Take action between September 21 and 26, the International Day for Peace and the United Nations Day for the Complete Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
Friends,
Building from our successful spring mobilization, Peace & Planet is calling on our network to organize events and to take action between September 21 and 26, the International Day for Peace and the United Nations Day for the Complete Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
As you will see below, our partner organization Unfold Zero is suggesting a range of activities including film screenings, educational events, letter writing campaigns, and more. As we build our movements, we encourage you to use this opportunity to build links with allied movements: peace, social, racial, and economic justice, and environmental/climate change. Joint events that address and look for the connections between issues can help to build the alliances, people power, and solutions we need to prevail.
For organizers in the United States, we strongly urge that, if the nuclear deal with Iran has not yet been approved, your events include an Iran dimension, anything from calling and writing to members of Congress, holding meetings with them, or organizing actions outside their offices.
For Peace & Planet,
Joseph Gerson, Jackie Cabasso, Kevin MartinSeptember 21 is the International Day for Peace.
September 26 is the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
These days occur as world leaders gather in New York for the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly and for the UN Summit on Sustainable Development.
The UN General Assembly will consider disarmament proposals - and possibly start a UN process to achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world – see "United Nations General Assembly to re-open the door to a nuclear-weapon free world?"
UNFOLD ZERO encourages you to take action in the week Sep 21-26 to highlight peace and nuclear disarmament.
1. Organise a movie screening
Organise a special screening of the award-winning movie ‘The Man Who Saved the World’ featuring Stanislav Petrov (the man himself), Kevin Costner, Sergey Shnrynov, Matt Damon, Natalia Vdovina & Robert de Niro.
On the night of September 26, 1983, Stanislav Petrov disobeyed military protocol and probably prevented a nuclear holocaust. He says that he is not a hero: 'I was just in the right place at the right time.’ Watch this new movie and you decide!
For more information see ‘The Man Who Saved the World’ International Screening Week Sep 21-26, 2015 or contactinfo@baselpeaceoffice.org.
2. Call on your government to speak up at the UN
Send a letter or email or tweet to your President/Prime Minister (copied to your Foreign Minister and UN Ambassador), calling on them to speak up for nuclear abolition at the United Nations.
Encourage them to highlight the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons when they speak at the United Nations in September. Use #Sep26dontNukeUs.
Click here for a sample letter/email. Click here for contacts to Presidents, Prime Ministers, Foreign Ministers and UN Ambassadors.
3. Engage your mayor, parliamentarian or religious leader
Encourage your local mayor, parliamentarian and/or religious leader to endorse the Joint Statement of Legislators and Religious Leaders for a Nuclear Weapon Free World, (also available in Arabic, French, German, Japanese, Russian and Spanish).
Mayors for Peace, Religions for Peace and Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament will present the statement to the United Nations on September 26 to support UN actions for a nuclear-weapon-free world.
4. Join a social media action
‘Don’t nuke what I/we love’! Take a photo of yourself (perhaps with friends or family) next to something or some place you love and don’t want nuked. It could be your cat, an historic building, your favourite sports team, a concert hall, a beautiful place in nature...
Include a sign 'Don't nuke [your favourite thing/place]' in your photo. Post your photo on social media with #Sep26dontNukeUs.
You could even send your photo to your government along with the letter/email/tweet you write encouraging them to Speak up at the UN (see Action 2 above).
Please inform is of your actions. Contact JGerson@afsc.org and info@unfoldzero.org.
Visit www.unfoldzero.org and peaceandplanet.org.
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