DC Peace Center and AFSC Plans for Massive Peace March Sept 30
Washington Peace Center NEWS
For Immediate Release:
September 27, 2001
Contact:
Washington Peace Center: (202) 234-2000 www.washingtonpeacecenter.org
American Friends Service Committee, DC Office: (202) 265-7997
Community Activists Announce Plans for Massive Peace March, No War, on
Sunday, September 30
Activists Call for Justice, Not Revenge
Washington, DC, Sept. 27, 2001: In the midst of much saber-rattling, Washingtonians join the growing number of Americans across the U.S., calling for peace. A new alliance of local activists announced plans today for a massive peace march Sunday, September 30th. The group, convened by the Washington Peace Center and the DC office of the American Friends Service Committee, called for a nonviolent response to the tragic events of September 11th.
Activists echoed the growing international recognition, that
retaliation with violence to the September 11th terrorist attacks would not
bring the perpetrators to justice or prevent such tragedies in the future.
Instead it would kill thousands more innocent civilians, impose severe restrictions
on civil liberties, inflame anti-Arab and anti-Muslim discrimination in the
United States, and provoke further acts of terror.
Local activist Maria Ramos explained, "Too many innocent lives have been lost already. It's time for America to use its strength to end the cycle of violence, not perpetuate it.?
The Sunday march will assemble 11a.m. at Meridian Hill/Malcolm
X Park, located at 16th and Euclid Streets NW. Marchers will walk through
Dupont Circle to Sheridan Circle, where they will briefly join the continuing
vigil for Kurdish victims of oppression, the scene of a recent discriminatory
attack. The march will then return to Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park, where
it will end with a gathering to grieve for the victims of the attacks on the
World Trade Center and Pentagon. The event will conclude with a celebration
of the principles of peace, social and economic justice, protection of civil
liberties, and respect and dignity for all people.
Bringing to justice the people responsible for this attack will not be quick or dramatic,? Ramos, coordinator of the Washington Peace Center, concluded. ?But it is the only way to respond to this tragedy peacefully, rationally, and without the additional loss of many innocent lives -- American and others.?
News Conference Speakers, Sept. 27, 2001:
Maria Ramos, coordinator of the Washington Peace Center
Bette Hoover, coordinator of the American Friends Service Committee, DC Office
Reverend Graylan Hagler, pastor Plymouth Congregational UCC Church, DC
At the press conference, march sponsors announced the following points of unity:
COMMUNITY PEACE MARCH POINTS OF UNITY
We honor and mourn the victims of the September 11 attacks and victims of violence around the world
We condemn the actions that claimed thousands of lives in New
York, Washington, and Pennsylvania. As we mourn, we recognize that we do not
want the United States to pursue a policy that will kill more innocent people.
We believe that the best way to honor those lost to violence is to work for
peace and justice. From this position, we stand behind these points:
* We say NO to war
War and retribution will only perpetuate the spiral of violence and claim
more victims.
* We oppose racism in all its forms
We stand in support with Arab, Afghani, Muslim and South Asian communities.
* We seek to preserve and protect civil liberties
We oppose arbitrary detention and expulsion of immigrants and other threats
to civil liberties implicit in the government?s anti-terrorist agenda. We
defend our rights to free speech and assembly.
* We call for peace through justice
We can only find peace by promoting global economic and social justice. We
seek the force of law, not the law of force.
1801 Columbia Road NW · Washington, DC 20009 · (202)234-2000 · wpc@ipc.org