Testimony on Nuclear-Free Bellingham Resolution      January 29, 2024 by Nicholas Mele Good evening, my name is Nicholas Mele and I spent most of three decades as a U.S. Foreign Service officer. At times, I held security clearances which gave me access to highly secret information about our nuclear weapons. Currently, I am an adviser on nuclear issues to Pax Christi USA, a faith-based movement dedicated to nonviolence and reconciliation. I also serve on the nuclear disarmament committee of Pax Christi International, which includes roughly 100 member organizations from countries around the world. Why should our city, or any city, pass a resolution on nuclear policy? The national government of this country pays lip service to nuclear disarmament but last year…

Letters to the Editors (mainstream press) by WWFOR Members and Friends, Jan & Feb 2024 The Seattle Times Jan 12, 2024 Re:” In Israel-Hamas war, where are the voices of the healing profession?’ [Jan 4, 2024, Opinion] Op-ed author Alice Rothchild described the many examples of when medical colleagues have not spoken up in regard to the war in Gaza. I can’t imagine the reasons for silence given that not only are Palestinians in Gaza experiencing the bombing with no safe place to go but also having virtually no access to food, fuel, medicine and clean water while hospitals and ambulances are targeted. In the meantime, the United States continues to provide Israel with the weaponry that allows this tragedy…

9 great new articles compiled and some written by newsletter editor, John M Repp! You can read or download the full Pacific Call January 2024 issue in pdf format by clicking here [full URL https://wwfor.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/PacificCallSept2023.pdf ] or go right to the individual articles listed below. CONTENTS and links to individual articles (page numbers refer to the pdf version) WWFOR Fall Retreat 2023  p.1; On the young people’s MYPF projects  p.2; Seattle’s New Drug Bill p.3; Veterans for Peace Convention: on Ukraine  p.4; Massacre in Gaza p.5-6; Op-Ed on Guns p.7; Letter on Haiti p.7; Union Workers Are Winning Contracts  p.8.

by John M Repp                                        The United Autoworkers (UAW) strike against General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis (formerly Chrysler), began on September 15, 2023. The UAW had made some changes to its method of electing leadership in the last few years. Instead of union locals electing delegates and then the delegates electing the leadership at a national convention, they instituted a direct election of leaders.  They also changed how they approach a new contract. In years past, the UAW would strike just one of the big three automakers. This year they struck a single factory belonging to each of the three. As the strike went longer more factories were added to increase the pressure. If one of the big three started to…

Bruce Radtke, inspired by the InterReligious Task Force  on Central America, suggests that everyone sends a letter such as the one below to our 3 Congresspeople I ask you to not forget the growing security crisis in Haiti. According to the UN, there have been more than 1,230 killings and 701 kidnappings in Haiti from July 1-September 30 of this year alone. More than half of all Haitians face hunger as a result of the high cost of imported food and a decade of drought. Hunger leads to civil unrest, as people become desperate to feed their families. Kenya is preparing to deploy troops, but this will not address the root of the violence. Here are five, nonviolent steps I…

by John M Repp, Pacific Call Editor As the current crisis in Israel-Palestine unfolded, some of the early reports referred to the “laws of war”. One of the most crucial distinctions in the laws of war is that between combatants and non-combatants or civilians. The terrorist attack of Oct 7, 2023, by Hamas on a music concert and some nearby kibbutzim broke the laws of war and started the current crisis. For almost two months after Oct 7, Israel broke those laws of war in its massive response with the bombing of Gaza. The bombardment of Gaza by Israel has killed civilians at an historic pace. They are using two thousand pound bombs, thousands of them. As of Nov 25,…

by Justin Yang, Mike Yarrow Peace Fellowship Trainee The WWFOR fall retreat was a insightful and supportive meeting of many people working to make the world better in different ways. I found presenting my project, Washington Declaring the Climate Emergency, was at first a daunting task, but a worthwhile one, as the fellow participants were very receptive and innovative in asking questions and offering advice. Learning about the different efforts and organizations that these people have spearheaded outside of my panel was fascinating and allowed me to connect with others who could offer me support or grow my individual project. Finally, I believe that the best way for people to engage with the effort to better the climate is to start doing…

by Elsie Sabel, one of several young activists who presented their work at the WWFOR Fall Retreat I’m part of the Thurston Youth Climate Coalition; an organization of high school and college-age climate activists in Thurston County. I started my activist ways in 2019, when I skipped school to attend a global climate strike at the Capitol. After that, I became part of the leadership of my school’s climate club in 2020. Being on zoom, we couldn’t do much in-person, but we organized letter writing campaigns and attended virtual city council meetings. In 2022, Greta Thunberg called for another global climate strike. I was excited to attend my cities strike, but as the day drew closer, I wasn’t hearing anything…

by Jean Gant Delastrada, Fall Retreat Committee Chairperson The 2023 WWFOR Fall Retreat, the Human Right to a Livable and Just World, addressed the topics of climate disruption and militarism, with a special focus on the work of young peace and justice activists. Young people around the world have been especially concerned about the speed of climate disruption and have questioned what the world of their future years will be like environmentally. Young activists are also increasingly aware of the intersectionality in peace and justice issues. FOR, a non-violent peace movement, is more and more making the connections between war and militarism and the need for a peaceful just and sustainable world. Elsie Sabel and Justin Yang, in a Youth…

This new law wastes lots of  taxpayer money and only makes the problem bigger. by Carl Nakajima, a Real Change vendor. Real change is the Seattle homeless paper, Oct 11-17, 2023, page 9 I am very strongly against the drug enforcement bill that the (Seattle) City Council passed. People I know have died from overdoses of drugs shortly after being released from jail. This is because the amount of drugs that the body can accept changes while they are incarcerated. Upon release, they took the same amount of drugs as before entered the jail. Drug use is not a habit that can be easily changed through physical punishment. On the contrary, it is a habit that can be made worse…