The peace movement is definitely alive and well in New York State. Here’s the latest.
Guantanamo Vigils
Vigils to close the detention center at Guantanamo, Cuba continue the first Wednesday of every month outside the main branch of the New York Public Library in NYC. Rosemarie Pace, PCNYS Coordinator, often is one of the speakers at the Vigil appealing to passersby to remember and put pressure on our government officials to fulfill past promises to make that closure a reality. Sixteen men have been approved for release, but they remain in the prison for decades due to politics, not justice. You, too, can call or write President Biden before he leaves office to do what he said he would do four years ago.
UN Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, September 26th, 2024
In observance of this important day, a small group of hearty activists from different faith traditions gathered in the rain in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza near the United Nations to pray for the total elimination of nuclear weapons. Happening at the same time were actions in the Plaza and around the City calling for the release of the hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza.
End Endless War Rally
On the 23rd anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel, October 7th, a coalition of peace organizations led by War Resisters League and including Pax Christi NYS, rallied to “End Endless War” outside the main branch of the New York Public Library in NYC. We distributed a flier that gave several examples of how “War is a Failed Policy” in lives lost, property destroyed, and money that could be used to sustain and save lives spent on death instead.
Move the Money Rally
Pax Christi has long supported the “Move the Money” campaign which supports a New York City Council resolution calling on Congress and the President to move significant funds away from the military budget in order to fund social services and to hold in-depth public hearings on the basic human needs of City residents that are unmet because of government appropriations for the Pentagon. On October 23rd, we gathered outside City Hall to “catch” any Council members we could to remind them of this Resolution and to urge them to see it through.
Pax Christi Metro New York Fall Assembly
October 26th marked PCMNY’s annual Fall Assembly. The afternoon featured Nancy Lorence and Marian Ronan speaking on different aspects of Climate Justice, including the large degree to which the U.S. military is responsible for much of global climate change and pollution. Michael Howard, husband of Pax Christi USA’s new Executive Director, was in attendance and spoke briefly.
Anti-war Demonstrations Upstate New York
John Amidon began November at a demonstration outside his Representative Paul Tonko’s office in Albany holding one of his newest banners made to look like a bomb and asking a rather provocative question, “Who is sending children to the gas chambers now?” On Veterans (Armistice) Day, John marched in the Parade in Albany, this time joined by students from the State University, again displaying his strongly worded banners. A video of the event is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mKlySF9JpI. Anthony Donovan provided an audio report here: https://soundcloud.com/mediasanctuary/marching-for-peace-in-albanys-veterans-parade.
In Binghamton, Jack Gilroy and others from PCNYS, as well as fellow peace activists not necessarily members of Pax Christi, hosted a “Peace Pop-up” at St Francis of Assisi Church, the second in a series on how to “Make Peace Popular.” A modest-sized group watched the film, Disarmed and Dangerous about the Berrigan brothers and then engaged in a talk-back that was described as very moving. There are plans to have more of these events in bars, restaurants and church halls to attract and raise awareness among more and more people, a strategy that Jack would be happy to see replicated everywhere.
The following day, November 11th, Armistice Day, at 11 AM at First Congregational Church in Binghamton, some of the same folks held a remembrance ceremony, ringing a large ground bell and listening to remarks by Pastor Jon Haack and poetry by Jim Clune. Later that day at a symbolic cemetery at the side of the church they remembered U.S. casualties and those killed by the U.S. in SE and SW Asia. (The ratio is about 1 U.S. soldier to 100 Asians.) They also joined in the “Veterans Day” Parade with their banners. Once rejected as marchers in the parade, they now just join the tail end.
Jack also protested at the Lockheed-Martin Paveway Bomb Factory in Archbald, PA.
On Friday afternoon, November 15th, members of the Downtown Berrigan Collective, based in Ithaca, NY, along with members of Veteran for Peace, Pax Christi Upstate NY, Upstate Drone Action, and other peace activists went to the Syracuse Federal Building to demand access to the offices of New York’s US Senators Schumer and Gillibrand to “exercise our right to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” They wished to “impress upon the Senators the urgency of cutting off offensive weapons for Israel’s genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples.” They specifically were asking the Senators to support the six Senate Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRDs) that would block the sale of U.S. weaponry to Israel, a $20 billion weapons shipment approved by the Biden administration. “There is a mountain of documentary evidence” that Israel uses US weapons to violate U.S. law, Senator Sanders said.
When the nine activists were denied access, they staged a sit-in in the security checkpoint area of the lobby of the building. Part of the activist’s statement read “It is against US law to send a single weapon to any country grossly violating human rights. 61% of Americans say they want to cut off weapons to Israel. Our tax dollars must not be used for another illegal, immoral weapon giveaway to Israel!” The nine said they were there to implore the Senators to uphold the law.
After about an hour the Department of Homeland Security police removed the nine from the lobby, carrying them out of the building and depositing them on the sidewalk. Some of the nine then decided to block the doorway of the building. One member was arrested, ticketed, and released. Sadly, more than three-quarters of the Senate voted against the JRDs.
Ceasefire Now!
Back in New York City, a coalition group led by peace activist Kathy Kelly gathered near the Israeli Mission to the UN once again to plead for a ceasefire and to adamantly oppose the genocide of Palestinian people, especially children; the destruction of hospitals and health care; and the use of military drones and other U.S. weapons in the process.
Reap What You Sow, Don’t Lose Heart!
Mid-November, audiences were graced with the opportunity to see a play originally written by Jack Gilroy and since updated and revised with the help of Olivia Gilroy and zool Zulkowitz. It was professionally performed at Mary House, a Catholic Worker house in lower Manhattan, NYC. The play presents a loving mother-daughter relationship challenged by their very different ideas about a military career and a commitment to peace-building. The mother is a Major in the U.S. Air Force and the widow of a U.S. Marine Lieutenant Colonel who was killed in Fallujah; the daughter is peace studies student. The play ends with a question to the audience and an invitation to join the debate between mother and daughter. Like Jack’s Peace Pop-ups, this too is open to all who would like to schedule it. It is available, for FREE, to churches, schools, peace and justice organizations, and other community groups. The company is booking dates for a Summer 2025 “Reap!” Tour. For more information, contact Zool or text 718-964-7643.
Media Coverage
The “Highlights” of the report-back on the “Pilgrimage to Japan and the Call to Abolish Nuclear Weapons” is now up on the Brooklyn for Peace YouTube channel at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYa-mvG1aLY
A letter on the “Just War Theory” by Jim Kelly, long-time member of Pax Christi Downtown Brooklyn, was printed in the October 19th issue of The Tablet, the paper of the Brooklyn Diocese. It can be found here: https://thetablet.org/letters-to-the-editor-week-of-october-19-2024/.
Newsday, the main newspaper of Long Island, published a feature article about how the Rockville Centre Diocese has declined in its focus on social justice causes. Members of Pax Christi Long Island were interviewed for the article. They called for a Diocesan Peace and Justice Commission, but the only response they received from the Diocese was that parishes have peace and social justice organizations already in place.
Co-sponsorships/Endorsements/Sign-ons
Over the past few months, PCNYS has co-sponsored, endorsed, or signed onto the following:
- An amicus brief on behalf of the Apache Stronghold v. United States et al.
- Support for the Joint Resolutions of Disapproval described above
- Opposition to a Regional War with Iran
- “Embracing Our Faith: A Call to Speak Out on the Holy Land”
- A letter to President Biden calling for a commutation of all death sentences on federal and military death rows
- “Protecting Our Common Climate System: Earth Governance for a Sustainable Future”: A joint Inter-faith and Values Appeal to the 2024 Conference of States Parties to the Climate Change Convention
- A letter to President Biden to end U.S. military aid to Israel to stop Israel’s assaults on civilians and maintain regional stability.
- A Request for the U.S. to Observe the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, March, 2025
- A letter to Secretary of State Blinken to issue an updated atrocity determination for Sudan and to take concrete actions to protect civilians and prevent further atrocities
- A letter to President Biden to free the 16 men approved for release from Guantanamo
- A Catholic Letter of Concern Regarding Indigenous Rights in Brazil
- A letter to Senator Rubio to ensure Sudan is a top priority for President Trump’s foreign policy