The Declaration of Peace

Iraq Health Now ~ Please donate now!

The Declaration of Peace is pleased to promote the work of Iraqi Health Now, an organization providing humanitarian aid and medical supplies to families in Basra, Iraq.

Your donations to Iraqi Health Now are now urgently needed!

DoP National Coordinating Body members Christine Glaser and Timothy Baer met with Iraqi Health Now coordinator Kathy Murphy at the UFPJ National Assembly in December 2008. A few days later, the DoP National Coordinating Body agreed to publicize and promote the work of Iraqi Health Now (IHN), as well as the work of Direct Aid Iraq, aiding Iraqi refugees in Jordan. We have the highest confidence in both of these aid organizations.

This month, March 2009, there is an urgent opportunity to help Iraqis in the Basra area.

Haider Alsaedy and William Murphy from IHN are about to go to Basra on March 16th to distribute the medical supplies and equipment in the last IHN container shipment. William will film and document the activities while there.

They will also be buying food while over there to give to needy families.

Two NGO’s, MercyCorps and Life for Relief and Development in Basra will be trained by Haider in how to use and help distribute 120 water purification units.

This has been very costly!

Please donate now to Iraqi Health Now so that they can do as much as possible on this trip.

Please write your check to:

Healing the Children (with Iraqi Health Now in the memo line)

And mail it to:

Iraqi Health Now

P.O. Box 161

Paw Paw, Michigan 49079

Your contributions to Iraqi Health Now will make it possible for them to continue their work, and to hopefully increase their aid shipments to Iraq.

Learn more about IHN at their website: http://iraqihealthnow.org And read about IHN and their recent work, below.

Iraqi Health Now is dedicated to providing humanitarian aid and medical supplies to families in Basra, Iraq. It is a special project of the non-profit organization, Healing the Children-Michigan/Ohio located in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

A Kalamazoo, Michigan resident named Haider Alsaedy made a trip home to Basra for the first time in 16 years in the spring of 2006. When he returned to Kalamazoo he starting looking for organizations that could help the people in his community that are suffering for many reasons. His nephew is Dr. Dhergam Moshen in the Basra Teaching Hospital. Dr. Moshen told Haider about some of the most urgently needed medical and humanitarian supplies.

Iraqi Health Now was then created in Kalamazoo and started to work with International Aid , a mission resource center in Spring Lake, Michigan. They had some of the medicines and medical supplies that we needed at a fraction of the cost. We purchased medical supplies from them such as needles, syringes, bandages, over the counter medicines, and prescription medicines and mailed over 3,500 pounds to the hospital in Basra, Iraq via DHL mail.

Some of those supplies were also donated to us by a local Kalamazoo hospital. The doctors in Basra always send us photos of our boxes arriving and of the contents being used. Haider Alsaedy has also visited the hospital since we have been sending supplies and filmed the doctors there talking about their needs.

In the spring of 2008 we shipped our first semi-sized (20’) shipping container full of supplies and equipment. We sent wheelchairs, crutches, clothing, medical supplies, and over a hundred walkers. Haider visited Basra last spring and was told by residents that their two biggest problems were lack of clean water and electricity.

At the same time International Aid (www.internationalaid.org) started to carry HydrAid™ BioSand Water Filters that provide clean and safe drinking water. We purchased 120 of these systems and on January 11, 2009, we sent our second container. This time it was 40’ long and contained the purifiers and over 180 walkers, crutches, wheelchairs, sweaters, blankets, and some donated medical supplies.

Haider Alsaedy and William O. Murphy will meet the container when it arrives and help to distribute the supplies and teach residents how to use and care for the purifiers as they were trained at International Aid.

On this trip we will be teaming with MercyCorps of Basra and Life for Relief and Development in Basra as they will be helping us to find locations for the water filters and helping us to distribute them. We are very excited about these new relationships.

Our project has received support from Michigan Senator Carl Levin. We have also received official documents from the doctors at the Humanitarian Support League for Cancer Diseases in Basra which is a registered NGO in Iraq. We were made aware of the high cancer rate there, especially among children, and the need for cancer medicines but as yet we haven’t had resources to help with that need.

It is our feeling that through people to people initiatives like Iraqi Health Now, donors can directly see the positive effects of their donations and the demonstrated goodwill between our countries. All donations are tax deductible and 100% of the donations will go to supplies that meet the urgent needs of the Iraqi people and for delivery of those supplies to Iraq.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

Thank you,

Kathy Murphy, Iraqi Health Now Coordinator

Phone: 269-599-2350

Email: iraqihealthnow@verizon.net

National Call to Action

March 2009 6th Anniversary Events and Mobilization

“End the U.S. Occupation! Peace for Iraq!”

During the days surrounding the 6th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq (March 19-20), opposition and nonviolent resistance to the U.S. occupation of Iraq will be manifested in events and actions across the country in clear repudiation of current U.S. policy in Iraq, and will hopefully reach huge levels of public participation.

The Declaration of Peace calls upon all local Peace groups and organizers to organize special events and nonviolent actions during the week of March 16th to the 21st, to demonstrate the will of the people and call upon the Congress and the Obama Administration to: “End the U.S. Occupation! Withdraw All Military Forces Now! Work for Peace for Iraq!”

Let us act together in solidarity with the millions of Iraqis whose lives have been so tragically changed since March 2003, and who continually call for an end to the U.S. occupation of their country.

There is no more appropriate time to remind the government of their responsibility to the Iraqi people and to bring U.S. soldiers home alive and intact, than on the anniversary of the devastating “Shock & Awe” assault on Iraq.

The people of Iraq — indeed, the people of the world — will be watching.

All eyes will be on the United States of America

• To see the level of support for Peace for Iraq.

• To see the level of opposition to the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

Let us design our events and actions as massive outpourings of goodwill and love for the people of Iraq and to clearly demonstrate our persistent opposition to the immoral military occupation of Iraq.

The Declaration of Peace joins with scores of other partners of the March 21st National Coalition in supporting and promoting a massive mobilization in the nation’s capital and March on the Pentagon on March 21, 2009 to insist upon a Real Change in U.S. foreign policy.

The March on the Pentagon will be a critical opportunity to have the new Administration in Washington hear the voice of the people demand an immediate end to wars and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to again act in a goodwill gesture of solidarity with the peoples of those nations.

Help organize and mobilize!

March 19th is less than six weeks away.

Be Creative in Your Organizing

The Declaration of Peace encourages the planning of unique events for March 2009.

May we suggest going beyond the norm in your organizing.

Consider organizing a:

• Benefit concert or program to raise funds for organizations that are providing direct aid to Iraqis. Help support Direct Aid Iraq and Iraqi Health Now. Raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis and the need to end the U.S. occupation.

• Congressional office sit-in or “occupation” to seek a commitment to de-fund the war.

• Public “Die-In” to dramatize the tragic impacts of war and occupation.

• Demonstration or nonviolent action at a military recruiting office or National Guard station to protest the recruiting of youth and the poor for wars of aggression.

• Demonstration or nonviolent action at the offices or facility of a weapons manufacturer to make the connections between corporate interests and the victims of war and occupation.

Invite Iraqis and veterans for Peace to speak at your event.

Invite your members of Congress and their staff to attend or participate in your event.

And don’t forget to do the all-important media work – to insure good public participation and great media coverage of your event.

What other creative ideas can you come up with?

Contact The Declaration of Peace to share your suggestions, and to get organizing tips, resources, and help with nonviolence training and media work. Write to:

Please post the announcement or press release for your event at The Declaration of Peace Events Calendar.

Why it is essential that we now all continue to work in unity for Peace for Iraq

President Obama has said that he will seek a drawdown of U.S. combat troops, but that he will still leave a “residual” force in Iraq, for “targeted counter-terrorism missions against al Qaeda in Iraq and to protect American diplomatic and civilian personnel.” These troops also will “continue efforts to train and support the Iraqi security force.”

Obama has declared no timeline for the withdrawal of these “residual” forces, which could amount to tens of thousands of military personnel.

Obama promised during his campaign to withdraw roughly one combat brigade a month for the first 16 months of his presidency, but, even that seems to be in question, since top commanders in Iraq propose a slower drawdown. The generals want to wait and not do a major drawdown until after the national elections in Iraq in early 2010.

The presence of U.S. troops, and of U.S.-funded contractors, has fueled an armed resistance, terrorism, and sectarianism in Iraq, and a prolonged occupation will continue to do so. A majority of Iraqis and a majority of the Iraqi Parliament are vehemently opposed to a continued occupation, under any name or justification. They demand a full withdrawal of all U.S. troops within a much shorter timeframe than considered by Obama or the U.S. generals. Militant resistance and insurgency against the occupation and its Iraqi allies, and the instability that results from the U.S. taking sides in favor of certain Iraqi groups and political agendas, will not end until the U.S. occupation ends.

We, as the Peace Movement in the U.S., should be listening to what a majority of Iraqis wants to see happen.

• We demand that President Obama fulfill his promise to really end the Iraq war and give Iraq back to Iraqis. This can only happen with complete withdrawal, according to a timetable set by Iraqis, not by U.S. generals. The withdrawal needs to include not just U.S. military personnel but, military contractors as well.

The U.S. media are not reporting much about Iraq any more, but, the suffering there goes on, even if the number of attacks on civilians are somewhat lower now. Still more Iraqis flee Iraq every day, than return to Iraq.

It is important for us in the Peace Movement to keep on pressuring Congress and the President to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

This is why we are coordinating local actions during the whole week of March 19th!

This is why we are mobilizing for the March 21st mass demonstration in D.C.!

As well, we demand that U.S. troops leaving Iraq not be redeployed to Afghanistan, but, be sent home to their families. There is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan either.

We, the People, Declare Peace!

Let’s work to make it so!

Join The Declaration of Peace on a

National Conference Call this evening, Thursday, January 29, 2009

8:00 to 9:15 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) to hear about planning and ideas for 6th Anniversary events and actions.

Phone number: 1-309-946-5000

Access Code: 12 13 14 15 #

Your input and involvement are needed in planning local events and actions (March 16 - 20) and in mobilizing for the March 21st March on the Pentagon to demonstrate the will of the people: “End the U.S. Occupation! Bring All Troops Home Now! Peace for Iraq!”

See more about the March 21st March in Washington, D.C. here.

We would like to hear from you about what you are planning in your community or city, or about your mobilizing efforts for the March 21st March on the Pentagon.

Do you have creative ideas for unique events? Please share your thoughts.

Even if you don’t have any plans yet … Please join the call to hear what others are doing — and be inspired!

March 19th is just seven weeks away.

We hope you can join us on this evening’s call!

Organizing Locally ~ Coordinating Nationally

The Declaration of Peace National Coordinating Body

On the Sixth Anniversary of the U.S. Invasion of Iraq …

Join us in local events across the nation and for a massive mobilization in the nation’s capital to demonstrate the will of the people:

“End the U.S. Occupation! Bring All the Troops Home Now! Peace for Iraq!”

Organizing has begun for nationwide nonviolent resistance to the war and occupation in Iraq during March 2009, the 6th anniversary of the awful “Shock & Awe” assault on Iraq.

Let us act together in solidarity with the millions of Iraqis whose lives have been so tragically changed since March 2003, and who continually call for an end to the U.S. occupation of their country.

The Declaration of Peace encourages all local Peace groups and organizers to start planning special events and actions during the week of March 16th to the 20th.

March 20th is just eight weeks away!

And then on March 21, 2009 …

Join us and thousands from across the country in Washington, D.C. for a massive outpouring of goodwill for the people of Iraq and to clearly demonstrate our persistent opposition to the immoral military occupation of Iraq.

March on the Pentagon for a Real Change in U.S. policy in Iraq!

Help organize and mobilize!

Your input and involvement are needed!

The Declaration of Peace has scheduled a

National Conference Call

Thursday, January 29, 2009

8:00 to 9:15 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time)

to hear your ideas and plans.

Phone number: 1-309-946-5000 Access Code: 12 13 14 15 #

Even if you haven’t started organizing and you don’t have any plans yet … Please join Thursday’s call to hear about other’s plans — and be inspired!

We hope you can join us on the call!

Organizing Locally ~ Coordinating Nationally

The Declaration of Peace National Coordinating Body

Now is the time for Real Change ~ Peace for Iraq!

Now is a time of transitions, a time of new beginnings, and a time of possibilities for real change.

However, we know that real change only comes as the people inform and pressure the government to do the right thing: Establish a Comprehensive Peace Plan for Iraq and withdraw ALL U.S. troops and mercenaries from Iraq.

The new Obama-Biden Administration must hear from the people now!

Learn what the Obama-Biden Administration has in mind to “end the war in Iraq.”

Then we encourage you to write to the Obama-Biden Transition Team to let the new President know that real change in Iraq is a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq (not just a drawdown of forces that will then be sent to Afghanistan).

Write to: http://change.gov/

The Declaration of Peace endorses the following events in Washington, D.C. and encourages your participation.

“Rebirthing King, Rebirthing America”

January 19, 2009 ~ 4:30 p.m.

All Souls Church, Unitarian

1500 Harvard Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.

In observance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday, please join members of the Olive Branch Interfaith Peace Partnership — in the Nation’s Capitol, on the day before the Presidential Inauguration — for an interfaith celebration and call to remember Dr. King’s vision: “Rebirthing King, Rebirthing America”

Organized by the Fellowship of Reconciliation, in partnership with members of more than a dozen other organizations.

For more information, including the list of speakers, organizing and participating organizations, and curricula materials on how to frame an event in the context of Dr. King’s vision of building the Beloved Community and ending militarism, racism, and materialism - visit: http://www.olivebranchinterfaith.org

Inauguration Action Center

McPherson Square, Washington D.C.

On January 20th, there will be a Peace Presence in Washington, D.C. as the Inauguration of Barack Obama takes place. Congress and the new Administration must hear from the people about the continuing need to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

Reaching out to the more than two million people expected in D.C. - with new ideas for the direction of this country and ways that they can get involved, Peace Action, Amnesty International, the Washington Peace Center, and many other progressive groups have organized an all-day Inauguration Action Center.

Meet at McPherson Square, 15th Street NW (between K and I Streets) anytime on January 20th.

Heated tents, lots of information, and literature on ways to get involved and make the real change we want to see will be provided.

Signs calling for Peace and expressing our hopes for the future will be available. Come pick up a sign and proclaim the message!

Volunteers are needed to be part of street teams to hand out signs and flyers to ensure that the Inauguration crowds leave inspired and with the resources they need to get involved.

E-mail the Washington Peace Center: or call (202)234-2000. Or e-mail Seth Long at Peace Action:

Organizing for March 2009

Organizing is beginning for nationwide nonviolent resistance to the war and occupation in Iraq during March 2009, the 6th anniversary of the U.S. invasion.

Local actions will take place nationwide on or around March 19th and a mass mobilization to Washington, D.C. will happen on March 21st!

Help organize and mobilize!

Your input and involvement is needed!

The Declaration of Peace has scheduled a National Conference Call on Thursday, January 29, 2009 ~ 8:00 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) to hear your ideas and plans.

We hope you can join us on the call! More details forthcoming.

Aid for Iraqis ~ Your support is needed

The Declaration of Peace is partnering with two organizations providing desperately needed medical aid and materials to Iraqis: Direct Aid Iraq and Iraqi Health Now.

Help support their work with your donation now!

MARCH OF THE DEAD TO GREET CONGRESS ON TUESDAY

For Immediate Release

Contact: David Swanson 202-329-7847; Laurie Arbeiter 917-915-6115; Peter Cobb 415-686-1096

WHAT: A long column of figures dressed all in black with white death masks and bearing the names of those killed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine. The march will be followed by a dramatic nonviolent action intended to awaken Congress to the need to end the wars.

WHEN: March from noon to 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009. Additional dramatic action 2:15 p.m.

WHERE: The march will approach the U.S. Capitol on Pennsylvania Ave. SE and turn north on 1st Street to pass between the Capitol and the Supreme Court, turn west on Constitution Ave. to pass the Senate office buildings, turn south to pass the west front of the Capitol, and turn east on Independence Ave. to pass the House office buildings. Members of the media wanting to cover the additional nonviolent action should meet representatives of the March of the Dead in front of the Supreme Court at 2 p.m.

WHY: “We will be conducting the March of the Dead as the 111th Congress is being sworn in,” said Laurie Arbeiter of the Activist Response Team, creators of the march. “We demand that this Congress end the terror of war, get out of Iraq and Afghanistan, stay out of Iran, Pakistan, and Syria and stop all support of Israeli foreign and military policy that results in massacres like the current one in Gaza.”

“The power to begin and end wars rests with Congress,” said David Swanson of AfterDowningStreet.org, “and the responsibility of Congress is to represent the American people. We have now for the second time elected a Congress to end the occupation of Iraq, and this time we will insist that it be ended. A treaty unratified by the Senate cannot legalize three more years of war. And the human impact of long-distance slaughter cannot be kept from the eyes of Congress members if we make up our minds that they will see it.”

To all those who will be participating in the March of the Dead the following are the logistics for the day:

1. We are asking people to wear all black/or dark colors including hats or shawls. Please no buttons, signs or other affiliations since we want a stark and clear emphasis only on the names we will be carrying. We will provide the death masks and handwritten signs which will be worn around your neck.

2. We will be meeting at 11:00 a.m. on the House of Representatives side of the Capitol at Cosi at 301 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, in the upstairs dining room. The closest Metro stop is Capitol South.

3. We will begin the procession from there at around 11:45 a.m. and walk single file in silence, following all traffic regulations as we proceed toward the Capitol. We will walk past the Supreme Court toward the Senate side of the Capitol. We will continue down Constitution Ave NW passing the Senate office buildings. We will then cross back to the House side of the Capitol and proceed up Independence Ave, passing the House office buildings to complete our loop of the Capitol. Click here for map.

4. We will be conducting the March of the Dead during the time that the 111th Congress will be sworn in. We will take a break at around 1:00 p.m. until 2:15 p.m. after which we will ask people to join us again in a nearby indoor location to be determined for a reading of the names. Please plan to stay on for this part of the day because we will be sending a very important message to Congress by our presence at this time. We need everyone to participate.

Thank you to all who will participate. Each of you contribute to the collective power of the March of the Dead. We will dedicate it to the memory of all those who senselessly lose their lives because of the shameful and calculated acts of those who abuse power. They must be held accountable so that justice will be served and the killing will stop.

David Swanson is the author of the upcoming book “Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union” by Seven Stories Press and of the introduction to “The 35 Articles of Impeachment and the Case for Prosecuting George W. Bush” published by Feral House and available at Amazon.com. Swanson holds a master’s degree in philosophy from the University of Virginia. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and as a communications director, with jobs including press secretary for Dennis Kucinich’s 2004 presidential campaign, media coordinator for the International Labor Communications Association, and three years as communications coordinator for ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Swanson is Co-Founder of AfterDowningStreet.org, creator of ConvictBushCheney.org and Washington Director of Democrats.com, a board member of Progressive Democrats of America, the Backbone Campaign, and Voters for Peace, a member of the legislative working group of United for Peace and Justice, and convener of the accountability and prosecution working group of United for Peace and Justice.

To receive updates from After Downing Street register at http://afterdowningstreet.org/user/register

Happy New Year from The Declaration of Peace!

We pray for Peace in Iraq, Gaza, and Afghanistan, and in and among all lives. Let us all recommit to work together for Peace in 2009.

The March of the Dead

The Declaration of Peace endorses and encourages your participation in a dramatic nonviolent action as the U.S. Congress convenes in Washington, D.C., next Tuesday.

To make apparent the true nature and impact of war and military occupation, The March of the Dead will proceed silently across D.C. to the halls of Congress on January 6, 2009.

The March of the Dead is organized by the Activist Response Team.

See photos and an account from the March 19, 2008 March of the Dead at The Critical Voice website.

Read the March of the Dead announcement from the Activist Response Team below, and contact Laurie for more specifics on the action:

As you can see we are organizing for the opening of the 111th Congress. We think this will be a very celebrated moment, with lots of national, foreign and local media present that day. We think it is crucial that we be there too, in order to offer an image and message of the stark reality of the consequences of two brutal occupations and the destruction that further escalation will cause.

The more people we can encourage to participate, the more powerful will be THE MARCH OF THE DEAD.

Please join us if you can, and pass this on to others.

If you or anyone has questions please call me at (917) 915-6115 and I would be glad to talk. Hope all is well with you as the year comes to an end and in the new year. Best, Laurie

JANUARY 6th, 2009

Opening of the 111th CONGRESS

WASHINGTON, D.C.

THE MARCH OF THE DEAD WILL BE THERE

We carry the names of those killed during the illegal U.S. invasions and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

To demand that this Congress END THE TERROR OF WAR!

Get Out of Iraq, Get Out of Afghanistan, Stay Out of Iran, Pakistan, Syria …

We need you to take part in THE MARCH OF THE DEAD.

Make it a presence on Capitol Hill that can’t be ignored!

contact: A.R.T.(activist response team) at for more details.

THIS is a VERY IMPORTANT MOMENT

Set the Stage ~ Demand the Change We Want!