July 15th, 2008

From the RPEC mailing list:

Rally for Peace: End the Occupation of Iraq, Say No to War Against Iran

The Church of the Brethren Witness/Washington Office (BWWO) will be leading a public rally for nonviolence at the 2008 Richmond Annual Conference in Richmond, VA, July 15. The Tuesday afternoon event will call for an end to the violence of all current wars and focus on the need for direct conversation and mediation with Iran.

The event will begin at the 5th Street entrance to the Richmond Coliseum at 4:40 p.m. with a march up 5th to Broad Street, then east on Broad to City Hall between 9th and 10th streets, where there will be a rally. The event will conclude by 6 p.m. Organizers invite Brethren and Richmond area peacemakers to join in this time of witness for peace.

In organizing this event Phil Jones, director of the BWWO, hopes Brethren can "once again give faithful witness to who we are as a peace church and work in faithful partnership with area peacemakers toward the common goal of justice and equality, something that can never be achieved through the violence of war."

The rally was arranged with help from Adria Scharf of the Richmond Peace Education Center and Phil Wilayto of the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality.

Even though it's short notice, I'm going to try to make this action; let me know if you're going!

Also, the Defenders are planning another antiwar action:

The protest will start at noon on Saturday, Aug. 2, outside Gate 5 of the Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base, corner of Shore Drive and Independence Blvd. in Virginia Beach. The demands are "No War on Iran - U.S. Out of Iraq - Money for Human Needs, not War!" The protest is being called by the Hampton Roads Peace & Justice Coalition and Norfolk-area members of Veterans for Peace. For more information, contact the Hampton Roads Peace & Justice Coalition at (757) 470-9797. This protest will be one of more than 50 around the country being held in response to a call by StopWarOnIran.org, which is affiliated with the Troops Out Now Coalition.

And more actions in the central Virginia region:

In addition, United for Peace & Justice is also calling for protests against an attack on Iran, to take place on Saturday, July 19. We are also calling for support for these actions (there will be one in Charlottesville, at least), but we thought one week was too soon to get something together here in Richmond. Instead, RVA4Peace will initiate a call for a Richmond protest outside the offices of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, which has been running increasingly incendiary stories and headlines about what it it projecting as a near certain war with (not on) Iran. That protest will take place at 1 p.m., Saturday, July 26, 300 E. Franklin St., downtown Richmond. We will project that effort in solidarity with both the UFPJ and StopWarOnIran.org actions, and will use it to try and build momentum for the Aug. 2 protest.

Libertarians are crucial allies in the antiwar movement and the Richmond Left Libertarian Alliance heartily endorses these actions. It's not enough to make principled, logical, abstract arguments against war - it's time to put our bodies on the line. By standing in solidarity with our friends on the left, we help build the kind of coalition that can change things in this country. Do your part to help bridge the libertarian / left gap and show that war is a priority for the radical libertarian movement in Richmond!