The Declaration of Peace

Rochester Democrat & Chronicle
Staff reports

March 22, 2007 9:54 am — The Rochester Student Peace Caucus is presenting Peace/Art/notWar on Saturday at St. Joseph’s House of Hospitality, 402 South Ave.

There’s a graffiti-painting workshop at 11 a.m., and at 3 p.m. participants will begin painting a peace mural. There also will be music and poetry readings until 10 p.m.

This event is completely student-organized. Sponsors include WA-WA (Wilson Anti-War Alliance), School Without Walls Students for Peace, PSPI (Parma Student Peace Initiative), Harley School People for Peace, RAW (Rochester Against War) Street Theatre, RAW Truth in Recruitment and Conscientious Objection and Rochester Declaration of Peace.

Call (585) 436-1786 for details.

Hundreds of Religious in Rochester Cooperate to Show Their Support for Ending the War in Iraq Now

East Avenue and Goodman Street, Rochester, NY, Sunday March 18, 2007— A number of Rochester area churches have ended Sunday religious services before noon today to allow their congregations to come to East Avenue and take a place in the Interfaith Vigil for Peace. These churches are joined by people of faith representing thirty Christian, Moslem, and Jewish organizations in and around Rochester.

John Keevert of First Unitarian Church in Rochester discussing the purpose of the vigil said, it “…aims to bring together and make visible the many voices calling for an end to the war and witnessing for another way.” Keevert, who is also an active member of Metro Justice went on to say that area churches, “…will end worship services…early, inviting members to see the vigil as a benediction to—and a part of—their worship experience. This minor disruption to our normal schedules will…put us in solidarity with the more significant and tragic ‘disruptions,’ losses and costs this war has inflicted on so many lives” in Iraq.

The Interfaith Peace Vigil caps off a weekend of anti-war and peace protests in Rochester, Washington, and around the nation marking the four year anniversary the U.S.’s invasion of Iraq. This Friday the AP reported that thousands of Christians gathered to pray for peace at the Washington National Cathedral and then marched to the White House where over 200 church people were arrested in acts of civil disobedience protesting the war in Iraq. A large group gathered at the Pentagon to oppose the continuation of the war an Saturday.

In Rochester on Friday, members of Pax Christi, Corpus Christi Church, Spiritus Christi Church, Rochester Friends Quaker Meeting, the Catholic Workers, and First Unitarian of Rochester took part in an act of civil disobedience at the Keating Federal Building on State Street. In opposition the Iraq war and any U.S. aggression against Iran, the protest group referring to themselves as the “War No More 12,” occupied the congressional and senate offices of Clinton, Schumer, and Slaughter. The group presented a list of demands including defunding the war in Iraq, funding the restoration of the Iraqi economy and proper care for our veterans. The groups occupying each office also read the names of the Iraq War dead in memoriam.

Co-sponsors of the Interfaith Peace Vigil include: Advocacy Committee of the Presbytery of Genesee Valley, Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Commission on Christian Jewish Relations, Commission on Christian Muslim Relations, Commission on Jewish Muslim Understanding, Rochester Declaration of Peace, Downtown United Presbyterian Church Justice Ministry, Episcopal Diocese of Rochester, Fellowship of Reconciliation , First Unitarian Church Peace Advocates, Genesee Valley Citizens for Peace, Geneseo Ecumenical Coalition for Peace, Greater Rochester Community of Churches, House of Mercy, Interfaith Impact of NYS, Lake Avenue Baptist Church Mission Ministry, Pax Christi, Peace Action and Education, Military Families Speak Out, Progressives in Action, Rochester Against War, Rochester Friends Meeting (Quakers), Rochester Sisters of Mercy, Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester, Sisters of St. Joseph, Spiritus Christi Church, The Interfaith Alliance of Rochester, and Women of Reform Judaism

ELEVEN OCCUPY FEDERAL BUILDING OFFICES IN ROCHESTER, NY MARCH 16TH

Rochester New York, Friday, March 16, 2007.
Keating Federal Building, State Street— Eleven people calling themselves the “War No More 11 ” occupied the offices of Senators Hillary Clinton, Charles Schumer, and Congressperson Louise Slaughter.

These groups now consider any further delay to ending the Iraq war unacceptable. One of the eleven, Eli Yewdall of the Catholic Workers, said prior to going into Slaughter’s office, “The Democrats plan for troops staying in Iraq an additional 18 months…[that] means at least another 1200 U.S. soldiers killed, and countless more terribly wounded. It means another 100,000 Iraqi war dead.”

The eleven are representative of over thirty secular and religious anti-war and peace organizations active in the Rochester area. The eleven are demanding that Clinton, Schumer, and Slaughter not allow U.S. military aggression on Iran, and that they fulfill their November election promise to bring the troops home from Iraq.

During the office occupations, the eleven delivered a list of demands previously ignored by the representatives. The eleven also read the names and ages of the war dead in memoriam. Demands delivered to the representatives today include that our government defund the war and occupation in Iraq, co-sponsor legislation calling for the safe and rapid withdrawal of all U. S. troops from Iraq, closure of all military bases in Iraq, establishment of a comprehensive plan for peace including an Iraqi-led peace process, return of the control of Iraqi economy to the Iraqis, and opposition to all plans to attack Iran.

The eleven took action locally in solidarity with hundreds of peace and antiwar groups who began occupying congressional offices across the nation, and took part in protests and non-violent civil disobedience in Washington on March 16-19 with groups organized by The Declaration of Peace, The Christian Witness for Peace, The Occupation Project, Voices for Creative Non-violence, United for Peace and Justice, and A.N.S.W.E.R. at the Pentagon, the White House and other locations in the nation’s capitol.

Discussing the occupation of Senator Clinton’s office before entering the Keating Federal Building Jan Bezila, local director of Pax Christi, said “If the Democratic leadership feels embarrassed by this interruption of business as usual, we feel that many Americans feel embarrassed and betrayed by congressional inaction on issues the Democrats were given a majority to attack assertively.”