La’Onf participants hung posters in public areas, schools and government service and administrative offices. They also met with 40 organizations from Iraqi civil society.
Nonviolent Resistance
Report on LaOnf #1: The Week of Nonviolence has begun in Iraq
“We can create a way for all opinions to be expressed; all parties and all people can participate in the elections, if we work to make them truly democratic. So do not choose violence because you think that your opinions are not being represented.”
13 Arrested at Fort McCoy for Opposing Iraq War
August 10, 2008
August 9 was a day of preparation for Witness Against War. Preparation for the act of nonviolent civil resistance to take place the following day.
We gathered at the Lafayette Town Hall just north of Sparta. Our host’s family goes back 7 generations on this land. His aunt and uncle donated the property on which the town hall now sits.
Commemorating the White Rose: Resisting the Iraq War
February 24, 2008
We Will Not Be Silent (photo: Suzanne Sheridan): Chris Spicer, a Jesuit, and Abby Strozinski, student at Loyola University Chicago, in Representative Emanuel’s office.65 years ago, on February 22, 1943, the Nazi regime executed three German students because of their active resistance to the regime’s murderous global and domestic agenda. Known as the White Rose, nearly all participants were students. 29 members were indicted for promoting opposition to the holocaust and to World War II.
Here in Chicago, several dozen people gathered in early February to watch “Sophie Scholl: The Final Days,” a film about the White Rose movement which focuses upon the experience of Sophie, and to think about our responsibilities, today, to confront Congressional Representatives and Senators in the U.S. who fund and prolong the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Seventeen people agreed to commemorate the 29 indicted White Rose activists by delivering white roses to people working in Representative Rahm Emanuel’s office. Rahm Emanuel is Chair of the House Democratic Caucus and consistently votes to fund the war in Iraq. We hoped that staffers would receive the roses and also engage with us in a conversation about Representative Emanuel’s position regarding the war in Iraq.
Commemorating the White Rose (photo: Laurie Hasbrook): We remember the 29 individuals indicted by the German government for participation in the White Rose resistance effort during World War II. Five were executed and most of the rest sentenced to lengthen prison terms.
Recap of 2007 Nonviolent Civil Resistance Actions
Download here (it is a 4 mb file) the current issue of the Nuclear Resister that chronicles the widening and deepening campaigns of nonviolent civil resistance to end the Iraq war; to end the use of torture by the U.S. and the role played by such facilities as School of the Americas, Fort Huachuca and Guantanamo; to blockade weapons shipments at ports; and to challenge military recruitment.
The Nuclear Resister is the most comprehensive chronicle of nonviolent civil resistance published in the United States, with prior issues still available.
An afternoon at Giuliani’s Campaign Headquarters and a night in the Polk County Jail
by Joy First
November 13, 2007
The Planning
I drove from my home in Madison to Des Moines Iowa on Wednesday November 7, 2007 to participate in the kickoff of Seasons of Discontent: a Presidential Occupation Project (SODaPOP), organized by Voices for Creative Nonviolence and the Catholic Worker Community in Des Moines. SODaPOP is a campaign to use civil resistance, occupying the campaign headquarters of presidential candidates who will not commit to concrete plans to bring an immediate end to the war and occupation of Iraq. SODaPOP started in Iowa because it is the first state to begin the process of determining who our presidential candidates will be during the January caucuses. All the candidates currently have active campaigns in Iowa, and the media is closely watching what is happening.
Seven Peace Activists Arrested in Madison, WI in front of Senator Herb Kohl’s Office in Occupation Project Action
See also: The Capital Times article, 7 war protesters arrested
By Joy First
Sept 7, 2007
On September 7, 2007, seven peace activists were arrested in Madison as they blocked the sidewalk with crime scene tape in front of Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl’s office. The seven arrested were Cassandra Dixon, Flo Evans, Joy First, Jamie Haack, Janet Parker, Karin Sandvik, and Susan Spahn. This was the first arrest for nonviolent civil resistance for Flo Evans, Jamie Haack, and Karin Sandvik.
Chicago -- 3 Arrests at Senator Durbin's Office
August 21, 2007
Three social justice advocates with the “Occupation Project” visited Senator Durbin’s Chicago office seeking his pledge to vote against any additional Iraq war funding beyond that required for the immediate and safe withdrawal of U.S. troops. They were arrested by federal authorities and charged with causing a disturbance.
“As a minister, I believe that we have a moral imperative to end our country’s occupation of Iraq,” says Le Anne Clausen, a seminarian at Chicago Theological Seminary. “I was a human rights worker in Iraq, investigating U.S. abuse of Iraqi prisoners during the first year of the occupation, including abuse at Abu Ghraib. It is our actions that did the most to put us in this terrible mess, and we have no hope of the situation healing until we leave Iraq.”
Break Time Is Over: Building Nonviolent Resistance to the 2008 Iraq War Supplemental
June 18, 2007
On August 6, Congress begins its month long recess. August 6 also marks the start of Year 62 After Hiroshima-when the U.S. initiated its nuclear first strike policy against the people of Hiroshima. And it marks Year 17 After Iraq Sanctions, when the brutal economic sanctions regime against Iraq was first imposed by the international community.
On August 6, the Occupation Project will launch a reinvigorated campaign of sustained nonviolent civil disobedience / civil resistance to end Iraq war funding. Office occupations-both legal and extralegal-will commence at the offices of Representatives and Senators who refuse to publicly pledge to vote against any additional funding of the Iraq war. Occupations will continue at least through the end of September. The Occupation Project will work in conjunction with campaigns organized by Declaration of Peace, National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance, CODEPINK, Veterans for Peace, Grassroots America for Us and others.
“For the Love of Peace” - A Fast to End Military and Economic Warfare in Iraq: April 9 to April 30
April 9, 2007
Public presence in Chicago’s Federal Building Plaza begins April 12th, 2007
On April 9, Voices for Creative Nonviolence activists will begin “For the Love of Peace: A Fast to End Military and Economic Warfare in Iraq”. This is a 21 day liquids only fast in Chicago that includes a daily vigil outside the federal building which houses the offices of Senators Durbin and Obama as well as the Internal Revenue Service. During our public vigil, we hope to engage in discussions with passersby and encourage them to visit the offices of Senators Obama and Durbin to insist that they stop funding war in Iraq.
The fast is a continuation of the larger campaign, “The Occupation Project,” which seeks to end funding for war in Iraq.
On April 16 and 17, we call for nonviolent civil disobedience and occupations of the offices of Representatives and Senators who continue to support funding for the war in Iraq.
