Candlelight Vigil for Peace in Ukraine – Sunday, Oct 1

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Candlelight Vigil for Peace in Ukraine for People of Faith and Conscience – Sunday Oct 1 – 7:00 – 8:00 pm. Capitol Square – State Street Steps. There will be music, singing and silence in this ritual of commemoration, grief and hope.

Supporting groups are Madison Veterans for Peace, Safe Skies Clean Water Wisconsin, Back from the Brink Campaign, Interfaith Peace Working Group, and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.

As partners in the Peace in Ukraine Coalition, Madison for a World BEYOND War urges members of Congress Representative Mark Pocan, Senator Tammy Baldwin, and Senator Ron Johnson to support the following demands:

  • Mutual ceasefire – Stop the killing.
  • Peace talks without preconditions – Pursue diplomatic talks now.
  • No more weapons and military training – Declare no military solution.

Madison for a World BEYOND War asks members of Congress Pocan, Baldwin and Johnson to pledge to vote against further weapons and military funding for Ukraine, as well as issue a public statement calling on President Biden to push for an immediate ceasefire and peace negotiations without preconditions to stop the killing and avert a wider war between nuclear powers.

Stefania Sani, of Madison for a World BEYOND War, explained, “In war, the only winners are the weapons-makers. We call on our government to work to abolish war, which means stop sending weapons and push for diplomatic solutions in Ukraine and other war zones.  We will broadcast our messages ‘a viva voce’ to the market-goers!”

Bradley Geyer of Madison Veterans for Peace said: “We would all be better off if instead of funding threats of violence, we funded ways to grow more food, to give our public schools the tools they need, and to shelter the unhoused, ensure our infrastructure is safe and sustainable.  Some of the billionaires and their puppet politicians might not be happier, but the rest of us would. We would have fewer enemies and less blowback.”

As part of the Global Days of Action, advocates for peace and diplomacy will banner, petition and table for an immediate ceasefire; conduct candlelight vigils; organize delegations and demonstrations at congressional offices, and protest at the New York Times and CNN for manufacturing consent for endless war.

Events are planned in Washington DC, New York City (NY), Brooklyn (NY), Buffalo (NY), Albany (NY), Boston (MA), Worcester (MA), Greenfield (MA), Watertown (MA), Burlington (VT), Minneapolis (MN), Milwaukee (WI), Madison (WI), San Francisco (CA), Sacramento (CA), Santa Cruz (CA),  San Mateo (CA), Fresno (CA), San Pedro (LA Co./CA), Santa Rosa (CA), Honolulu (HI), Hilo (HI), Seattle (WA), Portland (OR)  Corvallis (OR), Silver Spring (MD), King of Prussia (PA), Brainerd, (MN), Whitehorse (AK).

During the first week in October, Peace in Ukraine Coalition members will advocate on Capitol Hill, where they will share a copy of their “No More Weapons to Ukraine”  petition with members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, as well as with the offices of Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Alex Padilla, Dianne Feinstein and others.

The petition reflects the growing U.S. public opposition to continued U.S. support for the war. A recent CNN poll revealed that 55% of those surveyed oppose further funding of the war in Ukraine. Yet, the Biden White House responded with a decision to send long range missiles to Ukraine and ask Congress for another $24 billion to continue a war that has already cost US taxpayers over $110 billion.

A call for the Global Days of Action emerged from this summer’s International Summit for Peace in Ukraine held in Vienna, Austria, where members of the Peace in Ukraine Coalition joined with representatives from 32 countries to issue this declaration for a ceasefire.

This event is also part of Defuse Nuclear War, a nationwide week of protests demanding steps to reduce dangers of nuclear war, September 24 to 30.

Activists in dozens of cities are calling for reinstatement of nuclear arms-control treaties that the U.S. has withdrawn from in this century, and a shutdown of hair-trigger land-based ICBMs, as well as genuine diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine. The grassroots events encompass a range of activities, including demonstrations in Baltimore, Fresno, Boston, and Philadelphia, pickets across Washington state, vigils in Hawaii and California, banner displays at a Lockheed Martin facility in Pennsylvania, and a march in Rhode Island.

“The need for action to curtail the possibility of nuclear conflict could not be more urgent,” said Ryan Black, national organizer of the Defuse Nuclear War campaign. “The U.S. has unilaterally withdrawn from far too many weapons treaties in recent years, and the Ukraine War threatens to plunge the world into nuclear war. Our coalition of activists is demanding that the Biden administration seriously change course in view of the potentially horrific consequences of their inaction in addressing this threat.”