FUSsa-talk Mailing List: Re: Fwd: Letter to the Nobel Committee & FYI

[MADELINE SIMON (madeline-mpls]

I don't either, but FYI:

 

A number of MAP organizations signed this letter:

Military Families Speak Out

Veterans For Peace

Fellowship of Reconciliation

Pax Christi

Womens International League for Peace and Freedom
Iraq Veterans Against the War
and UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE, which includes a number of additional MAP 
organizations.  On Wed. and Saturday last week, protest marches were held in 
Minneapolis sponsored by or with participation from MAP organizations.

 

I think you'd find it interesting to look at http://mapm.pjep.org/  Scroll down 
and look at Actions, Announcements, News--most of these items I have posted for 
MAP organizations including FUS/UU.  News items (I have posted) are 
automatically posted to the home pages of ALL 50 STATES through the PJEP 
network of which MAP is a member.

 

Peace,
Madeline

MAP Secretary/Communications Coordinator

 

 


> From: tappx001 [at] umn.edu
> Date: Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:33:26 -0600
> Subject: [sa-talk] Fwd: Letter to the Nobel Committee
> CC: fussa-talk [at] muusja.org
> To: madeline-mpls [at] msn.com
> 
> I didn't see any UU signers here!
> 
> Bob
> 
> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> > From: UFPJ Alerts <listmaster [at] unitedforpeace.org>
> > Date: December 10, 2009 5:51:19 PM CST
> > 
> > Subject: Letter to the Nobel Committee
> > Reply-To: ufpj [at] mail.democracyinaction.org
> > 
> > 
> > December 9, 2009
> > 
> > An Open Letter to The Norwegian Nobel Committee.
> > 
> > On December 10, you will award the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to President 
> > Barack Obama, citing "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international 
> > diplomacy and cooperation between people." We the undersigned are 
> > distressed that President Obama, so close upon his receipt of this honor, 
> > has opted to escalate the U.S. war in Afghanistan with the deployment of 
> > 30,000 additional troops. We regret that he could not be guided by the 
> > example of a previous Nobel Peace Laureate, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, 
> > Jr., who identified his peace prize as "profound recognition that 
> > nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral question of 
> > our time -- the need for man [sic] to overcome oppression and violence 
> > without resorting to violence and oppression."
> > 
> > President Obama has insisted that his troop escalation is a necessary 
> > response to dangerous instability in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but we 
> > reject the notion that military action will advance the region's stability, 
> > or our own national security. In his peace prize acceptance speech, Dr. 
> > King observed that "Civilization and violence are antithetical concepts…man 
> > [sic] must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, 
> > aggression and retaliation." As people committed to end the occupation of 
> > Iraq and Afghanistan, we are filled with remorse by this new decision of 
> > our president, for it will not bring peace.
> > 
> > Declaring his opposition to the Vietnam War, Dr. King insisted that "no one 
> > who has any concern for the integrity and life of America today can ignore 
> > the present war…We must continue to raise our voices and our lives if our 
> > nation persists in its perverse ways… We are at the moment when our lives 
> > must be placed on the line if our nation is to survive its own folly. Every 
> > man [sic] of humane convictions must decide on the protest that best suits 
> > his convictions, but we must all protest."
> > 
> > We pledge ourselves to mobilize our constituencies in the spirit of Dr. 
> > King's nonviolent and committed example. His prophetic words will guide us 
> > as we assemble in the halls of Congress, in local offices of elected 
> > representatives, and in the streets of our cities and towns, protesting 
> > every proposal that will continue funding war. We will actively and 
> > publicly oppose the war funding which President Obama will soon seek from 
> > Congress and re-commit ourselves to the protracted struggle against U.S. 
> > war-making in Iraq and Afghanistan.
> > 
> > We assume that the Nobel Committee chose to award President Obama the peace 
> > prize in full awareness of the vision offered by Dr. King's acceptance 
> > speech. We also understand that the Nobel committee may now regret that 
> > decision in light of recent developments, as we believe that the committee 
> > should be reluctant to present an Orwellian message equating peace with 
> > war. When introducing the President, the Committee should, at the very 
> > least, exhibit a level of compassion and humility by drawing attention to 
> > this distressing ambiguity.
> > 
> > We will do all we can to ensure that popular pressure will soon bring 
> > President Obama to an acceptance of the duties which this prize, and even 
> > more his electoral mandate to be a figure of change, impose upon him. He 
> > must end the catastrophic policies of occupation and war that have caused 
> > so much destruction, so many deaths and displacements, and so much injury 
> > to our own democratic traditions.
> > 
> > This prize is not a meaningless honor. We pledge, ourselves obeying its 
> > call to nonviolent action, to make our President worthy of it.
> > 
> > Sincerely,
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Jack Amoureux - Board of Directors
> > Military Families Speak Out
> > 
> > Medea Benjamin - Co-Founder,
> > Global Exchange
> > 
> > Frida Berrigan - Witness Against Torture
> > 
> > Elaine Brower - World Can't Wait
> > 
> > Leslie Cagan - Co-Founder
> > United for Peace and Justice
> > 
> > Bob Cooke - Regional Coordinator
> > Pax Christi USA, Pax Christi Metro, DC and Baltimore
> > 
> > Tom Cornell - Catholic Peace Fellowship
> > 
> > Matt Daloisio - War Resisters League
> > 
> > Marie Dennis - Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
> > 
> > Laurie Dobson - Director,
> > End US Wars
> > 
> > Mike Ferner - National President
> > Veterans For Peace
> > 
> > Joy First- Convener
> > National Campaign for Non-Violent Resistance
> > 
> > Sara Flounders - International Action Center
> > 
> > Diana Gibson - Christian Peace Witness
> > 
> > Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb - Shomer Shalom Network for Jewish Nonviolence
> > 
> > David Hartsough - Peaceworkers, San Francisco
> > 
> > Mike Hearington - Georgia Peace & Justice Coalition
> > 
> > Kimber J. Heinz - Organizing Coordinator
> > War Resisters League
> > 
> > Mark Johnson - Director
> > Fellowship of Reconciliation
> > 
> > Kathy Kelly - Co-coordinator
> > Voices for Creative Non-Violence
> > 
> > Leslie Kielson - Co-Chair
> > United for Peace and Justice
> > 
> > Malachy Kilbride - National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance
> > 
> > Kevin Martin - Executive Director
> > Peace Action and Peace Action Education Fund
> > 
> > Linda LeTendre - Saratoga [New York] Peace Alliance
> > 
> > Michael T. McPhearson - National Executive Director,
> > Veterans For Peace
> > 
> > Gael Murphy - Co-Founder,
> > Code Pink
> > 
> > Sheila Musaji - The American Muslim
> > 
> > Michael Nagler - Founder
> > Metta Center for Nonviolence
> > 
> > Max Obuszewski - Pledge of Resistance Baltimore and Baltimore Nonviolence 
> > Center
> > 
> > Pete Perry - Peace of the Action
> > 
> > Dave Robinson, Executive Director
> > Pax Christi
> > 
> > David Swanson - AfterDowningStreet.org
> > 
> > Terry Rockefeller - Families for Peaceful Tomorrows
> > 
> > Samina Sundas - Founding Executive Director
> > The American Muslim Voice
> > 
> > Nancy Tsou - Coordinator,
> > Rockland Coalition for Peace and Justice
> > 
> > Diane Turco - Cape Codders for Peace and Justice
> > 
> > Marge Van Cleef - Womens International League for Peace and Freedom
> > 
> > Jose Vasquez - Executive Director
> > Iraq Veterans Against the War
> > 
> > Craig Wiesner
> > Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice
> > 
> > Scott Wright - Pax Christi Metro DC - Baltimore
> > 
> > Kevin Zeese - Executive Director
> > Voters for Peace
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Along with delivering this open letter to the Nobel Peace Committee, 
> > activists will present it at a rally in Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C. 
> > on Saturday, December 12th, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m., www.enduswar.org
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Help us continue to do this critical work: Make a donation to UFPJ today.
> > 
> > UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
> > www.unitedforpeace.org | 212-868-5545
> > PO Box 607; Times Square Station; New York, NY 10108
> > 
> > To subscribe, visit www.unitedforpeace.org/email
> > 
> > Click here to edit your subscription | Click here to unsubscribe
> > 
> > 
> 
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