The Occupation Project:
A Campaign of Sustained Nonviolent Civil Disobedience to End Iraq War Funding
What:
Rally/Press Conference
When:
12 noon on Thursday, February 8, 2007
Where:
Outside the Federal Building,
210 Walnut St., downtown Des Moines
Peace activists in Central Iowa announce their participation in a national campaign called “The Occupation Project: A Campaign of Sustained Nonviolent Civil Disobedience to End Iraq War Funding.”
Local participation in the Occupation Project will begin with a rally/press conference at noon on Thursday, February 8, outside the Federal Building downtown Des Moines. Each Thursday, then, for the next eight weeks activists will gather in Nollen Plaza, downtown Des Moines, from 11:30am to 1:00pm.
Organizers in Des Moines will encourage and aid and abet small affinity groups to make visits to members of congress to demand they vote against funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some of these visits may be unannounced and employ creative nonviolent means to communicate our position and visitors may choose not to leave offices until representatives agree to stop supporting these wars with funding.
Returns to the Des Moines offices of Senator Grassley and Rep. Boswell, where petitioners were arrested in September, will be made. Rep. Steve King’s office in Creston will be visited and possibly the local offices of other members of Iowa’s congressional delegation.
The Occupation Project is focusing upon the next supplemental spending request which President Bush will submit to Congress on or about February 5. It’s expected that this request will be for at least $99.7 billion, if not more. Congress already appropriated $70 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for this year. Therefore, if passed, total spending for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will be $170 billion for the current fiscal year.
“It takes anywhere from 1 to 3 years from the time funds are appropriated to the time when equipment and weapons are available in the field,” notes Neil Brideau of Voices for Creative Nonviolence. “Voting down the spending bill will not keep the troops from having armor or ammo or working machinery today or tomorrow. In fact giving the green light to war funding for up to the year 2010 means we are giving the green light to having troops in harms way in Iraq.”
The Occupation Project was initiated by Voices for Creative Nonviolence (www.vcnv.org), and is endorsed by several national organizations, including: CODEPINK (www.codepink4peace.org), Veterans for Peace (www.veteransforpeace.org), Declaration of Peace, and the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space.
Across the United States, social justice advocates will engage in local campaigns of sustained nonviolent civil disobedience at the offices of Representatives and Senators who do not publicly pledge to vote against additional funding for the war in and occupation of Iraq. The form of civil disobedience, its frequency and the focal points will be determined by local organizers of the campaign.
Local sponsors include Catholic Peace Ministry, the Iowa Peace Network and the Des Moines Catholic Worker.
Des Moines Contact:
Frank Cordaro
E-mail < frank.cordaro(at)gmail.com >
Phil Berrigan Catholic Worker House
713 Indiana Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50314
(515) 282-4781 cell (515) 490-2490
Jan. 26, 2007 9:52 AM
DM Occupation Project Planning Meeting to form affinity groups to plan direct action occupations for Iowa Congressional Offices
Where: Berrigan CW House , 713 Indiana Ave., DM IA
Date: Thursday, Feb 8
Time: 7:30 p.m.
As you may already know, in the beginning of February 2007, the White House will most likely submit a new supplemental spending bill to Congress, and Voices for Creative Nonviolence is launching the Occupation Project, a campaign of sustained nonviolent civil disobedience to end war funding
Got to : http://vcnv.org/project/the-occupation-project.
Local Des Moines participation in the Occupation Project begins with a rally/press conference at noon on Thursday, February 8, at 12:00 outside the Federal Building downtown Des Moines. Each Thursday, then, for the next eight weeks we will join with the faithful and persistent group who have held vigil for peace for the last several years in Nollen Plaza, downtown Des Moines, from 11:30am to 1:00pm.
Organizers in Des Moines will encourage to aid and abet small affinity groups to make visits to members of congress to demand they vote against funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some of these visits may be unannounced and employ creative nonviolent means to communicate our position and visitors may choose not to leave offices until representatives agree to stop supporting these wars with funding. Returns to the Des Moines offices of Senator Grassley and Rep. Boswell, visited in September with the Declaration of Peace, will be made. Senator Harkin’s position on funding will be looked into. Some friends in South West Iowa will want company when they go to visit Rep. Steve King’s office in Creston
If you are interested in joining an affinity group to visit and occupy an Iowa Congress persons office sometime during the 8 week period of the national Occupation Project, please join us at the Phil Berrigan Catholic Worker House Thursday night Feb 8th at 7:30 p.m.
If you have any questions, or you can not attend this planning meeting but want to keep informed of this effort please contact:
Brian Terrell, Catholic Peace Ministry,
terrellcpm@yahoo.com
(515) 255-8114
Frank Cordaro, DM Catholic Worker Community
Frank.cordaro@gmail.com
(515) 282-4781
For more info on the national campaign contact:
Voices for Creative Nonviolence
1249 W Argyle Street #2, Chicago, IL 60640
Phone: (773) 878-3815
E-mail: info@vcnv.org
web: www.vcnv.org