About 30 Peace Action activists met October 1 in Cambridge to hear and discuss plans for our fall campaigns. We heard and discussed brief presentations on four priority issue areas, then broke down into small groups to connect and make action plans. Participants included representatives of six working groups and four campus chapters.
Stop the $1 Trillion Nuclear Weapons Escalation
Goals
- No Red Button: The president should not be able to start a nuclear war without Congress
- No Fire, No Fury: Peaceful Negotiated Settlement with North Korea
- Sign the Nuclear Ban Treaty
- End funding for “modernization” of US nuclear weapons
- Make clear that weapons funding robs human needs programs, including higher education.
Key Activities
- Conference on Presidential First Use of Nuclear Weapons, Nov 4, Harvard
- Attend – volunteer – warmup or followup event on campus to explain/popularize?
- Talks and forums on Korea peace issues – especially need campus groups to sponsor
- Ramsay Liem film Oct 5 & other dates; Joyakgol Oct 23; Bruce Cumings Nov 15 BC; Tim Shorrock talks Nov
- Petition drive: “President Trump has the Nuclear Launch Codes”. Present to Congress – Jan
- Call Congress about S.200/ H.669
- International Day of Peace, 9/24, 1-3pm, Boston Common – w/ Peace Wave
- Extend “Don’t Bank on the Bomb” campaigns municipalities, campuses, and individuals.
End War Without End
Goals
- Save the Iran Nuclear Deal from Donald Trump
- Bring the troops home: End US military action in the Middle East, it is making matters worse
- Stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia which it is using to destroy Yemen
- Urge peaceful solutions & diplomacy
Key Activities
- Calls, contact Congress about Iran deal (mainly before Oct 15)
- Iran talks – Oct – to be scheduled. (Campus speakers?) (focus on Kennedy/Keating districts)
- Trita Parsi talks 11/1
- Form network of Middle East scholars
- Refugee funding mini-campaign
- Start a new Iran Deal petition, esp up to 10/15 (campus tables, assorted events)
- After 10/15 continue End War Without End petition. Present to Congress – Jan
A New Day: Organizing to Change U.S. Policy on Palestine/Israel
Goals
- Boycotts are free speech. Defeat anti-Boycott legislation in State House & Congress
- Congress must take a stand against Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories
- Legislators should not take free trips from pro-Israel lobbyists and then vote on bills those lobbyists support
Key Activities
- Lobby state legislators to oppose S.1685/H.1689 (state anti-BDS legislation)
- Lobby Congress to oppose HR.1697/S.720 (federal anti-BDS legislation)
- Campus Talks by Brenton Stoddart and/or Jeff Klein
- Outreach to Form A New Day groups in Central & Western MA
- Education work inside Dem party esp. Our Revolution
People’s Budget
Goals
- Pass the People’s Budget: fund schools, transit, jobs, housing, environment; cut the bloated military
- Not One Penny: No to the Trump/ Ryan Tax Cuts for Millionaires, Billionaires and Wealthy Corporations
- $15 an hour minimum wage; family medical leave; tax millionaires to pay for transit and schools
Key Activities
- Boston rally 9/24
- Pressure on Kennedy, Lynch, Moulton especially – prior to vote on Oct 5. Calls? Delegations? Rallies? Op-Eds
- Educational program – Oct/Nov
- Gather 2,000 Signatures on RaiseUp petitions for $15 minimum wage and paid family medical leave: Now to early Nov