War Resisters League
339 Lafayette Street
New York, NY 10012
nycwrl@att.net
www.warresisters.org
Contacts:
Frida Berrigan 347.683.4928
Thomas Good 347.524.5631
John Lake 646.299.2698
November 15, 2005
For immediate release
P R E S S R E L E A S E
NEW YORK CIY WAR RESISTERS PLAN FUNERAL MARCH ON NATIONAL
STAND DOWN DAY
New York, NY - The New York City Local of the War Resisters
League (WRL) will hold a funeral march on Friday, November 18,
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 pm on Friday, participants will
assemble coffins draped in black and in American flags,
representing the Iraqi and Americans killed in the war.
The marchers will gather at the site of the daily vigil held
at Washington Square. From there, stepping off at 5:30,
participants will march in a solemn procession with coffins to
the U.S. Army Recruiting station at 688 6th Avenue ( at 22nd
Street). The march route has been posted at:
http://www.nextleftnotes.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.
Among the are organizers of the event are members of the War
Resisters League, the Next Left Notes and the Industrial
Workers of the World.
Frida Berrigan, a War Resisters League activist, argues: "The
bloodshed has already cost the lives of thousands of Americans
and Iraqis, while wasting vast sums of money urgently needed to
for healthcare, education and jobs. At the same time a clear
majority of the people in the U.S. reject a foreign policy that
embraces death and destruction." Thomas Good, a member of the
Industrial Workers of the World, states that "There are several
wars going on - a war in Iraq, a war in Afghanistan, a war against
truth in the United States and a war on the poor being conducted
by the Bush Administration. Fascism is selectively applied
oppression and that is what we are seeing here. Friends of peace
and progress have no choice but to go into the streets to demand
change and to remain there until the wars are ended."
This march is part of a day of nonviolent direct action and
other acts of nonviolent resistance coordinated by the National
Call for Nonviolent Resistance and the Iraq Pledge of Resistance -
what is being called National Stand Down Day. Events are happening
all across the country.
The NYC WRL march will be the first 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, December 9, 2005.
The War Resisters League is an 81-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.
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