War Resisters League
339 Lafayette Street
New York, NY 10012
nycwrl@att.net
www.warresisters.org
Contacts:
Thomas Good 347.524.5631
Todd Eaton 917.620.7781
January 6, 2006
For Immediate Release
P R E S S R E L E A S E
NEW YORK CITY WAR RESISTERS CONTINUE IRAQ WAR FUNERAL MARCHES
New York, NY - The New York City Local of the War Resisters
League (WRL) will hold a funeral march on Saturday, January 7,
2006, 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 2:00 pm on Saturday, participants will
assemble coffins draped in black and in American flags,
representing the Iraqi and Americans killed in the war.
This is the third funeral procession in as many months and
the NYC War Resisters League plans to 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 monthly and will visit a wide variety of
New York City recruiting centers - in all five boroughs.
The marchers for the January 7th protest will gather at the
site of the daily vigil held at Washington Square's famous arch.
From there, stepping off at 3:00, participants will march in
a solemn procession bearing coffins and wearing bibs depicting US
and Iraqi war dead. January's march will include a vigil at the
Recruiting station at 688 6th Avenue (near 23rd Street).
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 2 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, states: "It is
important to keep the pressure on and so, despite cold weather,
we will continue to bring the war home to the military recruiters
who prey upon our young. We will march in solidarity with all of
our sisters and brothers who raise their voices in outrage at
the illegal wars being waged in our name, the secret prisons
and torture chambers of the Bush administration, the unlawful
detentions at Guantanamo Bay and the violation of civil rights
of protestors occuring here at home. We will march until the
troops are brought home, the torture ends and the federal
government stops spying on anti-war activists."
Local activist Todd Eaton would like "folks to consider coming
to Washington Square after the march to be a part of the daily
vigil held there from 5:30 to 6:30."
Among the organizers of the monthly funeral procession are
members of the War Resisters League, the Industrial Workers of
the World, Catholic Worker, CodePINK and several other anti-war
and labor organizations. The monthly vigils have been endorsed
by the Socialist Party of NYC and Next Left Notes, an independent
news outlet.
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.
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