[Peace-discuss] Fwd: Not In Our Name

Tue May 21 00:45:53 CDT 2002

  It was great to see everyone at Susan's.

Love and Peace,

Barry

Dear Friends,

I have been hearing about this document and the June 6th effort by people 
to declare their continuing determination to promote economic and social 
justice. Thanks to Joan Smith, who sent us a copy, we may find a way 
locally to participate.  I am sending  it on to others and  hope many of us 
can seek out the Not In Our Name gatherings wherever we are on June 
6th.   Karen Harvey

Not In Our Name: The Pledge to Resist

We believe that as people living in the United States it is our 
responsibility to resist the injustices done by our government, in our names.

Not in our name will you wage endless war, there can be no more deaths,

no more transfusions of blood for oil

Not in our name will you invade countries, bomb civilians, kill more 
children letting history take its curse over the graves of the nameless

Not in our name will you erode the very freedoms you have claimed to fight for

Not by our hands will we supply weapons and funding for the annihilation of 
families on foreign soil

Not by our mouths will we let fear silence us

Not by our hearts will we allow whole peoples or countries to be deemed as evil

Not by our will and Not in our name

We pledge resistance

We pledge alliance with those who have come under attack for voicing 
opposition to the war or for their religion or ethnicity

We pledge to make common cause with the people of the world to bring about 
justice freedom and peace

Another world is possible and we pledge to make it real

WAR ON THE WORLD

DETENTIONS AND ROUND-UPS

POLICE STATE RESTRICTIONS

WE ARE PEOPLE OF CONSCIENCE who cannot stand silent as our government wages 
war without limits of time and space. We cannot stand silent as immigrants 
are rounded up and detained. We cannot stand silent in the face of new 
police state restrictions threatening the very right to dissent. We refuse 
to allow President Bush to speak for all the American people. We will not 
give up our right to question. We will not hand over our consciences in 
return for a hollow promise of safety. Together as one, we say NOT IN OUR 
NAME.  We extend a hand to those around the world suffering from these 
policies. We acknowledge that we in this country have a special 
responsibility to resist what our own government is doing, from military 
interventions to supplying arms used to shoot down and terrorize people 
from Palestine to the Philippines. We encourage everyone to take up the 
globe as a symbol of solidarity with people worldwide.  The NOT IN OUR NAME 
project draws strength and inspiration from the important anti-war and 
anti- repression efforts to date. At the same time we all know that much 
more is needed. The NOT IN OUR NAME project is being developed to 
strengthen and expand the existing movement of resistance, that must take 
many forms. Resistance of critical thought, resistance by speaking out, 
resistance through creating powerful art, and resistance through finding 
ways to halt the machinery of war and repression.  Resistance by 
individuals and resistance through mass action. There already have been 
inspiring examples of resistance, and we would hope the Not in Our Name 
project would inspire more things like:  Campuses erupting with debates and 
protests, people uniting together to defend Arab, Muslim and South Asian 
immigrants who come under attack, working to free those detained and 
supporting those who are targeted. Civilians supporting soldiers and 
reservists who resist illegal and unjust orders, Support for writers, 
artists, activists and everyone who comes under attack for breaking ranks 
and daring to dissent.

WE WILL NOT "WATCH WHAT WE SAY."   WE WILL DARE TO DO WHAT IS NECESSARY.

We encourage everyone to take up the NOT IN OUR NAME project and to help 
launch it on June 6. On that day, thousands of people in cities across the 
country will take a common Pledge of Resistance, declaring their 
determination to resist now in diverse ways and to stop this 
course.  Following this launch, the pledge must be spread throughout 
society. We urge all people of conscience to take up the pledge and help 
make it a force in society against this war and repression. We also must be 
prepared to respond to major escalations. Throughout the summer, the Not in 
Our Name project and pledge will be taken out across the country, leading 
to a Day of Mass Resistance in the fall. WE MUST DARE TO CHANGE THE COURSE 
OF HISTORY.NOT IN OUR NAME We encourage individuals and organizations to 
take up the NOT IN OUR NAME project.

Get in touch right away to help make it happen! Email us at 
notinrname at hotmail.com or call 212.969.8058 for more information CONTACT: 
Karen/Ai at 510.594.4075 <www.notinourname.htm>www.notinourname.net