MOBILIZE IN PHILLY AGAINST US OCCUPATION OF IRAQ AND PERMANENT WAR EMPIRE!

May 30, 2003

Dear Friends,

On Friday, July 4th George W. Bush has been invited to Philadelphia to attend the opening ceremony of the National Constitution Center.  A number of Philadelphia area organizations and individuals, along with representatives from national anti-war and peace and justice organizations have come together to call for a National Protest in Philadelphia on July 4th to Stop U.S. Wars at Home and Abroad.

We ask you or your organization to endorse this call and to help build for this event.  Please take time to read the call below.   Please email your endorsement to  or call: 215-701-7341.

Include the name of your organization as you would like it listed, a contact person, phone number, address and email.  We are also asking endorsing organizations to consider making a pledge of financial or other material support (photocopying, food for the event, etc.) to help with this effort. Donations can be sent to: PRAWN, P.O.Box 31944, Philadelphia, PA 19104

Your prompt response to this email is appreciated so that materials we put out can show the broadest support possible.  Thank you.

Pending formal endorsements, groups that have participated in building the July 4th Mobilization:

Act-Up Philadelphia, Anarcho-Communist Union of Philadelphia, Act Now to Stop War & End Racism (ANSWER), ATAC (Avenging the Ancestors Coalition), Brandywine Peace Community, Catholic Peace Fellowship, Communist Party, E.PA & DE, Defenestrator, Delaware County Wage Peace and Justice, Democratic Socialists of America (Philadelphia), Earth Charter Citizens, East Timor
Action Network, Friends of MOVE, Global Women's Strike, Green Party of Philadelphia, International Action Center, International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal, Minority Experience Network, National Organization of Women (Philadelphia), NION, Partnership for Civil Justice, Peace Action Delaware Valley, Philadelphia Anti-War Forum, Philadelphia Regional Anti-War Network (PRAWN), Queers for Peace and Justice, Refuse & Resist, Solidarity, Uhuru Solidarity Committee, United for Peace and
Justice, Unite for Peace, Veterans for Peace, Wages for Housework Campaign, Women's International League for Peace & Freedom, Youth PAWR

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Endorse the Call for a July 4th National Protest in Philadelphia to
Stop U.S. Wars At Home and Abroad
On Friday July 4th, join thousands in Philadelphia to protest George W. Bush
8am protest, 10am rally, 12noon march, 2pm closing event
(the culmination of a July 4th Week of Actions in Philadelphia**)

Unite to Demand a total change in priorities:  **An End to U.S. Occupation of Iraq -- Bring the Troops Home  ** No Endless Wars, Occupation, Colonialism or U.S. Empire  ** Repeal the USA Patriot Act, Restore Civil Liberties, End Election Fraud & Corruption  ** No to Racism, Sexism, and Attacks on Immigrants  ** No to Privatization, Cuts in Education, Welfare, Veterans & Other Benefits & Services  ** Money for Human Needs -- Not the Pentagon War Machine

On Friday, July 4th, George W. Bush, along with all living former U.S. presidents, has been invited to speak at the opening of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.  Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor will also be present to receive the Liberty Medal.  They will be celebrating in a building constructed on the graves of enslaved Africans.  They will be culminating a week of "Welcome America" festivities sponsored by oil giant Sunoco.  We are determined to stop the never-ending series of wars in the various forms it is taking against people here and abroad.  We stand with people everywhere struggling for a world which values people over profits.  We stand in solidarity with people living under oppression and occupation who have nothing to celebrate on this day.

Bush lied about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and continues to lie when he claims the war is over, as more troops are being sent to crush Iraqi resistance to U.S. occupation.  The people of Iraq are without electricity, drinkable water, or medical care as unexploded cluster bombs, a cholera epidemic, and bullets fired by U.S. troops claim more lives every day.  The U.S. continues to discuss plans for regime change, either through invasions, economic pressure or stepped up covert operations, against all those who
attempt to retain nominal sovereignty over their own land and natural resources.  Syria, southern Lebanon, Palestine, North Korea, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Iran, Venezuela, Colombia, Haiti and other countries are slated for aggression.  Yet the Pentagon's $400 billion budget is over 30 times the combined military spending of all the countries targeted in Bush's endless war plans.

We have an unelected president who stole the election by denying the Black vote in Florida.  There has been a wholesale assault on the Bill of Rights through the passage of the USA Patriot Act and institutionalized racial profiling.  Imprisonment is at an all time high with over 2.2 million incarcerated and over 3,000 are on death row.  Single mothers of color are the fastest growing prison population.  Thousands of immigrants, even U.S. citizens, have been detained without charges or trial.  Due process continues to be denied for political prisoners Mumia Abu-Jamal, Leonard Peltier, the Cuban 5 and others.  Racism is on the rise; Affirmative Action is under attack; restitution for slavery, the slaughter of indigenous people, and colonial occupation has not happened; and the corporate media
gives right-wing politicians carte blanche to attack the rights of workers, people of color, women and lesbian, gay, bi, and trans people.

The Executive Branch under Bush has taken on near dictatorial powers - its decisions rubber-stamped by Congress and the Supreme Court.  The Bush wars for US corporate interests require a massive transfer of wealth from social programs.  The administration hands out lucrative contracts to Bechtel, Halliburton, and Exxon, and it has engineered over $2 trillion in tax giveaways that primarily benefit the very rich. But the majority in the U.S face record high unemployment; cuts in spending for public ransportation, housing, welfare, education, childcare, veterans and HIV/AIDS benefits; and the closing of hospitals, libraries, drub rehab centers and more, as states are forced to balance their budgets because Washington won't.  The income gap is widening.  According to the Department of Labor, in the 1980's, income for the average CEO was 40 times that of the average worker.  Today
the difference is 531 times.  Women earn 73% of what men earn, 63% for Black women and 53% for Latina women while women's caring work remains unvalued and unwaged.

But we do not face these difficult times without hope.  Millions of people from all walks of life came together in this country and around the world in an unprecedented outpouring against war and for social justice, and we can't give up now.  Let's draw from our peoples' histories of resistance to injustice and stand up to be counted.  We in Philadelphia have been solid in our unity.   By making our voices heard in protests, by entering the political process directly, we the people become a decisive factor.  The eyes of the world will be on Philadelphia on July 4th.  We ask you to be here with us.

To join the growing list of organizations endorsing this call contact:     or call:  215-701-7341

**The week of local actions include:  July 1 oppose the state budget cuts; July 3 - 10am Women's march vs ROTC, cuts & privatization; 12 noon demonstration vs the death penalty; 4pm Avenging the Ancestors Coalition demonstration at the National Constitution Center; July 6 - Interfaith Prayer Vigil.