Join Instead of War

Senator Claire McCaskill’s office at 5850 Delmar

4:30 on May 21, 2013

Demand a Closure to Guantanamo!

Come out to denounce the barbaric practice of torture and indefinite detention and to demand justice for the men at Guantanamo!

Many of you have heard of the inspirational hunger strike happening in Guantanamo.  Instead of War is joining Witness Against Torture’s Rolling Fast on May 20^th and 21^st.

Join us on Tuesday the 21^st or participate in the fast!  Please email staff@insteadofwar.org if you are participating in the fast so we can be sure to show how many people in St Louis stand against torture and indefinite detention!

Below are other steps you can take while you fast:

Send a letter!

Flood the prison with mail by downloading and sending this letter to a man detained in Guantanamo.

Skip a meal and use that time to send it, or donate the food cost to sending the letters.

Organize through social media

Take a photo of yourself in an orange jumpsuit and black hood in a public place and send it to  witnesstorture@gmail.com

Call the White House and U.S. Military

Call the White House and insist that President Obama fulfill his promise to close Guantanamo: 202-456-1111, 202-456-1414 or submit a comment online.

Call the U.S. Southern Command to decry the conditions at Guantanamo: 305.437.1213

Call the Department of Defense: 703-571-3343

Talking points: “I am concerned about the expanding hunger strike and I appreciate General Kelly’s (Southcom Commander) recent acknowledgement before Congress of the “devastating” situation at Guantanamo.  We are concerned over the costs associated, both financially and what it does to America’s image, and concerned about the repercussions for our troops and what it means to ask young kids to force feed people we admit are innocent.  I ask that, in the face of the failure of our elected officials to close Guantanamo, our Military will refuse to participate in force feedings.”

On April 13th,  St. Louis Instead of War joined organizations from the St. Louis area such as the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party, Veterans For Peace, Workers International League, Peace Economy Project, CAIR-St. Louis, Universal African Peoples Organization, Amnesty-St. Louis, and the Gateway Greens gathered together for the National Day of Action Against Drones to protest the continued use of drones internationally and domestically.

Under the guise of “fighting terrorism” or “saving civilians,” the United States is using drones to engage in military actions throughout the world, including countries that are considered “allies”. Over 3,000 people have been murdered by U.S. drone strikes in the last few years, including a large number of children by these robotic killing machines.

For more resources on drones, check out our resource page!

Join the St. Louis Instead of War Coalition for two discussions this month as we read Medea Benjamin’s book “Drone Warfare-Killing by Remote Control”.

Wednesday, February 13^th at 6:30 p.m.

Monday, February 25^th at 6:30 p.m.

Center for Survivors, 1077 S. Newstead

Drone Warfare is a comprehensive look at the growing menace of robotic warfare, with an extensive analysis of who is producing the drones, where they are being used, who “pilots” these unmanned planes, who are the victims and what are the legal and moral implications. In vivid, readable style, the book also looks at what activists, lawyers and scientists are doing to ground the drones, and ways to move forward.

The first discussion will cover the first half of the book.

Instead of War has the books for sale at the World Community Center for $12.  To pick up a copy of the book, please email staff@insteadofwar.org or call 314-761-7428.

Join the St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee, a working group of Instead of War,  September 21-23, 2012 for our 11th Annual National Organizers’ Conference at St. Louis University.

Our conference is an opportunity for our member groups and activists from across the country to come together and strengthen our efforts to end U.S. support for Israeli occupation and apartheid policies toward Palestinians. With nearly 400 groups part of our coalition, this year’s conference will be a great opportunity f

   Please join us for a discussion with Medea Benjamin on her new   book, “Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control”.

Wednesday, June 6th, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.
St. Louis Friends Meeting, 1001 Park Ave. St. Louis, MO 63104

Medea Benjamin is a co-founder of both CODEPINK and the international human rights organization Global Exchange. She has been an advocate for social justice for more than 30 years. Described as “one of America’s most committed — and most effective — fighters for human rights” by New York Newsday, and called “one of the high profile leaders of the peace movement” by the Los Angeles Times, Medea has distinguished herself as an eloquent and energetic figure in the progressive movement. In 2005 she was one of 1,000 exemplary women from 140 countries nominated to receive the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the millions of women who do the essential work of peace worldwide. In 2010 she received the Martin Luther King, Jr. Peace Prize from the Fellowship of Reconciliation.

Benjamin is the author/editor of eight books. Her latest book is called Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control, and she has been campaigning to get lethal drones out of the hands of the CIA. Her articles appear regularly in outlets such as The Huffington Post, CommonDreams, Alternet and OpEd News. Medea can be reached at: medea[@]codepink.org.
Co-Sponsored by St. Louis Instead of War Coalition,  Peace Economy Project, Catholic Action Network and Inter-Faith Committee on Latin America (IFCLA)