WAR RESISTERS AND OTHERS PLAN MARCH AND VIGIL TO MOURN WAR DEAD DURING FLEET WEEK

NEW YORK, NY - Anti-war and peace activists will gather at the New York Public Library (41st St and 5th Ave) at 10:30 on Saturday, May 27, prior to beginning a solemn procession to the site of New York City's 'Fleet Week' military demonstrations at the Intrepid War Museum. The march will conclude with a vigil at the Intrepid (12th Avenue and 46th Street) from approximately 12:00 noon until 2 PM. This action is the centerpiece of a week of daily vigils at the Intrepid. The vigils, running from May 25 through May 30 (12 noon to 2 pm) are being organized by the NYC War Resisters League and Catholic Worker. The procession and vigil on the 27th is being cosponsored by Students for a Democratic Society and Veterans For Peace and has been endorsed by a wide array of peace groups.

The May 27th action is part of a campaign to end the US occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. Activists will leaflet during the procession and at the Intrepid, reaching out to the active duty military personnel visiting New York City - advising those in uniform of their rights and options should they wish to leave the military. Organizers report that they will also be speaking to non-military Fleet Week onlookers in an effort to convey the need to stop the needless death and destruction that accompanies US military interventions. Event participants are asked to maintain a solemn, nonviolent disposition.

Frida Berrigan, a longtime War Resisters League organizer said that: "The cost of the war has been staggering, in financial and human terms. The government must bring our military personnel home NOW. They don't want an 'exit strategy', they want to come home."

"The response from military personnel with whom we interacted at other protests has been very positive," said Matt Daloisio, an activist from Catholic Worker. "They see the need for an immediate ceasefire - it's the government that has blinders on," he added.

"The New York chapter of SDS has endorsed this action and will participate as we feel that it is very appropriate to speak out on Memorial Day: to demand the troops be brought home before any more lives are lost. This march will have veterans, students and grandmothers," said Thomas Good, an organizer with Students for a Democratic Society. "With these diverse constituencies marching together it is clearly time our elected officials started paying attention to what the people in the streets are saying," he added.

The march and vigil event has been endorsed by CodePINK New York, The Granny Peace Brigade, the Green Party (Manhattan), New York Metro Alliance of Anarchists, Students for a Democratic Society NYC, the Socialist Party of New York City and Veterans for Peace Chapter 034.

The War Resisters League is an 82-year-old secular pacifist organization, headquartered in New York City, and is affiliated with the War Resisters' International, which is based in London. WRL believes war to be a crime against humanity and advocates Gandhian nonviolence as the method for creating a democratic society free of war, racism, sexism, and human exploitation.

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Organized by the War Resisters League
http://www.warresisters.org.

And co-sponsored by The SP, Greater NYC Local.
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NEW YORK CITY WAR RESISTERS LEAGUE
339 Lafayette Street New York, NY 10012
nycwrl@att.net
www.warresisters.org

PRESS RELEASE

Contacts: Ruth Benn 718.768.7306
Matt Daloisio 201.264.4424
Thomas Good 347.524.5631

May 22, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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