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U.S. HANDS OFF
SYRIA
An Urgent
Message for Peace
on the Eve of Wider War
Please click here to add
your name in support
of the Hands off Syria
Coalition
Dear friends of International
Action Center,
Please review this statement
issued by the newly-formed Hands Off Syria Coalition.
It follows a lengthy round of
discussions among several antiwar and
social justice organizations and leading
individuals about the urgent need for a
broad coalition to confront the
escalating war in Syria. International
Action Center- IACenter.org is
supportive of this process and a
signatory to this statement. We invite
you to join the rapidly growing
coalition and encourage others to join.
Solidarity, Sara
Flounders for IAC
We raise our
voices against the violence of war and the
enormous pressure of war propaganda, lies
and hidden agendas that are used to
justify this war and every past U.S. war.
We, the
undersigned organizations and individuals,
endorse the following Points of Unity and
will work together as an Ad Hoc Coalition
to help put an end to the regime change
intervention by the United States, NATO
and their regional allies and the killing
of innocent people in Syria:
- The
continuation of the war in Syria is the
result of a U.S.-orchestrated
intervention by the United States, NATO,
their regional allies and reactionary
forces, the goal of which is regime
change in Syria.
- This policy of
regime change in Syria is illegal and in
clear violation of the United Nations
Charter, the letter and spirit of
international law and the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
- This policy of
forced regime change is threatening the
security of the region and the world and
has increased the danger of direct
confrontation between the United States
and Russia, with the potential of a
nuclear catastrophe for the whole world.
- War and U.S.
and EU sanctions have destabilized every
sector of Syria's economy, transforming
a once self-sufficient country into an
aid-dependent nation. Half the Syrian
population is now displaced. A UN ESCWA
report reveals these U.S. sanctions on
Syria are crippling aid work during one
of the largest humanitarian emergency
since World War II. The one third of
Syrians refugees in surrounding Jordan,
Lebanon and Turkey have been hit hard by
U.S. cuts to UNICEF. This forces
desperate refugees to struggle to reach
Europe.
- No foreign
entity, be it a foreign government or an
armed group, has the right to violate
the fundamental rights of the Syrian
people to independence, national
sovereignty and self-determination. This
includes the right of the Syrian
government to request and accept
military assistance from other
countries, as even the U.S. government
has admitted.
- Only the people
of Syria have the inalienable right to
choose their leaders and determine the
character of their government, free from
foreign intervention. This right cannot
be properly exercised under the
conditions of U.S.-orchestrated foreign
intervention against the Syrian people.
- Our opposition
is to forced regime change in Syria by
U.S.-backed foreign powers and their
mercenaries. It is not our business to
support or oppose President Assad or the
Syrian government. Only the Syrian
people have the right to decide the
legitimacy of their government.
- The most urgent
issue at present is peace and putting an
end to the violence of foreign
intervention that has resulted in the
deaths of hundreds of thousands of
people and the displacement of millions
of Syrians both internally or as
refugees abroad.
Based on
these Points of Unity, we, as individuals
and organizations-in an Ad Hoc
Coalition-agree on the following demands
and commit ourselves to working together
to help achieve them:
- An
immediate end to the U.S. policy of
forced regime change in Syria and full
recognition and compliance by the U.S.,
NATO and their allies with principles of
international law and the U.N. Charter,
including respect for the independence
and territorial integrity of Syria.
- An
immediate end to all foreign aggression
against Syria, and serious efforts
toward a political resolution to the
war.
- An
immediate end to all military,
financial, logistical and intelligence
support by the U.S., NATO and their
regional allies to all foreign
mercenaries and extremists in the Middle
East region.
- An
immediate end to economic sanctions
against Syria. Massive international aid
for displaced people within Syria and
Syrian refugees abroad.
Only in a
peaceful and independent Syria, free of
foreign aggression, can the people of
Syria freely exercise their sovereign
rights, express their free will and make
free choices about their government and
their country's leadership.
We invite
all supporters of peace and peoples' right
to self-determination around the world to
join hands of cooperation in this effort
to achieve these most humanitarian
demands.
We need jobs,
healthcare, education and an
end to racist police
violence here at home,
NOT U.S. WARS ABROAD!
Please click here to
add your name
in support of the Hands off Syria
Coalition
and to see hundreds
of other signers
Initial signers of the
statement:
Organizational Signers (in
alphabetical order):
Alliance
for Global Justice
Al-Awda - Palestine National Right to
Return Coalition
All-African People's Revolutionary Party
(GC)
American Party of Labor
ANSWER Coalition
Antiwar Committee - Chicago
Antiwar Committee - Minneapolis
Antiwar Committee - Tampa
Antiwar Committee - Tucson
Antiwar Committee - Utah
Arab Americans for Syria
Arab Women Progressive League
BAYAN - Philippine Coalition
Citizens of the World - Canada
Coalition of Arab Canadian Professionals
and Community Associations
Columbus Campaign for Arms Control
Conselho Português para a Paz e
Cooperação /
Portuguese Council for Peace and
Cooperation
Dallas Left Alliance
Ecumenical Peace Institute Clergy and
Laity Concerned
FLC-CGIL Trade Union University of
Florence (Italy)
Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War
(Hamilton, Ontario, Canada)
Hands Off Syria (Australia)
Houston Peace Council
Houston Communist Party
International Action Center
International League of Peoples Struggle
- U.S.
Los Alamos Study Group - AZ
Michigan Emergency Committee Against War
& Injustice
Mobilization Against War &
Occupation (MAWO) - Canada
New Jersey Peace Council
No Nukes No War - CT
Northeast Iowa Peace and Justice
Committee
One State Assembly
Orange County Healthcare For All!
Peace Roots Alliance - Tennessee
Peoples Organization for Progress
Pittsburgh Anti-Imperialist League
Peoples Opposition to War, Imperialism
& Racism - POWIR (Florida)
Popular Resistance
Popular Committee in Defense of Syria
Queers Without Borders - Hartford CT
Return Now Coalition
Socialist Action - Ligue pour l'Action
Socialiste, Canada
South Asian Fund For Education,
Scholarship & Training (SAFEST)
South Coast People For Peace and Justice
Southern Human Rights Organizers'
Conference - SHROC
Students for Democratic Society - SDS
Swedish Peace Council
Syria Solidarity Movement
Syrian American Forum
Syrian American Will Association - SAWA
Syrian Social Club Community in the UK
(Dr. Issa Chaer, Co-founder)
The Expatriates Association of Syrians
in Canada
United National Antiwar Coalition - UNAC
United Steelworkers Local 8751
Unleashed (Anarcho-Liberation)
Upstate New York Drone Action
U.S. Peace Council
Veterans For Peace Chapter 111,
Bellingham, WA
Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice
& Equality
Women Against Military Madness - WAMM
Individual Signers (in alphabetical order):
Christopher
Assad, The Expatriates Association of
Syrians in Canada
Abayomi Azikiwe, Pan Africa News Wire
Ajama Baraka, Human Rights Defender
Judith Bello, Member of Admin Committee,
UNAC
Vanessa Beeley, Independent Journalist
and Photographer
Bob Brown, Organizer, All-African
People's Revolutionary Party
(GC) - USA
Mark Burton, Member of the Board,
Alliance for Global Justice
Alfonse Casal, National Spokesperson,
American Party of Labor
Frank Chapman, Field organizer, Chicago
Alliance Against Racist
and Political Repression*
Ramsey Clark, Former U.S. Attorney
General & Human Rights Attorney
Gerry Condon, National Board Vice
President, Veterans For Peace*
Cheryl Curtis, Ct 9/11 Truth*
Kenneth Dalton, Veterans For Peace,
Chapter 21,* New Jersey, U.S.A.
Henry Duke, M.D., Medical Director,
Orange County Healthcare For All!
Maria Ilda Figueiredo, Chairperson,
Conselho Português para a Paz e
Cooperação / Portuguese Council for
Peace and Cooperation
Margaret Flowers, M.D., Green Party
Candidate for Senate;
Co-Director, It's Our Economy*
Bruce Gagnon, Global Network Against
Weapons
& Nuclear Power in Space*
John Gilbert, Secretary, FLC-CGIL Trade
Union University
of Florence (Italy)
Steven Gillis, Financial Secretary,
United Steelworkers Local 8751
Daniel Gilman, President, Veterans For
Peace Chapter 92,*
Greater Seattle
Greg Godels, Co-Director, Pittsburgh
Anti-Imperialist League
Trevor Goodger-Hill, Citizens of the
World, Canada
Abbas Hamideh, al-Awda Steering
Committee*
Joseph Hancock, Movement for People's
Democracy
Sue Harris, Peoples Video Network
Jaribu Hill, Human Rights Defender
Joe
Iosbaker, Anti-War Committee - Chicago
Geraroid Kilgallen, Member of
Steering Committee,
Irish Anti-War Movement*
Margaret Kimberly, Editor and Senior
Columnist, Black Agenda Report
John Kiriakou, former CIA
counterterrorism officer
and former senior investigator, Senate
Foreign Relations Committee
Cheryl Kozanitas, Board Member, Peace
Action of San Mateo County,*
California
Ray Laforest, Haiti Support Network
John Laforge, Co-Director, NukeWatch
Ali
Mallah, Steering Committee, Syria
Solidarity Movement
Alfred Marder, President, U.S. Peace
Council
George Martin, Liberty Tree
Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst and
Presidential briefer
Gregory Mello, Executive Director, Los
Alamos Study Group
Monica
Moorehead, U.S. Presidential Candidate
for Workers World Party
Nick Mottern, Knowdrones.com
Elizabeth Murray, Deputy Nat'l
Intelligence Officer for the Near East,
Nat'l Intelligence Council (ret.)
Agneta Norberg, Chairwoman, Swedish
Peace Council
Barry Ranger, Co-Chair, Northwest Iowa
Peace and Justice Committee
Chris Robinson, Membership Secretary,
Green Party of Philadelphia*
Coleen Rowley, retired FBI agent and
former Minneapolis Division
Legal Counsel
Cindy Sheehan, Anti-War Gold Star Mother
Mark Stansbery, Co-Coordinator, Columbus
Campaign for Arms Control
Steven Starr, Senior Scientist,
Physicians for Social Responsibility,*
Missouri, USA
Jane Stillwater, President, Century of
the Child
Jay Tharappel, Committee Member, Hands
Off Syria, Sidney, Australia
Will Thomas, NH Veterans For Peace*
James Thompson, Chairperson, Houston
Peace Council
Amal Wahda, Arab Women's Progressive
League
Joseph Wasserman, Co-Chair, No Nukes No
War
Caroline Yacoub, County Council, Green
Party of Santa Clara County*
Kevin Zeese, Co-Director, Popular
Resistance
___________________________
[*] For identification purposes only.
List in formation
Please
click here to add your name in
support of the Hands off Syria
Coalition
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