9-22-06, 9:01 am

For Immediate Release: September 21, 2006 Contact: Timi Gerson or Paco Fabian, (202) 822-5200

Religious, Peace Movement Leaders Kick Off Actions Against Iraq Occupation With Civil Disobedience at White House

Declaration of Peace Initiative Includes More Than 350 Events Nationwide Campaign comes as Bush Administration reaffirms plans to maintain troop levels in Iraq, defends policy at United Nations

Washington, D.C. -- Religious figures, veterans and peace movement leaders kicked off a national week of moral witness against the Iraq occupation at a press conference in front of the White House today. Members of the group attempted to deliver the Declaration of Peace pledge, which calls for prompt troop withdrawal and support for a comprehensive plan for peace, to the Bush Administration in an act of nonviolent civil disobedience.

Thirty-six members of the Declaration of Peace were arrested for blocking the west gate entrance to the White House. Arrestees included Father Joseph Nangle, co-director of Franciscan Missions; James Winkler, General Secretary of the United Methodist Church, Board of Church and Society; Rev. Lennox Yearwood, C.E.O of the Hip Hop Caucus; recently retired Navy commander Leah Bogler of Veterans for Peace; and Leslie Cagan, National Coordinator of United for Peace and Justice.

The White House action is part of the national Declaration of Peace (DOP) campaign that seeks to urge the Bush Administration and Congress to pursue a new course on Iraq. The initiative is backed by more than 500 groups, including the Roman Catholic Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the Methodist Federation for Social Action, the United Church of Christ (Justice and Witness Ministries), American Friends Service Committee, the Unitarian Universalist Association, Pax Christi USA, Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America, United for Peace and Justice, U.S. Labor Against the War, CodePINK, and Iraq Veterans Against the War.

The week of action builds on the momentum of Tuesday's 3,500-strong peace march to the U.N., organized by United for Peace and Justice.

'The breadth and depth of the actions taking place this week as part of the Declaration of Peace are a testament to the growing sentiment of the people of this country against the occupation of Iraq,' said Leslie Cagan of United for Peace and Justice, the largest antiwar coalition in the country with more than 1,400 member groups.

'As citizens and people of faith, we must be our country's conscience,' said Rev. Yearwood, a Church of God and Christ minister. 'I am here to help give our government the moral courage to set a firm timeline to end the occupation in Iraq.'

More than 350 individual actions are occurring across the nation over the next seven days, including in unlikely places such as Lincoln, NE; Fayetteville, NC; Houston, TX; Des Moines, IA; Little Rock, AK; and Cincinnati, OH. The activities planned range from vigils and fasts to sit-ins and marches.

The Declaration of Peace was created through discussions last January between religious leaders and secular peace groups. It draws almost half of its membership from faith-based organizations. The campaign believes that it is time for Congress to demand that the Bush Administration provide a comprehensive, concrete and rapid plan to end the war in Iraq, including a prompt timetable for withdrawal of troops, a peace process for security, reconstruction and reconciliation and the shifting of war funding to meet education, healthcare and employment needs. The September 21 deadline for action is only days from Congressional recess, when members of Congress return to their home districts for midterm elections. Today is also the United Nations International Day of Peace.

'The best way we can support our troops is by bringing them home,' said Kelly Dougherty, co-founder of Iraq Veterans Against the War. 'I've seen with my own eyes the human cost of this occupation, and it is my duty to my fellow soldiers to end the escalation of violence.'

Current legislation addressing the goals of the Declaration of Peace include H.R. 4232, the End the War in Iraq Act of 2005 introduced by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA); H.CR 348-Expressing the sense of Congress with respect to accomplishing the mission in Iraq, introduced by Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA); and its Senate companion resolution, S.Con.Res.93, introduced by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA). Members of Congress who have signed the Declaration of Peace Congressional Pledge include Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Danny Davis (D-IL), Sam Farr (D-CA), Chaka Fattah (D-PA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), John Lewis (D-GA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA).

'As a participant in the Civil Rights Movement, I have confronted violence with non-violence,' said Democratic Congressman John Lewis of Georgia. 'I have been arrested over 40 times. I have been beaten and left bloody in the streets to die. And what I came to realize is that our strongest weapons as a nation are not bombs and missiles, and more bombs and more missiles. Our strongest defense is the power of our ideas. It is what we believe about democracy, it is our respect for human dignity. That is what has captured the hearts of so many worldwide who once looked toward our nation as a beacon of hope.'

For a full list of DOP participants, go to: http://declarationofpeace.org/endorsements

For a full list of events by date and state, go to: http://declarationofpeace.org/files/DOP-events-list.pdf

For images and video from events, go to: http://imageportal.afsc.org

From United for Peace and Justice

Religious, Peace Movement Leaders Kick Off Actions Against Iraq Occupation