STANISLAUS CONNECTIONS
Working For Peace, Justice, and A Sustainable Environment
THE CAMPAIGN OF CONSCIENCE: A moral call to the American People
By PETER LEMS
American Friends Service Committee
In response to the devastating effects of ongoing economic sanctions against the people of Iraq, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), jointly launch the Campaign of Conscience for the Iraqi People. This humanitarian crisis of catastrophic proportions will continue as long as the United States' embargo and United Nations' sanctions remain in effect. The prohibitions violate international, humanitarian and moral laws of all people of conscience.
The nationwide Campaign of Conscience will awaken the souls of the American people. The US embargo undermines our ideal of justice, inflicting lethal punishment on a civilian population in retaliation for the actions of their government. Years of war and sanctions have brought Iraq's infrastructure to the brink of collapse and the Iraqi people to deep despair. Daily, more than 150 children die of malnutrition, poor drinking water, disease, and lack of medicines and health care facilities as a direct result of the sanctions.
A central goal of the Campaign of Conscience is articulated by Kara Newell, Executive Director of AFSC: "Lifting the economic sanctions is an essential first step to allow for reconstruction in Iraq and reconciliation with the Iraqi people." The Rev. James Lawson, a close associate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Chair of the FOR National Council, noted that: "When leadership fails, as it has with respect to the US economic embargo against Iraq, citizens of conscience have a responsibility to provide an alternate vision and strategy."
ACTION: During the next six months contribute to the Campaign of Conscience, which will purchase critically needed items and send them to Iraq as part of a nonviolent campaign to lift the sanctions. For more information about the Campaign of Conscience please contact: American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Middle East Peace Building Program, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA. 19102 Tel: 215/241-7170, Fax: 215/241-7177 E-Mail: plems@afsc.org; web page: www.afsc.org/iraqhome.htm
A shipment of medicine, a challenge to genocide!
By SARA FLOUNDERS and BRIAN BECKER
The Iraq Sanctions Challenge will defy the US/UN sanctions that have killed one million people by taking tons of medicines and medical supplies to Iraq in January 2000 as an act of solidarity with our Iraqi sisters and brothers. Between January 13 and 21, Ramsey Clark and other prominent activists will be part of a large delegation defying the sanctions with an international act of civil disobedience. It will be the third delegation sent by Iraq Sanctions Challenge. The first Iraq Sanctions Challenge included more than 84 people: community and religious leaders, trade unionists, students, and activists, in May of 1998. Combined with the second Iraq Sanctions Challenge in December 1998, more than $6 million worth of medicine was delivered to Iraq.
We know that no amount of humanitarian aid can truly meet the needs of the Iraqi people. Only by completely lifting sanctions and allowing Iraq to resume normal trade relations can an end to the country’s catastrophic economic situation occur. In the spirit of the civil rights movement, we refuse to abide by unjust US laws and UN resolutions that result in death and destruction for Iraqi children, women and men. We call upon all who are dedicated to justice to join with us in making the Iraq Sanctions Challenge a major step toward ending the blockade against the people of Iraq.
ACTION: DO YOU WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE IRAQ SANCTIONS CHALLENGE III DELEGATION? To volunteer, raise funds for medicine and be a part the support network for the next Iraq Sanctions Challenge, email us at iacenter@iacenter.org or call 212-633-6646 in New York and 415-821-6545 in San Francisco. See the web page at http://www.iacenter.org.