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US WILPF
Email this pageJoin WILPF to Demand Congo Action Now!
Become allies in the growing international movement for peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo! Support our Congolese sisters and brothers in bringing an end to this devastating war that is being fought on the bodies of women and children.
No Justice in bin Laden Killing
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May 2, 2011
Justice Done or Missed Opportunities?
On Sunday, President Obama announced that the United States conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda, and strongly proclaimed “justice has been done.” [1] “Justice has been done” was then reiterated throughout our nation and the entire international community. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hailed Osama bin Laden's death claiming that he was personally “relieved that justice has been done.”[2] Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berusconi, further stated that bin Laden’s killing was not only “a great result for the United States but also for all democracies,” and Palestinian Authority spokesman Ghassan Khatib said that “getting rid of bin Laden is good for the cause of peace worldwide.”[3] Americans chanted in the streets and sang patriotic songs.
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), US Section extends our hearts to all people who have suffered as a result of violent acts of terrorism, but deeply challenges the belief that “justice has been done” when the blood of another has been spilled – even if it was a person who caused great harm. In choosing, once again, to use force rather than to pursue justice through established rules of law, the US. Government missed out on profound opportunities to advance universal guarantees of human rights, strengthen peace and security, and open pathways for greater understanding and reconciliation.
NEW Nuclear Weapons Abolition Bill Needs Your Support Now - Take Action
NEW Nuclear Weapons Abolition Bill Needs Your Support Now - Take Action
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| Explosion at Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Okumamachi, Fukushima Prefecture, northern Japan, Monday, March 14, 2011. (AP Photo/NTV/NNN Japan) |
Washington DC Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton has introduced the "Nuclear Weapons Abolition and Economic and Energy Conversion Act," which re-directs the money from nuclear weapons to provide carbon-free, nuclear-free energy resources.
Click here to view and download the text of the legislation, HR-1334, introduced by Rep. Holmes Norton, HR-1334 (pdf)
Click here to write your Representative asking for co-sponsorship of this legislation IMMEDIATELY.
No nuclear power plant has been built in the U.S.A. since 1974, and the new nuclear power plant construction being planned is only possible because the U.S. taxpayer will have to provide what Wall Street won't: 100% loan guarantees, and funding nuclear waste repositories on as yet unidentified sites. Nuclear power provides 20% of this country's electric energy; we can easily follow Germany's lead in committing to building no new plants, and replacing those still on-line with renewable and sustainable energy sources. We must all keep the memories of both Fukushima and Hiroshima alive wherever we go.
Let’s act now to turn popular opinion into public policy! This may be the last chance we get to turn to truly clean energy and away from war and destruction. 
Close the School of the Americas During April 2011 Days of Action
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Close the School of the Americas During April Days of Action
School of the Americas Watch (SOAW) is mobilizing for a gathering in Washington, DC from April 4-11, 2011 to take their demands to the White House, the halls of Congress, and other sources of military and foreign policy decisions.
Many WILPF women have been in the annual demonstrations at Fort Benning, Georgia, where the SOA (now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security and Cooperation) is located. A few of us have even “crossed the line”, been arrested and served three months in prison. This imprisonment is a deliberate act of solidarity with the oppressed people and martyrs of the Americas, who suffer as a result of the repressive techniques taught to “students” at the SOA.
Turn Out For Rallies In Solidarity With The People Of Egypt!
UNITED NATIONAL ANTIWAR COMMITTEE CALLS ON ALL SUPPORTERS TO TURN OUT FOR RALLIES IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT AND OTHER ARAB COUNTRIES TODAY, THIS WEEKEND, AND IN COMING DAYS
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No More US Support to the Mubarak Dictatorship!
Hands off Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen!
The Egyptian people, inspired by the victory in Tunisia and building on their own heroic rallies and strikes in recent years, have now taken the lead in the regional revolt against US-backed dictatorships. Today, Friday, January 28th, masses have poured into the streets for the third straight day of protest, and are once again fighting valiantly against cops and troops armed with US made and paid for weapons.
It is the US government which has created and STILL supports the Mubarak regime to the tune of $1.5 billion a year as part of its regional military apparatus, and it is US banks and corporations that have imposed the neoliberal austerity regime of unemployment, poverty and malnutrition against which Egyptian workers have been rebelling for decades.
The US Department of Defense is meeting this very week with Egyptian military officials to discuss how to maintain this oppression. A DoD press briefing reports: "With regards to Egypt:… we actually this week are hosting senior Egyptian military leaders at the Pentagon for our annual bilateral defense talks… So that's just an example of how engaged we are with the Egyptians, even as these developments have taken place on the streets in Cairo and elsewhere…”
And it is the US State Department which has already begun maneuvers throughout the region to ensure that any governments that fall are replaced with equally compliant regimes -- maneuvers such as the visit by the head of “Near East Affairs” in the State Department this week to Tunisia, and by their “National Democratic Institute” to Yemen, to “advise” on “clean elections” – i.e. to plot how to subvert the goals of the masses in the streets.
Represent WILPF at the Commission on the Status of Women
A new Program offers Support for Delegates from WILPF Branches interested in participating in the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women meetings in New York from February 19 – 26, 2011. You’ll be working at the UN as a member of a six person delegation, bringing WILPF perspectives into conversations with government and NGO representatives, learning the ropes, and preparing to take UN advocacy strategies and campaigns back to your local branch and beyond. Read more here.
From the Local to the Global
New Program to Support Delegates from Active WILPF branches at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
Sign A Petition Against Four More Years of War
This petition was created by Tom Hayden on November 15, 2010 and is viewable here or click on the image. 
Here is some material as posted at the petition site:
Background (Preamble):
We object to the United States proposal for Afghanistan being presented this week to NATO ministers.
It is not a peace plan. It is a plan for four more years of combat by US and NATO forces.
It is not a plan for US or Western troop withdrawals but for further occupation. It is a proposal to gradually lessen Western casualties and lessen Western visibility while transitioning to Western-financed, Western-armed, and Western-advised Afghan army combat in a civil conflict. It is a plan for long-term Western military bases.
It is not a plan to stop al Qaeda or terrorists from attacking Western targets. There are virtually no al Qaeda left in Afghanistan. The most recent terrorist attacks on America have been inspired by our deepening wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In seeking to save our military reputation, we all but assure future threats against Western targets. CIA officials even describe Yemen’s al Qaeda cell as more dangerous than al Qaeda in Pakistan. [NYT, Oct. 18, 2010]
It pre-empts the Administration’s own proposal for a full “review” of Afghan policy in December. The timing instead is aimed at shoring up a faltering Western alliance.
WILPF Takes Direct Action to End Wars
In Boston, WILPF members assembled outside the office of Sen. John Kerry to protest the ongoing war in Afghanistan. In Philadelphia, WILPF members visited the offices of Sen. Robert Casey and Rep. Joe Sestak with written statements. Member Marge Van Cleef specifically challenged the U.S. drone attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which are killing people indiscriminately. She and other members called for a moratorium on the “war on terror.” During the action, Dr. Ronald Coburn discussed the high suicide rate of returning U.S. soldiers. Citing a recent study which showed that between 2005 and 2008, the number of California vets who committed suicide was three times higher than the number of soldiers killed in action during the same period, Dr. Coburn called for officials to include these suicides in their total number of military deaths. He recommended increasing the funding for support and therapy groups for the 25 percent of soldiers who return home suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). WILPF Member Dory Loder highlighted the cost of the war, which has exceeded $3 trillion.
Don’t Let Them Divide Us
The nationally coordinated raids that occurred on September 24th at 7 a.m. targeted many activists in Minnesota, Illinois, and Michigan. Some 14 individuals were subpoenaed to appear before a Grand Jury. The WILPF MN Metro Branch was one of the first groups to publicly stand in solidarity with other peace organizations and progressive activists in condemning the FBI raids. The branch’s statement said, in part: “Such tactics serve only to suppress dissent, inhibit action for peace and justice, and discourage legitimate travel abroad. They are evidence of an ongoing climate of curtailment of civil liberties under the pretext of the ‘war on terror.’”
We encourage other branches to make and publicize similar statements, and meet with their legislators to protest these invasions. The national meeting of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression was called to address the ongoing FBI actions and three key demands were discussed: ending the repression of anti-war and international solidarity activists, returning all materials seized in the raids, and calling off the Grand Jury. During the meeting, Attorney Bruce Nestor of the National Lawyers Guild explained that the Guild sees the material support laws, which are the basis of the investigation against the 14 anti-war activists, as an attempt to repress U.S. activists' involvement and solidarity with liberation struggles.
Join WILPF Delegation at CEDAW Hearing in Washington, DC
It’s time to ratify CEDAW!
Those living in the Washington, D.C. area are urged to join the WILPF delegation at the CEDAW Hearing, this Thursday, Nov. 18, at 2 p.m. at the Dirksen Senate Office Building (room 226). You’ll have the opportunity to hear witnesses speak on the importance of CEDAW, including: Geena Davis (Academy Award Winning Actor and Founder of The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media); Wazhma Frogh, (from the Afghan Women’s Network and a winner of the State Department’s “Woman of Courage Award”). This Senate hearing, the first in eight years, focused solely on the importance of ratifying CEDAW is a momentus step forward in our decades long struggle for ratification of this important treaty. Click here to read the statement submitted by WILPF, U.S., for the occasion.
Support Ratification of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
Statement in Support of Ratification of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
Submitted to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law
Senator Dick Durbin, Chair
November 13, 2010
The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), U.S. Section commends the U.S. Government for the timely submission of its first Universal Periodic Report to the Human Rights Council and for its involvement of local and state governments in completing the report. The U.S. properly sent the highest level delegates to meet with the Council in Geneva for the review and was innovative in its attempts to make the review accessible and participatory for civil society groups in the U.S.
Recalling this demonstration of positive commitment to human rights, WILPF now calls upon the U.S. Senate to immediately ratify the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which was signed on behalf of the United States in 1980. The U.S. is the only country to sign and not ratify this important women’s human rights treaty.
