by Bernie Meyers The world and we are in a rapidly changing period. From an individual point of view it may not seem rapid but nature and society may well experience the changes as earthshaking.  The Fellowship of Reconciliation is fast approaching its 100th anniversary. FOR has long been a strong witness for a just and peaceful world. In the context of the industrial revolution,  FOR began at the ascending end of the curve of industrial development which created the intensive resource consuming society we have “benefited from” and which now most of humanity wants to share. However, we have reached the limits of growth and must begin the long descent toward the other end of the curve. While on…

by Ruth Yarrow WWFOR has had a vibrant history, including working on the Freeze Campaign, US-USSR reconciliation, solidarity with Central America, trying to prevent the Gulf War, medical supplies to war victims, the Campaign of Conscience, and more. More recently, WWFOR has been working on opposing the so-called never-ending war on terror and supporting multilateral efforts to gain peace.  At present, WWFOR is co-leading an effort to bring our billions of tax dollars home to provide the education, health care, libraries, public transport, environmental support and more that our state so desperately needs.  We have held Peace Activist Trainee (PAT) programs every July for eleven years.  Many of our members continue to work with other organizations on efforts from health…

by John Repp At a recent meeting of an expanded finance committee of WWFOR someone threw out the question: “What Are We Selling?” The meeting spent little time attempting to answer the question. The only idea proposed was “nonviolence.”     Ideas have power. We all know this, but in our materialist culture it is difficult to explain exactly how such an ethereal thing as an idea can be a powerful force in the real world. But did not the ideas of the think tank Project for a New American Century, which advocated a larger defense budget and “American leadership,” have real consequences with the invasions and occupations in the Middle East? WWFOR did strategic planning several years ago, and at…

by Ellen Finkelstein I first met members of Western Washington FOR in the months leading up to the start of the Iraq War. I joined with them – and others – to form SNOW (Sound Nonviolent Opponents of War). It seems like a lifetime ago. For many, it is. And now, “the war is over.” So do we declare “victory”? Should peace activists declare “Mission accomplished” and turn our sights elsewhere? It seems talking about war – the costs of war, its lasting impact, the effect of militarism – is suddenly out of favor, even with some in the peace and justice movement. It seems people no longer want to contemplate 4,500 American dead and 60,000 wounded, nor the impact…

by Larry Kerschner Most Americans know very little about Korea’s history.  Scarcely anyone in the U.S. knows about more than a century of U.S. military intervention there and the ongoing opposition of much of Korea’s population  to U.S. military occupation.  The Chinese left Korea in 1958 and we still have 25,000 troops there.  Despite U.S. government propaganda maybe North Korea has some reason for their paranoia. The recent death of Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s dictator, with its political uncertainties puts Korea back into people’s attention.  The American people do not know that the Korean War never formally ended, but we are only living with a “cease-fire” that has gone on for more than half a century. For another look at the U.S-Korea relationship you…

by Kaeley Pruitt-Hamm This summer, civil rights activist Dr. Bernard LaFayette told me stories of how he and his friends not only survived but thrived in jail. When they were incarcerated for standing up for their rights as equal citizens, they wouldn’t mope around waiting for bail or even chant angrily. Instead, they sang. They sang and laughed and bonded with the watchman talking about his family. There is just something about music that is magical fuel for a movement, and I wanted to hear and feel more of it in our call to Bring Our Billions Home from war and greed. I wanted to move beyond just Dylan and Lennon covers as recycled bread and butter of protest songs,…

by Larry Kerschner A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in early December would stop the sale of surveillance technologies by American companies to regimes considered repressive by our regime.  A recent Bloomberg News report showed how western technology suppliers used Tunisia as a testing ground as that government used surveillance technologies to track, mis-inform, interrogate and intrusively try to chill the free flow of political discussion. Maybe we should request a bill that would stop these companies from selling this technology to our government.  The vast majority of computer surveillance involves monitoring various types of communication on the Internet.  Under the U.S. Communications Assistance For Law Enforcement Act (CAFLEA), all phone calls and broadband internet traffic are…

A review by John Repp Looking for ideas of hope, I picked up this book The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-first Century by Grace Lee Boggs (before the Occupy Wall Street movement).  It is a small book that is very rich in ideas and hope. Grace Lee Boggs has been an activist for over 70 years, living in Detroit since 1953. She is now 95 years old with the energy of a 25 year old. When seen on Democracy Now she always has a big smile on her face. She is Chinese-American who got a PhD in philosophy in 1940 but could not get a job in academia. She became a political activist after seeing the success…

“We are the 99%” is being proclaimed from Wall Street to Seattle, Tacoma, Bellingham, Olympia, Yakima Valley, and points between and beyond. 900+ cities around the world held “Occupy” mobilizations on Oct. 15. It’s hard to miss that people are angry about the current economic crisis, yearning for change. Many of those involved in the actual occupations are young and motivated by student loan debts and/or lack of jobs and opportunities. However, there is an amazing diversity of people participating – students, teachers, machinists, health-care workers, homeless, lawyers, retired, unemployed, parents and their children. I’ve spent time at Occupy Seattle at Westlake and have been energized, heartened, frustrated, challenged, and moved. The courage and commitment will bolster you if your…

Currently there are recognized four international Crimes Against Peace: Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity, War Crimes, and Crimes of Aggression.  Polly Higgins, an English barrister, has started a campaign to add a fifth crime to the list.  Ecocide is the destruction of large areas of the environment and ecosystems.  Some ecocide is caused by natural events but there is a category for ecocide caused by human activity: Ascertainable Ecocide.  This is the destruction, damage or loss to territory, caused by human activity, whether by people, corporations or nations.  Some specific instances of this crime would be nuclear weapons tests, damaging exploitation of resources such as is going on with the tar sands extraction in Canada, the use of defoliants like Agent…