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News :: Peace |
Nationwide Peace Events Planned For September 11 |
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by Alison Raphael (No verified email address) |
07 Sep 2002
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"Let us make the upcoming anniversary of 9/11 a time to put forth our vision of a safer, more just world, free of war, nuclear weapons and violence," said Medea Benjamin, founding director of Global Exchange. |
WASHINGTON - Sept. 6 - As the United States prepares for the first anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks on New York and the Pentagon , peace activists around the country are planning a wide variety of events calling for world peace and global justice, beginning Friday with a peace vigil in Washington, D.C.
The gathering today, organized by Women in Black (http://www.womeninblack.net/), a network of women campaigning against war, will call for peace in the Middle East and Afghanistan as part of the day's "Peace Among Peoples" theme. Other activities in Washington will then extend throughout the week, focusing on themes such as "War and Profits of War" and "Victims of War."
"Let us make the upcoming anniversary of 9/11 a time to put forth our vision of a safer, more just world, free of war, nuclear weapons and violence," said Medea Benjamin, founding director of Global Exchange (http://www.globalexchange.org/), the San Francisco-based group encouraging and publicizing many events on the United For Peace website (http://www.unitedforpeace.org/).
Pleas for peace are also coming from September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows (http://www.peacefultomorrows.org/), an organization founded by relatives of victims of last year's attacks that supports the use of nonviolent responses to terrorism.
"We don't want the first year of commemoration of the 9/11 tragedy to be used to call for more war and violence," said Kelly Campbell, co-director of the organization.
In addition to honoring the dead with ceremonies of remembrance, from Friday through the end of next week some members of the organization will be visiting U.S. cities with other victims of terrorism and war in a "No More Victims Tour," which seeks to educate and raise public awareness of the consequences of war.
Rita Lasar, whose brother was killed in the World Trade Center and who has since traveled to Afghanistan to meet with families of the victims of U.S. bombing, wants September 11 to be "a time to dedicate ourselves, together with our friends around the globe, to bringing America back to the community of nations."
Many of those campaigning for peace on September 11 fear that the policies pursued by the administration of President George W. Bush --including the presence of U.S. troops in numerous countries, the bombings of Afghan civilians, and the refusal to join the newly created International Criminal Court or to support the goals of this week's World Summit on Sustainable Development--have set the U.S. on an increasingly dangerous path.
"If we continue attempting to seek out terrorists to pound with our military force, the events of September 11 will mark a turning to ultimate disaster, to the undermining of global security and the security of the American people," said David Kreiger, president of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.
But, Krieger added, if September 11 could prompt U.S. citizens to see the need for international cooperation to tackle global problems of poverty, environmental devastation, human rights abuse, and the threat of nuclear weapons, the events of that day could be seen as a "terrible but critical wake- up call."
Other activities planned for next week include an international conference on peace and human security in New York, a Day of Reflection at Malcolm X Park in Washington, D.C., and an anti-war rally in Portland, Oregon. Over 40 events are scheduled in the state of California alone.
Copyright 2002 OneWorld.net |
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