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THE PEACE & JUSTICE COALITION CALL TO
THE PEOPLE'S MARCH FOR PEACE, EQUALITY, JOBS & JUSTICE
(Statement on behalf of The Peace & Justice
Coalition by Lawrence Hamm, May 12, 2007)
Unjust War Abroad & Social Crisis At Home
The U.S. war on Iraq must be brought to an end and the U.S.
government must begin to concentrate on solving the dire
economic and social problems in the United States. This is an
immoral and illegal war. President Bush and Vice President
Cheney started this war of aggression based on false assertions
including claims that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction
and was somehow responsible for the attack that led to the
destruction of the World Trade Center. They launched an
invasion against a country that did not attack nor pose any
significant threat to the United States.
In Iraq, since the beginning of the unjust and unnecessary U.S.
invasion and occupation, thousands of U.S. troops have been
killed. Tens of thousands have been wounded. Many of them have
had limbs amputated and large numbers now suffer from war
related mental disorders. When these veterans come home many
cannot get adequate medical care and other services. Hundreds
of thousands of Iraqis have died since the invasion and U.S.
military forces have practically destroyed their country.
Contrary to the Bush administration’s claims about stopping
terrorism, the world is a far more dangerous place since the war
began, and now we are faced with the possibility that the U.S.
could attack Iran or another country in the midst of the current
war with Iraq. President Bush said that the U.S. had to send
troops there to help promote democracy. However, it appears to
many that we were more concerned about access to and control of
Iraq's vast oil reserves. Thus far, the U.S. has spent more
than 500 billion or one-half trillion dollars on this
imperialist war with the probability that at least a trillion
will be spent before it is over.
In the U.S., another type of war is going on, a war on our
communities. The Bush administration, while increasing war
spending, has decreased domestic spending for education, health
care, housing, employment, veterans’ care and other social
programs. While the U.S. wages war abroad our civil liberties,
civil rights, human rights and voting rights are being violated
and taken away at home.
As billions of our tax dollars are spent on a war that military
experts say cannot be won, the ranks of the poor and working
poor in our country continue to swell, millions are unemployed
and millions more are without health insurance. Schools are
under funded, hospitals are being closed, and thousands of
homeless sleep on the streets of our nation. Racism, racial
inequality and police brutality are on the rise. Working people
are struggling paycheck to paycheck to make ends meet and many
in the middle class are losing ground. College students and
their families are falling deep into debt in order pay the
astronomical cost of higher education. The gap between the rich
and the rest of us is wider than it has ever been. These
conditions facilitate the recruitment of young people by the
U.S. military who are then sent to fight and die on the
battlefields of Iraq. Immigrants are being harassed and
deported without due process. The numbers of people imprisoned
and detained are exploding. Environmental pollution and global
warming threaten our very existence. State governments cannot
adequately respond to natural disasters because many of their
national guardsmen and equipment are being used in Iraq by the
U.S. military. Our democracy is in crisis as people find their
government unable to fulfill their desire for peace and justice.
The continued waste of billions of dollars on the war against
Iraq in the face of mounting social problems in our own country
can only bring disastrous consequences. As Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. said in his speech in opposition to the U.S. war in
Vietnam, "A Time To Break Silence," a nation that spends more on
its military than it does on solving its social problems is a
nation that "is approaching spiritual death."
A Time to March
It is time for a revolution of priorities. We must end this
unjust war now and focus the energy and resources of our nation
on solving our problems at home! Towards that end, this urgent
call goes out to people across the nation to rise up and
participate in The People's March for Peace, Equality, Jobs,
and Justice, which will take place Saturday, August 25,
2007 in Newark, New Jersey. The purpose of the march is to
demand an immediate end to the U.S. war on Iraq, redirection of
funding for the war towards domestic needs, and the realization
of racial equality, social and economic justice in the United
States.
The goals of The People's March are to demonstrate the profound
grassroots opposition to the U.S. war on Iraq, bring pressure to
bear upon the government to end the war now, educate people
about the war and its impact upon our communities in the U.S.
and organize and mobilize people around a peace and justice
agenda that will link the struggle against the war in Iraq to
the struggles against injustice at home. We will march for an
end to war abroad and an end to the war on our communities.
March for Peace
Now is the time to put the nation on a new course. If this war
is to end and our social problems are to be seriously addressed
then all of us who want peace and justice must act now.
Everyone that wants an end to the war is invited to join us in
Newark on August 25th. Let us all march together for
peace.
We will demand an immediate end to the U.S. war on Iraq and the
closing of U. S. military bases there, the return home of all
U.S. troops now, adequate care for the troops upon their return,
the cutoff of funding for the war in Iraq and the redirection of
those funds towards domestic and social programs. We will call
upon the Bush Administration to repair the damage done by U.S.
military forces in Iraq. We will also demand an end to the war
in Afghanistan and that no future wars be initiated against Iran
or other countries.
March for Human Rights
We will demand the restoration and preservation of human rights,
constitutional rights and civil liberties, which have been
steadily eroded by the Bush administration in the name of the
“war on terror.“ We will demand an end to the use of torture,
extraordinary renditions (secret abductions), secret trials and
prisons, indefinite detentions, denial of the right of habeas
corpus, racial profiling, use of banned weapons, and further
violations of the Geneva Conventions and international law
against individuals whether they are U. S. citizens, immigrants,
or citizens of other countries.
We will demand that the detainee facility at Guantanamo Bay be
closed, and that the PATRIOT, Homeland Security and Military
Commissions acts and the unlawful expansion of presidential
power be repealed. We will call for justice and freedom for all
political prisoners.
March for an End to Violence
We cannot call for an end to the war on Iraq while ignoring the
war that is going on in the streets of the United States.
Violence is engulfing communities throughout the nation. There
is a near state of emergency in many cities and towns. Every
year thousands die from gun-related and other forms of violence
in our country. The U.S. has one of the highest rates of
homicide among the industrialized nations of the world. When we
march on August 25th, we will call for unity in our
communities, peace in our streets and an end to the violence
that pervades U.S. society. We will demand an end to the flow
of illegal drugs and guns into our communities. And we will
demand an end to the grinding poverty and other economic and
social conditions that drive so many towards drugs, crime,
violence and death.
March for Equality
Forty-Four years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of a
dream of racial equality. During the sixties, as a result of
the African American struggle for freedom and justice some
progress was made. However, since then many of the gains that
were made have been rolled back or eliminated. Racial equality
has not yet been realized for African Americans and other
communities of color in our country. Racial inequality,
discrimination, segregation, oppression, violence, and police
brutality are still a part of everyday life in America. In
fact, in some respects racial inequality and injustice are
greater today than they were during Dr. King's lifetime.
On August 25th, let us march with renewed commitment for the
realization of racial equality in the United States. We will
call for an end to the poverty, unemployment, substandard
schools and housing, and other adverse conditions that continue
to plague African American, Latino, Native American and other
communities of color. We will once again demand an end to police
brutality and the establishment of truly empowered police review
boards and agencies. We will demand equal voting rights and
representation for District of Columbia residents. We will
demand reparations for the descendants of Africans enslaved in
the United States and the passage of H.R. 40, the Conyers
reparations study bill.
We will march for equal rights and fair treatment for all people
regardless of race, color, ethnicity, sex, class, nationality,
religion, creed, disability or sexual orientation or
preference. We will demand an end to racism, sexism and all
forms of discrimination, oppression and bias related violence.
We call for an end to violence, harassment, discrimination and
attacks against and unjust deportations of Muslim, Arab, Asian,
Latin American, Haitian and African immigrants and citizens.
March for Jobs and Justice
On that day, let us march for jobs and economic justice. We
will demand the redirection of funds for the U.S. war on Iraq
towards employment, housing, healthcare, education, Medicaid,
Medicare, Social Security and other domestic programs. During
his lifetime Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called upon Congress to
enact into law an economic bill of rights. On August 25th,
we will demand an economic bill of rights that includes the
creation of a massive jobs program that pays a living wage, an
increase in the minimum wage, health care for all people from
the cradle to the grave and the passage of H.R. 676, the
national health insurance bill.
We will call for economic democracy. We will call for an end to
poverty, unemployment and homelessness. We will call for the
passage of H.R. 4347, a bill to help end homelessness in the
U.S. We will demand affordable housing for all and
environmental justice. We will demand jobs programs to end the
depression-level unemployment that exists in African American
and other communities of color. We will call for economic
development in our urban communities and the revitalization of
our cities. We will demand more funding for scholarships and
grants for college students, and that higher education be made
affordable for poor, working class and middle class students and
their families. We will demand the environmental clean up and
funding for the reconstruction of the Gulf Coast and its
communities. We will demand justice, housing, jobs, and the
right of return for the survivors of Hurricane Katrina. We will
call for the creation of jobs to develop renewable sources of
energy and to increase energy efficiency within our society in
order to decrease our oil dependency and help stop global
climate change.
On that day, we will march for the right of all workers to be
organized and represented by unions, without fear of retribution
by their employers for participating in union activities. We
will demand fair and decent wages for immigrant workers,
documented and undocumented, an end to unjust raids on immigrant
communities and to the stealth deportations that separate and
destroy families.
March for Accountability
On that day, let us march to demand accountability. Those
responsible for the disaster caused by the U.S. invasion and
occupation of Iraq and the aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina
catastrophe must be held accountable. We will call for the
impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney for
their handling of the Iraq war, the resulting crimes against
humanity, and the Hurricane Katrina crisis.
March of History
The march is being held on August 25th to coincide
with the 44th anniversary of the historic 1963 March
on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and with the second
anniversary of the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe, which killed
many and left hundreds of thousands displaced and devastated due
to the failure of the federal government to adequately respond
to their needs. Marching in Newark enables us to connect this
event to the 40th anniversary commemoration of the
1967 Newark Rebellion, a major event in the struggle for racial
justice. It also helps us to highlight the needs of our cities
and the need for local organizing.
March for a Just Society and Peaceful World
The People’s March is sponsored by The Peace & Justice
Coalition, which is comprised of more than 100 diverse
grassroots organizations. The coalition calls upon everyone who
wants an end to the Iraq war to join the march and fill the
streets of Newark on August 25th. We call upon
people of all races, all people of good will across the country,
and people from all walks of life to join us on that day.
We especially call upon historically oppressed communities,
including African Americans, Latinos, Asians, Indigenous and
other peoples of color who have been among those most opposed to
this war to join us and make their opposition visible. On
August 25th, let us march in the spirit of unity and
hope, determined to keep the pressure on until the war in Iraq
is ended and the ideal of a more just society, peaceful world
and better life for all is finally realized.
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