November, 11 2014, 01:00pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Michael T. McPhearson, Veterans For Peace Interim Executive Director, 314-725-6005, mcphearson@veteransforpeace.org
Veterans Plan Armistice Day Events in Cities Across the U.S. and in the U.K.
St. Louis, MO. Veterans For Peace chapters across the United States and in the United Kingdom are gathering to celebrate the original Armistice Day. Fighting ceased in the "war to end all wars" on the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, ending World War I. The horror and senselessness of the Great War pushed the world to come together in realization that war is so horrible, we must end it now.
St. Louis, MO
St. Louis, MO. Veterans For Peace chapters across the United States and in the United Kingdom are gathering to celebrate the original Armistice Day. Fighting ceased in the "war to end all wars" on the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, ending World War I. The horror and senselessness of the Great War pushed the world to come together in realization that war is so horrible, we must end it now.
Never before had people witnessed such industrialized slaughter. Congress responded to a universal hope among Americans for no more wars by passing a resolution calling for "exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding ... inviting the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples." Later, Congress added that November 11th was to be "a day dedicated to the cause of world peace." On June 1, 1954, Congress changed the name of Armistice Day to Veterans Day.
However, history tells us that lessons about the futility of war had already been learned by those fighting on the frontlines, and an informal armistice declared four year prior. In the days leading up to December 24th, 1914, ordinary soldiers from opposing armies stopped fighting, and whole sectors of the Western Front fell silent. What we now call "The Christmas Truce", with soldiers spontaneously deciding to lay down their weapons. They emerged from the trenches, exchanging cigarettes and gifts, singing carols, burying their dead and, in so me places, participating in impromptu football games. This extraordinary moment, when enemy combatants recognized each other's humanity and chose peace rather than war, was denounced and actively crushed by politicians and generals.
It took four more years and thirty million soldiers killed or wounded for global leaders to catch up to what these troops already knew on the battlefield. Millions of lives could have been saved and a whole continent spared enormous destruction if the world had listened. Veterans For Peace is celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Christmas Truce and call on our nation and the world, on November 11th, to restore the tradition of Armistice Day and to observe Veterans Day by following the example set by the Christmas Truce soldiers who rejected militarism and the glorification of war. We call on the nation to honor veterans and all those who have died in war by working for peace and the prevention of war. There is no better way to honor the dead than to protect the living from the fear, terror and morale deprivation of war.
Veterans For Peace is a global organization of Military Veterans and allies whose collective efforts are to build a culture of peace by using our experiences and lifting our voices. We inform the public of the true causes of war and the enormous costs of wars, with an obligation to heal the wounds of wars. Our network is comprised of over 140 chapters worldwide whose work includes: educating the public, advocating for a dismantling of the war economy, providing services that assist veterans and victims of war, and most significantly, working to end all wars.
(314) 725-6005LATEST NEWS
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A day after U.S. President Joe Biden commemorated the Holocaust, speaking about Americans' "obligation to learn the lessons of history" to ensure another mass slaughter of a religious or ethnic group never takes place, new polling showed the majority of U.S. voters whose support Biden is counting on in November believe Israel—with U.S. backing—is now committing genocide.
Journalist Mehdi Hasan's new media organization, Zeteo, partnered with progressive think tank Data for Progress to poll 1,265 U.S. voters from April 26-29, as Israel's ground invasion of Rafah loomed, threatening more than 1 million Palestinians in Gaza who have been forcibly displaced since October.
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The poll was also released as mass protests continued on college campuses across the U.S., with police aggressively cracking down at many schools as they ignore attacks on students by pro-Israel mobs, as in the case of University of California, Los Angeles last week.
A separate poll released Wednesday by USA Today and Suffolk University found that Democratic voters are split in their views of the movement. Thirty percent supported the protests, while 39% agreed with their demands but questioned some of their tactics. Two-thirds of respondents said they feared more violent confrontations would arise from the protests.
The Data for Progress survey is the latest sign that Biden, who signed a foreign aid package including $17 billion in additional military aid for Israel last month, faces widespread discontent among the coalition of voters that supported him in 2020. In January, The Economist and YouGov found that a full 50% of people who voted for him believed Israel was committing genocide.
More than 100,000 Democratic primary voters in Michigan—which Biden won by just 150,000 votes in 2020—voted for "uncommitted" on their ballots in February, hoping to send the message to the president that U.S. support for Israel must end. Similar results were seen in primaries in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Washington state.
Strategist Nadia Rahman said the poll shows the Democratic establishment is "dysfunctionally out of touch with its voters on this issue."
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The Israeli military is unlawfully killing civilians in the occupied West Bank at an unprecedented rate, according to a Human Rights Watch report released Wednesday as Israel moved forward with its ground assault on the overcrowded Gaza city of Rafah.
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Richard Weir, senior crisis and conflict researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement Wednesday that "Israeli security forces are not just unlawfully killing Palestinians in Gaza, but have been killing Palestinians without a legal basis in the West Bank, including deliberately executing Palestinians who posed no apparent threat."
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HRW's new report observes that in recent years, Israeli officials—including some who are now key members of the far-right Netanyahu government—"have encouraged soldiers and police to kill Palestinians suspected of attacking Israelis, even when they are no longer a threat."
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U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday denounced the Israeli military's total decimation of Gaza's universities during floor remarks on protests that have broken out on American college campuses over the past several weeks.
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After Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) attempted to pass the GOP antisemitism resolution via unanimous consent, Sanders—who is Jewish—rose to block the measure, criticizing it as insufficient and proposing an alternative that condemns antisemitism as well as all other "forms of bigotry in this country, whether on college campuses or elsewhere, including Islamophobia, homophobia, racism, and the growing attacks against the Asian American community."
Sanders' proposed resolution also expresses support for "the right of students and all Americans to peacefully protest," whereas Scott's measure attacks recent campus protests as "hotbed[s] of blatantly antisemitic rhetoric and action."
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Watch Sanders' remarks:
LIVE: Today I offer a simple resolution:
NO to antisemitism.
NO to Islamophobia.
NO to racism and bigotry in all its forms.
YES to free speech and protest under the 1st Amendment, whether on a college campus or across our nation. https://t.co/czTwnQnz6b
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) May 7, 2024
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