War Resisters League 339 Lafayette Street New York, NY 10012 nycwrl@att.net www.warresisters.org Contacts: Thomas Good 347.524.5631 John Lake 646.299.2698 Samuel Morales 917.361.8464 December 7, 2005 For Immediate Release P R E S S R E L E A S E NYC WAR RESISTERS ANNOUNCE REGULAR IRAQ WAR FUNERAL MARCH New York, NY - The New York City Local of the War Resisters League (WRL) will hold a funeral march on Friday, December 9, 2005, to protest the loss of life in the war being waged in Iraq. Gathering at the north end of Washington Square Park (under the arch) at 5:30 pm on Friday, participants will assemble coffins draped in black and in American flags, representing the Iraqi and Americans killed in the war. This is the second funeral procession in as many months and vigil organizer Thomas Good states: "We will continue the processions until the war in Iraq is ended and the last soldier is returned home". Organizers have announced that the marches will occur on the first Friday of each month barring conflicts with other anti-war protests. The marchers for the December 9th protest will gather at the site of the daily vigil held at Washington Square's famous arch. From there, stepping off at 6:00, participants will march in a solemn procession bearing coffins, wearing bibs depicting US and Iraqi war dead, and carrying white candles, to the U.S. Army Recruiting station at 157 Chambers Street (near Borough of Manhattan Community College). The march route will be posted at: http://www.actiontendency.net/stand_down/ No permits have been sought from the city of New York by the organizers of the march. Individuals interested in participating are invited to come to Washington Square Park at 5 pm. The march will proceed single file, and will obey all traffic laws. Participants are asked to maintain a solemn silence and nonviolent disposition throughout the march. Thomas Good, a War Resisters League activist, argues: "The idea here is to bring the war home, symbolically, to those responsible: the military recruiters who prey upon our young. I have heard that military recruiters are lonely these days and therefore we plan to keep them company...until they stop lying to young people about what enlistment really means." Samuel Morales, a member of the Industrial Workers of the World, states that "I'm glad to see the 'coffin walk', as it is known, growing. I'm pleased to report that there have been Wobblies involved from Day One as I see this as a Bosses' war, not something in the interest of working people." The NYC WRL march is the second of a series of monthly events designed to draw attention to the seemingly endless suffering in Iraq occuring as a consequence of US foreign policy. The next march is scheduled for Friday, January 6, 2005. Should inclement weather prevent the march on December 9th, organizers are asking participants to attend the Washington Square vigil the following day - at the same location and same time. This week's Washington Square vigil is occurring on International Human Rights Day and is being held in solidarity with the War Resisters and Catholic Workers now marching to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to offer comfort to the prisoners being held there. Among the are organizers of the monthly funeral procession are members of the War Resisters League, the Direct Action Tendency, the Industrial Workers of the World and several other anti-war and labor organizations. The march has been endorsed by the Socialist Party of New York City and Jim Fleming, Editor/Publisher of Autonomedia (http://www.autonomedia.org). 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. - 30 -