WILPF NEWS
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
East Bay and San Francisco Branches
Work to Advance Peace, Justice and Human Rights
JULY 2021
JUDY NAKADEGAWA
July 7, 1929 – July 3, 2021
Judy could always make you smile or laugh. Just being with her made you feel better. She didn’t speak that much at meetings, but when she did, we all listened because she always got to the core of the issue. She joined our meeting in June to say goodbye and wish us Peace. After a brief illness, Judy died peacefully on July 3rd. We will miss her.
Judy asked that people donate in her name to the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and to Before Enlisting.
If you would like to donate to International WILPF, go to: https://wilpf.org/donate
If you would like to donate to United States WILPF, go to: https://wilpfus.org/donate
If you would like to donate to our Before Enlisting project in Judy’s name, you can send a check to:
Grandmothers Against War
c/o Leni von Blankensee
1389 Rose Street
Berkeley, CA 94702
WOMEN, POWER AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
BUILDING FROM STRENGTH
WILPF US TRIENNIAL CONGRESS
AUGUST 13-22, 2021
Join us for an exciting, jam-packed Congress. The first weekend will highlight environmental justice as social justice, and the second weekend will focus on using our power for peace. The weekday workshops and panels, called SEEKING SOLUTIONS, will cover a wide variety of topics and will be focused on the work of the Issue Committees and of local branches.
For more details about the Congress program and schedule, and to REGISTER for only $30 for the entire Congress, go to the 34th Triennial Congress link.
SAVE THE DATE AND TIME: TUESDAY, AUGUST 17, 5-6:15PM PDT
Our Before Enlisting group will have a panel discussion titled “Military Service and Enlisting: What Youth Need to Know before Enlisting”, a discussion about our work in high schools and community colleges talking to young people about the realities of military service and nonmilitary alternatives. We want to encourage other branches around the country to use our resources for similar programs in their communities.
NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND CLIMATE CHANGE:
SHINE A LIGHT, STOP THE HATE, LOWER THE HEAT
AUGUST 6 AND AUGUST 9, 2021
On August 6th, there will ge a limited live presence at Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab. The event will be rebroadcast on August 9th. Speakers will include Daniel Ellsberg and Neil Myhand from the California Poor People’s Campaign. There will be live music.
For updates on the events, go to the Tri-Valley CAREs website.
U.S. MANUFACTURED CRISIS IN CUBA
Excerpted from a statement by the
Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism
The grievances that sparked protests on Sunday, July 11th are based in legitimate concerns about the lack of medicines, medical equipment, supplies, food and electricity. Contrary to U.S. media propaganda, the crisis is rooted in the 60-year economic embargo of Cuba and a deliberate program of internal sabotage of the Cuban government.
According to Cuban government reports, “paid agents” of the U.S. organized to turn Sunday’s protests of real concerns into an anti-government “regime change” operation. The U.S. funds $20 million annually to Cuban “pro-democracy” organizations and individuals, and another $28 million annually for the U.S. Office of Cuba Broadcasting which operates Radio and TV Marti with over 100 employees broadcasting non-stop anti-government propaganda.
Despite near unanimous world-wide condemnation of the U.S. embargo at the United Nations on June 23rd, the Biden administration refuses to rescind – even for humanitarian reasons – the 243 additional sanctions imposed by the Trump administration and its outrageous listing of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism. The Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign includes stopping remittances from family members outside Cuba, blocking cruise ships, curtailing most airline flights to Cuba, re-instituting a travel ban for U.S. tourists, and blocking Cuba’s ability to purchase medicines and medical supplies on the world market.
The situation is dire. Cuban President Diaz-Canel in speaking to protesters on Sunday explained how hotels have had to be converted to hospitals due to the alarming spike in coronavirus cases which, in turn, has caused periodic and more frequent electricity shortages throughout the country. Lines for food, water and supplies, often at inflated prices, are long. An embargo-caused shortage of gasoline is preventing food grown in the countryside from getting to market in the cities.
In response to the humanitarian crisis, the international community has organized against the embargo with a “Syringes for Cuba” campaign to enable the population to be fully vaccinated by the end of the year. The U.S. people has contributed $500,000 for 6 million of the 30 million syringes needed.
In a statement on 7/12/21, the Cuban government raised the alarm that the economic measures against Cuba “are intended to present a collapsed country in chaos, in order to provide a social outburst and justify an external intervention.” Indeed, anti-government Cuban Americans in Miami have waged protests much larger than those in Cuba on Sunday. Florida politicians are calling on President Biden to invade the country militarily.
On the other hand, following Sunday’s protests, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), chair of the House Foreign Relations Committee, called on President Biden to reverse the Trump era sanctions. In March 2021, 80 House members sent a letter to President Biden urging him to end restrictions on travel and remittances, and the following bills have been introduced: the U.S.-Cuba Trade Act of 2021 (S. 294) by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), the Freedom to Export to Cuba Act (S. 1694) by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and the U.S.-Cuba Relations Normalization Act (H.R. 3625) by Rep. Bobby Rush.
This week, a group of Cuban Americans led by Carlos Lazo, a high school teacher who has been organizing monthly car caravans calling for an end to the embargo, is leading a walkathon from Miami to Washington DC to end in a rally on July 25th. Mobilizations to join them are being organized throughout the east coast.
ACT NOW:
Donate to the Syringes for Cuba campaign
Call on President Biden to:
• Roll back the Trump era sanctions and remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism by Executive Order.
• End budgets funding organizations and individuals in Cuba;
• Immediately allow the purchase of medicines, materials and medical equipment to ease the humanitarian crisis of the coronavirus pandemic.
EXPLORE WILPF TODAY
Local branch web pages
www.WILPFEastBay.org or www.WILPFSF.org
WILPF East Bay
P. O. Box 13083, Oakland, CA 94661
WILPF-San Francisco
P. O. Box 590253, San Francisco, CA 94159
https://www.facebook.com/WILPFEastBaySanFrancisco/
National WILPF www.wilpfus.org
International WILPF: www.wilpf.org