• Massacre in Gaza. Written Dec 7, 2023

    by John M Repp, Pacific Call Editor As the current crisis in Israel-Palestine unfolded, some of the early reports referred to the “laws of war”. One of the most crucial distinctions in the laws of war is that between combatants and non-combatants or civilians. The terrorist attack of Oct 7, 2023, by Hamas on a music concert and some nearby kibbutzim broke the laws of war and started the current crisis. For almost two months after Oct 7, Israel broke those laws of war in its massive response with the bombing of Gaza. The bombardment of Gaza by Israel has killed civilians at an historic pace. They are using two thousand pound bombs, thousands of them. As of Nov 25,…

  • Climate Emergency: Doing What You Can

    by Justin Yang, Mike Yarrow Peace Fellowship Trainee The WWFOR fall retreat was a insightful and supportive meeting of many people working to make the world better in different ways. I found presenting my project, Washington Declaring the Climate Emergency, was at first a daunting task, but a worthwhile one, as the fellow participants were very receptive and innovative in asking questions and offering advice. Learning about the different efforts and organizations that these people have spearheaded outside of my panel was fascinating and allowed me to connect with others who could offer me support or grow my individual project. Finally, I believe that the best way for people to engage with the effort to better the climate is to start doing…

  • Becoming a Youth Climate Activist

    by Elsie Sabel, one of several young activists who presented their work at the WWFOR Fall Retreat I’m part of the Thurston Youth Climate Coalition; an organization of high school and college-age climate activists in Thurston County. I started my activist ways in 2019, when I skipped school to attend a global climate strike at the Capitol. After that, I became part of the leadership of my school’s climate club in 2020. Being on zoom, we couldn’t do much in-person, but we organized letter writing campaigns and attended virtual city council meetings. In 2022, Greta Thunberg called for another global climate strike. I was excited to attend my cities strike, but as the day drew closer, I wasn’t hearing anything…

  • Everybody’s Got a Right to Live: Report on Fall Retreat

    by Jean Gant Delastrada, Fall Retreat Committee Chairperson The 2023 WWFOR Fall Retreat, the Human Right to a Livable and Just World, addressed the topics of climate disruption and militarism, with a special focus on the work of young peace and justice activists. Young people around the world have been especially concerned about the speed of climate disruption and have questioned what the world of their future years will be like environmentally. Young activists are also increasingly aware of the intersectionality in peace and justice issues. FOR, a non-violent peace movement, is more and more making the connections between war and militarism and the need for a peaceful just and sustainable world. Elsie Sabel and Justin Yang, in a Youth…

  • Seattle’s new drug bill will harm people

    This new law wastes lots of  taxpayer money and only makes the problem bigger. by Carl Nakajima, a Real Change vendor. Real change is the Seattle homeless paper, Oct 11-17, 2023, page 9 I am very strongly against the drug enforcement bill that the (Seattle) City Council passed. People I know have died from overdoses of drugs shortly after being released from jail. This is because the amount of drugs that the body can accept changes while they are incarcerated. Upon release, they took the same amount of drugs as before entered the jail. Drug use is not a habit that can be easily changed through physical punishment. On the contrary, it is a habit that can be made worse…

  • An Op-ed on gun violence, domestic and international

      by Marjorie Prince With the possible exception of those used for hunting game, I suggest that Congress enact legislation banning the manufacture, sale, and use of all handguns and assault rifles. I am saddened by the Republican Party’s disdain for any meaningful gun regulation. While mass shootings dominate the news, thousands die from suicide by guns and other fateful spur-of-the-moment acts of anger and fear using guns. (47,000 Americans died by gun violence in 2021counting both suicides and homicides)-this note has been added by the Pacific Call editor. Yet how can we curb gun violence here in the U.S. when we pour millions of dollars into fighting wars abroad? As others have noted, in war there are no winners.…

  • Ukraine is not a North Atlantic Country and Wants to be an Independent Nation

    by John M Repp The U.S. Veterans for Peace held a virtual convention on August 25-27, 2023. There is a video recording of the keynote speakers that has been posted on Youtube: https://youtu.be/1LdERmcB1qk The speakers were Clare Daly, an Irish member of the European Parliament and Jeffery Sachs, an American economist and advocate for sustainable development. Sachs worked for a time as an advisor to Mikhail Gorbachev in the conversion of the former Soviet state planned economy into a “normal” i.e., capitalist economy. Both keynote speakers addressed the convention on the war in Ukraine. They both agree: the war in Ukraine was provoked by the American insistence on expanding NATO to Ukraine. Both Daly and Sachs were very animated, emotional,…

  • New Newsletter Issue September 2023

    7 great new articles compiled and some written by our wonderful newsletter editor, John M Repp! You can read or download the full Pacific Call September 2023 issue in pdf format by clicking here [full URL https://wwfor.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/PacificCallSept2023.pdf ] or go right to the individual articles listed below. CONTENTS and links to individual articles (page numbers refer to the pdf version) WWFOR 2023 Fall Retreat p.1 First announcement of our November 11, 2023, Fall Retreat.  Watch for details to come at our website https://www,wwfor.org and in future emails. More Trains, Not More Lanes by Mary Paterson p.1-2 Local activist Mary Paterson discusses the proposal for “ultra-fast” trains and concludes this is not a practical way to reduce the climate crisis.  But…

  • Our Children’s Trust wins a sweeping constitutional lawsuit in Montana

    Our Children’s Trust is a non-profit law firm, the only non-profit law firm in the nation, that is using the court system to force the state and federal government to establish the right of our children to a clean and healthful environment. The law firm started in 2015 and is based in Eugene, Oregon. Their first lawsuit was against the Federal Government. The executive branch, i.e. the Department of Justice, has attempted to stop the lawsuit so they don’t have to act to stop the emissions of fossil fuels. The law firm has also filed lawsuits in four states. Montana is one of those states and on August 14, 2023, a court in Montana ruled in favor of the children…

  • At the Border: Deportations and CBP One App

    By Bruce Radtke and Cindy Cole    The US Government’s COVID-19 public health emergency order expired on May 11, 2023 – this included the Trump Title 42 order that expelled over 2.5 million migrants from the US-Mexico border.  The Biden Administration is now rolling out plans that will continue to restrict many migrants’ access to asylum, including a “transit ban”. Under the new rule, migrants who pass through countries on their way to the U.S. and do not first claim asylum there or take advantage of other lawful pathways will be deemed ineligible to claim asylum at the southern border. A recent policy requires migrants to use a cell phone app (CBP One App) and apply for an immigration appointment…