It is critical that President Biden be held to account for war crimes against the Palestinian people and that United States citizens understand that he is breaking international and U.S. laws by providing military, monetary and diplomatic support for the Israeli government's extermination campaign against the Palestinian people.

Our laws and regulations against war crimes mean nothing if they're not enforced and only Congress can legally enforce them. While we continue taking to the streets, we can also demand Congress do its job!

The US is not only aiding and abetting Israel's genocide in Gaza, it is violating international law and the US constitution by attacking Yemen, Iraq and Syria without explicit congressional approval.

Many countries want to do what is right and is needed; but they often get blocked by those governments that just want to maintain the status quo and care more about vested interests and corporate profits than about the well-being of humanity and life on Earth. It is much more specific than this general appeal. Action for Sustainable Development is finalizing the Statement and will be opening it up for signature within a couple of days. I am the North American Representative on the Facilitating Group for A4SD and the main UN representative of the Global Ecovillage Network. You can contact me at: [email protected]. You can read the draft statement and petition at: https://action4sd.org/stepupcop28/

The use of weaponized aerial drones over the past 21 years has led to killing, maiming, terrorization and/or displacement of millions of people in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, Mali, Niger, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Western Sahara, Kurdish regions, Ukraine, Russia, and other countries. Numerous detailed studies and reports regarding casualties resulting from the deployment of weaponized aerial drones indicate that the majority of people killed, maimed, and displaced, or otherwise harmed, have been non-combatants, including women and children. Entire communities and wider populations are terrorized, intimidated and psychologically damaged by the constant flight of weaponized aerial drones over their heads, even when they are not struck by the weapons. The United States, China, Turkey, Pakistan, India, Iran, Israel, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine are manufacturing and/or developing weaponized aerial drones, and a growing number of countries are producing smaller, inexpensive single-use loitering munitions, known as “suicide” or “kamikaze” drones. Some of these countries, including the United States, Israel, China, Turkey and Iran are exporting weaponized aerial drones to an ever-increasing number of countries, while manufacturers in additional countries are exporting parts for weaponized aerial drone production. The use of weaponized aerial drones has included numerous violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law by states and non-state armed groups around the world, including violations of international boundaries, national sovereignty rights and UN agreements. The materials necessary to build and arm rudimentary weaponized aerial drones are neither technologically advanced nor expensive so that their use is proliferating at an alarming rate among militias, mercenaries, insurgencies and individuals. A growing number of non-state actors have conducted armed attacks and assassinations using weaponized aerial drones, including but not limited to: Constellis Group (formerly Blackwater), Wagner Group, Al-Shabab, the Taliban, the Islamic State, Al-Qaeda, Libyan rebels, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, Boko Haram, Mexican drug cartels, as well as militias and mercenaries in Venezuela, Colombia, Sudan, Mali, Myanmar, and other countries in the Global South. Weaponized aerial drones are often used to prosecute undeclared and illegal wars. Weaponized aerial drones lower the threshold to armed conflict and can expand and prolong wars, because they enable attack without physical risk to ground and air force personnel of the weaponized drone user. Apart from the Russian-Ukrainian war, most weaponized aerial drone strikes so far have targeted non-Christian people of color in the Global South. Both technologically advanced and rudimentary aerial drones can be weaponized with missiles or bombs carrying chemical weapons or depleted uranium. Advanced and rudimentary weaponized aerial drones pose an existential threat to humanity and the planet because they could be used to target nuclear power plants, of which there are hundreds in 32 countries, primarily in the Global North. Due to the reasons stated above, weaponized aerial drones constitute a tool for violating the integrity of national and international law, thus creating an expanding circle of enmity and increasing the likelihood of internecine conflict, proxy wars, larger wars and escalation to nuclear threats. The use of weaponized aerial drones violates basic human rights as guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1976), particularly with respect to the rights to life, privacy and fair trial; and the Geneva Conventions and their Protocols (1949, 1977), particularly with respect to its protection of civilians against indiscriminate, unacceptable levels of harm. Global Campaign to Ban Weaponized Drones war Initiated: May 1, 2023 Initiating Organizers Ban Killer Drones, USA CODEPINK: Women for Peace Drohnen-Kampagne (German Drone Campaign) Drone Wars UK International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) International Peace Bureau (IPB) Veterans for Peace Women for Peace World BEYOND War Global Ban on Weaponized Drones Endorsers, as of May 30, 2023 Ban Killer Drones, USA CODEPINK: Women For Peace Drohnen-Kampagne (German Drone Campaign) Drone Wars UK International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) International Peace Bureau (IPB) Veterans for Peace Women for Peace World BEYOND War West Suburban Peace Coalition World Can’t Wait Westchester Political Action Committee (WESPAC) Action from Ireland Quaker House of Fayetteville, North Carolina Nevada Desert Experience Women Against War ZNetwork Bund für Soziale Verteidigung (Federation of Social Defense) InterReligious Task Force on Central America (IRTF) Disciples Peace Fellowship Ramapo Lunaape Nation Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality – Dr. Daisy Khan International Sanctuary Declaration Campaign Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security The Baltimore Nonviolence Center Westchester Coalition Against Islamophobia (WCAI) Canadian Sanctuary Network Brandywine Peace Community National Council of Elders Beloved Community Center Flowers and Bombs: Stop the Violence of the War Now! Council on American Islamic Relations, New York Chapter (CAIR-NY) Concerned Families of Westchester Shut Down Drone Warfare International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War

Talisman Sabre and AUKUS threaten to provoke war with China and destroy the environment, as well as furthering colonialism and systems of oppression. Call for Peace: Please share this petition in your networks and raise your voice against the dangerous militarization of the Pacific. To challenge Talisman Sabre and AUKUS, many Pacific region organizations including Pacific Peace Network and Independent and Peaceful Australia Network will host a "Call for Peace in the Pacific" conference on July 29 in Brisbane with speakers from across the Pacific, followed by educational events in Sydney, Canberra and Darwin. The conference will be preceded by two webinars in July with speakers on the militarization of the Pacific and Talisman Sabre and AUKUS for those unable to come to Australia for the conference. The aim of these events is to raise awareness within Australia and the Pacific region of the full impacts of allowing the US to base their military personnel, weapons, hardware and software on Pacific Sovereign Lands, by sharing the experiences of Pacific People including: 1. Complicity in wars of aggression 2. Becoming a target in the event of war 3. Loss of sovereignty 4. First People’s Lands disregarded damaged and disrespected 5. Environmental damage 6. Economic drain 7. Sidelining of national legal system 8. Impacts on women and girls The mock battlefield will be from Western Australia, across the Northern Territory and Queensland, to Jervis Bay and Norfolk Island in New South Wales. Publicly released information includes airborne troop drops near Charters Towers and amphibious lands at locations along the north and central Queensland coast, plus maritime mine-hunting near Gladstone. The RAAF Base Scherger at Cape York will play a key role. In addition, long-range fire exercises will take place in Jervis Bay with Japan’s Self-Defense Forces and air, ground and maritime exercises are set for Norfolk Island. The Darwin area will cover logistics duties while larger warships will practice naval gunnery and submarine hunting exercises offshore.

Sign our letter to Congress demanding that they use their Congressional authority to block the sale of $619 million dollars worth of weapons to Taiwan. Not only is this sale in direct violation of China’s sovereignty and previous agreements between the U.S. and China, it also will exacerbate climate change through military pollution and increase the risk of kinetic and nuclear war between the nations. Read our action alert here. We know U.S. imperialism impacts people outside of the U.S. the most, so we invite all people to send a message to Congress that the U.S. must stop investing in and profiting from weapons deals!

Speaker Pelosi’s recklessly provocative actions show that new leadership in the House is needed to avoid a world-ending conflict with China. Her lack of leadership has been demonstrated repeatedly throughout her tenure, and it’s time to end the warmongering plaguing our daily lives and abroad.

Provoking a potential military conflict with China isn't in anyone's interest--especially if there is nothing concrete to gain from it.

The Nakba, meaning catastrophe in English, marked the 1948 mass expulsion of over 700,000 Palestinians from geographic Palestine and the destruction of over 400 Palestinian towns and villages following attacks by Zionist militias. The Nakba continues today as Palestinians continue to be displaced from their historic homeland. We must re-affirm our government's 1948 commitment to the right of return for all Palestinian refugees to their homeland who choose to do so. The urgency of this recognition is made clear by the current efforts of the Israeli regime to continue the Nakba by seeking to displace over 1,300 Palestinians from the communities of Masafer Yatta, where Palestinian families have lived continuously for centuries. Masafer Yatta is but one of many communities at risk. We applaud Congressman Huffman’s signing a statement that recognizes what Israel is doing in Masafer Yatta as “inconsistent with international humanitarian law, according to Articles 49 and 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention." This effort at ethnic cleansing must not be tolerated and we must demand accountability and allow no complicity from the United States in furthering this crime against humanity. There is no room for Nakba denial in the United States today, just as there is no room for Holocaust denial or a revisionist history of slavery and racism in the United States as some reactionary voices would impose on us. Hard truths must be addressed honestly if we are to create a better future for us all. We must deal with the historical roots of what is happening as Israel continues to displace and oppress the Palestinian people, imposing upon them, as numerous human rights organizations have concluded, an apartheid regime. Recognizing the Palestinian Nakba is the truth that will set us free to pursue a new foreign policy based on building justice leading to reconciliation and creating genuine peace for all the people of historic Palestine. Congressman Huffman, cosponsor H.Res. 1123.

RIMPAC dramatically contributes to the destruction of the ecology and aggravation of the climate crisis in the Pacific region. RIMPAC war forces will blow up decommissioned ships with missiles endangering marine mammals such as humpback whales, dolphins and Hawaiian monk seals and polluting the ocean with contaminates from the vessels. Land forces will conduct ground assaults that will tear up beaches where green sea turtles come to breed. We reject the massive expenditure of funds on war-making when humanity is suffering from lack of food, water and other life-sustaining elements. Human security is not based on military war drills, but on care for the planet and its inhabitants. 2022 RIMPAC includes military forces from Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, the United Kingdom and the United States. 8 of the 26 RIMPAC participating countries are members of the North ATLANTIC Treaty Organization (NATO) -- Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy the United Kingdom and the United States -- while 4 participating countries are Asia-Pacific “partners” of NATO: Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand. This means that 45% of RIMPAC participants have NATO ties, demonstrating that NATO is becoming a Pacific military force. The Pacific Peace Network members currently come from countries/islands across the Pacific including Guåhan, Jeju Island, South Korea, Okinawa, Japan, Philippines, Northern Mariana Islands, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Australia, Hawai’i and the United States. Endorsed by: Hawai'i Hawai'i Peace and Justice Veterans For Peace, Chapter 113-Hawai'i Women’s Voices Women Speak Oahu Water Protectors, Hawai'i World Can't Wait Hawai`i Students and Faculty for Justice at the University of Hawai'i) 350 Hawaii Our Revolution Hawaii Hawai’i Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines Malu 'Aina Center For Non-violent Education & Action, Big Island, Hawai'i Philippines Asia Europe Peoples Forum Philippine Initiative on Critical and Global Issues Peace Women Partners. Inc. Philippines Philippine Women Network for Peace & Security STOP the War Coalition Philippines United States Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security CODEPINK: Women For Peace Environmentalists Against War Veterans For Peace, Phil Berrigan Memorial Chapter, Baltimore, Maryland Veterans For Peace, San Diego chapter Veterans For Peace, New York City chapter 34 Roots Action Australia Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN) Just Peace Queensland Pacific Youngsolwara Pacific Prutehi Litekyan: Save Ritidian Youngsolawara Pacific Our Common Wealth 670 South Korea Inter-Island Solidarity for Peace of the Sea Jeju Committee Gangjeong Peace Network Association of Gangjeong Villagers Against the Jeju Navy Base, Gangjeong International Team People Making Jeju a Demilitarized Peace Island Seongsan Committee against the Jeju 2nd Airport Project Catholic Climate Justice Action Center for Deliberative Democracy and Environment Jeju branch of Service Industry Labor Union St. Francis Peace Center Foundation The Frontiers Columban Justice and Peace Jeju Green Party Gangjeong Catholic Mission Center Canada Canadian Voice of Women for Peace (vowpeace.org) The Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom-Canada (wilpfcanada.ca) International International Peace Bureau World Beyond War Pacific Peace Network No to NATO Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space OPPORTUNITIES TO PARTICIPATE IN CANCEL RIMPAC Send your art-graphics, poems, songs about the dangers of RIMPAC to the Virtual Exhibition CANCEL RIMPAC-ONLINE EXHIBIT-OPEN CALL for submissions of visual art, poetry, chant, and musical performance. Email image, video, or text submissions along with your name, age, title, and media to: [email protected] Submission deadline: June 30, 2022 See the beautiful website: https://www.youngsolwarapacific.com/cancel-rimpac-exhibition.html RESOURCES Friday, July 22, 2022, 3PM HST. CANCEL RIMPAC Webinar sponsored by the Pacific Peace Network with speakers from all over the Pacific (Saturday, July 23, 2022 in Asia and the Pacific) Register at: bit.ly/cancelrimpac Video of 35 of 38 RIMPAC ships leaving Pearl Harbor for war practice in Hawaiian waters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp6sWvRcdS4 Sunday, July 24 5pm HST "Not Your Paradise: Gendered Violence and RIMPAC" Register in advance : https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_bEb Star Advertiser-OPED- Militarization of fragile Pacific leaves destruction and death by Koohan Paik-Mander https://bit.ly/3PEQLm5 END THE KOREAN WAR AND STOP THE US-CHINA ARMS RACE BY Youkyoung Ko https://bit.ly/3AYyhJ5 WITH RIMPAC, SOUTH KOREA EXPANDS ITS MILITARY FOOTPRINT BY CHOI SUNG-HEE https://bit.ly/3yUBsyO US AND NATO ESCALATE TENSIONS WITH ASIA-PACIFIC WAR GAMES BY ANN WRIGHT https://bit.ly/3PvpzGq THE FEMINIST RESPONSE TO RIMPAC AND THE U.S. WAR AGAINST CHINA BY CHRISTINE AHN https://bit.ly/3PmYbdV Commondreams- Largest Ever US-NATO Naval War Drills in Pacific a Threat to Both Peace and Marine Life. https://bit.ly/3RPfUwu COLLECTIVE POEM ON "A World Without RIMPAC" Thirteen indigenous poets from Oceania - from Hawaiʻi, Aotearoa, and Guahan - Wrote & recorded a poem calling for the Cancellation of RIMPAC and for the restoration of ea: life, breath, and sovereignty. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGmMOiLXBoI&t=11s CANCEL RIMPAC statement by Women's Voices, Women Speak: https://bit.ly/3yRKr3R STAR ADVERTISER-RIMPAC, Marcos, and war against China By Seiji Yamada, Richard Rothschiller and Arcelita Imasa June 15, 2022 https://bit.ly/3uZXsXT

As constituents of Congresswoman Barbara Lee, we are disappointed by her recent vote for an additional $40 billion for the war in Ukraine, thus funneling billions more taxpayer dollars to the Pentagon and war profiteers. While we realize some of the money was earmarked for humanitarian aid, we are still deeply concerned that continued weapons shipments only discourage a negotiated settlement. We deplore this vote mainly for two reasons: It is adding fuel to the fire in Ukraine. It will prolong the war, resulting in more Ukrainian and Russian deaths. It risks escalating and widening the war – up to and including nuclear war. The billions in US taxpayers’ dollars are desperately needed to address vital human needs at home, such as health care, housing, education, and the danger of climate change. In late January of this year, Congresswoman Lee issued a joint press release with Rep. Pramila Jayapal that said “there is no military solution to this crisis.” In March, following the Russian invasion and after voting for billions for Ukraine, Lee and Jayapal issued a joint statement cautioning: “Alongside this resolution, we must reaffirm the urgent need for diplomacy and de-escalation at this dangerous and unpredictable moment” ”support for diplomacy is the most direct means we have of trying to bring peace to Ukraine in light of continued fighting and mounting harm to Ukrainian civilians” “We must …work relentlessly toward de-escalation” Shortly after 9/11, Barbara Lee was the only member of Congress to vote against the Authorization for Use of Military Force, a blank check for endless war. At that time she said: “Some of us must say, let's step back for a moment. Let's just pause, just for a minute and think through the implications of our actions today, so that this does not spiral out of control.” But in May 2022, she voted in lockstep with every Democrat in Congress behind President Biden’s war policy without voicing such questions or concerns and without mentioning the need for diplomacy and de-escalation. As co-chair of the Defense Spending Reduction Caucus, Rep. Lee has fought for reducing the bloated military budget (calling for reductions of over 30%) and using that money to help meet the needs of poor and working people. But now she appears to be on board with massive and endless funding for the war in Ukraine. At the current rate, US government funds for the Ukraine war are four times the current budget to fight climate change. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, it would cost $20 billion to end homelessness in the United States. The increase in aid to Ukraine provided by Congress is staggering and now approaches Russia's entire military budget. It matches the escalatory rhetoric from the Biden Administration, which now says a US goal is to use the war in Ukraine to weaken Russia. We have supported Rep. Lee in the past in large part because of her opposition to the military-industrial complex and her advocacy for peace. We are deeply concerned about her stance lining up behind the forces of militarism, providing billions more to the war machine and putting us all at risk of a catastrophic war with Russia. We need to stop this war which is accelerating the advent of the 2 existential dangers we are facing. Nuclear War and Climate Change,