Armistice Day rally, film on nonviolence headline Traprock work in November
ARMISTICE DAY RALLY, November 12
The first Armistice Day, November 11, 1919 “was a celebration of the moment that the brutality of World War I, which robbed 40 million soldiers and civilians of life, ended; and peace began,” writes local activist Pat Hynes. “In 1926 the US Congress declared an Armistice Day resolution ‘inviting the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples.’”
Unfortunately, “All public ideals of peace with all other peoples were discarded on June 1, 1954, when the US government renamed Armistice Day as Veterans Day. “
This November 12, the Traprock Center for Peace and Justice, the Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution and others will join Veterans for Peace in their national call to reclaim Armistice Day as a day of action for peace.
(See more on this campaign at: https://www.veteransforpeace.org/take-action/armistice-day)
The Armistice Day rally, featuring local speakers and musicians, will take place on Saturday, November 12, from 11 AM to noon on the Greenfield Town Common, site of weekly vigils since the beginning of the US war on Iraq in 2002.
WAR AND THE CLIMATE
“Every war is a horror to those affected, but wars today, in Ukraine and beyond, are more deadly still because they take resources away from the urgent planetary fight against climate disaster, while their massive pollution makes climate problems worse,” commented Anna Gyorgy, Traprock communications coordinator. “That’s why we also support the November 12th Global Day of Action, called for by the newly-launched COP27 Coalition.”
In September 2022, civil society groups from Egypt, African countries and the Arab world called for a global mass mobilization “to address the root cause of the climate crisis and other injustices, to take place around the world during the COP27 global climate talks this November.” (Source: https://www.cop27coalition.org/about-1)
THE THIRD HARMONY: free film and discussion on non-violence
War cannot be humanized. It can only be abolished, wroteAlbert Einstein.
There are successful alternatives to war, and nonviolent struggle is one of these. This is the focus of a community film viewing and discussion organized by Traprock and the Interfaith Council of Franklin County.
From midnight Friday, November 11, until midnight Monday, November 14, the award-winning “The Third Harmony” film can be streamed on demand. The link to the film will be sent out in a special online Traprock newsletter November 9.
(Not a subscriber? Sign up for the enews here, or email traprockinfo@crocker.com for the link.
The 44-minute film features among others Erica Chenoweth. The professor at Harvard and Radcliffe and expert on political violence and its alternatives will lead off discussion at the special follow-up webinar on the film, a zoom event from 7 – 8:15 pm on Tuesday, November 15th.