!

Full Disclosure Project Launches Ad Campaign

In the face of the attempted whitewashing of that war by the Pentagon, the Full Disclosure Campaign of Veterans For Peace is attempting to dissuade Hollywood from awarding the Burns/Novick an Emmy.  Veterans For Peace were not silent about speaking out about the Koch Brothers and Bank of America-funded
The Vietnam War documentary series by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick.  Now with Burns and Novick’s misleading and less-than-honest documentary coming up for an Emmy, once more we are compelled to speak out.
The Full Disclosure team is raising funds to put THIS FULL PAGE ad in Variety magazine. 

Scourging Yemen by Kathy Kelly

On May 10, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia informed the UN Security Council and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres that Saudi Air Defenses intercepted two Houthi ballistic missiles launched from inside Yemeni territory targeting densely populated civilian areas in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. No one was killed, but an earlier attack, on March 26, 2018, killed one Egyptian worker in Riyadh and an April 28 attack killed a Saudi man.
Unlike the unnumbered victims of the Saudis’ own ongoing bombardment of Yemen, these two precious, irreplaceable lives are easy to document and count. Death tolls have become notoriously difficult to count accurately in Yemen. Three years of U.S.-supported blockades and bombardments have plunged the country into immiseration and chaos.

Golden Rule Visits Deported Veterans Chapter

The Golden Rule peace boat visted Ensenada in Baja California, Mexico this week to rendezvous with U.S. military veterans who have been deported to Mexico. The boat departed from San Diego, California early Tuesday morning, May 22, and arrived at Ensenada Cruiseport Village Marina on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday and Thursday, the deported veterans went on the Golden Rule.
June 2-3 - VFP Peace Teams NonViolence Training in New York.  Applications here
June 11-12 - Korea Peace Network Advocacy Days in Washington D.C.  Register Here
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 11 - Armistice Day

Veterans For Peace, 1404 N. Broadway, St. Louis, MO 63102

Veterans For Peace appreciates your tax-exempt donations.
We also encourage you to join our ranks.


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