The Declaration of Peace is a pledge to take nonviolent steps for the immediate withdrawal of US troops – and to engage in peaceful protest if a comprehensive plan to end the war is not established and begun by September 21, 2006, International Peace Day, just days before Congress adjourns for the fall elections. Between now and September we will:
- Call on the Bush administration and Congress to end the war. As part of this, we will call on and visit members of Congress and all candidates in the fall elections to “declare peace” by publicly pledging to support and vote for legislation that brings the troops home and cuts off funding for the war;
- Participate in activities leading up to September 21, including marches, vigils, and nationally coordinated phone-ins and email campaigns;
- Prepare for September by participating in public Declaration signings, organizing Declaration-inspired events, and attending nonviolence trainings that will be scheduled across the United States.
If the September 21 deadline is not met, Declaration signers will engage in peaceful action in Washington, DC and at Congressional offices and other sites throughout the nation from September 21-28. These activities will include marches, rallies, vigils, demonstrations and other creative expressions “declaring peace.” In the spirit of Mohandas Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, some signers will be led by conscience to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience and risk arrest as a way to signify their principled opposition to the US war in Iraq. Nationally coordinated nonviolent activities will continue on a regular basis until the United States withdraws from Iraq.
