The Whatcom Peace and Justice
Center has representatives come to Mt. Baker High School and stay
during our lunches. I wanted to let you know how much I respect
and appreciate what you all do. You are making a difference in
our school by opening the eyes of many students. Many
people at my school have changed their opinions on war after meeting
you, other students who were thinking about enlisting in the military
have decided otherwise. Thank you for your time you are
truly making a difference!
Student at Mt. Baker High School, Whatcom County
ALTERNATIVES TO MILITARY
SERVICE: Since 2002, Whatcom Peace & Justice Center
has been offering high school youth vital information on the reality
of military promises and war; nonviolent career and educational
alternatives; and becoming a Conscientious Objector. Veterans and
other volunteers table once per quarter in each of Whatcom County’s
high schools.
By offering housing, healthcare, and exorbitant
bonuses, the military may seem like an attractive option. But many
youth feel forced to join because of lack of skills and money for
college. WPJC gives them options.
Hundreds
to gather for Bellingham’s
fifth annual
International Day of Peace!!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August
11, 2008
WHEN:
Sunday,
September 21, 2008, 4-6pm
WHERE: First Congregational
Church, 2401 Cornwall Avenue
Hundreds
will gather in solidarity with people around the world as the
Whatcom Peace & Justice Center
hosts its 5th Annual International Day of Peace on Sunday, September
21st in Bellingham. In 1982, the United Nations declared
this day an annual worldwide 24-hour cease-fire to envision what
our world can look like without weapons, violence, and oppression.
Bellingham’s International Day of Peace brings together hundreds of
people each year for an inspiring event that will be followed
by a half-mile peace march to Maritime
Heritage Park
for a short rally and concert with musician Robert Sarazin Blake.
This
year’s event features Internationally-known humanitarian Kathy
Kelly, the 90-member Kulshan Chorus, a concurrent Children’s Peace
Art Program, and the presentation of the Howard Harris Lifetime
Peacemaker Award. Lummi musician Swil Kanim will be the Master
of Ceremonies.
“International
Day of Peace is a community celebration of nonviolence, resistance
and hope,” said Executive Director Marie Marchand. “We are privileged
to be hosting Kathy Kelly. She embodies fierce courage, gentle
power, and hope.”
Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Kathy
Kelly co-founded Voices
in the Wilderness, a campaign that worked to end the UN/US
sanctions against the people of Iraq.
She has been to Iraq
twenty four times since January 1996, and stayed there through
the US bombing campaign in March 2003. Kathy has also
participated in nonviolent direct action teams in Haiti, Bosnia,
Lebanon, and
the West Bank of Palestine.
She recently returned from Amman,
Jordan, where
she worked with Iraqi refugees. Her articles appear regularly
on www.Truthout.org.
The peace march will lead to Maritime Heritage Park for a short rally with emcee
Robert Sarazin Blake. Speakers for the rally will be activist
Sarah Bjorknas of the War Resisters Support Campaign in Vancouver,
BC; local immigrant rights activist Porfiria
Gonzales; and Nick
Spring of the Bellingham Sanctuary Movement
for War Resisters.
The day’s events are co-sponsored
by twenty-five local businesses, organizations, and faith communities.
Everyone is welcome.
Kathy Kelly,
Keynote Speaker
International Day of Peace
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Whatcom Peace & Justice Center is proud and
honored to welcome humanitarian, activist, and educator Kathy Kelly
as our 2008 Keynote Speaker on International Day of Peace. This
will be WPJC’s fifth annual observance of this United Nations
holiday.
Kathy helped initiate Voices in the Wilderness,
a campaign to end the UN/US sanctions against Iraq and bring medicine
and toys to Iraqi children. Voices in the Wilderness organized 70
delegations to Iraq in the period between 1996 and the beginning
of the “Operation Shock and Awe” warfare in March 2003.
She has been to Iraq twenty four times since January 1996.
In October 2002, Voices in the Wilderness declared
their intent to remain in Baghdad, alongside Iraqi civilians, throughout
a war they still hoped they could prevent. Kelly and the team stayed
in Baghdad throughout the bombardment and invasion and maintained
a household in Baghdad until March, 2004. During 2007, she spent
five months in Amman, Jordan, living amongst Iraqis who’ve
fled their homes and are seeking resettlement.
Kelly helped organize and participated in nonviolent
direct action teams in Haiti (summer of 1994), Bosnia (August, 1993,
December, 1992) and Iraq (Gulf Peace Team, 1991). In April of 2002,
she was among the first internationals to visit the Jenin camp,
where conventional military forces of the Israeli Defense Force
had destroyed over 100 civilian homes in the Occupied West Bank.
She and three companions from Voices were in Beirut,
Lebanon during the final days of the Israel-Hezbollah war in the
summer of 2006 and subsequently reported from southern Lebanon following
a ceasefire.
In 1988 she was sentenced to one year in prison
for planting corn on nuclear missile silo sites. Kelly served nine
months of the sentence in a maximum security prison in Kentucky.
In the spring of 2004, she served three months
at Pekin federal prison for crossing the line as part of an ongoing
effort to close an army military combat training school at Fort
Benning, GA.
She currently helps coordinate the Voices
for Creative Nonviolence campaign. www.vcnv.org
GI RIGHTS HOTLINE: 1-800-394-9544
A telephone hotline for military personnel wanting information about
military discharges, grievance and complaint procedures, and other
civil rights.
CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION: WPJC
also offers information and support on Conscientious Objection (CO):
What is CO? How do I claim CO status? How does the draft work? This
is information they will not otherwise receive from their schools.
INFORMATION SHEET: Click here
for an information sheet on the Draft and Conscientious Objection
to war:
MAKING A DIFFERENCE: WPJC worked
with the Bellingham School District to implement an “equal
access” policy for WPJC and the military. Thanks to this partnership,
high school students get exposed to enriching, exciting, and nonviolent
opportunities for their futures.
TO VOLUNTEER: Contact WPJC
at (360) 734-0217 to schedule an orientation.
Responding to World Events: We
host, support, and co-sponsor vigils, marches, and educational events
throughout the year in response to changing world and local events
Listserv: Calendar of events
in the local community, including action alerts & volunteer
opportunities.
Resource Center: Volunteers offer
support and resources to seasoned activists & newcomers. We
offer yard signs, buttons, bumper stickers, & literature. We
affirm an active open door policy.
Trainings: We provide training
on Strategic Nonviolence and Alternatives to Military Service tabling.
Signature Event: We celebrate
International Day of Peace on September 21.
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