The Occupation Project and the Movement to Defund the War
Congress: If you fund the war, then you own it
The eager, uplifting hope that voters felt after the November election—when we resoundingly renounced the Bush agenda in Iraq—must now be turned into a resolve to ensure that members of the 110th Congress put their money where their campaigning mouths were and vote to stop funding the US occupation of Iraq. And if our representatives aren’t willing to make a public commitment to vote against the war funding, then it is our responsibility to put our bodies where our convictions are, and make frequent visits to their district and DC offices, occupying their staffers’ time and workplace with creative actions to emphasize the need to stop war funding. A new national campaign, the “Occupation Project,” is doing just that, and has become an activist phenomena in Congressional offices in over 25 districts around the country, from Huntington, Alabama, to Fairbanks, Alaska, with new occupations sprouting up daily.
The occupation project was initiated by Voices for Creative Nonviolence, CODEPINK Women for Peace, and Veterans for Peace, and is growing as many groups, including United for Peace and Justice, join. “The premise is simple,” writes campaign co-coordinator Jeff Leys. “Representatives and Senators: Publicly pledge to vote against the $100 billion supplemental war spending package which President Bush submitted in early February, or we will occupy your offices.”
Occupations go one step further than typical lobbying visits: from a simple reading of the names of soldiers from the Congressperson’s state, and Iraqi civilians, who have been killed during the almost 4 year long occupation of Iraq, to risking arrest by sitting in. Constituents bring shoes tagged with the names of Iraqi civilians who have been killed, and ask legislators to “walk in their shoes” and see why it’s imperative that they stop the funding to bring peace in Iraq. Some groups bring big money bags or giant cancelled checks, or take their purses and cut the strings off. Activists in San Francisco brought “broken heart” valentines to Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office on Valentine’s Day. Senator Hillary Clinton’s New York City office is barred to the public, so activists are taking the project to Hillary’s fundraisers and town hall meetings, and encouraging “birddogging” around the country at her events (see www.listenhillary.org). In Sacramento constituents have been sitting in at Cong. Doris Matsui’s office daily for almost a month. While the Occupation Project is a national campaign, it is based on the reality that local organizers will understand what forms of nonviolent civil disobedience will work best in their locality, the best targets and the frequency with which actions will occur. Some will occupy offices on a weekly basis, others every other week, and others at key times during the hearing and vote process.
Bush’s proposed supplemental spending bill gives $100 billion to the war, but appropriates very little funds to veteran’s benefits or Iraqi reconstruction. Supporting the troops must not be confused with funding the war, despite what the GOP would like us all to think. Democrats must not allow war-profiteers to define “supporting our troops” as funding war; real support for our troops is bringing them home promptly and safely, and taking care of them when they get here. And there’s enough money in the pipelines for the troops to come home. By voting for continued funding for the war, Congresspeople are giving a blank check to Bush for future aggression in the Middle East, ostensibly in Iran. Stopping the funding is the one action that Congress can take which Bush cannot veto.
Democrats will readily criticize the Bush administration, the invasion of Iraq, and some presidential hopefuls—Hillary Clinton, for one—are now making promises to end the war if elected president in ’08. But these words fall flat if not backed up with action, namely the commitment to defund the war. It’s ridiculous for Congress to be outraged about the troop surge, even passing a non-binding resolution against the escalation, but then to turn around and refuse to stop funding the very war they carped on in their speeches on the floor of the House.
The Occupation Project is an effective tactic to stop the Iraq War funding. Since the start of the campaign, there has been a flood of national and local media attention around occupations and legislators’ positions; a dozen legislators have signed onto HR 508, the best resolution to bring the troops home; and upping the ante of anti-war activism is engaging and inspiring a new audience to get involved in the peace movement. The heart of our country—our hospitals, schools, parks, libraries, and young people—is being squeezed by budget cuts, and affected citizens are ready to let our representatives know that they must give money to healthcare, not warfare; books, not bombs. It’s time to take our teach-ins, vigils, and rallies inside, to congressional offices, where our voices count against billions that may go to furthering the war. It’s time to tell our Representatives and Senators to do their Constitutional duty, force the withdrawal of U.S. troops to the safety of their homes, and support the troops by voting against any additional war funding.
For more info about the Occupation Project, please visit: http://www.codepink4peace.org/article.php?list=type&type=192
The eager, uplifting hope that voters felt after the November election—when we resoundingly renounced the Bush agenda in Iraq—must now be turned into a resolve to ensure that members of the 110th Congress put their money where their campaigning mouths were and vote to stop funding the US occupation of Iraq. And if our representatives aren’t willing to make a public commitment to vote against the war funding, then it is our responsibility to put our bodies where our convictions are, and make frequent visits to their district and DC offices, occupying their staffers’ time and workplace with creative actions to emphasize the need to stop war funding. A new national campaign, the “Occupation Project,” is doing just that, and has become an activist phenomena in Congressional offices in over 25 districts around the country, from Huntington, Alabama, to Fairbanks, Alaska, with new occupations sprouting up daily.The occupation project was initiated by Voices for Creative Nonviolence, CODEPINK Women for Peace, and Veterans for Peace, and is growing as many groups, including United for Peace and Justice, join. “The premise is simple,” writes campaign co-coordinator Jeff Leys. “Representatives and Senators: Publicly pledge to vote against the $100 billion supplemental war spending package which President Bush submitted in early February, or we will occupy your offices.”
Occupations go one step further than typical lobbying visits: from a simple reading of the names of soldiers from the Congressperson’s state, and Iraqi civilians, who have been killed during the almost 4 year long occupation of Iraq, to risking arrest by sitting in. Constituents bring shoes tagged with the names of Iraqi civilians who have been killed, and ask legislators to “walk in their shoes” and see why it’s imperative that they stop the funding to bring peace in Iraq. Some groups bring big money bags or giant cancelled checks, or take their purses and cut the strings off. Activists in San Francisco brought “broken heart” valentines to Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office on Valentine’s Day. Senator Hillary Clinton’s New York City office is barred to the public, so activists are taking the project to Hillary’s fundraisers and town hall meetings, and encouraging “birddogging” around the country at her events (see www.listenhillary.org). In Sacramento constituents have been sitting in at Cong. Doris Matsui’s office daily for almost a month. While the Occupation Project is a national campaign, it is based on the reality that local organizers will understand what forms of nonviolent civil disobedience will work best in their locality, the best targets and the frequency with which actions will occur. Some will occupy offices on a weekly basis, others every other week, and others at key times during the hearing and vote process.
Bush’s proposed supplemental spending bill gives $100 billion to the war, but appropriates very little funds to veteran’s benefits or Iraqi reconstruction. Supporting the troops must not be confused with funding the war, despite what the GOP would like us all to think. Democrats must not allow war-profiteers to define “supporting our troops” as funding war; real support for our troops is bringing them home promptly and safely, and taking care of them when they get here. And there’s enough money in the pipelines for the troops to come home. By voting for continued funding for the war, Congresspeople are giving a blank check to Bush for future aggression in the Middle East, ostensibly in Iran. Stopping the funding is the one action that Congress can take which Bush cannot veto.
Democrats will readily criticize the Bush administration, the invasion of Iraq, and some presidential hopefuls—Hillary Clinton, for one—are now making promises to end the war if elected president in ’08. But these words fall flat if not backed up with action, namely the commitment to defund the war. It’s ridiculous for Congress to be outraged about the troop surge, even passing a non-binding resolution against the escalation, but then to turn around and refuse to stop funding the very war they carped on in their speeches on the floor of the House.
The Occupation Project is an effective tactic to stop the Iraq War funding. Since the start of the campaign, there has been a flood of national and local media attention around occupations and legislators’ positions; a dozen legislators have signed onto HR 508, the best resolution to bring the troops home; and upping the ante of anti-war activism is engaging and inspiring a new audience to get involved in the peace movement. The heart of our country—our hospitals, schools, parks, libraries, and young people—is being squeezed by budget cuts, and affected citizens are ready to let our representatives know that they must give money to healthcare, not warfare; books, not bombs. It’s time to take our teach-ins, vigils, and rallies inside, to congressional offices, where our voices count against billions that may go to furthering the war. It’s time to tell our Representatives and Senators to do their Constitutional duty, force the withdrawal of U.S. troops to the safety of their homes, and support the troops by voting against any additional war funding.
For more info about the Occupation Project, please visit: http://www.codepink4peace.org/article.php?list=type&type=192
posted by rae @ 2:52 AM
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