MASS MOBILIZATION IN WASHINGTON TO OPPOSE NATO, WAR AND RACISM

The following call for a mass mobilization against the upcoming NATO summit in Washington, DC, has been issued by the Administrative Committee of the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC), a broad-based coalition of movements and organizations in the United States but also Canada, such as the Canadian Peace Congress. UNAC is organizing for a massive protest at  1 pm, Saturday, March 30, with additional actions leading up to April 4 at the opening of the NATO meeting.

April 4, 2019, will mark the 51st anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., the internationally revered leader in struggles against racism, poverty and war.

And yet, in a grotesque desecration of Rev. King’s lifelong dedication to peace, this is the date that the military leaders of the North American Treaty Organization have chosen to celebrate NATO’s 70th anniversary by holding its annual summit meeting in Washington, D.C. This is a deliberate insult to Rev. King and a clear message that Black lives and the lives of non-European humanity really do not matter.

It was exactly one year before he was murdered that Rev. King gave his famous speech opposing the U.S. war in Vietnam, calling the U.S. government “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world” and declaring that he could not be silent.

We cannot be silent either. Since its founding, the U.S.-led NATO has been the world’s deadliest military alliance, causing untold suffering and devastation throughout Northern Africa, the Middle East and beyond.

Hundreds of thousands have died in U.S./NATO wars in Iraq, Libya, Somalia and Yugoslavia. Millions of refugees are now risking their lives trying to escape the carnage that these wars have brought to their homelands, while workers in the 29 NATO member-countries are told they must abandon hard-won social programs in order to meet U.S. demands for even more military spending.

Every year when NATO holds its summits, there have been massive protests: in Chicago, Wales, Warsaw, Brussels. 2019 will be no exception.

The United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) is calling for a mass mobilization in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, March 30.  Additional actions will take place on April 4 at the opening of the NATO meeting.

We invite you to join with us in this effort. As Rev. King taught us, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

No to NATO! End All U.S. Wars at Home and Abroad! Bring the Troops Home Now! No to Racism!

(To add endorsements to this call, please visit www.no2nato2019.org/endorse-the-action.html)

 

World Peace Council to hold anti-NATO Conference in DC
As part of the mass mobilizations against the NATO summit which starts on April 4, the World Peace Council has announced plans for an anti-NATO Conference in Washington. The Conference will take place on Sunday, March 31, 3-7 pm, as the St. Stephen Episcopal Church, on Newton Street in the US capitol.
A statement from the World Peace Council says, “NATO, the biggest war machinery in human history is ‘celebrating’ its 70th anniversary with a summit in Washington D.C., on April 4, 2019.   The WPC opposed NATO from its founding days as the armed wing of imperialism. The history of NATO, which is full of crimes, wars and aggression, proves us right.”
The World Peace Council endorses the actions planned by the United National Anti-War Coalition (UNAC), the US Peace Council (USPC) and numerous other peace organizations in the US for the March 30 National Mass Mobilization and Rally at Lafayette Park (across from the White House). Also, the WPC is urging its own affiliates and friends to organize protests, rallies and other events in as many countries as possible, underlining their opposition to NATO, which is the enemy of peace and of the peoples.