Because of the prior concern by WNPJ members about the bedding of the F-35s in Madison, I want to inform you of an important decision that is being considered by the “Personnel and Finance Committee” of the Dane County Board on December 18.  2023 Resolution 168 is a proposed Joint Use Agreement (JUA) among the airport, state, and federal military officials. Among other details, this proposed Joint Use Agreement includes: Rent for airport use by the National Guard for the next 10 years will be $100! The military would have “indemnity,” - be free forever from liability for “hazardous substance exposure or pollution of or contamination to air, land, water, person or property” that might result from providing those fire and rescue services. The proposed agreement, which has multiple indemnification clauses for the military, would leave the County, City, and taxpayers responsible for the cost of all past and future water pollution from PFAS. Cleaning PFAS out of our drinking water, streams, lakes, and water shed could likely cost many millions of dollars! County Supervisors Yogesh Chawla, Heidi Wegleitner, Sarah Smith, Michele Ritt and Jacob Wright, have written modifications to the JUA that they want the “Personnel and Finance Committee” to consider at their December 18 meeting.  The full County Board will meet on December 21.  (See Revised JUA below) This is a very short timeline, but your voice is critical in this decision. Please sign the letter to Dane County Board supporting postponement of JUA on Dec-18 and Dec-21 (Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScy9wDdHxH9e5VvLbd9DwO5raVnrpbTZwlwma29TCk1nMYV1w/viewform) In addition, please forward this information, with the attachment, to your Dane County networks, friends, and family. Thank you so much. Jane H Kavaloski Safe Skies Clean Water jhkavaloski@gmail.com

WNPJ + Network News is out for delivery + WNPJ’s Fall Assembly Videos are Available + “Longest Night Homeless Persons' Memorial Service” Dec 21 in Madison + Gaza updates +  other statewide events… ********************************** Here’s your chance to read the Fall edition of WNPJ's Network News. If you're a WNPJ member, it should be arriving in your mailbox soon! https://www.wnpj.org/post/wnpj-fall-2023-newsletter In this issue: ·         Ceasefire action ·         Madison for a World Beyond War - by Anthony Walker ·         WNPJ Moving Forward on Environmental Justice - WNPJ receives BEA Grant - by Dena Eakles ·         Words from Lance Green, original 32 yr member of WNPJ and first newsletter editor ·         Book Review by David Nordstrom "Peace: A Very Short Introduction" ·         HISTORY: Defeat of Crandon mine in Wisconsin a pivotal victory - by Al Gedicks, excerpted from The Cap Times, October 5, 2023 ·         State of the Network Excerpts and video links from the Oct 28 WNPJ Fall Assembly: “Every Drop Counts – Coming Together for Water”: ·         Dean Hoegger of Clean Water Action Council ·         Lynn and Nancy Utesch, area farmers ·         Rights of Nature Wisconsin Initiative with Terry Dawson and WISDOM representative David Liners ·         WNPJ Peacemaker of the Year Award 2023 presented to Bill Christofferson ·         WNPJ celebrates the life of George Paz Martin by Julie Enslow ·         Jonathan Ward joins the 2023–24 WNPJ Board ·         Sold Down the River – the Struggle for Clean Water, Rural Justice, and a Better Farm Bill - by John Peck of Family Farm Defenders *********************************** Videos of the 32nd WNPJ Annual Fall Assembly are now available: "Every Drop Counts: Coming Together for Water” You can watch the video of Mark Foreman and Mary Kay Bauman presenting Bill Christofferson (center) of Vets for Peace Milwaukee with the annual WNPJ Peacemaker Award 2023  - and much more – here: https://www.wnpj.org/post/2023-fall-assembly *************************************************** Spotlight on JustDane’s Longest Night Homeless Persons' Memorial Remembrance This year’s Longest Night Homeless Persons Memorial Service will be held on Thursday, December 21st.  We will gather at 3:00 p.m. on the Capitol Square at the intersection of East Main, South Pinckney Street and King Street, Madison. We will hold a brief outdoor service and then proceed around the Capitol. This gathering place is near the bench where 38 year old Dwayne Warren’s body was found on June 16th, 2009. Dwayne was experiencing homelessness, he died of sepsis, a blood infection that could have been treated with a simple antibiotic prescription. Dwayne’s death helped bring the community together to create this annual event. Each year we like to create memorial cards for each of the individuals remembered at the event, and for those who may have passed and been remembered in previous years. Eventually we would like to create a Remembrance Wall that would include these cards and could travel to various locations to serve as a traveling memorial to those we mourn. While the service is primarily intended to remember our neighbors who were homeless when they died, it is also a place where people who are formerly or currently homeless can remember others that they lost but were unable to attend a funeral or memorial service. With that in mind, we are asking that, if you have someone you would like remembered at the service, that you provide us a little information about the person, their gifts, interests, qualities you admired, anything you would like to share. Please complete this form by Dec. 11, 2023. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf-EGyFEZSlw-oN_FhnmNahh88u6ZexG4-9OXPZBsPxT6DPhA/viewform info@justdane.org ************************************* WNPJ member groups and affiliates issue Statementsand Action Alerts on Hamas/Palestine/Israel Read statements from our member groups:https://www.wnpj.org/post/statements-from-wnpj-groups-and-their-national-affiliates-on-palestine-israel-hamas Petitions to sign https://www.change.org/p/sign-and-share-this-urgent-petition-calling-for-a-ceasefirenow-in-gaza-and-israel and phone calls to make. To learn more, see the Madison Rafah Sister City sites: http://madisonrafah.org/  and/orMadison Rafah Sister City Facebook Page Special Note: The Madison Common Council passed the ceasefire resolution by unanimous consent following public testimony that was overwhelmingly in favor. If you want to thank them, the email address to do that is allalders@cityofmadison.com Check out these images from the Dec 9th Rally for a GAZA Ceasefire.... in Madison: https://wibailoutpeople.org/2023/12/09/thousands-march-in-madison-wisconsin-for-palestine-december-9-2023-demand-stop-the-u-s-israeli-genocidal-apartheid/ More photos and video: https://www.facebook.com/wibailoutpeople.org/ https://www.facebook.com/werisefightinglaborpodcast/ Event organized by: https://www.facebook.com/wiscoforpali **************************************** Upcoming Events this week for WNPJ groups: MADISON Mon Dec 11, 12 noon – 1 pm Monday Noon Vigil for Peace – Meet at the corner of MLK, Jr. Blvd and Doty St.  Call Tim at 608-630-3633 to see if this is happening today. MADISON Mon through Fri, Dec 11 to 15, 9 – 5 pm Ceasefire Vigil at Tammy Baldwin's office – 30 W Mifflin St. 7th Fl.  World Beyond War Madison is inviting individuals and groups to take chunks of time to vigil for a ceasefire.  Could be inside the office or downstairs on the sidewalk, reading names of the dead, or whatever you are inspired to do. You can sign up for an hour or more, on your own, with friends or with a group you are part of. "Ceasefire vigil at Senator Baldwin's office." Options here to  Sign Up. Contact warabolition@gmail.com to learn more. VIRTUAL Tues Dec 12, 7:30 – 9 pm December Membership Meeting of Madison DSA. | Zoom | Passcode: 639152 . We will have Alders Marsha Rummel and Juliana Bennett for a discussion on housing. Contact: dsamadison@gmail.com VIRTUAL Tues Nov 12, 7 – 8:15 pm Native Book Discussion: The Land is Not Empty – Sinsinawa. Join Eric Anglada, Sinsinawa’s Ecological Programming Coordinator,  for a zoom discussion about the book, “The Land is Not Empty”, by Sarah Augustine. This prophetic book reframes the colonization of North America, investigating ways that the Doctrine of Discovery continues to devastate indigenous cultures, and even the planet itself, as it justifies exploitation of both natural resources and people. This is a powerful call to reckon with the root causes of a legacy that continues to have devastating effects on indigenous peoples around the globe and a call to recognize how all of our lives and our choices are interwoven. Registration ends December 11, and the fee is $10 per person. Contact Arrangements at 608-748-4411 or visit our website at https://sinsinawa.org/moundcenter  for more information. MILWAUKEE Wed Dec 13, 12 noon – 1 pm Anti ROTC Vigil. Meet in front of Marquette U Library.  We ask Marquette to stop training our young how to kill the enemy rather than doing good to the enemy. Casa Maria Catholic Worker  casamariamke@gmail.com LaCROSSE Thurs Dec 14, 12 noon - 12:30 pm Weekly Women in Black Peace Vigil. Meet at Main St & 4th Street South. A weekly vigil for peace every Thursday. Contact Deborah. dbuffton@yahoo.com MADISON Thurs Dec 14th 6:30 - 7:30 pm, Lights Up for Palestine - Meet near the Overture Center, downtown Madison, corner of N. Henry and West Dayton. Contact: Cassandra Dixon of Madison Rafah Sister City Project https://www.facebook.com/cassandra.wi EAU CLAIRE Fri Dec 15, 5 – 6 pm Monthly Peace Stand. Meet at Wisconsin 93 Trunk & Golf Road. The 3rd Friday of each month is Peace Stand time in Eau Claire, going on since 2004. We gather with, we visit one another and sometimes we sing. Stand and be counted. Mark Helpsmeet is with Northern Spirit Radio, a member group of WNPJ. Contact for more information: helpsmeet@usa.net VIRTUAL Fri Dec 15, 5 – 6 pm Webinar: A History of Common Vegetables – Sinsinawa. Have you ever looked at a potato and wondered how such a humble spud made its way into cuisine around the world? Laurana Snyder, Sinsinawa Mound’s Horticulturist and Farm Coordinator, will be a leading our discussion. We will learn all about where your food really comes from and how humans domesticated and distributed some of the most common vegetables we consume today. Registration ends December 13, and the fee is $10 per person. Contact Arrangements at 608-748-4411 or visit our website at https://sinsinawa.org/moundcenter  for more information MADISON Fri Dec. 15, 7:30 pm and Sat Dec 16, 2:30 and 6:30 pm Proud Theater: Commercial Break. At the  Madison Youth Arts Center (1055 E. Mifflin)  - an exciting weekend of theater and performance pieces written by and starring the talented youth of Proud Theater Madison, the city's premier LGBTQIA+ and Allied youth theater troupe. Tickets are a suggested price of $10 – for reservations email: reservations@proudtheater.org More info, visit: https://proudtheater.org/  Sent to WNPJ by Madison Infoshop peckjohne@gmail.com Madison Sat. Dec. 16,  6:00 pm Fundraiser for Hannah! Say “NO” to Cop City. Social Justice Center (1202 Williamson St.) This is a benefit for our friend and neighbor, Hannah Kass. Come for free food, music, and to learn more about the Atlanta forest defenders and their dubious criminal prosecution. By now you've probably heard that the City of Atlanta wants to hand hundreds of acres of forest to the Atlanta Police Foundation where they are planning to build a hyper-militarized police training facility. Several Stop Cop City (aka Defend the Atlanta/Weelaunee Forest) co-defendants were indicted on bogus RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) charges in a highly political prosecution against a broad social movement fighting urban deforestation and police militarization. One of these co-defendants, PhD student, Hannah Kass, (UW Geography Dept. and Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies) needs funds to support her bail, legal, travel, and other expenses. Hear a few words from Hannah and other local activists about Cop City and the growing danger of police-sponsored repression. None of us is safe until all of us are safe! You can learn more about this struggle here: https://defendtheatlantaforest.org/ Donations for Hannah came be made via Venmo here: https://account.venmo.com/u/madisonsolidarity You can also share this event via Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/events/368969032341037 Sent to WNPJ by Madison Infoshop peckjohne@gmail.com MADISON Sat Dec 16, TBD Holiday Caroling with 350 Wisconsin. Place TBD. The Art Collective and the Divest & Defund team are organizing a holiday "caroling" event where we will sing familiar tunes with alternative, climate change - related lyrics. Some of the songs will call upon certain banks to stop funding fossil fuels. This action will take place on December 16, but other details are being worked out. We'd love to have you join us - the more the merrier! For more information,  contact divest.defund@350wisconsin.org MADISON Sat Dec 16, 10 am – 4 pm  HUMANS Solidarity Summit. At the Social Justice Center, 1202 Williamson St. Details and registration are here. 10am - gather in person for a little breakfast and then participate in the virtual summit together. And/or show up after the 11-1 clusterflocks session. From 1-3 pm there’s a casual reception with food and drink -  before having fun with our friends around the world in from  3-4 pm - online karaoke with Marilyn. Sunday's session is all online UNLESS we hear from members who need to access in person. That day includes Technicollab Dreams (11-1) then the wrap up, mutual aid market, and board election (1-2). The whole schedule is at the event link. Join or renew at https://madisonman.coop/   . MILWAUKEE Sat Dec 16, 12 noon - 1 pm Peace Action WI - Weekly STAND for PEACE: Meet at 76th/Layton. Each Saturday, a different location. Join us. Bring your signs. info@peaceactionwi.org    https://www.peaceactionwi.org/stand_for_peace VIROQUA Sat Dec 16, 11 am - 12 noon Driftless Palestinian Solidarity Weekly Vigil. Meet at Decker and Main. Action Alert: The Driftless Palestinian Solidarity group has written a petition to demand that Senator Tammy Baldwin support a ceasefire in Gaza. We are trying to get this initiative going throughout the state of WI. If your group is interested in getting signatures, please email  Debbie.a.dudek@gmail.com. Thank you for your help! RACINE Sat Dec 16, 12:30 – 1:30 pm Stand for Ceasefire in Irael and Palestine. Meet at  909 Dr Martin Luther King Dr . We have signs and banners for all! JOIN US today and on Dec. 9th and 16th! We also remind everyone to continue to call your representatives a number of times a week—-for a CEASEFIRE NOW. Contact: www.facebook.com/RacineCoalitionforPeaceJustice/ MADISON Sun Dec 17, 10:30 am Memorial Service for Helen Woodson: Sent to WNPJ by Mary Beth Schlagheck mbspeace1@charter.net, Helen was the originator of the Monday Noon Peace Vigil in MAdison, 42 years ago. *********************************** The WI Network for Peace and Justice is the umbrella non-profit organization supporting the work of 80 member groups around Wisconsin. Join WNPJ – www.wnpj.org **************************** You can open any of our weekly WNPJ e-Bulletins from the archive and copy the web address to share with others. ******************************************************* If your group would like to get your events posted in the weekly e-bulletin – JOIN US! https://www.wnpj.org/membership **************************************** Interested in a yard sign? WNPJ has yard signs available!  yardsigns@wnpj.org See our new Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/WisNPJ "Like" us and follow us! Questions? Contact info@wnpj.org

This issue is full of articles from our members and news from WNPJ! In this issue: Ceasefire action Madison for a World Beyond War - by Anthony Walker WNPJ Moving Forward on Environmental Justice - WNPJ receives BEA Grant - by Dena Eakles Words from Lance Green, original 32 yr member of WNPJ and first newsletter editor Book Review by David Nordstrom "Peace: A Very Short Introduction" Excerpts and video links from the Oct 28 WNPJ Fall Assembly: Every Drop Counts – Coming Together for Water: Dean Hoegger of Clean Water Action Council Lynn and Nancy Utesch, area farmers Rights of Nature Wisconsin Initiative with Terry Dawson and WISDOM representative David Liners WNPJ Peacemaker of the Year Award 2023 presented to Bill Christofferson WNPJ celebrates the life of George Paz Martin - by Jonathan Ward joins the 2023–24 WNPJ Board Sold Down the River – the Struggle for Clean Water, Rural Justice, and a Better Farm Bill - by John Peck of Family Farm Defenders HISTORY: Defeat of Crandon mine in Wisconsin a pivotal victory - by Al Gedicks, excerpted from The Cap Times, October 5, 2023 State of the Network

Dear Friends of Mary House ... It has been 34 years since our first chilly December at Mary House and thanks to you we are still here, looking forward to welcoming families who have traveled to visit a loved one in the Federal Correctional Facility at Oxford. We’re grateful for the honor of spending time with these children who have come such a long way to spend precious hours in a difficult and sometimes terrible place. And we are beyond thankful to all of you who have supported Mary House over the years and kept our doors through thick and thin. It is thanks to you, our extended family, that this experiment in mercy and solidarity is still alive here in the fields of Wisconsin. When our guests come through the door it is thanks to you that the lights are on and the fridge is full. It’s thanks to you that the beds are made and the water is hot, and its thanks to you that we have the joy of welcoming these strong, determined, loving children. I know there are families making plans now, and children who are waiting, patiently or not, for the day they arrive and walk through the metal detector for a visit that’s been anticipated for weeks or months, or maybe for a whole long year. We are grateful to you for making this possible, and I hope you will consider supporting hospitality at Mary House in the year to come. Since Mary House opened, the US prison population has grown every single year. Today the United States is home to the second largest number of prisoners worldwide, second only to China (and Gaza, the world’s largest open air prison). Roughly 1.68 million people were behind bars in the U.S. in 2023. If recent incarceration rates remain unchanged, an estimated 1 of every 20 US residents (5.1%) will serve time during their lifetime. Seventy percent of convictions in our justice system result in prison or jail time, making our rate of incarceration the highest in the world. Over five million children in the United States have experienced the incarceration of a parent and an estimated 2.7 million children will face the coming holidays with a parent behind bars. These children and their families struggle not only with the loss of a parent but also with the financial burdens that come with incarceration, and which will continue to impact their families long after the sentence has been served. It is the youngest members of these families, children who have committed no crime, that pay the greatest price for our national addiction to incarceration. Two-thirds of the parents serving time in prison have never had a visit from them, largely because they are incarcerated too far away from their children for visiting to be possible for families already coping with the financial burden of imprisonment. So the children who will stay at Mary House this Advent and holiday season are beating the odds, at great cost to their families, and they deserve every ounce of our respect and support. They are doing the ONLY thing that is known to reduce the chances of an incarcerated person returning to prison after release: They are preserving ties to loved ones outside the bars. All year long these children have been doing the real work of Christmas, and the coming holidays will be no exception. Many of them have been looking forward to traveling here for months, and I’m grateful to all of you for helping us greet them when they finally climb out of the car and drag their pillows and backpacks through our door. For many of them the winter trip they’ll make to Wisconsin is their family’s only vacation. Travel costs have risen and for many of the families who visit us wages have not kept up. These children are choosing a long trip through a cold landscape to arrive in a concrete visiting room over a trip to Disney, and their families are choosing to bring them here over everything else they might be longing for. As the world around them grows ever more divisive, and civility and kindness are harder and harder to find, we would do well to look to these children for advice on how to live in the world we have made. In this time when we seem to have lost our humanity, they are clinging to theirs. They have priorities that should put our furious consumption to shame. They know it’s not the shoes, or the phone, or the mountain of shiny wrapping paper that matters. When they find their way through the door and past the metal detector they will have left all that behind and brought only their own good hearts. So I am deeply grateful to you for your help in making sure this house remains here for these children and the adults who cherish them, this holiday season and throughout the coming year. I know that I’ve been asking for your help to keep this house open for a long, long time, and I’m so grateful for your generosity and your confidence in Mary House over the years. Without you, our small extended family with the big kind, generous, heart, we would not be here at all. Thank you for helping us welcome these children and their families, and for keeping our doors open in the year to come. May your own family and loved ones be safe and well this holiday season, and may your new year arrive with courage and hope. Thank you all for your kindness and your generosity. With deepest gratitude, Cassandra Dixon, for Mary House - Dec 2023 Your contribution to Mary House, in any amount, is tax deductible. Please use our PayPal link at https://www.paypal.me/MaryHouseHospitality, or visit our website at www.themaryhouse.org. Choose “support” in the menu, then choose “donate”. Or you can mail a check to 3579 County Road G, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965 Thank You!! When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with their flocks, the work of Christmas begins: to find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among the people, to make music in the heart. -Howard Thurman PS: I would like to apologize personally to anyone I’ve failed to respond to or thank over the past year. It has been the most challenging year I can remember and I greatly regret having been less than fully present for Mary House. I was assaulted by an Israeli settler in March while I was in Palestine, had a fractured skull, and spent a lot of the summer recovering, And since October 7 I have been so shocked and devastated by the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and so terribly worried for the lives, safety and future of dear friends in the West Bank, that I seem to be moving through thick mud. I am deeply grateful to all of you, and especially to our guests, for forgiveness, patience and understanding in this heartbreaking time. Cassandra Dixon 3579 County Road G, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965 (608) 844-4162 maryhousewis@gmail.comwww.themaryhouse.org

WNPJ is Weaving the Web this week with a Conversation on “Ending War” + Worker Justice WI Posadas + All Out for Palestine March in Madison + other statewide events… *********************************** The WI Network for Peace and Justice is the umbrella non-profit organization supporting the work of 80 member groups around Wisconsin. **************************** You can open any of our weekly WNPJ e-Bulletins from the archive and copy the web address to share with others. ********************************** VIRTUAL Dec 7, 12 noon – 1 pm WNPJ’s Monthly Weaving the Web Drop-in Conversation Hour. Hosted this month by Jonathan Ward, new Board member of WNPJ. Jon is a retired U.S. diplomat, Army veteran of the Gulf War, and a member of the Milwaukee Chapter of Veterans for Peace. He recently completed Ending War 101 - World BEYOND War and will share some learnings to lead off the conversation on "Ending War." Zoom info: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89361313008?pwd=UmxCOUcxL3ZFb244aXp0SnBVTFRSZz09 ; Meeting ID: 893 6131 3008 - Passcode: 797041; +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) Organizer: office@wnpj.org ***************************************** Worker Justice Center WI Posadas holiday celebration! Friday, Dec 8, from 5 – 11 pm, Labor temple lounge, 1602 S Park Street. Madison Worker Justice Center WI is thrilled to bring back our Posadas holiday celebration! Bring your entire family and join us on December 8th for FREE pozole, rice and beans, light refreshments, live music, and piñatas filled with candy! Stop by one of the tabling unions to learn about new job opportunities. We'll also share what being unionized now means for our future, exciting actions we are planning to take in 2024, and our new co-op initiative. Plus, we’ll open the floor for workers to give their testimony! And…..if you or your organization would like to donate items to our event, we thank you in advance for your generosity! Here are some of the items we’re still looking for: 48oz soup paper bowls (300), dinner paper plates (300), large packages of napkins (4), plastic spoons, forks, and knives (300/each), colorful table cloths (20), glassware cups (200), and juice boxes (100). Si quiere hacer una donación, puede traerla a la oficina de Justicia Obrera Wisconsin, WJW, (1602 S. Park St. #115) o póngase en contacto directamente conmigo, socorro@workerjustice.org. To make a donation, please make a drop-of at our main office (1602 S. Park St. #115) or contact Socorro Cortez for any questions at socorro@workerjustice.org. *************************************************** MADISON Sat Dec 9, 1 pm - All Out for Palestine Rally . At the State Capitol, East Main St. Sent to WNPJ by Madison Rafah Sister City Project : www.facebook.com/madisonrafah/ ********************************************************* Videos of the 32nd Annual WNPJ Fall Assembly are now available: "Every Drop Counts: Coming Together for Water Check it out! https://www.wnpj.org/post/2023-fall-assembly *********************************** Upcoming Events this week for WNPJ groups: MADISON Mon Dec 4, 9am - 5pm World BEYOND War vigil at Senator Tammy Baldwin's office. 30 W Mifflin St 7th floor. There will also be a picket outside on the sidewalk. The front doors are locked. You can wait for someone to exit or call us at 608-217-2248. Please come join us and bring friends. Contact: warabolition@gmail.com MADISON Mon Dec 4, 12 noon - pm Celebration of the 42nd anniversary of the Monday Noon Vigil for Peace – Meet at the corner of MLK, Jr. Blvd and Doty St On the first Monday of December in 1981, a weekly vigil for peace started in Madison, Wisconsin. For over 38 years straight, on almost every Monday that wasn't a national holiday, the vigil occurred in downtown Madison. (approximately 2,000 vigils) One of the founders and the person who kept it going all of those years was Mary Beth Schlagheck. She and her husband John plan to join us for this celebration. The Vigil took a pause in 2020 with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information about this celebration and the possibility of a restart of the Monday Noon Vigil for Peace in Madison, please call Tim at 608-630-3633 or see the facebook post. VIRTUAL Mon Dec 4, 6:30 pm – 8 pm Learning about Peace – with Echo Valley Hope. Isn’t it time we study peace for a change? Echo Valley Hope will offer The Prem Rawat’s Foundation’s (free) Intro to The Peace Education Program. Clarity, appreciation, inner strength, self-awareness, understanding, dignity, choice, hope, peace and contentment. These are the topics of a free ten-week, video based and interactive course on peace that is used worldwide in schools, prisons, senior centers, veterans groups and more. If you would like to get a first hand look at how the course is run, please register in advance: https://bit.ly/46GQtEh . For more information: Contact Dena Eakles 608-606-4450, dena.eakles@gmail.com VIRTUAL Mon Dec 4, 7 – 8:15 pm Sustainable Buildings: Identifying Leverage Point for Climate Action with 350 WI. Did you know that about 40% of global carbon emissions are attributable to buildings? Changing the way we build new buildings — and renovate existing buildings — will play an important role in meeting our global climate goals. Join 350 Wisconsin at our monthly meeting to hear from Ben Austin, Sustainability Lead at the Madison construction firm J.H. Findorff & Son. Ben will address the opportunities and challenges of taking climate action in the building sector. ONLINE VIA ZOOM: Register in advance for the meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIkd-qupz8jHtCx2JikRB3t05iy0Jney9AW#/registration Contact: https://350wisconsin.org/monthly-meetings/ VIRTUAL Thurs Dec 7, 12 noon – 1 pm WNPJ’s Monthly Weaving the Web Drop-in Conversation Hour. Hosted this month by Jonathan Ward, new Board member of WNPJ. Jon is a retired U.S. diplomat, Army veteran of the Gulf War, and a member of the Milwaukee Chapter of Veterans for Peace. He recently completed Ending War 101 - World BEYOND War and will share some learnings to lead off the conversation on "Ending War." Zoom info: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89361313008?pwd=UmxCOUcxL3ZFb244aXp0SnBVTFRSZz09 ; Meeting ID: 893 6131 3008 - Passcode: 797041; +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) Organizer: office@wnpj.org LaCROSSE Thurs Dec 7, 12 noon - 12:30 pm Weekly Women in Black Peace Vigil. Meet at Main St & 4th Street South. A weekly vigil for peace every Thursday. Contact Deborah Buffton - dbuffton@yahoo.com RACINE Thurs Dec 7 3 pm Racine Coalition for Peace and Justice "End the Lockdowns" Rally . Racine County Courthouse, 730 Wisconsin Ave. It is time to end the lockdown and address alternatives to mass incarceration. We call on the Racine County District Attorney, our local judges and our local officials to stop sending people into inhumane conditions. Learn more here. VIRTUAL Thurs Dec 7, 6:30 – 8 pm WILPF Monthly Virtual Book Club- Let's talk about and share...POETRY. We'll talk about... poetry of Clint Smith, Eve Ewing & others. You are invited to bring a poem or two that you would like to share with others during our time together. It could be from one of these poets or from another poet. Respond to wilpfmadison@gmail.com for the Zoom link. MADISON Thurs Dec 7, 4:30 – 6 pm Lights Up for Palestine Vigil Protest! Corner of Monroe Street and West Lawn on Madison's west side. Join Madison-Rafah Sister City Project and Palestine Partners to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor now estimates the number of Palestinians killed by Israel in Gaza since October 7 at 20,000, including those missing under the ruble with little hope of survival. At least 15,271 have been killed, including 6403 children. Please join us to call for an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian aid. https://www.facebook.com/events/338123062157647?ref=newsfeed MADISON Fri Dec 8, 5 – 11 pm, Worker Justice Center WI Posadas holiday celebration! Labor temple lounge, 1602 S Park Street. See the Spotlight above to learn more… MILWAUKEE Sat Dec 9, 12 noon - 1 pm Peace Action WI - Weekly STAND for PEACE: Meet at Hwy 100/North. Each Saturday, a different location. Join us. Bring your signs. info@peaceactionwi.org https://www.peaceactionwi.org/stand_for_peace VIROQUA Sat Dec 9, 11 am - 12 noon Driftless Palestinian Solidarity Weekly Vigil. Meet at Decker and Main. Action Alert: The Driftless Palestinian Solidarity group has written a petition to demand that Senator Tammy Baldwin support a ceasefire in Gaza. We are trying to get this initiative going throughout the state of WI. If your group is interested in getting signatures, please email Debbie.a.dudek@gmail.com. Thank you for your help! RACINE Sat Dec 9, 12:30 – 1:30 pm Stand for Ceasefire in Irael and Palestine. Meet at 909 Dr Martin Luther King Dr . We have signs and banners for all! JOIN US today and on Dec. 9th and 16th! We also remind everyone to continue to call your representatives a number of times a week—-for a CEASEFIRE NOW. Contact: www.facebook.com/RacineCoalitionforPeaceJustice/ MADISON Sat Dec 9, 1 pm - All Out for Palestine Rally . At the State Capitol, East Main St. Sent to WNPJ by Madison Rafah Sister City Project : www.facebook.com/madisonrafah/ Madison - Palestine Solidarity Week: Dec 2nd - 10th Learn more and register here..... https://linktr.ee/solidaritymadison ******************************************************* If your group would like to get your events posted in the weekly e-bulletin – JOIN US! https://www.wnpj.org/membership Join WNPJ – www.wnpj.org **************************************** Interested in a yard sign? WNPJ has yard signs available! yardsigns@wnpj.org See our new Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/WisNPJ "Like" us and follow us! Questions? Contact info@wnpj.org

WNPJ Fall Assembly Saturday, October 28, 2023 Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice (wnpj.org) brought people together in Appleton to learn about challenges and solutions to the water issues we are facing in our communities - which are playing out all over the world. This program was dedicated to the work of Dawn Sturdevant Baum (1976-2023), Wisconsin attorney who became General Counsel for the Yurok Tribe in Northern California, and spoke up for indigenous peoples around the world at the the UN Climate Change COP 26 in Glasgow, Scotland and COP 27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where she spoke about the importance of using indigenous knowledge with sovereignty in addressing the climate crisis. Watch segments from the program: Dean Hoegger of Clean Water Action Council speaks about laws citizens can use to protect the waters of the state and about some current legal challenges that threaten to take away the DNR's authority and the rights of citizens to protect the environment and human health. Play clip Lynn and Nancy Utesch, featured in the film Sold Down the River, spoke about the third world water conditions in Wisconsin brought on by factory farms, and affect farms in their region. This issue is being played out across the United States as politicians seem to put the interests of their corporate donors over the health and safety of their constituents. Play clip Watch Sold Down the River (15-minute film) Rights of Nature Wisconsin Initiative - Terry Dawson and WISDOM representative David Liners, and Rev. Mark Richards. Today, we face global environmental crises - including soaring extinction rates and accelerating climate change. This has happened despite thousands of environmental laws. What those laws have in common is that they regulate the exploitation of nature - treating nature as existing for human use. It's time for that to change - for our laws to recognize nature -- the waters, plants, animals and ecosystems we live among -- as a living being with legal rights. Play clip Bill Christofferson received the Peacemaker of the Year Award 2023 - Introduced by Milwaukee's Vets for Peace contact Mark Foreman (l) and Blue Heron Award from Co-chair Mary Kay Baum (r). Photo credit Brad Geyer of VFP Madison Bill has served on the WNPJ Board and has been connected with many of our member groups, including Nukewatch, Veterans for Peace, WAVE, and more. He has written a book: "Man from Clear Lake: Earth Day Founder Senator Gaylord Nelson". This past year, Bill coordinated the sailing of the anti-nuke ship "The Golden Rule" into Wisconsin waters, spreading information about the hazards of nuclear waste and war-heads at each place she docked. Read more about Bill *************************************** Tribute to George Paz Martin, by Julie Enslow George Paz Martin, 1946-2023 George Paz Martin was born in 1946 in the Philippines, the WWII love child of an island beauty and a black American GI. His father brought them to the United States after the war and George was raised in Milwaukee’s black community. At the age of 16 their parish priest, civil rights leader Fr. James Groppi, took George with him to Washington DC for the March on Washington . There, George was 20 feet from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. when he gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. It changed his life. After years of working for non-profits in the areas of economic development, civil rights, homeless vets, health care for the homeless, gang violence and a stint in marketing and promotion, George ended up in 2000 working in the Ralph Nader for President campaign and became a leader in the Green Party. He joined Peace Action Wisconsin and became totally committed to peace and justice, nuclear disarmament and anti-war organizing. In 2001 he became program director for Peace Action WI and joined the national effort to stop a US war on Iraq. He was chosen as national co-chair of United for Peace and Justice for 8 years. George was a powerful, dynamic speaker, an excellent organizer and had the ability to bring people together. His international work for peace led to over 20 trips to Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America. He was interviewed on radio and TV in over 120 countries. Twenty years ago, WNPJ had its annual meeting during intensive efforts to prevent a U.S. war on Iraq. George Martin was there and passionately proposed a statewide action at our US Congressional home offices. WNPJ and George organized sit-ins at three of Sen. Kohl’s offices simultaneously. In Milwaukee we occupied Kohl’s office four days and three nights. If George was here today he would be calling for WNPJ to again promote joint actions around the state at congressional offices to stop the Israeli genocide against the people of Gaza. Let us do all we can to help bring justice and peace to Israel/Palestine. Julie Enslow of Milwaukee November, 2023 More photos from the Assembly (photo credit to Ronna Swift of Appleton) Zoomers! Great Blue Herons depend on wetlands and waterways. In summer they make nests on very high trees, close to each other in a rookery. Adults spend most of every day stalking in water to slowly catch fish for themselves and for their young. Nesting in a large rookery protects the young from predators. Plus one adult heron stands guard ready to challenge and scare away any predator. This community is dedicated to protecting all of its members. Mary Kay Baum, Co-chair of WNPJ

For over two decades, WNPJ has benefitted from the activism and service of Bill Christofferson He has served on the WNPJ Board and has been connected with many of our member groups, including Nukewatch, Veterans for Peace, WAVE, and more. (photo credit, Sue Ruggles) Bill's an author, too - writing a book: "Man from Clear Lake: Earth Day Founder Senator Gaylord Nelson". This past year, Bill coordinated the sailing of the anti-nuke ship "The Golden Rule" into Wisconsin waters, spreading information about the hazards of nuclear waste and war-heads at each place she docked. He provided amazing organizing work, collaborating with others along the way - and then they spread the word through social media, TV and radio coverage, and written press stories. You can read more about this journey here. Bill and Alfred Meyer, another past Board Chair of WNPJ, stand here on the dock beside The Golden Rule over Labor Day 2023. These two worked together on another campaign with WNPJ - called "Carbon Free- Nuclear Free" . One of Bill's strengths is his ability to reach out to other groups, partnering for a greater impact. Short bio: Bill Christofferson is a former – he says “recovered” -- journalist and political consultant who has worked in state and local government , and a longtime peace activist. A Marine Corps veteran of Vietnam, he is a member of Veterans For Peace and Vietnam Veterans Against the War.He was the first director of Nukewatch, the Progressive Foundation’s public education project on nuclear weapons and power, from 1980 to 1983. Two other related projects, Stop Project ELF, led by John Stauber, and the Radioactive Waste Project, run by Cassandra Dixon, operated out of the Nukewatch office. Bill played a key role in passage of the first statewide nuclear freeze referendum, which passed in Wisconsin in 1982 by a 3 to 1 margin. In 1983 a referendum opposing a nuclear waste repository in Wisconsin passed statewide by a 8 to 1 margin, and the city of Madison became a Nuclear Free Zone. He is a former board member of the Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort (WAVE) and ex-board president of the Milwaukee Homeless Veterans Initiative, which was founded by Veterans For Peace. After retiring from political consulting, he joined WNPJ in 2007 and served as a board member and co-chair (with Chamomile Nusz) in 2008-09. During that time WNPJ conducted a Carbon Free Nuclear Free campaign and played a leading role in preventing the repeal of a state nuclear power moratorium. Now retired, he lives in Milwaukee with his wife, Karin Borgh, and divides his time between activism and being a grandpa to two middle school boys. You'll have a chance to celebrate with Bill as he receives this 2023 annual Peacemaker of the Year Award at the WNPJ Fall Assembly: "Every Drop Counts - Coming Together for Water" Sat. October 28th, 10 am - 1 pm at the Fox Valley UU Church on Philips Lane, in person - or virtually. Watch for more information and registration forms... And to see previous Peacemaker Awardees, check out this site: https://www.wnpj.org/awards Written by Judy Miner, former WNPJ Network Coordinator. info@wnpj.org You can reach Bill at xofffiles(AT)gmail.com

The end of this month, Oct. 28, marks the 20th anniversary of the historic victory over the controversial Crandon mine project adjacent to the Mole Lake Sokaogon Ojibwe Reservation. (photo credit: In 1997, about 250 supporters of a mining moratorium bill, including representatives from the state's tribes, gathered outside of the Capitol carrying signs, chanting and beating a drum. STATE JOURNAL ARCHIVES) Veterans of that 28-year (1975-2003) battle against the Crandon metallic sulfide mine will gather on the Mole Lake Reservation on Oct. 28 to commemorate the grassroots environmental, sportfishing and tribal victory over the world’s largest energy company (Exxon) and the world’s largest mining company (BHP Billiton). Situated at the headwaters of the Wolf River, the proposed underground mine was 1 mile upstream from the tribe’s wild rice lake, five miles from the Forest County Potawatomi Reservation, and 40 miles (via the Wolf River) upstream from the Menominee Nation. In 1976, I was a sociology graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison when I was asked to assist the Mole Lake Band in their effort to protect their wild rice lake from mining pollution. The mainstream political consensus at the time was that the mine was inevitable, given the large size of the zinc-copper deposit, promised jobs and taxes, and Exxon’s political influence in the state. The potential destruction of the tribe’s wild rice beds was of little concern to Exxon. It was simply part of the cost of economic development. In 1979 I was part of a multidisciplinary team that produced an alternative analysis for the Mole Lake Band that challenged many of the claims made by Exxon about the impacts of the proposed mine. The international mining industry was shocked when a broad multiracial, rural-based grassroots alliance defeated the world’s largest mining corporation. How did this happen? Dale Alberts, president of Nicolet Minerals, a subsidiary of BHP Billiton, acknowledged: “A major problem in the beginning was the company did a poor job of communicating to the local people. Environmental groups got out ahead and frightened people.” But what really frightened people was the prospect of acidic mine waste piles 90 feet deep covering 355 acres at the headwaters of the pristine Wolf River. Native and non-Native groups mistrusted the DNR to defend their rights and found that tribal environmental regulations were stronger than state law in protecting the Wolf River’s fishery and tourism economy. In the end, the Mole Lake Ojibwe and the Forest County Potawatomi tribes purchased the 5,000-acre Crandon mine property and mineral rights for $16.5 million. The land is now managed as a conservation area devoted to sustainable land management practices, tribal cultural values and tourism suitable to this environmentally sensitive area. After the Crandon defeat, the mining industry urgently discussed the need for a “social license to operate,” with which the mining companies work to win broad support for their extractive activities. The failure to obtain such a social license raises the political and financial risks of a project and can often lead to the defeat of a mining project by widespread community opposition. This is exactly what happened at Crandon. In 2011, a similar Indian-environmental alliance formed when the Gogebic Taconite (GTac) company proposed a mountaintop removal operation in the Penokee Hills above Lake Superior to create the largest open pit iron mine in the world. The proposed mine was upstream from the largest remaining wild rice wetland in the entire Great Lakes basin on the Bad River Ojibwe Reservation. The Bad River Band asserted their sovereignty and GTac pulled the plug on their project in 2015. The assertion of tribal sovereignty, combined with building alliances with the non-Native communities in the watersheds at risk from ecologically destructive mining projects has proven to be an effective strategy. The success of these struggles has already provided inspiration for ongoing mine battles at the Reef project in Marathon County, the Bend project in Taylor County and the Back Forty project next to the Menominee River on the Michigan-Wisconsin border. Al Gedicks is executive secretary of the Wisconsin Resources Protection Council and emeritus professor of environmental sociology at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. https://captimes.com/opinion/guest-columns/opinion-defeat-of-crandon-mine-in-wisconsin-a-pivotal-victory/article_4cad6f0c-62f1-11ee-a112-0f94d9aa9a9b.html

Tribute to George Paz Martin, by Julie Enslow George Paz Martin, 1946-2023 George Paz Martin was born in 1946 in the Philippines, the WWII love child of an island beauty and a black American GI. His father brought them to the United States after the war and George was raised in Milwaukee’s black community. At the age of 16 their parish priest, civil rights leader Fr. James Groppi, took George with him to Washington DC for the March on Washington . There, George was 20 feet from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. when he gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. It changed his life. After years of working for non-profits in the areas of economic development, civil rights, homeless vets, health care for the homeless, gang violence and a stint in marketing and promotion, George ended up in 2000 working in the Ralph Nader for President campaign and became a leader in the Green Party. He joined Peace Action Wisconsin and became totally committed to peace and justice, nuclear disarmament and anti-war organizing. In 2001 he became program director for Peace Action WI and joined the national effort to stop a US war on Iraq. He was chosen as national co-chair of United for Peace and Justice for 8 years. George was a powerful, dynamic speaker, an excellent organizer and had the ability to bring people together. His international work for peace led to over 20 trips to Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America. He was interviewed on radio and TV in over 120 countries. Twenty years ago, WNPJ had its annual meeting during intensive efforts to prevent a U.S. war on Iraq. George Martin was there and passionately proposed a statewide action at our US Congressional home offices. WNPJ and George organized sit-ins at three of Sen. Kohl’s offices simultaneously. In Milwaukee we occupied Kohl’s office four days and three nights. If George was here today he would be calling for WNPJ to again promote joint actions around the state at congressional offices to stop the Israeli genocide against the people of Gaza. Let us do all we can to help bring justice and peace to Israel/Palestine. Julie Enslow of Milwaukee November, 2023

The WI Network for Peace and Justice is the umbrella non-profit organization supporting the work of 80 member groups around Wisconsin. **************************** SPOTLIGHT on Palestine Products found at the Madison 27th Annual Fair Trade Holiday Festival - Sat. Dec. 2nd! Sat. Dec. 2nd 8:00 am – 3:00 pm Monona Terrace (1 John Nolen Dr.) We're back and we're in person - right next door to the Dane County Farmers Market. Let us be your best choice for good karma socially responsible gift giving! More info? https://www.fairtrademadison.org/ Be sure to join MRSCP, Palestine Partners, Madison Playgrounds for Palestine and dozens of other great fair trade vendors at Madison's annual Fair Trade Holiday Festival. This year more than ever we ask you to help Palestinians to remain and thrive on their land by buying the great variety of beautiful and useful products that our three groups are able to bring to you. In spite of the situation, we do have a good supply of embroidery, ceramics, olive wood products, earrings, Hirbawi keffiyehs, olive oil, olive oil soap, zaatar, and more. We will also be promoting awareness of the crisis in Palestine, and raising funds for Gaza relief & the Madison-Masafer Yatta Olive Grove. Madison Rafah Sister City Project http://www.madisonrafah.org *************************** SPOTLIGHT on Building Unity – In Milwaukee Fall Unity Summit - with Building Unity in Milwaukee We are Rising UP! We are Building a Unity Plan! Saturday, 02 December, 10:00 am - 07:00 pm 4201 N 27th St 7th floor, Old North Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53209, USA Building Unity (BU) - The name of a multi-group project with the goal of facilitating a more united Wisconsin-wide movement for peace, justice, sustainability, and democracy. Wisconsin Unity Plan Project - The latest BU collaboration project by BU partners. Pulling together a diverse collection of Wisconsin groups and communities with the goal of creating the Wisconsin Unity Plan: (https://tinyurl.com/WIUnityPlan). Current Highlights of the Wisconsin Unity Plan (also referred to as the Unity Plan or UP) - This evolving and living document will highlight our shared statewide intentions to build a strong participatory democracy that will lead us toward the more rational and moral choices of world peace, social justice, and ecological sanity. More info: www.buildingunitywisconsin.org or call Building Unity at 608-630-3633 ************************** Madison - Palestine Solidarity Week: Dec 2nd - 10th Learn more and register here.....https://linktr.ee/solidaritymadison WNPJ member groups and affiliates issue Statements and Action Alerts on Hamas/Palestine/Israel See the developing list here: https://www.wnpj.org/post/statements-from-wnpj-groups-and-their-national-affiliates-on-palestine-israel-hamas Petitions to sign https://www.change.org/p/sign-and-share-this-urgent-petition-calling-for-a-ceasefirenow-in-gaza-and-israel and phone calls to make. Go to the Madison Rafah Sister City sites: http://madisonrafah.org/ and/or https://www.facebook.com/madisonrafah to learn more. ********************************************************* Upcoming Events this week for WNPJ groups: FITCHBURG Mon Nov 27, 10 am - 12 noon UN Monthly Discussion Group - Meet at the library, 5530 Lacy Road. (This group meets on-line on the 2nd Monday of each month. Contact Sam Romano for the zoom call-in details.) This group meets on the 4th Monday of the month. Questions? Agenda and readings for the day? Please bring along concerns and topics you’d like to discuss or share information with us ahead of meeting. Contact: Sam Romano sromano@charter.net Camp Douglas, Volk Field Tues Nov 28, 3:45 – 4:45 pm Monthly Vigil Against the Drones . To get to the vigil, take the Camp Douglas exit off Interstate 90/94 between Mauston and Tomah. When you exit take County Rd. C to the northeast. You will see the base straight ahead, but follow County Rd. C to the right and within a few blocks is a picnic wayside where you can park. The wayside is now closed for the winter, but you can legally park on the side of the road. There are no bathrooms available during the winter months. We need YOU there. Arrive at the wayside around 3:30 so we have time for introductions and to process to the base together. WE MUST BRING THIS TERROR THAT THE US GOVERNMENT REIGNS DOWN ON OTHERS TO AN END! The vigil at Volk Field is a legal vigil where we will be on public property. As always, it will be a solemn vigil, remembering the victims of US government drone attacks. We will gather at the wayside around 3:30 for introductions and to review the plan for the vigil, and then process together to the gates of the base where we will hold a solemn vigil for one hour to remember those killed by drones. Participants can stand in silence or read poems and stories about the effects of drone warfare. It is important that the voices of the victims be brought to the gates of Volk Field. Bring posters if you can. If you are interested in carpooling to Volk Field from Madison, please contact Bonnie at 608-256-5088. We usually vigil on the 4th Tuesday of every month. If you have any questions please call or email Joy at 608 239-4327 or joyfirst5@gmail.com or Bonnie at 608-256-5088 or blb24@earthlink.net. Wisconsin Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars MILWAUKEE Wed Nov 29, 12 noon - 1 pm ANTI-GUN Vigil. Meet at Dunham's Sports, S 108th St. Dunham advertises and sells guns and assault rifles. Sponsored by Casa Maria Catholic Worker House. www.facebook.com/CasaMariaCatholicWorker/ MADISON Wed Nov 29, 7 pm UNA-USA Dane County Annual Membership Meeting. At Christ Presbyterian Church. East Gorham St. The agenda will include presentation of the revised bylaws as well as board nominations. See https://www.wnpj.org/member-organizations-list/united-nations-association---dane-county-chapter MILWAUKEE Wed Nov 29, 7 pm Veterans for Peace #102 November chapter meeting. At St. John's On the Lake, 1800 N Prospect. Contact: MKE Vets for Peace vfpchapter102@gmail.com LaCROSSE Thurs Nov 30, 12 noon - 12:30 pm Weekly Women in Black Peace Vigil. Meet at Main St & 4th Street South. A weekly vigil for peace every Thursday. Contact Deborah Buffton (check with organizers – as this is a holiday) dbuffton@yahoo.com MADISON Thurs Nov 30, 6 - 7 pm Vets for Peace #25 and WORLD BEYOND War Madison: Anti-war Film series "Theaters of War". Meet at the Madison Public Library - Central, West Mifflin Street, Rm 302. The film tonight is "Theaters of War: How the Pentagon and CIA took Hollywood" . Discussion following the films. If you’ve seen Top Gun or Transformers, you may have wondered: Does all of that military machinery on screen come with strings attached? Does the military actually get a crack at the script? Theaters of War digs deep into a vast new trove of recently released internal government documents to bring the answers to these questions into sharp focus. Traveling across America, filmmaker and media scholar Roger Stahl engages an array of other researchers, bewildered veterans, PR insiders, and industry producers willing to talk. In unsettling and riveting detail, he discovers how the military and CIA have pushed official narratives while systematically scrubbing scripts of war crimes, corruption, racism, sexual assault, coups, assassinations, and torture. From The Longest Day to Lone Survivor, Iron Man to Iron Chef, and James Bond to Jack Ryan, Theaters of War uncovers an alternative “cinematic universe” that stands as one of the great Pentagon PR coups of our time. As these activities gain new public scrutiny, new questions arise: How have they managed to fly under the radar for so long? And where do we go from here? We hope you’ll join us! Questions, ideas, RSVP? warabolition@gmail.com MADISON Sat Dec 2, 8 am – 3 pm Madison’s 27th Annual Fair Trade Holiday Festival! At Monona Terrace (1 John Nolen Dr.) We're back and we're in person - right next door to the Dane County Farmers Market. Let us be your best choice for good karma socially responsible gift giving! More info? https://www.fairtrademadison.org/ Info sent to WNPJ by Madison Infoshop – jepeck@wisc.edu and by Madison Rafah Sister City Project MILWAUKEE Sat Dec 2, 10 am – 7 pm We are Rising UP! We are Building a Unity Plan! 4201 N 27th St 7th floor, Old North Milwaukee. See details above on the Building Unity Spotlight. APPLETON Sat Dec 2, 11am – 12 noon Fox Valley Monthly Stand for Peace. Houdini Plaza, West Lawrence Street. Every month - the first Saturday! Bring your signs! Organizer: Ronna Swift ronnajean61@gmail.com MILWAUKEE Sat Dec 2, 12 noon - 1 pm Peace Action WI - Weekly STAND for PEACE: Meet at East Locust Street & North Oakland Avenue. Each Saturday, a different location. Join us. Bring your signs. info@peaceactionwi.org https://www.peaceactionwi.org/stand_for_peace VIROQUA Sat Dec 2, 11 am - 12 noon Driftless Palestinian Solidarity Weekly Vigil. Meet at Decker and Main. Action Alert: The Driftless Palestinian Solidarity group has written a petition to demand that Senator Tammy Baldwin support a ceasefire in Gaza. We are trying to get this initiative going throughout the state of WI. If your group is interested in getting signatures, please email Debbie.a.dudek@gmail.com. Thank you for your help! RACINE Sat Dec 2, 12:30 – 1:30 pm Stand for Ceasefire in Irael and Palestine. Meet at 909 Dr Martin Luther King Dr . We have signs and banners for all! JOIN US today and on Dec. 9th and 16th! We also remind everyone to continue to call your representatives a number of times a week—-for a CEASEFIRE NOW. Contact: ww.facebook.com/RacineCoalitionforPeaceJustice/ VIRTUAL Mon Dec 4, 6:30 pm – 8 pm Learning about Peace – with Echo Valley Hope. Isn’t it time we study peace for a change? Echo Valley Hope will offer The Prem Rawat’s Foundation’s (free) Intro to The Peace Education Program. Clarity, appreciation, inner strength, self-awareness, understanding, dignity, choice, hope, peace and contentment. These are the topics of a free ten-week, video based and interactive course on peace that is used worldwide in schools, prisons, senior centers, veterans groups and more. If you would like to get a first hand look at how the course is run, please register in advance: https://bit.ly/46GQtEh . For more information: Contact Dena Eakles 608-606-4450, dena.eakles@gmail.com ******************************************************* If your group would like to get your events posted in the weekly e-bulletin – JOIN US! https://www.wnpj.org/membership Join WNPJ – www.wnpj.org **************************************** Interested in a yard sign? WNPJ has yard signs available! yardsigns@wnpj.org See our new Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/WisNPJ "Like" us and follow us! Questions? Contact info@wnpj.org

The Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal welcomes new registrants: The Tribunal launched Sunday, Nov 12, 2023 with a segment recounting repeated aerial bombardments of Gaza. Each week, for the next four months, we will email out a link to the next video segment, with periodic live-stream discussions of the evidence and of actions we can all take our communities (register here for the Dec 3rd discussion.). At the conclusion the jurors of the tribunal will render a verdict during a livestream event following which a detailed written report will be published. Below is an article focused on tunnels in war zones, the most alarming of which is an Israeli site storing nuclear weapons. - Kathy __________________________________________ Tunnels for Safety and Tunnels for Death by Kathy Kelly November 22, 2023 An underground nuclear arsenal in Israel dwarfs the tunnels alleged at a Gaza hospital. It’s one thing to burrow beneath the ground, digging to construct a tunnel for refuge, a passage of goods, or to store weapons during a time of war. It’s quite another to use one hand, as a small child, to try and dig your way out of the rubble that has collapsed upon you. Professor Mustafa Abu Sway, a professor based in Jerusalem, spoke sadly of the reality in Gaza where, he said, "one child dies every ten minutes." "It was not the death of a child," he said, "but the survival of one, that made me really very, very sad." He was speaking of a video which had emerged showing a child buried alive under rubble attempting to free herself with one hand. When we think of how to rescue suffering children from the unbridled carnage of numerous wars that have forced people to go underground, the vast network of tunnels built by the Vietnamese come to mind. To this day, tourists in Viet Nam visit a network of tunnels created by the North Vietnamese, extending from the outskirts of Saigon to the borders of Cambodia. Construction of these tunnels, used both for shelter and by soldiers, began during the French occupation of Viet Nam. Eventually, the complex system gave the North Vietnamese a form of leverage in their effort to fight against the United States military. Following the U.S. defeat in Viet Nam, weapon makers in the United States focused on developing ordnance that could destroy underground tunnels and bases. Bombs like the Paveway (GBU-27) were used against Iraq in Operation Desert Storm where they were deployed on February 13, 1991 to attack the Amiriyah shelter in Baghdad. At that time, families in the Amiriyah neighborhood had huddled overnight in the basement shelter for a relatively safe night’s sleep. The smart bombs penetrated the “Achilles’ heel” of the building, the spot where ventilation shafts had been installed. The first bomb exploded and expelled 17 bodies out of the building. The second bomb followed immediately after the first, and its explosion sealed the exits. The temperature inside the shelter rose to 500 degrees Celsius and the pipes overhead burst, resulting in boiling water that cascaded down on the innocents who slept. Hundreds of people were burned alive. In Afghanistan, on April 13th, 2017, The United States used a Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb nicknamed MOAB, the Mother of All Bombs, to destroy a network of tunnels in the Hindu Kush mountains. The United States had helped the Mujahideen construct these tunnels during their war against the Soviet Union in the late 1970s. The 21,000 pound MOAB, designed to destroy tunnel complexes and hardened bunkers, still affects the area where it was used. Locals say this harsh terrain has been haunted by a deadly, hidden hazard: chemical contamination. According to one local resident, Qudrat Wali, "All the people living in Asad Khel village became ill after that bomb was dropped." The 27-year old farmer showed a journalist red bumps stretched across his calves and said, "I have it all over my body." He said he got the skin disease from contamination left by the MOAB. When Wali and his neighbors returned to their village, they found their land did not produce crops like it had before "We would get 150 kilograms of wheat from my land before, but now we cannot get half of that," he says. "We came back because our homes and livelihoods are here, but this land is not safe. The plants are sick and so are we." One of the most alarming underground concentrations for massive destruction is located 53 miles from Gaza, where a complex now called the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center has developed at least 80 thermonuclear weapons. First built in 1958, the facility underwent a major renovation just two years ago. "To this day," writes Joshua Frank, "Israel has never openly admitted possessing such weaponry and yet has consistently refused to allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to visit the secretive site." A classic 1956 film depicting the horror of a Nazi concentration camp, Alain Resnais’s "Night and Fog," contains narration that at one point addresses how the terrible sites will be seen in the future. "Nine million dead haunt this countryside... We pretend that it could only happen once, in this place at that time… The icy water fills the hollows of the mass graves, while war goes to sleep, but with one eye always open." Living as we do in a world where countries like the United States maintain a permanent warfare state, we must reckon with the horrific cost of war – and the obscene profits. The Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal notes that weapons makers' stocks on Wall Street have risen 7% since the war started. Recognizing war never sleeps, we must keep our eyes wide open and acknowledge the horrendous toll as well as our responsibility to build a world beyond war. As much as we might long to grasp the hand of the child trying to free herself from underneath a collapsed building’s rubble, we need to imagine and long for the chance to grasp the hand of someone outside our own community, someone we’ve been taught to regard as an enemy or an invisible "other." Writing these words from a safe, secure spot feels hollow, but in my memory I return to the pediatric ward of an Iraqi hospital when Iraq was under a siege imposed by U.S. and U.N. economic sanctions. Agonized and grieving, a young mother, her world crashing in on her, wept over the dying child she cradled. I came from the country that forbade medicine and food desperately needed by each of the dying children in this ward. "Believe me, I pray," she whispered, "I pray that this will never happen to a mother who is from your country." This article first appeared in The Progressive Kathy Kelly (kathy.vcnv@gmail.com) is board President of World BEYOND War and a co-coordinator of the Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal. With Voices for Creative Nonviolence and Voices in the Wilderness she traveled to war zones in Iraq, Afghanistan, Gaza and Lebanon. Photos: 1. Reconstruction of a family room in the Vinh Moc tunnels, Quang Tri, Vietnam [Margrethe Store CC-BY 2.0] 2. Unofficial shrine remembering the victims of the bombing of the Ameriyah shelter in Iran on February 13, 1991 [Lloyd Francis] 3, Negev Nuclear Research Center [Declassified U.S. reconnaissance satellite image (1968) public domain] The Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal will hold accountable -- through testimony of witnesses -- U.S. Weapons manufacturers who knowingly produce and sell products which attack and kill non-combatants. These manufacturers may have committed Crimes Against Humanity as well as violated U.S. Federal criminal laws. The Tribunal will hear the evidence and render a verdict. Kathy Kelly

The WI Network for Peace and Justice is the umbrella non-profit organization supporting the work of 80 member groups around Wisconsin. **************************** WNPJ will be part of BEA's 2024 movement for environmental justice. Building Equity and Alignment in Environmental Justice (BEA) in partnership with the BEA Fund Grant Review Committee, is pleased to announce it is awarding $4.8 million dollars in grants... through the BEA Fund Cycle. Ninety-one grassroots environmental justice organizations will receive one-year general operating support grants of up to $75,000 to build local power and leadership, and influence the decisions that affect their communities. The Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice - along with two of our member groups, Family Farm Defenders and WI Green Muslims - are recipients of this 2023-24 Grant opportunity!!! Wisconsin will be working on Environmental Justice. Watch the WNPJ website www.wnpj.org to see how you can get involved! For more information, contact dena.eakles@gmail.com Learn more at https://www.wnpj.org/post/wnpj-joins-with-bea-grassroots-groups-in-weaving-together-the-fabric-of-our-movement **************************************************************************** Spotlight on Nukewatch! 2nd Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons You may have heard that United Nations meetings to abolish nuclear weapons will be held in New York later this month. Yes, the 2nd Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will be in the U.S.A. from Monday, November 27 to Friday, December 1, meeting at the UN Headquarters, East 45th St. NYC. They will be meeting in NYC. And so will Nukewatch!​ Email us if you're coming or want more info! Nukewatch1@lakeland.ws We'd love to meet up! Let us know if you're interested in attending or helping organize a direct action training and rally at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. We are working with the Affected Communities and Allies Working Group to promote an organizational sign-on letter to demand the U.S. participate in the meetings with observer status. See the text of the letter HERE. Sign on HERE You can learn more about events being planned here. https://www.icanw.org/2MSP_events The international disarmament movement will be there too. Join us in New York to show them that U.S. citizens are here in solidarity, even if our government isn't. For nuclear disarmament now! Nukewatch https://www.wnpj.org/member-organizations-list/nukewatch ************************** WNPJ member groups and affiliates issue Statements and Action Alerts on Hamas/Palestine/Israel See the developing list here: https://www.wnpj.org/post/statements-from-wnpj-groups-and-their-national-affiliates-on-palestine-israel-hamas Petitions to sign https://www.change.org/p/sign-and-share-this-urgent-petition-calling-for-a-ceasefirenow-in-gaza-and-israel and phone calls to make. Go to the Madison Rafah Sister City sites: http://madisonrafah.org/ and/or https://www.facebook.com/madisonrafah to learn more. ***************************************************************** Upcoming Events this week for WNPJ groups: FITCHBURG Mon Nov 20, 6 - 8 pm Transgender Day of Remembrance Interfaith Service - Memorial United Church Christ, 5705 Lacy Rd. This Interfaith Service will be also streamed to YouTube. The Transgender Day of Remembrance is an annual observance honoring the memory of those whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence. We gather to remember, and we will continue to gather until we are all accepted for just being us, human beings. Memorial United Church of Christ in Fitchburg shares this solemn day of remembrance with many interfaith partners and is proud to be the host congregation for this event this year. Transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith started this tradition in 1999 in memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who had been killed the previous year. It became an annual tradition to honor all transgender people who lost their lives to violence because of who they were . Co-sponsors (list in progress) Fitchburg Memorial United Church of Christ, Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice. Contact: wifaithvoices4justice@gmail.com MADISON Mon Nov 20, 7 pm Teejop and Beyond: Decolonizing Gender and Sexuality! - Madison Central Public Library, 201 West Mifflin Street. Mx T Clearwater will offer perspectives on rethinking gender and sexuality through Indigenous cultural lenses, introducing key terminology and exploring history between colonizers and Indigenous peoples. For more info, visit the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1331852424370719/. Sent to WNPJ by Madison Infoshop jepeck@wisc.edu MILWAUKEE Tues Nov 21, 5 – 6:30 pm “CONVERSATION ON THE PALESTINIAN-ISRAELI CONFLICT” - At the Lubar Entrepreneurship Center (Dream Studio) 2100 East Kenwood Blvd. This in-person event is sponsored by the UWM Division of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion; the UWM Institute on World Affairs; and the Master of Sustainable Peacebuilding program, and supported by Peace Action WI info@peaceactionwi.org Panel will be moderated by Douglas Savage, Director of UWM’s Institute of World Affairs . Recent violent and deadly events in Israel and Palestine have reignited longstanding tensions on college campuses and in communities across the United States. Many of our students and employees are directly impacted because they have family and friends in the region. Others are searching for ways to support students and colleagues as they navigate how to engage in conversations that acknowledge the human aspects of a deeply contentious crisis. As part of UWM’s educational and community-building programs, this panel will explore the context for the fast-moving events in Israel and Gaza. It will also provide an opportunity for civil and respectful discourse around this deeply divisive conflict, deepening our commitment to shared values, and laying the foundation for future events on this important subject. For more information: Contact Dr. Chia Vang at vangcy@uwm.edu VIRTUAL Tues Nov 21, 7 - 8 pm Webinar: We are Still Here: An Interview with Julie Dye - Sinsinawa. Julie Dye is a Native rights advocate and environmental activist. We’ll delve into topics such as the truth of Thanksgiving, the recent repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery, cultural appropriation, racist mascots and place names, and the past, present, and future of the Potawatomi. Registration ends November 20, and the fee is $10 per person. Contact Arrangements at 608-748-4411 or visit our website at https://sinsinawa.org/moundcenter for more information. MILWAUKEE Wed Nov 22, 12 noon - 1 pm ANTI-ROTC VIGIL . Meet at Marquette University Raynor Memorial Libraries, West Wisconsin Avenue, Sponsored by Casa Maria Catholic Worker House. https://www.facebook.com/CasaMariaCatholicWorker/ LaCROSSE Thurs Nov 23, 12 noon - 12:30 pm Weekly Women in Black Peace Vigil. Meet at Main St & 4th Street South. A weekly vigil for peace every Thursday. Contact Deborah Buffton (check with organizers – as this is a holiday) dbuffton@yahoo.com MADISON Fri Nov 24, 10 am – 1 pm Peace Wreath Workshops with World BEYOND War.... Workshop is at the utopian tiny houses community OM Village, 304 N Third St. Reserve your spot at warabolition@gmail.com . Make an evergreen wreath to show your antiwar commitment. We will teach you how and we supply all the materials. MILWAUKEE Sat Nov 25, 12 noon - 1 pm Peace Action WI - Weekly STAND for PEACE: Meet at St. Paul and Water. Each Saturday, a different location. Join us. Bring your signs. info@peaceactionwi.org https://www.peaceactionwi.org/stand_for_peace VIROQUA Sat Nov 25, 11 am - 12 noon Driftless Palestinian Solidarity Weekly Vigil. Meet at Decker and Main. Contact debbie.a.dudek@gmail.com Action Alert: The Driftless Palestinian Solidarity group has written a petition to demand that Senator Tammy Baldwin support a ceasefire in Gaza. We are trying to get this initiative going throughout the state of WI. If your group is interested in getting signatures, please email debbie.a.dudek@gmail.com for the petition and instructions. Thank you for your help! RACINE Sat Nov 25, 12:30 - 1:30 pm Racine Stand for a Ceasefire in Israel and Palestine. Meetat the Dr. Martin Luther King Plaza, 909 Dr. Martin Luther King Dr. Every Saturday in November Contact: www.facebook.com/RacineCoalitionforPeaceJustice/ ******************************************************* If your group would like to get your events posted in the weekly e-bulletin – JOIN US! https://www.wnpj.org/membership **************************************** Interested in a yard sign? WNPJ has yard signs available! yardsigns@wnpj.org See our new Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/WisNPJ "Like" us and follow us! Questions? Comments? Send to info@wnpj.org