Taking Action for a Gaza Ceasefire
Peace Action New York State (PANYS) has been active in lobbying our representatives and building public pressure for a ceasefire in Gaza. On the heels of a constituent meeting with Sen. Gillibrand's office in December that brought together members of 15 allied peace organizations, PANYS coordinated a state-wide letter with 28 organizations and 72 notable individuals to Sen. Schumer and Gillibrand's offices urging them to support a ceasefire in Gaza, S. Res 504 demanding a human rights report on Israel's policies, and the Van Hollen amendment conditioning military aid to prevent U.S. equipment from being used in human rights violations. On January 19th, PANYS co-sponsored a rally with "Suffolk for a Ceasefire" outside the office of Congressman Andrew Garbarino to demand that he, Congressman LaLota, Senator Schumer, Senator Gillibrand, Governor Hochul, and all of Suffolk County’s representatives call for an immediate, permanent, bilateral ceasefire in Gaza.
In addition to our direct lobbying efforts, PANYS continues to rally our membership via call campaigns and petitions to turn up the public pressure on Congress and the Biden administration to help bring about a ceasefire and demand accountability for Israel and its military. Recently, this has included calling upon our membership to contact Senators Schumer and Gillibrand to express opposition to “supplemental” military funding bills that pour billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars into weapons funding for Israel’s bombing campaign. PANYS also encourages its members to continue calling our Representatives and asking them to support H. Res. 786, the Ceasefire Now Resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire and for humanitarian assistance to urgently be delivered to the 2.2 million people under siege in Gaza. So far, only 4 New York State Representatives have called for a ceasefire: Representatives Bowman, Ocasio-Cortez, Tonko, and Velázquez. If you are a constituent of one of these 4 Representatives, please thank them. If you are not, please continue to call them and urge them to speak out!
Campus Activists Take Action for Gaza
The Fall 2023 semester was a challenging time to be a young person and a peace activist, and the Spring 2024 semester is shaping up to be no different. The brutal genocide in Gaza has shocked the world, touched our New York community in deeply personal ways, and weighed heavily on the hearts of the student organizers in the Peace Action Fund of New York State (PAFNYS) Campus Organizing Program. The conflict has exposed divisions on campus and created a frightening environment for students who dare to speak out against war. Students have faced doxxing, harassment, and even violent threats for standing up for what they believe in.
Despite all of this, student activists in the Campus Organizing Program have persevered in their commitment to advocating for what they believe is right — by marching, participating in walk-outs, hosting informational events on campus, and joining with local Peace Action New York State community chapters to attend demonstrations in New York and in D.C. When Syracuse University opted to silence any pro-Palestinian organizing on their campus, campus organizers at Le Moyne College welcomed Syracuse student activists to attend the chapters’ teach-ins and demonstrations surrounding Gaza and the Ceasefire Resolution.
In January, campus organizers collaborated to release an official statement against U.S.-funded violence against Palestinians. You can view the student statement on our website here.
The TPNW Turns 3!
On a cold day in January, PANYS joined with other anti-nuclear organizations in rallying for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) on the third anniversary of the treaty’s entry into force. Activists gathered in front of the United Nations headquarters in New York City and walked to the U.S. Mission displaying signs and banners. Meanwhile, in Geneseo, Genesee Valley Citizens for Peace also rallied in an event that was covered by the Livingston County News.
Entering into force on January 22, 2021, the TPNW is among the first international nuclear weapons treaties to explicitly address the dire humanitarian consequences of testing and using nuclear weapons, notably by requiring states parties to assist the victims of nuclear weapons and clean up contaminated areas. It also formalizes into international law a clear understanding that the use of nuclear weapons is unacceptable, regardless of any argument. The TPNW has already been ratified by 70 nations; the 70th country, São Tomé and Príncipe, delivered their instrument of ratification on January 15, 2024, becoming the first country in 2024 to do so. Unfortunately, the U.S. is not one of these 70 nations, nor are any of the world's 9 nuclear-armed countries. Peace Action New York State continues to call upon the United States to join the treaty in order to build a future that centers peace, justice, and human dignity.
Update: Move the Money, NYC!
PANYS is an active participant in the Move the Money–NYC campaign working to support a “Move the Money” resolution in the New York City Council which would call upon the President and Congress to move significant funds away from the military budget in order to fund social services. More than 30 activists testified at a recent NYC Council hearing in December, including PANYS Downstate Co-Chair Tara Currie. Tara noted, “Our national leadership has chosen to allocate about 60% of the federal discretionary budget to the Pentagon ... our city leadership needs to say loudly and clearly that this is theft.” NYC organizers are working hard to get the resolution passed in 2024.
If you would like to get involved with the Move the Money–NYC campaign, please email info@panys.org.
Nuclear Ban Week
For the week of November 27th, 2023, PANYS staff, activists, and PAFNYS student organizers converged on the United Nations in New York City to attend events surrounding the Second Meeting of States Parties (2MSP) to the TPNW. This was an important U.N. meeting for delegates to take stock of the treaty's progress and discuss next steps to further strengthen the treaty.
As part of “Nuclear Ban Week”, PAFNYS and PANYS activists joined in a number of events, including a rally with a coalition of peace organizations in front of the United Nations to promote the TPNW and demand that the US join the treaty; a PAFNYS Student Organizer meeting with Japanese youth to socialize and exchange ideas and information about their respective work as young people in the global peace movement; an "Afternoon with the Experts" panel together with the International Peace Bureau (IPB), CPDCS, and Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung’s NY office; a forum, "The Urgency of Disarmament: International Action to Prevent Nuclear Confrontations & War" where two international panels discussed what the global peace movement can do in this crucial moment for disarmament; and a rally with Japanese and U.S. peace groups in front of the Japanese consulate to call for Japan to join the TPNW, give up the nuclear umbrella of the U.S., stop its military build-up plans, and stop dumping radioactive wastewater from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. PANYS President Jim Anderson also spoke at the film premier of Shades of Disarmament, a documentary highlighting the contributions of people of color to disarmament activism.
The 2023 World Conference Against A&H Bombs
Coinciding with the 78th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Student & Campaigns Coordinator Margaret Engel traveled to Japan in August to attend Gensuikyo’s World Conference Against A & H Bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki as a member of a cohort of international delegates. Margaret had the opportunity to hear from and meet with leading peace advocates from across the world, including Abacca Anjain Madison of the Marshall Islands, Oleg Bodorov, a powerful figure in the Russian peace movement, Corazon Fabros of the Nuclear-Free Philippines Coalition, Khanh Chi Phan of Vietnam, Ulla Klotzer of Global Women for Peace United Against NATO, and several other members of the International Peace Bureau. Margaret attended the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony and Hiroshima Day Rally on the 6th of August, and was also able to participate in the New Japan Women’s forum as a panelist alongside Ulla Klotzer. Margaret was able to meet and speak with many university students in Nagasaki, and is excited to be able to take international joint action with the PAFNYS network of student organizers in New York State in the future.
PANYS Network Updates
Bay Ridge Peace Action hosted a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day vigil in Bay Ridge and partnered with the Bay Ridge United Methodist Church Peace & Justice Committee to host a free film screening of the documentary Street Fight. They have also been active in joining Gaza ceasefire demonstrations in Bay Ridge and weekly peace vigils alongside Brooklyn for Peace.
Brooklyn for Peace has been hosting a weekly peace vigil in Grand Army Plaza to educate the public about current conflicts, including the wars in Gaza and Ukraine and recent unauthorized bombings in Yemen, Syria, and Iraq. They will soon host a webinar about the current state of healthcare in Gaza.
Broome County Peace Action has been taking action to oppose the war in Gaza, joining with peace groups in protesting at Senator Schumer’s office in Binghamton.
Concerned Families of Westchester continues to host a weekly peace rally in Hastings and a monthly “Black Lives Matter/Say Their Names” vigil in Yonkers. They also continue to put out a very informative weekly newsletter with tons of information and resources about current events which you can read at cfow.blogspot.com.
Genesee Valley Citizens for Peace hosted a rally on January 27th on Geneseo’s Main Street in support of the TPNW. The rally was featured on the first page of the Livingston County News.
Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives co-sponsored a January 21st program about nuclear weapons at the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington which included a screening of The Vow from Hiroshima and a presentation by SUNY Old Westbury Professor Karl Grossman.
North Country Peace Group’s Myrna Gordon spoke at the General Meeting of the Suffolk County Legislature on February 6th in Hauppauge to highlight the costs of taxpayer dollars being used to fund war and militarism rather than local concerns and human needs.
Peace Action of Staten Island has been distributing flyers weekly at the Staten Island Ferry terminal in lower Manhattan to educate the public about the war in Gaza and to call for a ceasefire.
South Country Peace Group joined with “Suffolk for a Ceasefire" to rally outside the office of Congressman Garbarino on January 19th to demand that he and all of Suffolk’s representatives call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Syracuse Peace Council is meeting with candidates and encouraging them to support “Back from the Brink” legislation. They will also soon host film screenings of Richland as well as a new documentary about 1983's The Day After.
Upper Hudson Peace Action hosted a hybrid event at the Albany Public Library, Exploring Kurdistan: Yassin Aref’s Albany Friends Visit and Report.
Western New York Peace Center’s Resist Militarism! task force is planning nonviolent direct actions to demand a ceasefire in Gaza. They will also host several upcoming “Peace Coffeehouse” events with the Friends of the Latin American Solidarity Committee.
A Note from the Executive Director
As we continue to watch genocide and mass atrocities being committed in Gaza with our tax dollars, continue to spend unfathomably large amounts of money on “defense” instead of addressing the real needs of our people, and continue to watch climate catastrophe unfold and nuclear tensions rise, it can be all too easy to lose hope. But being part of a state-wide network of peace activists taking action across the state, who believe in a peaceful, sustainable, and just future for all of us, continues to give me hope and motivation. I am humbled and grateful to help coordinate and support the work of incredible activists and organizers across the state. If you’re not already part of our network, please consider supporting our work and joining our efforts.
We’re stronger together!
Become a Member
Join the nation's largest grassroots peace network by becoming a member of Peace Action New York State! By becoming a dues-paying member, you are supporting a statewide effort to rally the public to support peaceful foreign policy, the abolition of nuclear weapons, and a national budget that prioritizes human needs over endless militarism. Click here to become a member.
Contribute
Contribute any amount to help support our work and operations. When you contribute to Peace Action New York State (PANYS), you provide critical support for our statewide network of activists who are taking action to challenge militarism and demand more peaceful U.S. policy. Click here to make a contribution.
Stay in Touch
Stay updated by signing up for our weekly e-newsletter and email blasts. We send out a weekly e-newsletter to keep you updated about statewide events and actions. Sign up to receive updates here.