Workers Resistance

Category: Antiwar Movement

  • Tucson teach-in on U.S./NATO intervention in Ukraine

    Tucson, AZ – Tucson activists organized a presentation and discussion on the crisis in Ukraine, May 23. The teach-in was part of the nationwide emergency action campaign, initiated by the United National Antiwar Coalition, against U.S. intervention in Ukraine.

    The event, attended by 20 anti-war activists and Tucsonans eager to learn about the ominous developments in Ukraine, featured speakers from the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Alliance for Global Justice, and Workers World Party. The presentations covered the history and dynamics leading up to the Maidan protests, the U.S. and NATO-backed fascist coup in February, the current anti-fascist resistance across the country and the role of U.S. imperialism and the corporate media.

    Paul Teitelbaum with Workers World Party and an organizer of the panel explained, “People will never be told the truth of the situation by the bourgeois media. So it’s important to gather and learn about the role of U.S. imperialism in creating the crisis in Ukraine and the relationship between the imperialists and the fascists. Combating media lies and clarifying the political character of the events will help us build the strong anti-imperialist, anti-war movement that we need.”

    After the presentations, a lively question and answer discussion shed further light on the urgent need to oppose the U.S. efforts that are backing fascists in Ukraine and the malicious expansion of NATO into Eastern Europe. Speakers and participants also drew connections between U.S. meddling in Ukraine, Belarus and Venezuela.

    In front of a flag of the newly established Donetsk People’s Republic in Eastern Ukraine, activists demanded “U.S. hands off Ukraine,” and “Victory to the anti-fascist resistance,” and vowed to uphold solidarity with the people of Ukraine in opposing the U.S.-backed Kiev junta.

  • Monsanto makes war in Colombia

    Grand Rapids, MI – Many are out marching and protesting Monsanto this spring, demanding food be healthy and safe, that Monsanto products be labeled as GMOs (genetically modified organisms) and insisting that one corporation should not control the entire seed supply or corner the market. Unions and immigrant rights groups are demanding protections and decent pay for farm workers who use Monsanto products in the fields.

    It is also important to know that Monsanto makes war in Colombia and it needs to stop. Monsanto is making the lives of poor peasant farmers in Colombia miserable, forcing hundreds of thousands to abandon their small plots of land by killing the crops on which they survive. Monsanto participates directly in the U.S. war on Colombia’s poor peasant farmers by providing the deadly “Ultra” versions of Roundup that is used to destroy their crops.

    The U.S. government is conducting a war in Colombia and has spent over $8 billion on it since year 2000. Started under Clinton and Gore, the U.S. Southern Command directs the war against left-wing rebel groups and is in charge of the Colombian Armed Forces. However the involvement of Monsanto is less well known. The U.S. counterinsurgency war includes chemical warfare, in the form of private military companies like DynCorp International flying over and spraying the crops and fields of poor peasant farmers in areas where the rebel insurgency is strongest. Farmers living in areas where the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia are well organized are way more likely to have their crops sprayed with Monsanto products than the areas under the control of large landowners, narco-traffickers, or multi-national mineral corporations.

    Monsanto is a war profiteer. Monsanto is the company contracted by the U.S. military for the glyphosate sprayed on Colombian peasants’ crops. It is the same chemical as Roundup in much, much stronger concentrations. Monsanto makes huge profits from these U.S. military contracts. It has been going on since at least 1978.

    The Roundup is sprayed from planes, often drifts wide of its target, kills all sorts of crops and pollutes the ponds, lakes and rivers of Colombia. The first plants to grow back are the hardy coca plants – the original excuse for spraying, but food crops and fruit trees are ruined and do not return so easily. Thousands of people suffer skin and respiratory problems, there are reports of asthmatic children dying and animals poisoned and killed. The lives of tens of thousands are ruined on a yearly basis.

    The U.S. ‘war on drugs’ in Colombia is a lie. There is no change in drug production after decades. The aerial spraying is part of U.S. war strategy. Monsanto’s Roundup being sprayed targets and hurts the poor peasant farmers in rebellion. It harms the base of support of the rebels and gives Colombia the largest displaced person population in the world – more than in Iraq during most of the U.S. war and occupation. It also harms the ‘lungs of the world’ – the Amazon forests are being poisoned and forests are being cut down as farmers move to new land. Here at home, the phony war on drugs imprisons hundreds of thousands of African American, Chicano and working class youth, punishing instead of treating or rehabilitating, and making them second-class citizens for life.

    Monsanto delivers nothing but poverty, misery, and death to Colombian farmers, children and their animals. We need to oppose Monsanto selling Roundup to be sprayed on a mass scale in Colombia. Currently, the Colombian government wants to end the program, because it does not work. The U.S. government demands it continue. We need to support Colombian farmers and say: “No more Monsanto fumigations! No to U.S. war in Colombia!”

  • South Florida commemorates Al Nakba, supports Rasmea Odeh

    Miami, FL – Anti-war activists, students and Palestinian Americans gathered here to commemorate Al Nakba, which means “the catastrophe.” Al Nakba refers to the ethnic cleansing of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians when they were violently forced off their land by Zionist militia groups in May 1948.

    Organizers planned three days of remembering Al Nakba. The first occurred May 15, at Saint Jude Melkite Catholic Church in downtown Miami. 40 people gathered to give personal and historical presentations, share food provided by Al-Awda ( the Palestinian Right to Return Coalition) and read stories of those who experienced forced removal from their homes and land. It was very moving. As one Palestinian speaker explained, “That night I cried too, as I tried to sleep alongside thousands on the ground. Would I ever see my home again?”

    The next day, organizers posted on social media sites to defend Rasmea Odeh, an Arab American activist in Chicago being politically targeted by the U.S. government. Although Odeh is charged with immigration fraud, activists around the U.S. say she is being targeted because of her powerful activism for Palestinian liberation, especially concerning women and girls. Across the country, mobilizations are under way for her June 10 court date in Detroit. Supporters can learn more and sign the petition at www.stopfbi.net.

    On May 17, Palestinian solidarity activists met again to watch the Oscar nominated documentary Five Broken Cameras. The documentary is told from the perspective of a Palestinian participating in non-violent resistance to the partition wall being built through the land. The U.S. government funds Israel with more than $3 billion per year, while Israel ignores the Obama administration calls to stop building new settlements.

    Organizer Cassia Laham, from People’s Opposition to War, Imperialism, and Racism (POWIR) said, “It is important to remember that Al Nakba is not just an historical event. It is still ongoing as illegal settlements are continuously being built on Palestinian land. The U.S. government should stop sending our tax dollars to Israeli.”

    Activists discussed the current struggle of the Palestinian people, including the growing international movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel. Muhammed Malik, local Palestinian American organizer and former member of Students for Justice in Palestine at Florida International University, said, “Although the mainstream media doesn’t cover it, activists are constantly winning victories. I am hopeful that we will see justice for the Palestinian people.”

     

  • Minneapolis protests says: “Stop the wars – ground the drones”

    Minneapolis, MN – A highly visible anti-war protest was held in Minneapolis May 17, with over 120 people joining the demonstration.

    The protest was called to be part of a national round of local anti-war and anti-drone protests during the months of April and May. The Minnesota Peace Action Coalition (MPAC) initiated planning for the event.

    The May 17 protest was organized under the call of ‘Stop the wars – Ground the drones’, with the additional slogans of: Zero troops in Afghanistan; ground all military and surveillance drones; end drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia; for a full employment peace economy, not more war; no new wars – hot or cold; and U.S. hands off Syria, Ukraine, Korea, Venezuela, Palestine and everywhere.

    In the final days before the protest, as the crisis in Ukraine reached a new and dangerous level, the International Action Center, United National Antiwar Coalition and other organizations issued a call for local protests May 9 – 26 against U.S. intervention in Ukraine.

    MPAC, which in the initial call for the protest included the anti-intervention demand on Ukraine, endorsed the national call for anti-war actions on Ukraine and listed the May 17 event as one of the actions being held around the country to speak out against the danger of yet another war.

    Signs and speakers at the protest spoke to the demand against intervention in Ukraine and against a new cold war with Russia.

    The Minneapolis protest gathered at the very busy corner of Hiawatha Avenue and Lake Street. After 45 minutes of holding signs and banners, there was a march to Walker Community Church for an indoor rally.

    A statement issued by organizers said in part, “Since 2004, over 2500 people have been killed by U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan. In Afghanistan, drone attacks are increasing and the U.S. government plans to keep thousands of troops and drones in Afghanistan for years to come. U.S. drone strikes are commonplace in Yemen and elsewhere.”

    The statement goes on to say, “The endless series of U.S. wars and interventions continues, including increasing military aid, expanding U.S. bases around the world and internal meddling in other countries through economic pressures overseen by agencies such as International Monetary Fund and World Bank.”

    At the rally a member of MPAC also warned that the U.S. was preparing military intervention in Nigeria in the name of saving kidnapped schoolgirls.

    “The U.S. military does not intervene to help people, the U.S. military intervenes in the interests of corporations and profits, not people,” said the MPAC member.

    The planning for the May 17 protest was initiated by MPAC and endorsed by a broad range of organizations, including, AFSCME Local 3800, Alliant Action, Anti-War Committee, Coalition for Palestinian Rights, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Mayday Books, Military Families Speak Out (MN chapter), Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, Peace and Justice Committee of Sacred Heart Church (St. Paul), Peacemakers of Carondelet Village, PeaceMakers of Macalester Plymouth United Church, St. Joan of Arc Church, Socialist Action, Students for a Democratic Society (UMN), Twin Cities Peace Campaign, Veterans for Peace, Welfare Rights Committee, Women Against Military Madness, Workers International League and others.

  • Minneapolis protest marks Al Nakba, demands end to aid to Israel

    Minneapolis, MN – More than 50 people jointed a protest in front of the Federal Building here, May 15, to mark the 66th anniversary of Al Nakba. Organized by the Twin Cites based Anti-War Committee, the demonstration called for an end of U.S. aid to Israel and for justice for Palestinian activist Rasmea Odeh. Al Nakba, Arabic for “the Catastrophe,” marks the Zionist terror that accompanied the mass expulsion of Palestinians from Palestine in 1948 and the founding of Israel.

    Emcee Sabry Wazwaz of the Anti-War Committee led the crowd in chanting, “Long live Palestine.” Misty Rowan, also from the Anti-War Committee stated, “So let me just say it loud and clear for everybody here today. Israel is an apartheid state. They discriminate, they abuse, they continue to take land and build illegal settlements and a separation wall – that is supposedly for their own safety but is really just another way to gobble up land.”

    Tracy Molm spoke for the Committee to Stop FBI Repression. She condemned the government prosecution of the prominent Chicago Palestinian leader Rasmea Odeh on trumped up charges and urged people to come to her June 10 trial in Detroit. Around the U.S., other events marking Al Nakba also demanded justice for Rasmea Odeh.

    Sarah Martin, of the Women Against Military Madness Middle East Committee, told the crowd, “It’s time for us to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and demand an end to the occupation. The Zionist project was costly and bloody. It failed. It cannot continue to occupy Palestinian land and deny Palestinians the most basic of human rights, to return and live in their own homes.”

    Mariam Al Khatib of Students for Justice in Palestine spoke of the growing movement on campus in support of Palestine.

    The Anti War Committee Al Nakba protest was endorsed by American Muslims for Palestine (MN), Freedom Road Socialist Organization, MN Committee to Stop FBI Repression, MN Immigrant Rights Action Committee, MN Peace Action Coalition, Socialist Action, U of M Students for a Democratic Society, U of M Students for Justice in Palestine, Veterans for Peace Chapter 27, Welfare Rights Committee and Women Against Military Madness.

     

  • MN protest to mark Al Nakba: Demand no more aid to Israel

    Minneapolis, MN -The Twin Cities based Anti-War Committee (AWC) will hold a protest, Thursday, May 15 to mark the 66th anniversary of Al Nakba, to call for an end to U.S. aid to Israel and to demand justice for Palestinian activist Rasmea Odeh. Starting at 4:30 p.m. at the Minneapolis Federal Building (300 South 4th Street) the protest will feature speeches by local anti-war, Palestine solidarity and Palestinian activists.

    Events around the country will mark the Nakba this year with a united call for an end to U.S. support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine and demanding justice for Rasmea Odeh.

    May 1948 marks Israel’s declaration of independence. To Israelis, it’s a time of celebration. For Palestinians and Arabs it commemorates a time they call Al Nakba – Arabic for “the Catastrophe.” During the 1948 war, at least 750,000 Palestinian men, women and children were ruthlessly attacked, massacred and driven from their homes into refugee camps by Zionist terror groups. In a gross violation of international law, they continue to be denied the right to return. At the same time, the establishment of Israeli settlements steals more Palestinian land every day.

    From 1949 through 2013, Israel has received $118 billion in U.S. aid to fund the occupation and uphold a system of apartheid rule.

    AWC member Meredith Aby-Keirstead explains, “Our protest aims to challenge the role U.S. military aid plays in continuing the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Given that the peace talks have fallen apart again, it is clear the Obama administration cannot serve as a broker for peace. Instead, the U.S. government aids Israel in its oppression of the Palestinian people. We are part of a growing international Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions movement to oppose that. ”

    Protesters will also demand justice for Rasmea Odeh, a leader of Chicago’s Arab community who faces serious charges in a case that is part of a long-standing campaign of repression against Palestinians and those who work in solidarity with them. Her case is tied to the FBI and grand jury investigation of the AWC and others. This Twin Cities Al Nakba protest will join those from around the country to demand justice for Rasmea. Her case is set to come to trial in Detroit on June 10.

    The program will include community leaders and speakers from endorsing groups: Malak Abu (American Muslims for Palestine); Mariam Al Khatib (Students for Justice in Palestine); Sylvia Schwartz (MN Break the Bonds); Tracy Molm (Committee to Stop FBI Repression); Coya White Hat-Artichoker (Indigenous Queer Sicangu Lakota activist); and poetry by Sarah Thamer (Palestinian American writer). Sabry Wazwaz will emcee, and Misty Rowan will speak, for the AWC.

  • Newark street action exposes U.S. intervention in Ukraine

    Newark, NJ – Some veteran Newark activists set up shop at noon, May 3, on a busy street corner here. They were there to protest against the U.S.-instigated crisis in Ukraine. The objectives were several. The first was to get something going. A local peace organization had given a fundraising dinner a few days earlier. The Ukraine crisis was mentioned exactly once and only in passing. A union-supported May Day march had raised many issues – school closings, stronger protections for unions, raising the minimum wage, etc. The only mention of the Ukraine crisis was a sign against U.S. military involvement carried by a marcher. Nonetheless many people expressed an urgent interest.

    Clearly there is a problem here. There is far too little mass protest and agitation around the U.S. imperialist aggression against the people of Ukraine.

    It is sometimes said people are too busy with local issues to take an interest in world issues. But no, that is not true. Every conscious and active person is vitally concerned. The problem is not a lack of good analysis and understanding, as any reader of Fight Back! News knows.

    The problem is twofold. First there is a climate of fear and intimidation. U.S. policymakers and the major media are alike the tools of Wall Street. They have relentlessly lied that the Ukraine crisis is an attack by Russia on Ukraine, rather than what it is, an attack by themselves on the people of Ukraine. There is a fear that opposition to U.S. policy will be smeared as an apology for the ‘terrible’ deeds of the big bad Russian bear.

    In fact Russian involvement in the Ukraine crisis is only secondary and reactive. Russia has not broken any international law, while the U.S. imperialists in their usual brazen way have trampled upon every principle of acceptable international conduct. Russia is not provably responsible for a single fatality in the crisis, while the U.S. imperialists and their Nazi local allies are smeared from head to foot with the blood of innocent people.

    No, there is nothing to fear from Russia-baiting. Some people got out on a street corner. The sky did not fall. It is easy to break the climate of fear. Just get out there and do it!

    The main objective of the Newark protest was to develop the mass line of opposition to U.S. aggression in Ukraine. The mass line is the expression of the concerns and interests that are already there in the minds of the people, but in a way that shows them to be the concerns of the great majority, makes them political issues rather than passive individual worries.

    Accordingly, one protester carried a sign that said, “Ukraine: We won’t fight! We won’t kill!” Other signs said “No U.S. military in Ukraine,” “No U.S./Nazi hookup in Ukraine,” etc. People did not have had any problems with the signs.

    There were two main themes spoken about over the bullhorn.

    First, “The U.S. government cannot and will not even run the U.S. right. This country is a mess. How are they supposed to straighten out Ukraine? People are lined up in the hallways at Newark Beth Israel Hospital waiting for a room. It’s Wall Street health care – your money or your life! They are closing Newark public schools every day and turning them over to private management so Wall Street can make profits. Millions of families have had their homes foreclosed and their life savings plundered by Wall Street. Meanwhile Wall Street gets bailed out for the crisis is caused.”

    The other theme was: “Same enemy, same fight!”

    The U.S. imperialists are hooked up to Nazis in Ukraine. We have a special name here for Nazis: the Ku Klux Klan! Same enemy! Same fight! The Ukrainian Nazis are ultra-nationalists. We have a special name here for ultra-nationalism: white supremacy! Same enemy! Same fight!

    Many people listened thoughtfully. A couple of them even spoke a few words on the bullhorn. Persistence is the key. The protest will be repeated weekly. It will surely grow.

     

  • A mother’s anti-war editorial on #BringBackOurGirls

    Minneapolis, MN – This has been a hard week to listen to the news – especially as a mother. I have had trouble sleeping all week thinking about the girls and mothers living in hell in Nigeria.

    On April 14, 277 girls between the ages of 12 and 17 were kidnapped from their boarding schools by the Boko Haram in Nigeria. 43 girls managed to escape but 234 girls are still missing and have been for weeks. Although the conflict between the Nigerian government and the Boko Haram has been going on since 2009, the massive scale of this atrocity has captured international attention. For weeks the Nigerian government did nothing, at times claimed the girls had been rescued and at other times refused to act. After a growing campaign of protest – first in Nigeria and now across the globe – the issue of #BringBackOurGirls is getting international attention.

    This week President Obama sent an interagency team including military and law enforcement to Nigeria. The BBC reported Secretary of State John Kerry saying, “Our inter-agency team is hitting the ground in Nigeria now and they are going to be working in concert with President Goodluck Jonathan’s government to do everything that we possibly can to return these girls to their families and their communities. We are also going to do everything possible to counter the menace of Boko Haram.” This week First Lady Michelle Obama sent out her own message on social media with a picture of herself holding a sign #BringBackOurGirls. I’m concerned that even that the girls have not been returned to their families many people falsely feel progress towards justice has been made.

    I am deeply concerned that once again the American public is being manipulated to support U.S. imperialism while at the same time ignoring the ways in which the U.S. contributes to the very humanitarian problems it claims to be trying to fight.

    For starters, what was a grassroots movement by Nigerian women to hold their own government accountable has turned into a discussion here of what the U.S. government should do to protect women and girls in Nigeria.

    By sending in military advisors the U.S. is backing an incredibly repressive government in Nigeria and is giving legitimacy to the Boko Haram’s claims that they are fighting against Western intervention and influence in Nigeria. The last thing Nigeria needs is a foreign military to prop up its corrupt government.

    President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry have now pledged the U.S. to the Nigerian fight against Boko Haram, which will further fuel this conflict and ignores the causal factors for how the conflict has developed. Nigerian President Jonathan has been fighting an internal war with incredibly brutal tactics, including burning homes, physical abuse and extrajudicial killing. The Jonathan administration is known for stealing $20 billion from the government, extensive corruption in his government, and for doing relatively little for two-thirds of the population that lives in dire poverty despite Nigeria being one of the most oil rich countries in the world. Sending in military assistance to this government will expand and prolong this conflict.

    As a woman, a mother and a peace activist I know that war means rape and violence against women. I think it is important that we say no to all instances of sexual violence.

    I sincerely do not understand how the U.S. military can be seen as a vehicle by which to protect women. The Huffington Post reports that the Pentagon estimated there were 26,000 cases of unwanted sexual contact in 2012 and that 62% of sexual assault victims in the U.S. military say they faced retaliation for reporting sexual assault. Internationally – from Japan to Iraq to Colombia – women and girls see the U.S. military not as their protectors but as their rapists. There is a culture of violence in the U.S. armed forces which should not be exported to Nigeria and that must be challenged.

    Just last month the White House acknowledged, “1 in 5 women is sexually assaulted while in college, usually in the first two years and usually by someone she knows.” Girls and women aren’t safe at schools in the U.S. either. This issue of sexual assault – both in and outside of war zones – needs to stop. That should be the demand – not to send in the U.S. military!

    This is not the first time that I have frustrated compassionate people who watch the news and argue with me, “We must do something!” I would argue it is more important to do something helpful rather than to do something to merely make ourselves in the U.S. feel better.

    U.S. intervention is incapable of promoting the needs of the 99%. U.S. intervention is always done hand in glove with corporate interests. U.S. intervention in Nigeria will be done to make sure that Nigeria, the fifth largest oil exporter in the world, is a safe place for investment, which means that the U.S. will help the Jonathan administration continue – even though it has been found to be literally stealing from their people. The Obama administration might use this as an opportunity to expand AFRICOM and to expand its use of drones further into the continent.

    With these potential outcomes I don’t see Nigeria as becoming a safer place for children. Between U.S. drone strikes and an escalated internal war I’m worried that Nigeria will be less safe with more U.S. involvement.

    So then what’s the answer?

    There is a lot of work to be done both at home and abroad to say no to sexual violence. There is a lot of work to do to question U.S. involvement in Africa – from AFRICOM, to drones, to escalating the “war on terrorism,” to destabilizing governments, to propping up undemocratic leaders – we have a lot of activism to do.

    Cheering for U.S. intervention will not bring these girls back so please don’t encourage more militarism.

    On this Mother’s Day my heart is with the mothers and daughters of Nigeria. I will hug my own little girl and recommit myself to struggling for a safer world for all girls – a world without imperialism and without sexual violence.

  • Protest against joint U.S./Colombia military exercise in Arizona

    Tucson, AZ – 20 anti-war protesters confronted the arrival of Colombian Air Force and Special Forces troops at a U.S- led military exercise near Tucson, May 4. The anti-war activists chanted, “Stop the U.S.-funded war in Colombia!” and “50 years of war is enough!”

    The Colombian military came to practice under U.S. and NATO forces at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Outside the base, on a busy street corner, speakers denounced U.S. military intervention, the more than $8 billion spent by the U.S. government in repressing democracy and human rights, and the significance of the ongoing peace process between the revolutionary FARC and the Colombian government. In recent years Colombian officers, trained at Fort Benning in Georgia, were caught murdering civilian day laborers and claiming they were revolutionary fighters of the FARC. At least 1800 young men died this way.

    Tucson anti-war activist Jim Byrne shared, “We are here to denounce the collaboration of the NATO militaries during their training – for maintaining war and violence. We oppose the disgusting trend of the militarization of state and local police, who more and more look like professional armies. These police-armies are used against Chicano, African-American, and other oppressed people here, so that Arizona feels like the Terrordome!”

    Ana Maria Vasquez from Colombia explained, “I am 48 years old and I’ve never known peace in my country. We are all here today in solidarity to ensure the end of the war so that Colombians can live without war, murder, repression and fear.”

    Protesters vowed to continue their international solidarity with the Colombian people. Jim Byrne said, “We in the U.S. must develop alliances with all those seeking peace and justice for the people of Colombia. Labor unions like the United Steel Workers, faith organizations and social justice groups must demand the U.S. government stop financing, arming and supporting the militarization of Latin America and the repression of its peoples.”

    Video of the protest is being shared with unions, human rights organizations and the Colombian democratic movement Marcha Patriotica. The Alliance for Global Justice organized the protest to build solidarity between the U.S. and Colombian working people in struggling for peace and democracy. Tucson Students for a Democratic Society, Occupy Tucson and local churches endorsed the rally.

  • Protesters at stockholders meeting say “No killer drone for Boeing”

    Chicago, IL – The Boeing Company annual stockholders’ meeting took place at the Field Museum, April 28, and 25 activists protested, both inside and outside. Braving a cold downpour, they first gathered on the steps of the museum for a press conference in opposition to Boeing’s plan to build the next combat drone for the Pentagon. Then several of the protesters that had purchased stock in Boeing for this purpose went to make statements to the board of directors

    Before going in Kait McIntyre from the Chicago Anti-War Committee (AWC) explained that she was presenting herself as a candidate for the board, because, “Time and time again AWC has addressed Boeing, in the media, outside their board meetings and at their headquarters. Boeing has either responded with ‘no comment’ or they bring out their guard dogs and call the Chicago police department. This time, we decided to nominate someone for the board in order to address them directly: me.”

    She continued, “Boeing has already used a bureaucratic technicality to say I am ineligible but we all know the real reason they find me unqualified: Because I stand up to and defy the masters of war, not take and fill their orders.”

    The AWC activists were joined inside by faith-based activists, including Sister Gwen Farry of the 8th Day Center for Justice. Meanwhile, other 8th Day activists, Sisters Dorothy Pagosa and Kathleen Desautels, spoke at the press conference. Speaking to the group on the steps, Pagosa addressed herself to the Boeing stockholders. “Your profits are not sustainable because it’s blood money used to destroy, rather than to build up the human community.”

    Also at the press conference were Michael James, a long time peace activist in Chicago, and a veteran of the Vietnam War-era Students for a Democratic Society. Standing alongside James was another SDSer, Bernardine Dohrn. James said, “On the planet, there are few places with as diverse a population as Chicago. What we do rings out.” He added, “We don’t want anyone based in our home bringing destruction on the world.”

    Brian Terrell of Voices for Creative Non-Violence, who had spent six months in prison in 2013 for protesting drone war at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, added his voice to the press conference as well. “We have not been simply protesting drones as they are now, horrific as they are. We also protest the next levels of development that logically follow. The Phantom Ray drone that Boeing is bidding to build would be a drone with the speed and killing capacity of a fighter plane and be another large step toward totally autonomous robotic warfare,” said Terrell

    Once inside, Newland Smith of AWC rose to tell the meeting, “Drone strikes as conducted by our government, according to the Geneva conventions, are illegal and immoral and inflict terror on civilian populations.” Smith, McIntyre, and Richard Berg all succeeded in making their voices heard at the meeting.

    When the delegation returned from speaking to the stockholders, AWC’s Berg told the waiting group, “Our statements caused a stir in there because there were protesters outside.” Berg urged the group to continue its efforts, “We are building the movement against war, and that’s what scares Boeing the most.”