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FRANCISCO - July 30 - U.S. peace and human rights groups
have formed a coalition called United for Peace, whose
mission is to promote events about peace, justice and
healing to commemorate the first anniversary of the
Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and
Pentagon. “The response to this idea has been
overwhelming,” said Medea Benjamin, founding director
of San Francisco’s Global Exchange and a founder of
United for Peace. “We’re going to show the world that
in hundreds of U.S. cities, people are claiming the
anniversary of 9/11 as a time to say YES, a peaceful,
just world IS possible, and we are building it.”
Peace events are already being planned in big cities
like New York, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC and small
towns such as Seadrift, Texas and Chester, West Virginia. They range from peace
festivals, picnics and concerts on the weekend of Sept. 7 & 8 to more solemn
events like candlelight vigils and interfaith services on Sept. 11. There are
also events planned in France and India. What ties the events together is their
theme: envisioning a world without war and violence.
A group of Sept. 11 victims’ family members is
participating in the United for Peace project. “Please
help us honor the death of our loved ones by creating
Sept. 11, 2002 events that move us toward a future of
peaceful tomorrows,” said Kelly Campbell of September
Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. “We don’t
want the first year commemoration of the 9/11 tragedy
to be used to call for more war and violence.” Other
groups involved in United for Peace include the
National Coalition for Peace and Justice, Fellowship
of Reconciliation, American Friends Service Committee,
Peace Action, Veterans for Peace, War Resistors League
and Global Exchange. Arun Gandhi, the grandson of
Mahatama Gandhi, has also endorsed the project.
The United for Peace website will be launched on Tuesday, July 30 at www.unitedforpeace.org.
The site will allow people to post information about local 9/11 events and share
ideas and resources about issues of concern to peace activists.
“Let’s make Sept. 11 a time to put forth a vision of a safer, more
just world—a world free of war and violence, a world that rejects ethnic
and religious divisions and celebrates diversity, a world that cherishes the environment,
a world were the needs of humans and other living things take priority over profits,”
Benjamin said.
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