[Peace] Next Week's Anti-War Events (fwd)

[patton paul]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: FRI, 07 FEB 2003 22:30:46 -0400
From: VoteNoWar at InternationalAnswer.org
Reply-To: Info at VoteNoWar.org
To: ppatton at uiuc.edu
Subject: Next Week's Anti-War Events

Dear VoteNoWar member:

The response to the call to action for a week of anti-war
resistance February 13-21 has been amazing. We have heard
from people all around the country who are planning to
participate in demonstrations, rallies, student walk-outs
and teach-ins. The VoteNoWar People's Anti-War Referendum is
an integral part of the activities planned for this
week-long mobilization. (See below, to list your local
activity.)

On February 15th and 16th there will be demonstrations
throughout the world in response to the appeal made by the
European peace movement. From San Francisco and Los Angeles
to Chicago to New York City and in dozens of other cities
around the U.S. there will be large protests. Coming on the
heels of the January 18 demonstrations of 500,000 in
Washington and 200,000 in San Francisco it is clear that the
anti-war movement is gaining momentum and growing stronger.

As George W. Bush makes his pronouncement that "the game is
over," and demands that the U.N. issue support for him to
bomb, invade, and occupy Iraq, it is incumbent upon all of
us to do all we can to stop this madness. The growing
anti-war sentiment in the U.S. and around the world can hold
back the war machine.

More and more People's Anti-War Referendums arrive every
day on-line and in the mail -- from envelopes to big boxes
--as new voices register their opposition to a war of
aggression against Iraq. VoteNoWar members have collected
signatures at peace rallies, in their places of worship, on
campuses and in highs schools. Participants in the Global
People's Anti-War Referendum have come from all fifty states,
the District of Columbia, and countries spanning the world
including the Philippines, South Africa, Malaysia, Indonesia,
Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Colombia, Canada, Thailand,
Venezuela, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Nigeria, Korea, China,
Russia, Morocco, Guatemala, El Salvador, Iceland, Puerto
Rico, Australia, Costa Rica, India, Pakistan, Nicaragua,
every state in Mexico and every country in Europe. Recently
we received thousands collected by students from Atlanta and
from New York, thousands more from a church in Chicago. A
special thank you to the Japanese peace activists who have
just sent in seventeen thousand signatures that were
collected in conjunction with peace demonstrations in Japan
on January 18.

We are happy to announce that we are almost at the 800,000
mark. So far, 790,000 people have participated in the
VoteNoWar campaign. We know that many organizations and
people still have boxes of signatures in their offices and
homes and we encourage you to send them in to the People's
Anti-War Referendum, 1247 E. Street, SE, Washington, DC
20003.

Nearing the One Million Mark
During the week of February 13-21 many groups are planning
to focus on building the VoteNoWar campaign. By working hard
during the next days and weeks, we are confident that we can
reach the one million mark by February 21. We know that for
the million people that participate in the campaign, there
are tens of millions more who support our efforts for peace.
The VoteNoWar campaign has also been a catalyst to bring the
anti-war message into thousands of communities and has in
turn stimulated the growing anti-war protests sweeping the
country and the world. To download a pdf version of the
People's Anti-War Referendum suitable for copying and
distributing, visit http://www.VoteNoWar.org/referendum_rev1.
pdf . To tell up to five friends about the website with an
automatic email inviting them to join the campaign, go to
the VoteNoWar home page. Or, visit http://www.VoteNoWar.
org/add_link.html to add a graphic button link to the
referendum on your or your organization's web site.

Tell us about your activities for the week of anti-war
resistance, February 13-21, by filling out our local
activity web-based form so we can be sure they are listed
and others in your community can learn about and attend the
events. We are encouraging everyone who can travel to one of
the major protests near you, including New York City, San
Francisco, and Los Angeles to do so. We know that many
cannot travel and are already organizing local protests on
February 15 or 16. To download a color pdf flyer for the
week of resistance, visit http://www.votenowar.org/feb15.pdf