Global Call 2008

THE GLOBAL CALL FOR NONVIOLENT CIVIL RESISTANCE
TO END THE U.S.-LED MILITARY OCCUPATION OF IRAQ (2008)

The Signers listed at the end of the Call are the original Signers in 2005. Since then people from over 40 countries have signed the Call.

Contact:
Joe Mulligan, S.J.
Managua, Nicaragua
mull@ibw.com.ni
blog: www.globalcalliraq1.blogspot.com


FROM:
Nobel Peace and Literature Laureates
Cindy Sheehan and other peace and human-rights activists
Religious leaders of various traditionsPrisoners of Conscience
Former government ministers
Poets, authors, journalists

(Please see end of this message for the list of original Signers and their identification.)

We, the undersigned, invite peace-makers throughout the world to participate in an international campaign of massive, nonviolent civil resistance (civil disobedience) to stop the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq. These actions could be organized to include both non-violent civil resistance and legal demonstrations.

FIRST DATE OF INTERNATIONAL ACTIONS IN 2008: March 19, the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. There will be massive demonstrations and actions in Washington, D.C., and other parts of the U.S.

We suggest that our friends in the U.S. contact UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE (see below, after list of signers) and consider joining in their actions.

For those of you in other parts of the world, we suggest that you organize protest actions or demonstrations, whether involving civil disobedience or not, on March 19. There is an urgent need for actions around the world.

THE ACTIONS

Some would participate in legal demonstrations while others would stage sit-ins, die-ins, and other nonviolent methods of blocking "business as usual" at government buildings or installations (including military bases and recruiting centers) or at corporate offices of war profiteers in the U.S., Great Britain, and other countries which are taking part in the deadly and unjust military occupation of Iraq. For these governments, "business as usual" is the business of violence, death, and exploitation. It must be blocked and stopped by responsible citizens.

Peace-makers in countries whose governments are not at war in Iraq could consider U.S. or British embassies, consulates, military bases, or appropriate corporate offices as sites for legal demonstrations and nonviolent civil resistance.


EXAMPLES OF POSSIBLE ACTIONS

A group could sit down in the entrance of a U.S. or British government installation in any country, refusing to leave when the U.S. Marines or other security agents order them to disperse. They could insist on having a meeting with the ambassador or the officer in charge of the military base, or they could wait for a clear statement from Washington, D.C., or from London of the date when all their soldiers will be withdrawn from Iraq.

If those doing civil resistance are not able to enter U.S. or British property, they could sit down on the street or sidewalk in front of the building or base, or they could lie down in a "die-in" representing the victims of the war. In any case those involved in civil resistance might be carried out of the building or away from the entrance and arrested by the police.

All of this could happen in the presence of the mass media and in conjunction with a large legal demonstration very close to the same site.

The impact of these actions on public opinion, the mass media, and governments would come from their sheer quantity and geographical diversity, on the same day, as well as from the clarity of their message and the disciplined nonviolence of the tactics.

A SUSTAINED, GROWING CAMPAIGN

The second INTERNATIONAL DAY OF NON-VIOLENT CIVIL RESISTANCE TO END THE MILITARY OCCUPATION OF IRAQ will be May 1, May Day, the International Day of the Worker -- an occasion for massive demonstrations all over the world where working class struggle is celebrated and kept alive. The impact of the war on the poor and working class of the world could be emphasized.

The third INTERNATIONAL DAY OF NON-VIOLENT CIVIL RESISTANCE TO END THE MILITARY OCCUPATION OF IRAQ will be August 6-9, 2008, the 63rd anniversary of the U.S. nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan-- to demand an end to U.S. proliferation of nuclear weapons of mass destruction and an end to the U.S. state terrrorism in Iraq.

The fourth INTERNATIONAL DAY OF NON-VIOLENT CIVIL RESISTANCE TO END THE MILITARY OCCUPATION OF IRAQ will be Sept. 11, 2008, the 7th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the U.S.-- to commemorate and deplore that horrible act of violence (as well as the Sept. 11, 1973 military coup in Chile) and to denounce the terrorist violence which the U.S. government is inflicting on Iraq under the false pretense of the "war on terrorism."

The fifth INTERNATIONAL DAY OF NON-VIOLENT CIVIL RESISTANCE TO END THE MILITARY OCCUPATION OF IRAQ will be Dec. 10, 2008, International Human Rights Day.

PATH TO ACTION

The Number One message of every action would be: END THE MILITARY OCCUPATION OF IRAQ. This emphasis must be clear if the many actions in many places are to have a profound impact on the public and governments. Local or national organizers may wish to present one or two related issues or demands, with the main focus staying on ENDING THE MILITARY OCCUPATION OF IRAQ.


SPREADING THE WORD

We ask individuals, groups, and organizations around the globe to endorse this Call and to send it out to their mailing lists and to the media. Groups which are not committed to participating in the actions of civil resistance could simply transmit our Call.

Some persons and organizations may choose to organize legal demonstrations (without any component of civil resistance) on the days we have proposed.

Thanks for your kind consideration of this proposal.

Sincerely,

(The original Signers are from 16 countries. In some cases organizational affiliations are for personal identification purposes only.)

Gary Ashbeck
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Jonah House

Father Daniel Berrigan, S.J.
New York, NY; USA
Catholic priest, author, lecturer, peace activist

Father Roy Bourgeois, M.M.
Columbus, Georgia, USA
Catholic priest; Founder, School of the Americas Watch

Father Ernesto Cardenal
Managua, NICARAGUA
Catholic priest; poet, sculptor, former Minister of Culture of Nicaragua

Bishop Pedro CasaldaligaSao Felix de Araguaia, BRAZIL
Retired bishop of Catholic diocese of Sao Felix
Theologian, author

Christian Base Communities
SPAIN

Patricia Clark
Nyack, NY, USA
Executive Director, Fellowship of Reconciliation

Comite Oscar Romero de Madrid
Madrid, SPAIN

Mairead Corrigan Maguire
Belfast, NORTHERN IRELAND
1976 Nobel Peace Laureate
Co-founder of Peace People

Susan Crane
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Jonah House

Father John Dear, S.J.
Cerrillos, New Mexico, USA
Catholic priest, peace activist, author

Rev. Richard Deats
Nyack, NY, USA
Former Executive Secretary and Fellowship Editor, Fellowship of Reconciliation

Marie Dennis
Washington, D.C., USA
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Pax Christi International

Father Miguel d'Escoto, M.M..
Managua, NICARAGUA
Catholic priest; Foreign Minister of Nicaragua 1979-1990;
Proponent of Nonviolent Evangelical Insurrection against Imperialism

Xavier Dias
editor of ADHIKAR, a monthly Hindi bulletin for communities affected by mining.
Ranchi, Jharkhand, INDIA

Dorothy Day Catholic Worker
Washington, D.C., USA

Jim and Shelley Douglass
Birmingham, Alabama; USA
Marys House Catholic Worker

Bishop Thomas Gumbleton
Detroit, Michigan; USA
Auxiliary Bishop emeritus of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit
Pastor of urban parish, author, lecturer, peace activist

Father G. Simon Harak, S.J.
New York, New York, USA
Catholic priest; Anti-Militarism Coordinator
War Resisters League

Jennifer Harbury and Sister Dianna Ortiz
Washington, D.C., USA
Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International

Hartford Catholic Worker Community
Hartford, CT, USA

Father Francois Houtart
Louvain la Neuve, BELGIUM
Catholic priest; Prof. Emeritus of the Catholic University of Louvain;
Member of the International Council of the World Social Forum

Jonah House Community
Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Judith Kelly
Arlington, Virginia; USA
Mid-Atlantic Regional Associate, Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service;
Prisoner of Conscience in Movement Against School of the Americas

Kathy Kelly
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Voices for Creative Non-Violence

Eric LeCompte
Washington, DC, USA
SOA Watch Event Coordinator

Madrid Committee of Solidarity with Black Africa
Madrid, SPAIN

Danny Malec
Voluntown, Connecticut, USA
Global Call to Action

Father Regino Martinez, S.J.
Dajabon, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Catholic priest; Coordinator of Border Solidarity

Liz McAlister
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Jonah House

Edel Mihm
Saarbruecken, GERMANY
Journalist

Father Uriel Molina Oliu
Managua, NICARAGUA
Catholic priest;
theologian, founder and former director of Centro Antonio Valdivieso, Managua


Father Ismael Moreno, S.J.
El Progreso, Yoro, HONDURAS
Catholic priest;
Director of the Reflection, Research, and Communication Team (ERIC)

Father Joseph Mulligan, S.J.
Managua, NICARAGUA
Catholic priest working with Christian Base Communities; writer, peace activist

Mary Novak
Voluntown, Connecticut, USA
Global Call to Action

Michael OGrady, S.J.
Cambridge, Mass., USA

Adolfo Perez Esquivel
ARGENTINA
1980 Nobel Peace Laureate

Harold Pinter
London, ENGLAND
2005 Nobel Literature Laureate

Ted Schmidt
Toronto, Ont., CANADA
Editor, Catholic New Times

Ramon Sepulveda Velez
PUERTO RICO
Community Organizer

Cindy Sheehan
Berkeley, California, USA
Peace Mom mother of Army Spc. Casey A. Sheehan, who was killed in Iraq on April 4, 2004
Founder of Gold Star Families for Peace
Cindy camped at George Bushs ranch in August, 2005, demanding to speak with the president.

Joanne Sheehan
Norwich, Connecticut, USA
Chair of War Resisters International
War Resisters League/New England coordinator

Father Eugene Toland, M.M.
BOLIVIA

Jose Maria Vigil
PANAMA
theologian

Dr. Stellan Vinthagen
Department of Peace and Development Research
Goteberg, SWEDEN

Rabbi Arthur Waskow, director
The Shalom Center
Philadelphia, Pa., USA

The Rev. Phil Wheaton
Takoma Park, Maryland, USA
Episcopal priest
Committee of Indigenous Solidarity-Zapatistas of Washington, DC

Workers Vanguard Communities
SPAIN

Rev. Bill Wylie-Kellermann
Detroit, Michigan, USA
United Methodist pastor, writer
Seminary Consortium for Urban Pastoral Education

Father Francisco Xammar, S.J.Tarragona, SPAIN
Catholic priest;
International Christian Secretariate of Solidarity with the Peoples of Latin America (SICSAL)

Celeste Zappala
Philadelphia, Pa., USA
Mother of Sgt Sherwood Baker, killed in action in Iraq on April 26, 2004
Member, Gold Star Families
United Methodist

END

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UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/

March 19, 2008: the 5th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the beginning of the 6th year of war and occupation, the 6th year of senseless death and massive destruction.

United for Peace and Justice is calling for and supporting a set of activities on and around the 5th anniversary that will manifest the intensifying opposition to the war and help strengthen our movement. We invite you to work with us to ensure the success of these actions.

March 13-16, Winter Soldier Hearings:

March 19, Mass Nonviolent Direct Action in Washington, DC
March 19, Local Actions Throughout the Country

Help us make the 5th anniversary the LAST anniversary of this war! Get involved today!