NP September 23, National Day of Action for Peace with Justice

[Doug Millison]

A CALL TO ACTION FOR PEACE

Our government has stolen from us the time to grieve.

They have made it clear they want war -- on anyone, at
any price, with
seemingly no thought for the consequences.

Government officials speak openly of going after
"high-value" targets
such as capital cities in countries that "harbor"
terrorists. There are
calls for carpet-bombing a country of 25 million
people. In a world
where no objections are raised in the halls of power
to such plans, our
task is clear:

We must fight for the soul of our nation. We have no
choice but to begin
speaking out and organizing for peace as we grieve.
The best way we can
honor those who have died is to make sure no more
innocents are killed,
here or abroad.

If we win, there is the possibility of a new movement
for peace, a new
hope for justice. If we lose, the escalating cycle of
hatred may usher
in a new era of unending war.

Officials think they have the support of an angry,
blood-thirsty public,
and many in the United States are calling for
vengeance. But there is
also great fear, not just for our own safety but for
what such a war
will unleash in the world.

Military actions that kill civilians will also
multiply tenfold the
number of people willing to die to wreak havoc on the
United States. We
have already paid a terrible price. What will happen
when we arouse
further anger with a blatantly unjust and destructive
retaliation?

Many, even in the peace movement, are saying, "Now is
not the time to
talk politics; the country needs time to heal."

Just the reverse is true: Now is the time, before it
is too late.

We, the undersigned organizations, are calling for
Sunday, September 23,
to be a National Day of Action for Peace with Justice.
We will call for
a peace based not on terror and death but on
recognition of our common
humanity. In each locality, people concerned about the
drive to
destruction should gather in public, as close to 2
p.m. as possible.

We will gather -- in churches and in parks, in homes
and universities,
public squares, streets and living rooms -- with
banners and signs, with
black armbands and candles, in fear and in hope.

While a single gathering will not itself change
policy, it signals the
mood of the public and will help build a movement.
September 23 will be
not the end, but the beginning of more vigorous
organizing for peace and
a just world.

We have already seen spontaneous demonstrations of
thousands of people
across the country. There is new interest in the
consequences of our
foreign policy. People are listening.

Now is the time: For action. For organization. For
change.

Organizations that want to sign onto this call should
write to
worker-nowar at lists.tao.ca.

In Solidarity, The Nowar Collective
www.nowarcollective.com

--distributed by Znet

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