Peace & Freedom: 2023 Fall/Winner issue

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PEACEFALL/WINTER 2023/VOL 83, NO. 2FREEDOMMAGAZINE OF THEUS SECTION OF THEWOMEN’S INTERNATIONALLEAGUE FOR PEACE & FREEDOMIn This IssueWorking in a Fire Zone...........................................................................................................1Seventy Years Is Enough: End the Korean War!.....................................................................2The Middle East, North Africa, and Afghanistan....................................................................5What Leads to a Sustainable Peace?......................................................................................9Azerbaijan, Gaza, and Ukraine Are All Connected..................................................................... 10DC-Maryland-Virginia Branch Builds Capacity........................................................................... 13Des Moines Branch Promotes “No Mow May”......................................................................... 14The Fearless Four........................................................................................................................ 15Now’s the Time to End Violence against Women and Girls................................................. 18Why Domestic Violence Matters......................................................................................... 18BIPOC Survivors Need Self-Determination........................................................................... 19WILPF Rises to the Challenge: Warheads to Windmills............................................................ 20Artificial Intelligence and War.......................................................................................................... 20CSW Practicum Now Open to Young Activists............................................................................... 21“First They Came…”: Standing in Solidarity with Activists Under Attack................................... 22Yvonne Simmons, a Voice for Peace in Portland and the Balkans.............................................. 25Ying Lee, Berkeley City Council Member and Lifelong Anti-War Activist............................ 26Carol Urner, Tireless Advocate for Disarmament................................................................ 27Branches Find Many Ways to Advocate for Peace.............................................................. 28Tomorrow’s Gift, Today’s Work...............................................................................back coverThe Women’s International League for Peaceand Freedom (WILPF) has been workingsince 1915 to unite women worldwide whooppose oppression and exploitation. WILPFstands for equality of all people in a worldfree of racism, sexism, and homophobia; thebuilding of a constructive peace through worlddisarmament; and the changing of governmentpriorities to meet human needs.WILPF US SectionPresident: Darien De LuPO Box 13075Des Moines, IA 50310phone: 617-266-0999e-mail: info@wilpfus.org;website: www.wilpfus.orgTo contact the National Board as a whole,please email: president@wilpfus.orgPeace & Freedom is published twice yearly bythe Women’s International League for Peaceand Freedom (WILPF), US Section.Submissions welcome; please query first.Contact the editor at:wendymcdowell12@gmail.comEditor: Wendy McDowellArt Director: Glenn RugaOpinions expressed in bylined articles are thoseof the authors.Copyright © WILPF 2023, except whereotherwise noted. For reprint permission, call617-266-0999.Cover photo by Paul Brown / AlamyBarbed wire, a Korean flag, and wish ribbonswishing for peace and unity at the DMZ on theSouth/North Korean border at Imjingak, SouthKorea.WILPF InternationalPresident: Sylvie Jacqueline NdongmoSecretary General: Madeleine Rees1 rue de Varembé, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerlandphone: 41-22-919-7080; fax: 41-22-919-7081e-mail: secretariat@wilpf.chwebsite: www.wilpf.orgii | PEACE & FREEDOM FALL/WINTER 2023
Working in a Fire ZoneBy Darien De LuWILPF US PresidentWhat if my home were burnt to the ground, myfamily heirlooms destroyed? What if the yard I’velovingly planted were scorched and poisoned?In my state of California, for several years in arow, huge wildfires have forced us to consider such possibilities– yet always with a community to help out. As I hear thewar news of bombings, shellings, and drone attacks – and,worse yet, injuries and killings – I can only imagine, how manyhelpless cries of grief and loss there must be.Like you, I feel oppressed and overwhelmed by the warsand violence erupting all over our planet. I’m horrified furtherby the apparent failure of our government – and of many others– to value equally all human lives – a value fundamentalto our peace work.What can strengthen me in such times? I turn to those Iknow through WILPF and other activism. Yet what if we, asstressed-out activists, exchange sharp words?If we’re both lucky, we’ll be able to recover our balance.And if we don’t? What if either or both of our prior lifeexperiences or daily challenges leave us with a hair trigger?How well do we apply insights from conflict resolution andnonviolent communication? Are we able to stop, take a stepback, even apologize?The answers to these questions should be based in communitypractice – not left just to us, as lone individuals!With close enough connections, we can begin to understandeach other. With study and applied practice, we canlearn how to respond more appropriately – both for individualneeds and for the benefit of our community. Then, if someonereacts badly in a situation, we may know each other wellenough to confront them – or comfort them!Perhaps, to do either, someone will tell a story, to remind usof our larger context. Our stories and our “people’s history”can support us. In this issue of P&F, you’ll find such pieces,including one remembering committed disarmament activist,Carol Urner. I’ll add a small story about her.I worked with Carol over a period of years, starting fromthe time, around the turn of the century, when we were bothon the national board. I knew her then as a dedicated activistand fellow board member. But in 2015 in the Netherlands, Igot to see Carol at all hours.We were at the Hague for WILPF’s 100 th anniversary Congress,and we found affordable lodgings, together with sixothers, by sharing a houseboat on a canal. In the mornings I’dstill be drinking my coffee when Carol headed off early to theCongress, with her briefcase filled with flyers and referencedocuments. Her determination kept her up late, preparingfor the next day’s session – and got her in trouble when sheinsisted she knew the way to walk home (she didn’t).We worried about her that night, but she showed up thenext day. She and her husband had faced far more difficultsituations when they worked in Asia and Africa! On our cozyand crowded boat home we laughed about her micro-adventureas we celebrated her 86 th birthday.When I listen to the news each day, it doesn’t nourish methe way Carol’s life story does. The people’s news, aboutheroic activists like Carol, helps us find inner resources to riseto new challenges.The daily corporate news mostly only assures us of howbad and scary things are. But when I read here about the “RedSummer,” early COINTELPRO, and the recent political attacksand attempts to divide us, I’m reminded how we’ve made itthrough bad and scary times. That people’s history teachesus that we protect ourselves and our movement when wekeep our balance, support each other, and learn to distinguishrumor and disinformation from accurate reports.Our opponents do stir up internal quarrels among us andtry to sow suspicions. So we must seek ways to talk aboutdifferences and to focus on our alignments.We’re fortunate that, as peace and justice advocates, weget to apply our politics to our personal experience. Ours isthe personal opportunity – to explore what contributes tosustained and harmonious working relationships. And whenwe fail – then we see in our hand mirror the reflection of theworld at war.So, as committed activists, we cannot stop. We have bothinner and outer work to do!PEACE & FREEDOM FALL/WINTER 2023 | 1
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Page 5 and 6: US-DPRK Relations Since 2000United
Page 7 and 8: The Middle East, North Africa, and
Page 9 and 10: In terms of political systems, of t
Page 11 and 12: What Leads to a Sustainable Peace?I
Page 13 and 14: of Armenians by the Turks that kill
Page 15 and 16: DC-Maryland-Virginia Branch Builds
Page 17 and 18: The Fearless FourBy Robin LloydBurl
Page 19 and 20: PostscriptAt the 100 th anniversary
Page 21 and 22: As members of the Domestic Prisoner
Page 23 and 24: a sense of global responsibility an
Page 25 and 26: thought his newspaper Negro World p
Page 27 and 28: In MemoriamYvonne Simmons, a Voice
Page 29 and 30: In MemoriamCarol Urner, Tireless Ad
Page 31 and 32: The Detroit Branch focused the Apri

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