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Friends,
This week we passed a grim milestone: nine years of the United States' war in Afghanistan.
Peace and justice groups around the world, including Fellowship of Reconciliation members and chapters, marked the anniversary with coordinated grassroots events.
As an endorser of the End the War in Afghanistan campaign, Fellowship of Reconciliation is calling for a ceasefire, negotiations and the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan. Please read on to see how you can join us.
Organize locally
If you weren't a part of an event this past week, consider organizing an event in the coming days or weeks in your community. Browse the Organizers Toolkit, developed by national peace groups as part of the End the War in Afghanistan campaign. The toolkit will give you tips on hosting a house party, creating an advocacy video, hosting a vigil and writing letters to the editor.
Talk with your friends and family
The spring issue of Fellowship magazine was centered on Afghanistan, and there are four articles available online you may want to share with others via email or on social networks:
- Hearts and Minds, an editorial by Fellowship editor Ethan Vesely-Flad, argues that the United States military has failed its own test for being successful in Afghanistan.
- It's Time to End the War in Afghanistan, by David Wildman, the United Methodist Church's executive secretary for human rights and racial justice, lays out the case for why the war is doing more harm than good -- both in Afghanistan and the United States.
- On Islamic Nonviolence, by Muslim Peace Fellowship founder Rabbi Terri Harris discusses the history and popular misunderstandings of Islam's relationship to nonviolence and nonviolent struggle for justice.
- The War on Peace: How U.S. Foreign Policy Puts Us All at Risk, by Samina Faheem Sundas, executive director of American Muslim Voice Foundation and past recipient of the FOR Martin Luther King Jr. award, takes a broader view and suggests ways the United States foreign policy as a whole could be reconfigured to truly serve the interests of those we purport to help around the world.
Send a letter to your member of Congress
Contact your elected representatives in the House and Senate and urge them to support the current out-of-Afghanistan bills currently in each chamber.
You can also encourage your House representative to join the Out of Afghanistan Caucus, formed last May to "quickly and responsibly end military operations in Afghanistan, while bolstering the United States' diplomatic efforts." Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, who chairs the caucus, has listed the current members and recent news from the caucus.
At the beginning of the tenth year of the United States' war in Afghanistan, we hope you'll take a moment to act for peace and justice in one of the ways we've outlined above.
In peace,
Fellowship of Reconciliation USA
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