by Sean Arent My first full day in Hiroshima I had many thoughts about what I was expected to feel and where. I thought, perhaps, I would break down in tears in the Hiroshima Peace Museum or at the iconic dome in the Peace Park. But I did not. These were quiet spaces for reflection. I had seen many of these images before, but there is a gravitas to being here where it happened. Instead, it was in a small room at the beginning of my first presentation as I explained why I dedicated this presentation to the late Glen Anderson and Dr. David Hall, who has now entered hospice care. I shared that Glen passed after his 40th year…

By Michael Jacobsen On October 10, 2024 in the Masafer Yatta region of the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arbitrarily arrested 78 year old, US citizen and Veteran For Peace (VFP) member, Michael Jacobsen (in blue shirt above). Jacobsen was there in the role as a non-violent, unarmed, civilian accompaniment to witness and report on any escalation of violence he observed. Typically, the violence is perpetrated by illegal settlers against the indigenous Palestinian population with the intent of stealing their land. This illegal settler violence is habitually supported by the militarized Israeli Occupation Forces. Ironically, The International Court of Justice has ruled that Israel itself is illegally exerting military control over the Palestinian territory. At the time…

NUCLEAR WAR IS IMMINENT :Unless The U.S. Embraces Peace – And Soon! by Gerry Condon, original article at  Antiwar.com.  Gerry Condon is a Vietnam-era veteran and war resister who serves on the Board of Directors of Veterans For Peace and coordinates its Nuclear Abolition Working Group.  The world is headed toward nuclear war.  The horrific nightmare of global destruction that has haunted humanity ever since Hiroshima and Nagasaki is nearly upon us. For decades, peace activists and nuclear experts have warned about the “growing danger of nuclear war.” The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has moved the hands of their Doomsday Clock all the way to 90 seconds! How much closer can we get? Are these dire warnings being dismissed like the man with the sign…

5 great new articles compiled and some written by newsletter editor, John M Repp! You can read or download the full Pacific Call June 2024 issue in pdf format by clicking here. [Full URL https://wwfor.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Sept2024PacificCall.pdf] Contents [page numbers refer to pdf version] include: Nuclear War is Imminent by Gerry Condon pp. 1-2. Gerry is a Vietnam-era veteran and war resister who serves on the Board of Directors of Veterans For Peace and coordinates its Nuclear Abolition Working Group. Read his sobering peice. Glen Anderson Presente! p. 3. Co-Founder of Olympia Chapter Fellowship of Reconciliation, activist on many justice and peace issues, died in July. He was also a prolific writer, educator on nonviolent activism, and TV producer. Trying to Make…

by John M ReppKeyu Jin was an exchange student from mainland China who came to the United States in 1997. She realized very soon that even politically progressive Americans had little understanding of life in China. She went back home every summer so she kept up her contact with China. She studied economics and eventually got a Ph.D. from Harvard and is now teaching at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her book The New China Playbook: Beyond Socialism and Capitalism (Swift Press, 2023) is her effort to educate English speaking readers about China and the “economic miracle” that has taken place since 1979. Read full article at /wp-content/uploads/2024/09/The-Chinese-Economic-Miracle.pdf

by John M ReppKeyu Jin was an exchange student from mainland China who came to the United States in 1997. She realized very soon that even politically progressive Americans had little understanding of life in China. She went back home every summer so she kept up her contact with China. She studied economics and eventually got a Ph.D. from Harvard and is now teaching at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her book The New China Playbook: Beyond Socialism and Capitalism (Swift Press, 2023) is her effort to educate English speaking readers about China and the “economic miracle” that has taken place since 1979. READ FULL ARTICLE AT HTTPS//wwfor.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/The-Chinese-Economic-Miracle.pdf

WWFOR Member D’vorah Kost writes about Trying To Make a Difference in the Lives of Gazan Families In my 5 decades of protesting war, never have I personally known and been in steady contact with the people living the war. Never have I personally known and loved whole families grappling with the unfathomable decisions of where to run for safety, who should get out of the killing fields of Gaza first while leaving family members behind, because the cost for the whole family’s travel is prohibitive. For a Gazan to escape to Egypt, they need $5000 USD per adult, $2500 per child, and someone in Cairo to have those US dollars to register them. The process of obtaining USD in…

See details about a memorial For Glen that Olympia FOR and others will hold Oct. 18, 2024 [full URL https://wwfor.org/event/memorial-for-glen-anderson-olympia/] Olympia activist Glen Anderson died July 12, 2024. Glen was one of the founders of the Olympia chapter of Fellowship of Reconciliation in 1976, and for many years his activism in Olympia FOR was like an unpaid full-time job, even when Glen was still working in his actual full-time paid job. In the past few years, Glen spent much of his activist time producing his monthly TV show, but he still nurtured and attended Olympia FOR’s twice weekly peace vigils. Glen was also a stalwart of Western Washington FOR, and served in many capacities including secretary, membership and chapter development,…

The encampment was established on Tuesday, April 23 following a walk-out and rally for Palestine that began at 10:30am. It was established by students autonomously without prior planning. The encampment’s demands were drafted through a consensus-based process, and they included divestment from companies profiting off of occupation and genocide, rejection of grant funding from Zionist organizations, police oversight and a non-law enforcement crisis response model on campus, no study abroad to occupied Palestine, and an official statement calling for a ceasefire. Negotiations with administration began on Wednesday, April 24 and concluded on Tuesday, April 30 with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Evergreen and the Evergreen Gaza Solidarity Encampment. As per the terms of the agreement, the encampment…

This article, subtitled “How to Know America: Compare It to Others” by John M Repp In Stephen Bezruchka’s book, Inequality Kills Us All: Covid-19’s Health Lessons for the World (Routledge: New York, 2023), he writes: “A person who knows only one country knows no country.” (p.49) He reminds us that we humans learn by comparing one thing to an-other. He was able to live ten years in Nepal as a physician. Yes, one of the very best ways to learn about your own country is to live and work in another country for a considerable time. Learning the language and living and hanging out with the locals in another country makes comparisons with own’s own country possible. … This article…