P E A C E D E M A N D S A C T I O N — P E A C E A C T I O N N E W Y O R K S T A T E W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1 PEACE NEWS The latest news from Peace Action New York State
Sally Jones, PAFNYS Board Chair (fourth from left) marshalled a Protect the Results march on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, November 6, 2020. Protect the Results, a nationwide coalition of activist groups, began organizing in late 2020 to mobilize quickly against Trump's anticipated claims of voter fraud.
IN THIS ISSUE Peace Voter 2020 The PANYS team began 2020 anticipating that the election would be a central focus this year. What we couldn't PEACE VOTER 2020 anticipate is that this would be an election year like no one had ever experienced. The COVID-19 pandemic made us all rethink not just how we organize, but also how we vote, and SPOTLIGHT ON most importantly, how we get out the vote. STUDENT ORGANIZERS Luckily, our staff, members, and supporters rose to the TPNW ENTERS INTO FORCE challenge. A two-fold increase in funding for our 501(c)(4) entity in 2020, together with a grant from Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives to support a Long Island #STILLHERE: THE 75TH Organizer position, meant that we could expand our Peace ANNIVERSARY OF THE BOMB Voter program, as well as bring on a dedicated Peace Voter intern to support the program.
Together with national Peace Action and with input from local PANYS members, PANYS conducted candidate surveys to gauge where the candidates stand on peace issues, ultimately endorsing 6 NY congressional candidates in the primaries and 9 in the November general election. PANYS held two virtual "Meet the Candidates" nights in collaboration with national Peace Action: one with Nancy Goroff (who ran in NY-1) and one with Dana Balter (who ran in NY-24). 2020 PANYS-ENDORSED CANDIDATES Of the 9 general election candidates endorsed by PANYS, 6 NANCY GOROFF (NY-1) won their elections: Hakeem Jeffries (NY-8), Adriano Espaillat HAKEEM JEFFRIES (NY-8) (NY-13), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Mondaire Jones (NY-17), and Paul Tonko (NY-20). ADRIANO ESPAILLAT (NY-13) Unfortunately, Nancy Goroff (NY-1), Dana Balter (NY-24), and ALEXANDRIA OCASIO CORTEZ (NY-14) Nate McMurray (NY-27) did not win their races. JAMAAL BOWMAN (NY-16) MONDAIRE JONES (NY-17) PANYS was also able to ramp up our voter outreach and PAUL TONKO (NY-20) education efforts. The team stayed up-to-date on changing DANA BALTER (NY-24) voting procedures and worked hard to keep our members NATE MCMURRAY (NY-27) informed via panys.org, social media, and frequent e-alerts.
PEACE ACTION NEW YORK STATE / CHURCH STREET STATION, PO BOX 3357 NEW YORK, NY 10008 / PANYS.ORG P E A C E D E M A N D S A C T I O N — P E A C E A C T I O N N E W Y O R K S T A T E W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1
The TPNW Enters into Force The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) enters into force on January 22, 2021, making nuclear weapons illegal under international law. The TPNW outlaws the development, manufacture, testing, possession, transfer, acquisition, stockpiling, use, threat of use, control, receipt, stationing, or deployment of nuclear weapons. As of November 1, 2020, 84 nations have signed the TPNW, well above the 50 ratifications required for the treaty to enter into force. Unfortunately, none of the nuclear powers (USA, Russia, England, France, China, Israel, India, Pakistan, North Korea) have signed on, nor have any “umbrella states” (countries protected by agreements with the nuclear powers.)
The TPNW will put nuclear weapons in the same category of illegal weapons as land mines, cluster munitions, chemical and biological weapons, and poison gas. While the TPNW cannot legally compel nuclear and umbrella states to follow the terms of the treaty, the TPNW’s entry into force will pressure umbrella states with US/NATO nuclear Roses to Missions weapons deployed on their soil (such as Germany, Belgium, In New York City, volunteer members of Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey) to reconsider their Peace Action NYS, Hibakusha Stories, responsibilities under the Treaty. ICAN (recipient of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize), Manhattan Project for a Nuclear- Five of the nuclear weapons states (US, England, France, Free World, and other organizations in China, Russia) have been obligated since 1970 under the the New York area will celebrate the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) TPNW entering into force by delivering to pursue disarmament “in good faith” and “at an early roses and thank-you notes during the date.” The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is week of January 18th to the Permanent an expression of the impatience of non-nuclear states with Missions to the United Nations of the 51 state parties that ratified the Treaty. the failure of NPT states to meet their obligation to disarm.
Spotlight on Campus Organizers
The Peace Action Fund of New York State Campus Organizing program continues to flourish, even in the face of the unique challenges presented over the past year. The Fall 2020 semester’s Campus Organizing plan was fully remote, requiring that students hold regular virtual meetings with their chapter, participate in bi-weekly check-in calls with PAFNYS staff, participate in monthly student network-wide Zoom calls, hold at least 1 webinar on a topic of their choice, and attend at least 2 other student organizer webinars. Fall 2020 campus organizers held webinars on many topics, including youth organizing, data privacy, the math behind voting, a know-your-rights workshop, the Love Canal movement, forced sterilization and immigration, and a discussion of activism and organizing with an Amnesty International Field Organizer.
This was a challenging year for college students across New York as campuses adapted their classrooms, housing, and policies to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. We are incredibly proud of our campus organizers for overcoming every challenge this year presented, and we continue to draw inspiration from their work and unwavering commitment to peace, equality, and social justice.
To learn more and support the PAFNYS Campus Organizer program, please visit panys.org. 2 P E A C E D E M A N D S A C T I O N — P E A C E A C T I O N N E W Y O R K S T A T E W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1
Asia-Pacific Region Nuclear Weapons PANYS has been participating in a US-Asia We are engaged in campaigns focusing on all Pacific Working Group—initiated by Joseph aspects of denuclearization at the local and national level. We are part of the Back from the Gerson of the Campaign for Peace, Brink Campaign (preventnuclearwar.org) and Disarmament, and Common Security supportive of the ICAN Cities Appeal. We are (CPDCS)—to strategize best ways to push supportive of federal legislation to limit the First back against the ratcheting up of tensions Use of nuclear weapons, oppose spending on between the US and China, and more nuclear modernization, and commit the United broadly, the Asia-Pacific region. This group is States to the nuclear treaties we have signed planning a series of webinars starting in onto, as well as ones we have withdrawn from January 2021 to give context to the current under the Trump Administration. We will work to make sure President Biden re-enters the Iran tensions and “New Cold War” rhetoric, and to nuclear agreement, and we will pressure him to discuss ways we can take action. adopt a No-First-Use nuclear policy. The NPT Review Conference is scheduled to take place in August 2021, and we will be involved in local and international events taking place around the NPT Review. We are also supportive of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), North Korea which officially enters into force on January Peace Action New York State is part of the 22nd. More information on the TPNW entering Korea Peace Now network, calling for peace into force can be found on page 2. on the Korean peninsula and a diplomatic solution to the tensions between the US and DPRK. We have spent much of the past 2 years working to gain more New York co- Yemen sponsors on H.Res.152, which calls for a Peace Action New York State, along with 100+ formal end to the Korean War. We expect groups across the US and UK, participated in this bill to be re-introduced under the new January 25th’s International Day of Action on Congress and will continue to advocate for a Yemen. We partnered with Action Corps NYC, formal end to the Korean war. We are the Yemeni Alliance Committee, DSA’s Anti-War continuing to engage in NY/NJ Korea Peace Working Group, War Resisters League and Now calls and National Korea Peace Network others to plan an event outside of Representative Gregory Meeks’ Jamaica, Queens office, asking calls to figure out how to best advocate at for his support to end the US war on Yemen. We this time, and to figure out how our strategy hope that President Biden will make ending US might change under a new Administration. involvement in Yemen an urgent priority.
Pentagon Spending PANYS is part of the Move the Money NYC Campaign that is pushing for Resolution 747-A—which calls attention to the bloated Pentagon budget—to be passed by the NYC City Council. Last October, there was a Move the Money virtual town hall that featured speeches from Representative Barbara Lee, New York City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, and representatives of the National Priorities Project, 1199SEIU, New York State Nurses Association, the Move the Money Coalition, and CODEPINK. Amidst the pandemic, we have been highlighting the need for "Healthcare not Warfare," emphasizing the need for us to invest in things that really do keep us healthy and safe, instead of more weapons for war and destruction. We will continue to put pressure on our elected officials to cut the Pentagon budget and use that money for COVID-19 relief and other important and urgent domestic funding priorities. 3 P E A C E D E M A N D S A C T I O N — P E A C E A C T I O N N E W Y O R K S T A T E W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1
Still Here: Hiroshima and Nagasaki Commemorating the 75th anniversary From August 5th – 9th, 2020, Peace Action New York State, our affiliates, and our allies hosted a series of events commemorating the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. PANYS partnered with the #StillHere coalition, a coalition of anti-nuclear activists representing a variety of organizations nationwide, to promote these events to a broader audience. To learn more about the #StillHere coalition, visit hiroshimanagasaki75.org.
Emily Rubino, Director of Policy The International Peace Bureau The Western New York Peace and Outreach at PANYS, (IPB) Youth Network held a Center, Indigenous Women’s participated in a commemoration Webinar on Civil Disobedience Initiatives, Nekanesakt, and event hosted by the Unitarian Against State Sanctioned PANYS held a press conference Universalist Congregation at Violence and Police Brutality at the Buffalo History Museum Shelter Rock, Long Island Alliance exploring direct action, civil pressing for a nuclear free for Peaceful Alternatives, Peace disobedience, and violence in future and full sovereignty and Action New York State, and the context of a range of current reparations for Indigenous Willow Interfaith Women’s Choir. and longstanding protests. Peoples.
Genesee Valley Citizens for Upper Hudson Peace Action On August 8th and 9th, Peace Peace (GVCP) held their annual hosted a virtual dialogue on Action of Staten Island and the Hiroshima/Nagasaki Candlelight Facebook, including excerpts of Unitarian Church of Staten Vigil on August 5th, 2020. John Hersey’s Hiroshima, along Island hosted an outdoor exhibit (Photo: Ben Beagle, Livingston with speeches related to the and virtual exhibit of A-Bomb County News.) bombing, first account photos from Japan, followed by testimonials, videos, and pertinent readings. photographs.
Veterans for Peace-Chapter 34 (NYC), Granny Peace Brigade, Hibakusha Stories/Youth Arts New York, NYC Metro Raging Grannies, NYC War Resisters League, Pax Christi Metro New York, Peace Action Fund of New York State, The Ribbon International, Green Party of New York County, Shut Down Indian Point Now, and Manhattan Project for a Nuclear-Free World sponsored a global online peace gathering.
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