Category: Peace

Signs for the Times: the New Haven Sunday Vigil for Peace and Justice Continues

by Joan Cavanagh, Vigil Participant

“Never Again for Anyone;” “No More Money for Genocide;” “Resist Fascism Now- Before It’s Too Late;” “Arms Embargo Now;” “Food Distribution, Not Population Annihilation;” “Silence Is Not an Option;” and, of course, “Resist this Endless War,” are among the messages made visible every week by the New Haven Sunday Vigil for Peace and Justice.

Ongoing weekly since 1999 throughout the administrations of five different presidents, the vigil’s theme has been consistent: the wars and military interventions abroad and repression at home are all part of one assault aimed at consolidating enormous wealth and power into the hands of a very few people at the expense of the rest of us and the health of our planet.

After the U.S.-enabled destruction of Gaza and its people following the HAMAS attack on Israel, culminating now in a campaign of mass starvation and population removal, the vigilers decided to continue this weekly presence well beyond its 25th year.

Today, with all three branches of the United States government caught in the stranglehold of a global movement toward fascism, visible street resistance to all manifestations of the “endless war” is a crucial part of our refusal to be silenced. This is what fascism looks like:

  • Mass institutional compliance with the dictates of Trump and his lackeys on every issue, including the abolition of D.E.I., the removal of healthcare from certain groups of people, the rewriting of U.S. history and the criminalization of dissent.
  • The federal takeover of the Washington, D.C. police force (a prototype for takeovers of more U.S. cities).
  • The invasion of our cities by masked ICE thugs and the illegal arrests, detainments and deportations of U.S. citizens as well as immigrants.
  • The criminalization of poverty and homelessness.
  • Massive cuts to vital social services needed by millions in our country, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security.
  • And, of course, the never-ending blank check for war-making, weapons production and military intervention handed to the President of the United States.

Currently, three to six people attend the vigil. With more urgency than ever, we invite others to join: 12 to 1 on Sundays at Broadway, Park and Elm streets. This is what democracy looks like. (https://newhavensundayvigil.org).

News about New Haven’s Peace Garden

by Paula Panzarella, Friends of the West River Peace Garden

On July 23, a contingent from Friends of the West River Peace Garden met with managers from Cofield Estates to talk about mutual programs and community resources. The West River Peace Garden is bounded by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Ella Grasso Boulevard, and Legion Avenue. The Cofield Estates is a new housing development that abuts the garden.

For decades, where Cofield Estates now stands, this was an empty parcel of land. Members of the West River Self Help Investment Plan (WRSHIP) worked to bring housing to this area for almost 25 years. Finally, it’s been created.

We talked about how the garden became a designated United Nations Peace Garden and why New Haven is a Peace Messenger City. Previously, Mayor Justin Elicker was in contact with Cofield Estates about the Peace Garden.

We mentioned that the Peace Garden would like to have access to a water spigot, and that we can help involve Cofield Estate residents in neighborhood and environmental organizations. We can set up canoe rides at West River Memorial Park, offer bicycle safety classes and repair workshops, and have residents’ teenagers earn volunteer hours at the Peace Garden.

The representatives of Cofield Estates were enthusiastic about the various ways we could help bring programs to the residents, the first of whom moved into the new 56 apartment complex in April.

Within a week of our July 23 meeting, Friends of the West River Peace Garden were given a key to the water spigot on one of the buildings. We now can run lengths of hose to the garden to keep the plants and trees watered. We also can fill up a rain barrel that will store enough water to keep the garden in good shape for two weeks. We look forward to the residents joining us in the garden and in other collaborative projects.

Please consider volunteering! For more information, contact Aaron Goode at aaron.goode@gmail.com, or 203-507-8985. Our website is https://westriverpeacegarden.org.

Peace Activists Attend Yale Commencement 2025

by Susan Klein and Henry Lowendorf, New Haven peace activists

On Monday, May 19, Yale University’s commencement procession filled several blocks of Elm Street with over 4000 graduates in caps and gowns, while their happy families and friends in colorful spring attire lined the sidewalks. Led by a marching band and black-gowned dignitaries of the Yale administration and Yale Corporation, students from each of Yale’s colleges streamed from Cross Campus on High Street to the upper Green on College Street before entering Old Campus through Phelps Gate for the commencement ceremony.

Everyone had to pass half-dozen keffiyah-clad community activists from the Greater New Haven Peace Council, Veterans for Peace, and Jewish Voice for Peace, along with one Yale student, standing at the intersection of College and Elm.

We held posters reading “Celebrate Yale Grads with Moral Clarity to Demand Ceasefire and Divestment,” “Yale Divest from War” with QR codes linking to the Hunger Strikers, and “I Stand Against Genocide.” The response was overwhelmingly positive, many of the students also wearing keffiyehs, with resounding cheers, call and response chants and thumbs up from both graduates and families.

On the previous day, five seniors chosen by their fellow students on the Class Day Committee had highlighted campus free speech and activism, according to this article in the Yale Daily News: https://tinyurl.com/2drctn84.

After the undergraduates had passed, we moved up Elm Street to greet the postgraduate degree recipients from the Yale School of the Environment, many wearing keffiyehs and whimsically decorated caps as they entered Old Campus through Battell Chapel. Their response was equally enthusiastic.

Some of us had stood at commencement in 2024, just after university police violently dismantled Yalies4Palestine’s encampments. This year’s graduates may have been even more responsive to us, after Yale’s continued repression of pro-Palestine student activism and of caving to the Trump regime’s suppression of free speech and academic freedom. The repression led to a group of pro-Palestine Yale students entering a hunger strike on May 10. The QR code links to their demands on Instagram.

80th Anniversary of the US Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

An estimated 140,000 people died in the US bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Three days later, on August 9, an estimated 74,000 people perished in the US bombing of Nagasaki. Mostly all killed were civilians.

The bombing of Nagasaki was the last time nuclear bombs were used in warfare.

The United States is the only country to have used nuclear bombs in warfare.

This year, as in years past, on August 6 and 9, the New Haven peace community will gather to remember the dead, call for an end to war, and demand the abolition of nuclear weapons. On Wednesday, August 6 at 8 a.m., the commemoration will be by the flagpole on the New Haven Green to hear a statement from the Mayor of Hiroshima, voice our concerns, and share thoughts on the horrors of war and how to effectively work for peace. On Saturday, August 9 at 10:45 a.m., we will gather at the Amistad statue in front of City Hall, 165 Church St., to hear a statement from the Mayor of Nagasaki. There will be featured speakers from the peace community and time for attendees to address the audience. Please call Henry Lowendorf of the Greater New Haven Peace Council for additional events that will commemorate the bombings: 203-389-9547.

Martin Luther King Love on March Wed. Jan. 15

WYBC Radio, 94.3 FM

Join 94.3 WYBC and Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church for the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Love March on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, in New Haven.

The MLK Love March in New Haven has been going strong for over 50 years and it celebrates the life and work of the late civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Love March will begin at Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church located at 100 Lawrence St. and continue to Whitney Ave. to Edwards St. to State St. to Lawrence St. We will march on this day rain or shine to commemorate the dreams and aspirations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Love March, which was started by Shiloh’s late Founder and Pastor, Rev. George W. Hampton, Sr., has been a positive force in the community of New Haven for more than 50 years. The Love March was created to preserve the notion of nonviolence.

Come out and lend your voice of support to the community in making New Haven a better place to live. Scheduled to attend will be some of our political leaders from New Haven and the State of Connecticut.

For more information, please call (203) 776-8262, by email at secretarysmbc100@gmail.com, or visit www.smbcnh.org.

Dr. King’s ‘Beyond Vietnam’ Speech

Henry Lowendorf, GNH Peace Council

The annual public reading of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s revolutionary Beyond Vietnam speech will take place Wednesday, Jan. 15, at noon in New Haven City Hall, 165 Church St. It is being organized by the Greater New Haven Peace Council, City of New Haven Peace Commission, and Veterans for Peace.

This speech shook the establishment into denouncing King because, among other things, he connected the movements for peace, civil rights and economic justice.

If you are interested in receiving a pdf of the speech and/or reading a page of the speech on Jan. 15, please email grnhpeacecouncil@gmail.com.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki Vigils – We Remember

by Millie Grenough, New Haven Peace Commission

On August 6, peace activists gathered at the New Haven Green to remember the devastation caused by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and to advocate for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Youth activist Manuel Camacho from Ice the Beef and the City of New Haven Peace Commission opened the event by highlighting the lack of awareness among his generation regarding the nuclear threat. He emphasized that the United States was the first to use nuclear weapons and continues to develop more powerful ones that could endanger the planet.

The vigil included readings of a proclamation from Hiroshima Mayor Matsui Kazumi

Youth activist Adrian Huq from the New Haven Climate Movement spoke of the two existential threats, nuclear weapons and climate change.

The vigil included readings of a proclamation from Hiroshima Mayor Matsui Kazumi, who reminded the audience of the catastrophic human toll of the bombing and the ongoing risks posed by nuclear weapons. Former Mayor Toni Harp reflected on the personal significance of August 6, as it coincides with her birthday and the tragic events in Hiroshima.

The commemoration continued August 9 at New Haven City Hall, marking the 79th anniversary of the Nagasaki bombing. Henry Lowendorf, Chair of the Greater New Haven Peace Council, stressed the importance of remembering past atrocities to prevent future ones. Mayor Justin Elicker expressed gratitude to those who work tirelessly for peace, noting that funds used for nuclear weapons could better serve community needs. Roberto Irizzary, Chair of the New Haven Peace Commission, read a proclamation from Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki, urging global action for peace.

Youth activist Manuel Camacho from Ice the Beef and the City of New Haven Peace Commission opened the event by highlighting the lack of awareness among his generation regarding the nuclear threat.

Youth activist Manuel Camacho from Ice the Beef and the City of New Haven Peace Commission relates details about the deaths, city destruction, and ongoing deaths and diseases brought on by the August 9 bombing.

Atomic veteran Hank Bolden shared his harrowing experience of being used in a Defense Department experiment to test the effects of radiation, describing the long-term health consequences he and others endured. Despite the ongoing challenges, the events were a powerful reminder of the urgent need to abolish nuclear weapons, a call echoed by many speakers, including Manny Camacho, who again underscored the horrific legacy of these bombings and the continuing dangers of nuclear proliferation.

Resolution 77: End the Madness of New Arms Race

by Ann Froines, CT Back from the Brink

As a representative of Back from the Brink (BftB), I spoke at the Hiroshima/Nagasaki Remembrance events this August 6 and 9 in New Haven, asking the attendees to join the campaign to get House Resolution 77 passed in the U.S. Congress. Experts are sounding the alarm that the risks of nuclear war are greater than ever since the beginning of the Atomic Age. (Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has an excellent, free, online newsletter to keep up to date on the risks of nuclear war.)

The events were organized by the Greater New Haven Peace Council, the New Haven Peace Commission, and Veterans for Peace. Each organization had representatives who spoke movingly about the human suffering after the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombings and the existential threats from a future nuclear exchange, whether intended or accidental.

House Resolution 77 calls for our government to actively pursue negotiations for arms control with other nuclear powers, to end the madness of a new arms race, and to take nuclear weapons in the U.S. off hair-trigger alert. Forty-four Congresspeople have signed on to the Resolution, and BftB groups are working nationwide to get support from a majority in the House.

None of the five CT members of the House of Representatives has yet endorsed the resolution, and BftB and other groups will pursue this goal into 2025, when there will be a new House of Representatives and a new administration.

We ask you to write your Congressperson and urge him or her to cosponsor House Resolution 77. You can reach Congressional offices through their switchboard at 202-224-3121. For further information on getting involved in CT, please contact Joe Wasserman at joewass64@yahoo.com.

Visit the website of Back from the Brink at www.preventnuclearwar.org to learn more about the urgency of communities working together to stop the arms race and reduce the threat of nuclear war before a catastrophe happens that could threaten human existence on the planet.

Betsy Ross Arts School and New Haven Peace Commission Celebrate International Day of Peace

by Millie Grenough, New Haven Peace Commission

Cultivating a Culture of Peace is the 2024 theme of the United Nations’ International Day of Peace. To celebrate this theme locally, Betsy Ross Arts Magnet School will collaborate with the City of New Haven Peace Commission to host the annual planting of the Peace Tree on their school grounds, 150 Kimberly Ave., New Haven, on Friday, September 20, at 10 a.m.

For decades, the City of New Haven Peace Commission has planted a tree on the grounds of a different city school, library, or public building. The trees and plaques remind us of those killed by gun violence in our community and in wars abroad, and affirm the commitment of New Haven as a United Nations-designated Peace Messenger City, for action toward peace and justice everywhere.

At the Sept. 20 event, students will perform and will unveil an inscribed marker bearing a message that expresses their desire and commitment to work actively for peace. The plaque will be mounted near a tree that they choose, donated and planted by Urban Resources Initiative.

When the General Assembly of the United Nations initiated the Day of Peace in 1981, it stated that peace “not only is the absence of conflict, but also requires a positive, dynamic participatory process where dialogue is encouraged and conflicts are solved in a spirit of mutual understanding and cooperation.”

Betsy Ross teachers and students are known for their creativity in music, dance, theatre, and the visual arts. We are eager to see how they will highlight their vision of peace. Expect creative performances by students and a few peace-loving grown-ups.

Photos of earlier peace monuments and dedication ceremonies: www.PeaceCommission.org. Put the date on your calendar now: Friday, Sept. 20, 2024 at 10 a.m. at Betsy Ross Arts Magnet School, 150 Kimberly Ave., New Haven 06519.

Up-to-date info: http://www.PeaceCommission.org and http://www.rossarts.org

Social Media: http://facebook.com/newhavenpeacecommission and Instagram: @nhpeacecommission

Contact: Principal Jennifer Jenkins, Betsy Ross Arts Magnet School, email: jennifer.anderson@new-haven.k12.ct.us, phone: 475-220-5300 and Fred Brown, City of New Haven Peace Commission, email: 1professorb@gmail.com, phone: 203-415-1370.

Walk with Guilford Peace Alliance Sept. 21

by Yann van Heurck, Guilford Peace Alliance

The Guilford Peace Alliance (GPA) invites all progressives to join them walking in the annual town fair parade on Saturday morning, Sept. 21, 2024. The march begins at 9:30 a.m. at 40 High Street in central Guilford to walk in the parade at 10. Join and help hand out leaflets.

The GPA holds weekly Saturday morning vigils, which have been going on for 45 years! Attend their Saturday peace vigils on the Guilford Green (11 a.m. to noon) to highlight important issues of the day.

ALL ARE WELCOME! Bring signs and issues, come to talk. GPA also sponsors public lectures, opposes the arms industry and US colonialism and supports pro-democracy movements and freedom for Palestine from the US political arrangements that partitioned and stole its land.

For more information, contact Yann at janinawoelfin@gmail.com and 203-245-9720.

Ceasefire Now! No Support for Israel’s War on Gaza! Humanitarian Aid Must Be Allowed!

As we prepare this newsletter for print, the rallies and demonstrations demanding an end to Israel’s war on the Palestinian people have not ceased. Students continue to demand their universities divest their holdings from Israeli companies and from companies that service Israel’s war-making. Graduations have become visible displays of dissent against the war and the killing and enforced starvation of Palestinian citizens. Non-student peace groups continue their protests and meet with their congressional representatives. The 3-day Walk for Gaza in CT, to raise awareness of the situation and to raise funds for humanitarian aid to Palestinians through UNRWA, is occurring now (see article in the May issue of the PAR newsletter, par-newhaven.org/2024/04/28/walk-for-gaza-may-23-25/).

Veterans for Peace on May 7 began the Peace Walk 2024. The 700-mile journey, from Maine to Washington, D.C., will culminate on July 5. To find out more about the march and how you can join in, please go to https://peacewalk2024.org.

New Haven Alders Cop Out on Ceasefire Resolution

Five months after a proposed ceasefire resolution was presented to the Board of Alders, and five days after hearing testimony via Zoom that lasted five hours, the Board of Alders voted to “read and file,” and not act on the resolution. Would your alder have supported a ceasefire? We’ll never know, according to the meeting.

Only East Rock Alder Caroline Smith was opposed to dismissing the resolution in this way.

[The New Haven Independent coverage can be read here:
newhavenindependent.org/article/ceasefire_resolution_vote_results]

How Your Tax Dollars are Used | War Resisters League

The new War Resisters League’s annual “pie chart” flyer, Where Your Income Tax Money Really Goes, analyzes the Federal Fiscal Year 2024 Budget (FY 2025 is 1 October 2024 – 30 September 2025).  This FY2025 issue was published in March 2024.

Each year War Resisters League analyzes federal funds outlays as presented in detailed tables in “Analytical Perspectives” of the Budget of the United States Government. Our analysis is based on federal funds, which do not include trust funds – such as Social Security – that are raised separately from income taxes for specific purposes. What federal income taxes you pay (or don’t pay) by April 15, 2024, goes to the federal funds portion of the budget.

Fiscal Year 2025 (Released March 2024) Pie Chart Flyer
in English, in color (pdf)
in English, black & white (pdf)

Not including new funding, the US provides Israel over $3 billion every year, with almost the entire amount being used to support the Israeli military. Since World War II, the US had dedicated more foreign aid to Israel than any other country.

DEAD WRONG: U.S. Foreign Policy

Few could miss the cynicism of President Biden proudly announcing token food drops into Gaza in March 2024, all the while providing Israel with thousands of made-in-USA bombs to drop on a strip of land the size of Las Vegas. Already 31,000 Palestinians had been killed and homes, hospitals, businesses, schools,hospitals, businesses, schools, roads, and farmland in Gaza left in ruins or bulldozed.roads, and farmland in Gaza left in ruins or bulldozed.

U.S. foreign policy is designed to kill

Roughly two-thirds of current confl icts worldwide involveRoughly two-thirds of current conflicts worldwide involve one or more adversaries armed byone or more adversaries armed by the United States.the United States.

  • 78 years & $220 billion in military aid to Israel supported the occupation of Palestinians in thethe occupation of Palestinians in the WEST BANK and GAZA by the most powerful military in the region.by the most powerful military in the region.
  • $3.8 billion a year military aid to Israel will continue to 2029 under an agreement negotiated by Obama. Furthermore, Biden used loopholes in weapons sales guidelines to send Israel more than 100 shipments of bombs & military equipment.
  • $46 billion of U.S. military aid to UKRAINE have slowed a Russian invasion but led to a quagmire — costing morea Russian invasion but led to a quagmire — costing more than 10,500 civilian lives and destroyed villages and cities.
  • Trump used loopholes during his presidency to sendused loopholes during his presidency to send billions of dollars of weapons to Saudi Arabia and UAE to carry on the war in Yemen with upward of 19,000 civilian deaths
  • Arms industry political donations totaled $19 million during Biden’s first two years. Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, and Generalheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, and General Dynamics took 58% of the business.

Ceasefire Now! Negotiate! Disarm the Pentagon!

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Get involved in WRL’s organizing and education work: nonviolent direct action training, counter-military recruitment, internationalist work, and more. Visit WRL’s membership handbook at warresisters.org/joinwrl. Find resources to challenge militarism, curb police and border patrol power, strengthen nonviolent action and lift up community resilience!

Write elected officials, letters-to-the-editor, and posts online. Send and share copies of this flyer. Explain your budget priorities for a better world.

Divest from war! Refuse to pay all or part of your federal income tax. Though illegal, thousands of people openly participate in this form of protest.  Whatever you choose to refuse—$1, $10, 48% or 100%—send a letter to elected officials and tell them why. Contact us for information or referral to a counselor near you. Contribute resisted tax money to groups that work for the common good.

For more about refusing to pay for war, brochures, and other resources, contact the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee, (800) 269-7464 or see nwtrcc.org.

Order a DVD of NWTRCC’s film, Death and Taxes from WRL’s online store.

Read and use War Tax Resistance: A Guide to Withholding Your Support from the Military, a 144-page handbook with history, methods and resources. Available for $5 plus postage from WRL’s online store. A new edition will be published in 2024.

You can also download the flyers and print them locally:

Fiscal Year 2025 (Released March 2024) Pie Chart Flyer
in English, in color (pdf)
in English, black & white (pdf)

 

We offer these downloads free of charge, but we really appreciate your donation to support the work of producing this important resource each year.  If you can, donate today!

For Pie Charts from previous years, check out the Pie Chart Archives

***NOTE ABOUT SHIPPING*** Once we receive them from the printers, pie chart orders are being mailed no later than 48 hours after receiving the order. Orders of 50 and more are sent priority mail,  which arrives in 2-3 days. Postage costs more than 20%, an additional donation is appreciated.

Minimum Order: 20 Pie Charts (for smaller orders we encourage you to download and print your own!)

1 2 3 4 … 15