ADVISORY/National Mobilization to End the Sanctions on Iraq Announces Weekend Event in Washington.Business Editors, Feature Writers ADVISORY...for Saturday (Aug. 5) WASHINGTON, D.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE) Following is an announcement from the National Mobilization to End the Sanctions on Iraq: Fifty-five years to the day that the atomic bomb devastated Hiroshima, thousands of protestors will mark the tenth anniversary of a comparable human catastrophe. UN sanctions on Iraq, first imposed on August 6, 1990, have, according to UNICEF UNICEF (y  `nĭsĕf'), the United Nations Children's Fund, an affiliated agency of the United Nations. , claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of children. A mass demonstration in front of the White House on August 6 will call for an end to the economic embargo and bombings. A coalition of over seventy national organizations is sponsoring a weekend of events (August 5-7) to raise awareness of the destructive human impact of sanctions and bombings on the people of Iraq. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Rev. Jim Lawson, and British MP George Galloway will address the protestors, along with community leaders from around the country. NBC's "West Wing" President Martin Sheen will join the protest and legendary folk singer Pete Seeger will perform. The weekend will also feature teach-ins (August 5), an interfaith vigil (Sunday, August 6), and mass civil disobedience to protest sanctions (Monday, August 7). Who: National Mobilization to End the Sanctions Against Iraq (see sponsors) What: Mass Demonstration to protest Sanctions and Bombing of Iraq There have been several bombings of Iraq:
When & Where: 2 pm, Sunday, August 6, Mass Rally at the White House (Lafayette Park) Under ten years of crippling UN sanctions, Iraq has experienced a shift from relative affluence to massive poverty. The UN's stranglehold has kept Iraq's basic infrastructure in disrepair, while shortages of food and medicine have led to widespread malnutrition and disease. Signed by 70 Members of Congress and calling for an immediate end to the economic sanctions, a January 31 letter to the President declared: "Reports from UNICEF (the United Nations Children's Fund United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), an affiliated agency of the United Nations. It was established in 1946 as the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund. ) and other United Nations agencies operating in Iraq estimate that over one million civilians, mostly children, have died from malnutrition and disease." Speaking with National Mobilization organizers, Dr. Richard Garfield reported: "We have good reason to believe that over 600,000 civilians have died in Iraq, that's 600,000 excess deaths caused by sanctions and war damage." Garfield, a Columbia University professor who studies the humanitarian impact of sanctions, is currently in Baghdad assisting UNICEF in their ten-year review. Both former coordinators of the UN "Oil for Food" program in Iraq, Denis Halliday and Hans von Sponeck, and Jutta Burghardt, former head of the World Health Organization in Iraq, resigned in protest of the sanctions. A wide range of international human rights and health organizations, including the Red Cross, Amnesty International and the British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is the trade union to which the vast majority of British doctors belong. It is based in Tavistock Square in central London. It owns the "British Medical Journal". , have also decried the humanitarian impact of the UN embargo. Sponsors include: ADAMS Islamic Center o American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee (ADC) o American Friends Service Committee The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) affiliated organization which works for social justice, peace and reconciliation, abolition of the death penalty, and human rights, and provides humanitarian relief. (AFSC) o American Muslim Council The American Muslim Council (AMC) is an Islamic organization, ostensibly known as a charity.Its headquarters are located in Chicago, Illinois. The AMC was founded in 1990 by Abdul Rahman al-Amoudi with support of the Muslim Brotherhood. o American Muslims for Global Peace & Justice o Arab American Institute Founded in 1985, the Arab American Institute is a non-profit, membership organization and advocacy group based in Washington D.C. that focuses on the issues and interests of Arab-Americans nationwide. James Zogby, brother of pollster John Zogby, is founder and president of the AAI. o Bruderhof o Catholic Worker o Center for Economic and Social Rights o Church of the Brethren Church of the Brethren: see Brethren. Washington Office o Coordinating Council of Muslim Organizations o Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) o Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center o DC-Statehood Green Party o Dominican Sisters o Education for Peace in Iraq Center (EPIC) o Fellowship of Reconciliation The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FoR or FOR) is the name used by a number of religious nonviolent organizations, particularly in English-speaking countries. They are linked together by affiliation to the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR). (FOR) o Friends Committee on National Legislation The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) a public lobby organization founded in 1943 by members of the Religious Society of Friends. FCNL is a 501(c)(4) public interest lobby. It is neither a political action committee (PAC) nor a special interest lobby. (FCNL) o Global Exchange o Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) o International Socialist Organization o Life for Relief and Development (LIFE) o Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) o Middle East Children's Alliance o Nonviolence International o Partners for Peace o Pax Christi USA o Peace Action (PA) o Veterans for Peace (VfP) o Voices in the Wilderness (VitW) o War Resisters League o Washington Peace Center o Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility o Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) o Women's International League for Peace and Freedom Founded in 1915, the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is the oldest women's peace organization in the world. It is a non-profit non-governmental organization working "to bring together women of different political views and philosophical and religious (WILPF) o and many more... See www.endthewar.org for more background information on the sanctions and the August 5-7 events. |
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