. .DISARMAMENT & SECURITY. .

An article from Common Dreams

On Saturday, Sept. 22 at 9 a.m., hundreds will rally and march [in Washington] from the Dr. King Statue (on the Southside of the Lincoln Memorial), to the White House for a vigil and nonviolent direct action. Speakers will call for an end to U.S. wars and nuclear weapons, racist policies, rampant greed and growing poverty, and ongoing environmental destruction, and for a new direction toward justice, disarmament and environmental protection. Some will engage in nonviolent direct action.

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The peace movement in the United States, What are its strengths and weaknesses?

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At 10 a.m., everyone will walk in silence with signs from the Dr. King statue in procession past the Lincoln Memorial to Lafayette Park across from the White House, where they will gather for a legal vigil, to continue their call for an end to racism, greed, war and environmental destruction, and for new leadership and a new culture of nonviolence, with respect, dignity, rights for everyone and for the earth. Some people will then engage in nonviolent direct action at the White House.

This will be the first ever march from the Dr. King Statue to the White House.
The Sept. 22 rally and march to the White House culminates the fifth annual Campaign Nonviolence national week of action, from Sept. 15-22, when a hundred thousand people across the US will speak out publicly against war, poverty, racism, and environmental destruction, and for the coming of a new culture of peace and nonviolence in over 2600 events and march. For a list of events and contact information, see: www.campaignnonviolence.org.

“This week, the president said that protests should be illegal. The right to protest peacefully is at the heart of our country. In that spirit of peaceful dissent, we gather at the Dr. King statue to reclaim Dr. King’s peaceful vision of a new culture of justice and nonviolence, to denounce the violence, greed, racism, wars, and environmental destruction which the United States government is relentlessly pursuing, and to call for a new direction, where our country seeks to make justice and peace for every human being and environmental protection its first priority,” said Rev. John Dear, long time activist and co-founder of Campaign Nonviolence.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An announcement from World Beyond War

Join World BEYOND War for our annual global conference in Toronto on September 21 and 22, 2018, at OCAD University (Ontario College of Art and Design University), 100 McCaul St, Toronto, ON M5T 1W1, Canada.

At #NoWar2018 we will explore how the rule of law has been used both to restrain war and to legitimize it — and how we can re-design systems to abolish the institution of war and uphold human and ecological justice.

Video for the conference

The conference will take place on Friday September 21 (5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., doors open at 4:00 p.m.) and Saturday September 22. (9:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., doors open at 8:00 a.m.).

BEFORE THE CONFERENCE:

Thursday, September 20, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. in the Lambert Lounge, on the first floor of the main building at OCAD University: Inside Iran: Exclusive Book Talk with CODEPINK Co-Founder Medea Benjamin. RSVP.

Friday, September 21, 1:00 p.m. — 3:00 p.m. Canadian Voice of Women for Peace (VOW)’s Annual General Meeting at 519 Church St, Room 301 in Toronto. Open to the public.

AFTER THE CONFERENCE:

Sunday, September 23 at 10:00 a.m. — 12:00 p.m. “Inspirational Women Brunch: Shaping Peace Through Feminism” hosted by Canadian Voice of Women for Peace (VOW), with special guests Medea Benjamin and Ray Acheson at Metro Hall, Room 308, 55 John Street, Toronto. Join #WomenShapingPeace for brunch to talk peace over pancakes and learn how you can take action to make our feminist vision of peace a reality. Purchase tickets here.

Sunday, September 23, 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Blue Scarf Peace Walk. Meet at Grange Park on Beverly St. just south of Dundas St. W. Get a PDF flyer. Buy some blue scarves.

List of confirmed speakers

Conference Schedule:

September 21, 2018, International Day of Peace

4:00 p.m. Doors open for checking in (and picking up boxed dinners), tabling, meeting and greeting.

5:00 p.m. Welcome by Leah Bolger, Peter Jones; and Iehnhotonkwas Bonnie Jane Maracle providing land recognition. Brief reports from World BEYOND War chapters around the world. In Butterfield Park.

5:45 p.m. Opening remarks by Christine Ahn and Ravyn Wngz. Moderator: David Swanson. In Butterfield Park.

7:00 p.m. Music of Tom Neilson and Lynn Waldron. In Main Auditorium (Room 190).

7:45 p.m. — 9:15 p.m. Plenary: Using the Rule of Law Against War with Gail Davidson, Daniel Turp, and Ray Acheson. Moderator: Kevin Zeese. In Main Auditorium (Room 190).

September 22, 2018, Saturday

8:00 a.m. Doors open for tabling, light breakfast fare.

9:00 a.m. Plenary: Canadian Weapons, Wars, and Indigenous Rights with Tamara Lorincz, William Geimer, and Lee Maracle. Moderator: Lyn Adamson. In Main Auditorium (Room 190).

10:15 a.m. Break.

10:30 a.m. Plenary: Global Governance: Actual and Potential with Kent Shifferd, James Ranney, and Branka Marijan. Moderator: Tony Jenkins. In Main Auditorium (Room 190).

11:45 a.m. Break.

12:00 p.m. Lunch. Boxed lunches provided. Optional small-group discussions:

Intersectionality: A brainstorm session on “fusion organizing”: how to connect the dots and foster collaboration between the anti-war movement and the movements for ecological, economic, racial, and social justice. Facilitator: Greta Zarro. In Butterfield Park.
Creative Activism: Brainstorming ideas for creative, nonviolent action. Facilitator: Medea Benjamin. In Atrium.

Popcorn & a Movie: “The World Is My Country.” Broadway actor Garry Davis, desperate to stop a war, pulls off an act of political comedy so gutsy and eye-opening that it sparks a huge movement for World Citizenship — and legalizing peace! Martin Sheen calls this lost piece of history a “roadmap to a better future.” It’s a fun and entertaining outreach tool to draw new people into WBW. Q & A with the filmmakers – Melanie Bennett and Arthur Kangis. In Main Auditorium (Room 190).

How the Internet Changes Activism: It’s a new world for those of us who want to change it. Facebook, Twitter, email, cryptocurrency and Internet privacy are some of the hot topics we’ll talk about in an open dialogue led by two maintainers of the World BEYOND War website and social media channels. Facilitators: Donnal Walter, Marc Eliot Stein. In Room 187.
Ideas collected by facilitators will be shared through WBW website.

Upgrading the Kellogg-Briand Pact with Kent Shifferd and David Swanson.

This workshop will cover a brief history of the Kellogg-Briand Pact 1928 treaty to end war, its current status, what has and has not been accomplished, and what we can do to make it more effective including bringing a new treaty to the UN General Assembly. Room 230.

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The peace movement in the United States, What are its strengths and weaknesses?

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1:30 p.m. Workshops:

Disrupting the Business Models of War with Peter Jones, OCAD University and Stephen Sillett.

This workshop looks at long-term strategies for facilitating a transition to new public policy and industry models that might replace war-making as a core function of Western governments.

We’ll consider how the business of the military and the industrial complex are entwined in a long-standing business model of publicly funded international violence that requires a constant flow of new enemies and targets served to the public payers. Large group and small group sessions will design and propose alternatives to the post-war, state-industrial business model which has become extremely expensive and yields poor return on public investment. Room 506.

Departments and Other National Infrastructures for Peace – A Way Forward with Saul Arbess and Anne Creter.

This workshop will present the movement for departments of peace (DoP) and progress made to date, with four countries having DoPs and others with proposed legislation, highlighting Canada and the U.S. The conversation will be broadened by consideration of other national infrastructures for peace(I4P) and a UN resolution calling for I4Ps in all member states, to counteract the military infrastructures for war and violence and to provide a legal framework for conflict resolution by peaceful means at home and abroad. Room 542.

War Tax Resistance: Legality, Practicality, Value with Doug Hewitt-White.

There are active Peace Tax Fund campaigns worldwide. Tax resistance to paying for the military began in Canada over 200 years ago. Legislation has been proposed here in Canada and several other countries. Yet legally redirecting the military portion of our taxes to support peace programs is not yet sanctioned. This workshop will examine and discuss the legal basis for conscientious objection to military service and taxation. Is there a fundamental human right at stake? How practical is tax resistance? How effective is military tax redirection at advancing the cause of peace? Is it an important and valuable strategy? Room 556.

Citizen Action Using the Law with Daniel Turp, and Gail Davidson.

This session will provide participants with an understanding of how individuals and groups can initiate legal actions under domestic and international law to oppose war and associated illegalities of torture and arms sales. We will discuss civil disobedience, the use of universal jurisdiction, the International Criminal Court, Citizens’ Tribunals, the United Nations treaty monitoring bodies, available remedies, and issues of standing in Canadian courts. We’ll evaluate lessons learned from past examples of such initiatives in Canada and around the world. Room 544.

World Peace through World Citizenship and the Global Rule of Law with David Gallup.

What do you think are the most important questions of the 21st century to achieve a sustainable, just and peaceful world? Come prepared with ideas to discuss. This workshop will explore holistic alternatives to the divisive politics of nationalism. We will contemplate how to create spaces (social, legal, political, governmental, and ethical) where humans can interact peacefully and sustainably with each other and the earth. We will examine how world citizenship and world law provide a better alternative to national citizenship and national law. This session will end with a discussion about how world peace, as well as human and environmental sustainability, depend upon the advancement of common world law. Room 554.

2:45 p.m. Break.

3:00 p.m. Workshops:

Organizing 101: Strategy, Intersectionality, and Millennials with Greta Zarro.
In this session, we will discuss the nuts and bolts of grassroots organizing, with a focus on campaign development. We’ll identify effective strategies & tactics for engaging community members and influencing decision-makers. We’ll also look more broadly at movement-building from the perspective of “fusion” organizing and youth activism. Room 506.

Divestment from War Profiteers with Medea Benjamin.

Weapons manufacturers like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and many others have been making a killing on killing by profiting from the death and destruction that their products cause. Enough is enough! In this workshop, learn about and engage with CODEPINK’s Divest from the War Machine campaign. This divestment campaign calls for a radical reimagination of American priorities. Revoking the power of those who profit most from war-making is the first step in transforming our nation and ending the spread of violence, oppression, and death at home and abroad. We will strategize how to best bring the Divest campaign into your community. Room 230.

“Push Pins” Holding Up The Map of Empire: U.S. Military Bases Around the World with Leah Bolger.

How many foreign military bases does the U.S. have? 100? 300? The answer is over 800! Why does it have so many? We’ll talk about the role that these bases play in U.S. foreign policy, and their effect on global relations, as well as efforts to close them down. Room 544.
Organizing Locally to Block National Support for a War with Shreesh Juyal and Rose Dyson.
In 2003, Prof. Juyal collaborated with 88 cities’ community groups and organized mass rallies which successfully persuaded the Government of Canada to not take part in the Iraq War. The belligerent pressure of the United States on its NATO ally Canada did not succeed. This workshop will strategize and plan for application of a similar model in Canada and other nations around the world to resist current and future wars, bases, and war preparations. Room 556.

Peoples’ Tribunals with Tom Kerns.

Peoples’ tribunals provide a powerful platform for championing human rights. As a tactic in the activist toolbox, peoples’ tribunals can help increase States’ and non-state actors’ recognition of and respect for human rights, and help reduce the likelihood of war. This session will look at examples of peoples’ tribunals around the world in the past several decades. It will also more fully describe the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal Session on Human Rights, Fracking, and Climate Change. Room 554.

Learning Peace in Schools with Tony Jenkins.

This workshop will analyze the contradictory ways in which children are being taught to embrace both war and peace in the schools. We’ll examine the increasingly bellicose content of textbooks and various military programs in the nation’s schools, while looking at exciting developments in teaching peace and nonviolent conflict resolution. Room 542.
4:15 p.m. Break.

4:30 p.m. Reports Back from Workshops, Discussion of Plans. Moderator: Marc Eliot Stein. In Main Auditorium (Room 190).

5:45 p.m. Break.

6:00 p.m. — 7:30 p.m. Energizing the War Abolition Movement in Canada and Globally with Kevin Zeese, Yves Engler, and Azeezah Kanji. Moderator: Greta Zarro. In Main Auditorium (Room 190).

Registration

. .DISARMAMENT & SECURITY. .

An article by David Swanson, World Beyond War

A few days after an over-hyped white supremacist rally in Washington, D.C., was massively outnumbered by people opposed to racism, and one day after 187 organizations (more than that now) publicly committed to turning out people to counter Donald Trump’s planned weapons parade with a parade for peace in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, and less than a day after the U.S. military said the weapons parade would now cost $92 million (which in fairness is a legitimate rounding up from the earlier estimate of $12 million according to the rules of Pentagon math), the parade of death and war profiteering that was threatened for November 10th in Washington, D.C., has been canceled, or (as these things are always announced) “postponed.”

Far from assuming no danger of the Trumparade actually being resurrected, organizers of the peace parade are planning to move forward as planned with a celebration of both Armistice Day and the prevention of the disastrous scheme to roll a giant middle finger to the world down Pennsylvania Avenue in the form of the weapons of mass destruction built by some of the top contributors to U.S. election campaigns, dealers of instruments of death to dictatorships around the world, and prospective members of the nascent Space Force.

Events are being planned for the weekend of Armistice Day in Washington, D.C., and around the world. The plan is to . . .

Celebrate No Trump Military Parade in Washington on November 10!

Celebrate Armistice Day and Peace Everywhere on November 11!

Sign up for any event on the world map here, or add a new one.

The peace movement in the United States, What are its strengths and weaknesses?

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If you can be in Washington, D.C., to celebrate preventing the Trump military parade, also sign up here.

Also, join in the Women’s March on the Pentagon on October 21-22.

Come to a free peace concert in Washington D.C., November 9, 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. planned by Code Pink.

We’ll also be part of Catharsis on the Mall, November 10-12, in Washington, D.C.

Note also that the Kennedy Center in DC is opening a show about the WWI Christmas Truces on the evening of November 10.

Veterans For Peace is planning a silent march to all the monuments in Washington, D.C., on November 11.

November 11, 2018, is Armistice Day 100, a century since World War I was ended at a scheduled moment (11 o’clock on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918). For decades in the United States, as elsewhere, Armistice Day was a holiday of peace, of sad remembrance and joyful ending of war, of a commitment to preventing war in the future. The holiday’s name was changed in the United States during the U.S. war in Korea to “Veterans Day,” a largely pro-war holiday on which some U.S. cities forbid Veterans For Peace groups from marching in their parades. Trump had planned for this year a super-pro-war weapons parade — a Trumparade — for Washington D.C. on Saturday November 10th, the day before Armistice Day.

Our goal (now partially met) was to get the weapons parade (until recently planned for November 10th) canceled but to carry through with our own peaceful Armistice Day celebration in Washington, D.C., and everywhere else on earth. If the Trumparade had not been canceled, our goal was to be bigger and make a more impressive showing for peace and friendship than the weapons parade made for war and hatred and profiteering greed.

We need your help planning Armistice Day / Remembrance Day events everywhere on earth, and adding our presence to those already scheduled. If you can start an event or a contingent to participate in a larger event, we can help you. The first step is: please enter it into our system so that it shows up on our map for people to find.