Program Update

Since it will take awhile to get this up on wilpf.org, I figured I'd post the current program update. WILPF National Campaigns and Issue Committees create a biweekly update to share news & encourage member participation in their work.

**************************
WCUSP Campaign
Cuba Issues Committee
Corporations V. Democracy Issues Committee
DISARM Issues Committee
**************************

WCUSP issued an Action Alert on June 29. It begins:

The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, US Section calls upon the US government to unequivocally condemn Israeli use of collective punishment and illegal detention.

Please read the entire alert at:
http://wilpf.org/campaigns/WCUSP/articles/collective_punishment.html

On June 21, WCUSP launched the "Restore US Aid to the Palestinian Authority" Campaign. From our press release:

"Our demands are clear." said National Campaign Organizer Libby Frank of WILPF U.S. "The U.S. must accept the January 2006 election of Hamas as the voice of Palestinian people and re-instate funds that have been illegally withheld since the election."

-----------------------------------------------
Update from Cuba Issues:
IFCO/Pastors for Peace. A number of banches will sponsor stops for the caravanistas and some on the issues committee will be participants in the challenge.Dates follow
June 17-July 1: Caravan routes with educational presentations and aid collections throughout the US and Canada.

The Trilateral Sister Cities Conference in Kingston, ON. was a success. WILPF was a sponsor and Carol, Nancy, Lisa , Regina or myself would be glad to share details with those interested.

It is my understanding that the Women and Peace conference slated for Nov in Cuba will not take place. We propose working on a smaller scale conference by and for WILPF women in CUBA in the upcoming year.

-----------------------------------------------------
Corporations v. Democracy
The Des Moines branch will host David Korten, author of “When Corporations Rule the World,” Oct. 5-8.

The Cape Care Resolution Campaign (www.capecare.info) means to put health care decisions into community hands. The resolution has passed in 9 of 12 town meetings. Next step: Specify the plan.

The Bloomington branch condensed Greg LeRoy’s book on corporate tax dodging for distribution to local officials, who have since become more resistant to corporate tax subsidies. See bloomingtonwilpf.org, “Local Agenda.”

----------------------------------------------------------------
DISARM! Dismantle the War Economy program report, June 16, 2006

STOP MILITARY ACTION AGAINST IRAN! DISARM and WCUSP jointly developed a WILPF statement on U.S-Iran relations and suggestions for Branch action. Find them in your Branch Quarterly mailing packet and on www.wilpf.org, Both items and lots of background details and links on the current Iran crisis are at http://disarm.wilpf.org/May%20June/Iran-India.htm . (We must keep up the pressure. The U.S. has at last offered to enter into direct negotiations with Iran, but we must emphasize unconditional and ensure failure is not used to justify bombings.)

NO NUKES! NO WARS! Campaign during Hiroshima/Nagasaki week. WILPF has a major role in this national/international effort. Read all about it, access important links, loads of information and report your own actions to the world at http://disarm.wilpf.org/May%20June/Hiroshima.htm

KEEP SPACE FOR PEACE WEEK plans proceed apace. WILPF is co-sponsoring this annual week nationally and internationally with Global Network. Start your own plans now and see http://disarm.wilpf.org/May%20June/KSFP2006.htm .

Read lots more on the DISARM UPDATE home page at www.disarm.wilpf.org. Read MacGregor Eddy’s statement at sentencing for Vandenberg action at http://disarm.wilpf.org/May%20June/MacGregorsentencing.htm , Submit your own Branch anti-war and disarm related events to carol.disarm@gmail.com .

WILPF Condemns Israel's Use of Collective Punishment and Illegal Detention

The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, US Section calls upon the US government to unequivocally condemn Israeli use of collective punishment and illegal detention.

[...]

Talking Points
-- We support the call for both sides to "step back from the brink".

-- WILPF has always condemned all violence, including State violence. We join former Israeli Foreign Ministry Shlomo Ben-Ami and the Israeli peace movement, along with voices from around the world, in condemning Israel's latest incursion into Gaza.

-- As a member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and a resident of the United States, I insist that my government work towards a peaceful end of the Israel / Palestinian conflict by recognizing that Israel's bombing of Palestinian infrastructure and civilian areas, its imprisonment of democratically-chosen PA cabinet members, and threats to murder Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in Syria are "actions of violence and terror."

-- The US government needs to recognize that Israel caused the current escalation of violence and the US government must work to end Israel's illegal use of force and insist that Israel release the politicians it arrested, immediately stop its military incursion in the Gaza Strip, and use the international legal system to bring alleged terrorists to justice, rather than assuming the right to assassinate people.

Go to wilpf.org for the entire action alert.

Victory! Divine Strake Cancelled! Thanks to all WILPF members who helped defeat it!

This time concerted action by the Shoshone people and many others affected by past U.S. nuclear tests have succeeded in gaining an indefinite suspension of the test. Read the opinion article by Robert C. Koehler of Tribune Media services on the cancellation. WILPF endorsed the Shoshone people's efforts to stop the test including the court case and the May 28 demonstration at the Nevada test site. MacGregor Eddy of the DISARM! Dismantle the War Economy Committee and Barbara Taft of the Women Challenge US Policy: Building Peace on Justice in the Middle East (WCUSP) Campaign represented WILPF at the May 28 event. Read Barbara Taft's report (with photo) on her experience there.

WILPF calls for peaceful resolution of the Iran "crisis."

WILPF is dismayed that the Administration is again threatening military attack, this time on Iran.

The U.S. Section of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom is dismayed that the Administration is again threatening military attack, this time on Iran. Such an attack would be illegal, unjustified, counter-productive and inhumane. Bombing of Iranian nuclear research and power sites, even with conventional weapons, would be disastrous. It would violate Protocol I of the Geneva Convention, which prohibits such bombings because they can release lethal radiation into the environment.

Read the entire statement at our website.


The WILPF US Statement on Iran was written by a joint task force of the Women Challenge US Policy: Building Peace on Justice in the Middle East (WCUSP) campaign and Disarm! Dismantle the War Economy issue committee. We encourage you to send your Congressional representatives a copy of our statement. Please also use it to help prepare letters to the editor of your local paper. It is important that our communities hear from us, because the drive towards war by the Bush administration is deplorable and their propaganda machine has been working for months to convince our sister Americans that Iran poses a major threat to the US. This is simply not true and we must let our neighbors know our reasonable opposition to another drive towards war. If you're interested in coordinating your actions with other WILPFers, please contact me. We're forming an Iran Action Group to organize our grassroots activism. I can be reached via email at socialupheaval@gmail.com.