Veterans For Peace Daniel Ellsberg Chapter 92, Seattle

Last Updated: February 9, 2024 by TPete Schoonmaker

SEATTLE: SHUT IT DOWN FOR PALESTINE THIS SATURDAY 2/10 from 4-6pm (PSL_Seattle)

“As part of the international week of action to #shutitdown4palestine, we will be demonstrating outside of Union Station Great Hall (Sound Transit’s Headquarters) to denounce the links between the publicly-funded Sound Transit and multinational conglomerate, Siemens, who works to enhance Israeli occupation and colonisation in Palestine….. Union Station Great Hall, International District, 401 S Jackson Street
Saturday, February 10th at 4PM”

https://www.instagram.com/p/C3EqeoWrscO/

Last Updated: January 4, 2024 by TPete Schoonmaker

MLK Day 2024!

The Seattle Martin Luther King Organizing Coalition is planning the 41st annual region-wide Martin Luther King, Jr., Celebration with workshops, rally, and march in Seattle. Our theme this year is “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Dream Unfinished.””
(Veterans For Peace: Plan to meet at 12:45am over by 23rd street on the “grassy knoll” by 23rd Ave at Garfield HS. (Look for the VFP flags).)

Source and more info: https://www.seattlemlkcoalition.org/new-page

Last Updated: November 30, 2023 by TPete Schoonmaker

Veterans For Peace Hamas-Israel Statement

October 12, 2023

Veterans For Peace is an organization of former soldiers and allies who know too well the costs of war – the obvious, visible wounds; the unseen wounds that curse us and our families for generations and the cost to society of maintaining a military larger than the next ten nations combined. Bitter experience taught us that war is insanity and suffering.

We oppose all targeting of civilians. We denounce Hamas’ attacks on Israeli civilians and deplore Israel’s crushing response in Gaza. We also recognize this war did not start last week, it has gone on for decades. Over $150 billion of our tax dollars have provided Israel unlimited weaponry and diplomatic cover has allowed it to expand its occupation such that 16 years ago former President Jimmy Carter clearly labeled it apartheid.

Our government fans the flames beneath the pressure cooker of occupation and our taxes make us complicit. We should not pretend shock at a violent response after Palestinian homes are destroyed to make way for Israeli “settlers” and Gaza is locked down, year after year, by a draconian air, sea and land blockade. History is defined by when you start the clock.

In the war of competing propaganda, we recognize that U.S. officials fabricate incidents for corporate media consumption, such as President Biden claiming he saw photos of beheaded Israeli children. Hours later, as reported by news outlets from the Palestine Chronicle to Business Insider, a White House spokesperson had to “walk back” Biden’s claims. But just like the Bush administration claims in 1991 that Iraqi soldiers threw Kuwaiti babies out of incubators, once the lie is out, the truth rarely catches up.

This cycle of violence, coupled with the reality that war is an uncontrollable force with its own agency and purposes, results in the terrors we witness.

Neither side has a military path to victory, which is why we strongly oppose our government’s plans to send troops, aircraft carriers and more munitions and President Biden’s promise to fully support Israel’s assault on the people of Gaza. We support a ceasefire, negotiations and release of prisoners from all sides.

Only a political process will dismantle the apartheid system, answer the grievances of the Palestinian people, create a democratic system that provides rights for all the people of Israel and Palestine, and finally bring lasting security and peace. Without that political process, the cycle of violence will magnify, dooming more generations of Israelis and Palestinians.

We lift up the words of our brother and sister military veterans, both Palestinian and Israeli, members of Combatants for Peace:

“Our hearts are with all of the victims and their families, and we hope for the safe return of those held captive, and for the safety of the civilians trapped inside Gaza…Together, we must retain our humanity, and value all life as sacred and cherished…The only solution is ending the occupation, uniting Israelis and Palestinians and focusing our collective efforts on achieving peace.”

October 12, 2023

https://www.veteransforpeace.org/pressroom/news/2023/10/12/veterans-peace-hamas-israel-statement

Last Updated: June 10, 2023 by Editorial Team

August 6: From Hiroshima To Hope

From Hiroshima to Hope is created annually by the non-profit organization, From Hiroshima to Hope, and is supported by local peace, community and faith organizations. The event, held on Green Lake’s northwest shore, has been held every year since 1984.

It is held just south of the Bathhouse, on Green Lake’s northwest shore at West Green Lake Drive North and Stone Ave North, and is free and open to the public. Sponsors include City of Seattle Office of Arts & Culture and Seattle Parks and Recreation, and local peace, community and faith organizations.
For more information: 206-928-2590. http://fromhiroshimatohope.org; https://www.facebook.com/FromHiroshimaToHope.

Donations are welcome, on-site, or in advance here.

Volunteers are welcomed and needed. To volunteer, complete the 2023 volunteer form here.

Last Updated: May 31, 2023 by Editorial Team

June 10th: Bring Them Home Film

BRING THEM HOME is a short award-winning documentary about discarded American heroes, deported military veterans.

It will be shown at The Grand Cinema in Tacoma on Saturday, June 10, 2023. The doors open at 5pm with the film screening, including a panel discussion and cocktail hour, beginning at 6pm.

After producing the music video for their song “Excuse My Accent,” artists Robert “Rob Young” Walker and Andrei “Drei Ros” Rosca met Hector Barajas; a deported American military veteran. Upon hearing his story, they embark on a journey to shed light on the issue.

In the film, the two connect with experts and travel to Tijuana Mexico gathering first-hand accounts from more deported veterans at “The Bunker”, which is a meeting place for veterans who are currently exiled. This honest documentary highlights the complexity of the problem by following Hector Barajas and other veterans through their journeys and to the founding of The Deported Veterans Support House.

Learn more about the film at Bringthemhomefilm.com
Get tickets at The Grand Cinema

Last Updated: November 30, 2023 by Marty Kunz

May 10: UW Cut Ties with Boeing

Education for the people! Cut ties with Boeing!

Please join Resist US-Led War Seattle for a rally and action targeting The University of Washington ties with weapons companies. The action starts at 5:30pm on May 10th on UW Red Square.

The call of the action is

“Education for the People!
Cut Ties with Boeing!
Don’t let the Board of Regents sell you out”

Members of Resist US Led War will deliver our demands to the Board of Regents at the University of Washington and gather for a rally at Red Square. This action aims to Expose Boeing’s role in the Military Industrial Complex, climate crisis and environmental pollution, and directly confront those enabling Boeing‘s influence on students and departments at University of Washington, as well as continue to build Resist’s “UW Cut Ties with Boeing“ campaign and bring many other organizations into the anti-war struggle.

Last Updated: November 30, 2023 by Marty Kunz

April 22: VFP92 Seattle Earth Day and “Climate Crisis & US Militarism” Event

April 22, 2023: @ the Seattle Center near the South side of the Fountain, 1-4 pm.

Our Mission:
Veterans For Peace Climate Crisis and Militarism Project is part of the world-wide movement to end the climate crisis and promote climate, environmental, racial, and economic justice. Our emphasis focuses on how U.S. militarism, the single largest institutional source of greenhouse gasses on the planet, fuels the climate crisis.

Join Us!
Look for our flag and banner.

Last Updated: March 18, 2023 by Editorial Team

March 26: March and Rally @ Boeing!

March 26: March and Rally @ Boeing!

Resist US-led war and climate destruction! Cut ties with War Profiteers! Resist Boeing’s War Production!

Opposition to war is both an international and a local struggle. Imperialism (a system linking political/military domination and capitalist super-exploitation) is the source of war and oppression in today’s world. The United States is the number one imperialist warmaker and oppressor. The U.S. military is the number one institutional carbon polluter in the world. The war industry is the supply chain and a key beneficiary of all this horror, serving a system in deepening crisis.

Boeing, a leading war industry corporation, is both a local and a global parasite. While it sows death and destruction abroad, it produces pollution, job loss, and corruption in the U.S.. We must fight to dismantle the U.S. war machine, not just for those abroad & under the boot of US-imperialism, but also for those in our own backyard suffering from union-busting and the pollution of ecosystems like the Duwamish River.

On March 26, in continuing commemoration of the start of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq*, we will gather at the SODO site of the Boeing Corporation, meeting at S. 96th Place and E. Marginal Way near the Museum of Flight, and conduct a short march culminating in a rally at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. This action aims to Expose Boeing’s role in the Military Industrial Complex, the climate crisis and environmental pollution. This action aims to build the Resist US Led-War Movement’s ‘UW Cut Ties with Boeing’ campaign (https://linktr.ee/demiluw) and bring many other organizations into the anti-war struggle.

Sunday March 26, 1pm Assemble at South 96^th Place & E Marginal Way S, Seattle, WA

Initiated by: Resist US-Led War Seattle; Veterans For Peace Greater Seattle, Chapter 92,

*The war U.S. led war on Iraq began in the fall of 1990, after Iraq invaded Kuwait. ‘Desert Shield’ became ‘Desert Storm’, with massive destruction of Iraq’s infrastructure accompanied and followed by genocidal sanctions. The U.S. is now escalating beyond the ‘Desert Shield’ phase of it’s intervention against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

https://www.instagram.com/resist.seattle/ https://www.vfp92.org/

Flyer pdf: Resist US-led war and climate destruction! Cut ties with War Profiteers! Resist Boeing1

Last Updated: November 30, 2023 by Editorial Team

Medea Benjamin Book Tour Seattle March 14–New Location!

The Seattle AntiWar Coalition presents MEDEA BENJAMIN co-founder of CODEPINK
Join us for a discussion and book signing by Medea Benjamin for her latest book release, War in Ukraine: Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict, cowritten with Nicolas Davies!
“This careful, informed, judicious study is an invaluable guide to understanding Russia’s criminal invasion of Ukraine, and most crucially, how we can act to help bring this terrible tragedy to an end.” — Noam Chomsky
University Congregational Church, 4515 16th Ave NE, Seattle. March 14th, 6:30 pm
Co-sponsored by: Veterans For Peace; University Book Store; Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility

Last Updated: November 30, 2023 by Editorial Team

“Peacemakers Of The Year 2022”

In December 2022, Veterans For Peace, Seattle Chapter 92, was awarded the annual Peacemakers Award for 2022 by the anti-war and environmental
organization, Earth Care Not Warfare.

Earth Care Not Warfare was started 10 years ago by Seattle activists concerned that not enough was being done to stop U.S. wars and climate
change. Forging alliances with both environmental groups and anti-war organizations, Earth Care Not Warfare, of which VFP 92 is part of, raised the
awareness and actions needed to deal with these two existential crisis and how they intersected with one another.

In presenting this award, Beth Brunton, spokesperson for Earth Care Not Warfare, said “we would like to recognize your organization as “2022”
Peacemakers of the year. You have earned this award for all your contributions, including starting the Seattle Anti-War Coalition with First Tuesday protests, consistent presence at community peace and justice marches, and especially this year for your “Waging Peace in Viet Nam conference,
exhibit, and film series. We are grateful to your commitment and service to ending war and creating peace with justice”.

Earth Care Not Warfare awards the “Peacemaker Award” annually to the organization who best demonstrates a commitment to stopping war
and protesting destruction of the environment.