Susan Sarandon’s Sanctions Busting Iraq Ad For NYT

Susan Sarandon’s Sanctions Busting Iraq Ad For NYT

Fellowship of Reconciliation

We at the FOR are excited to announce that the following advertisement has been organized with the help of Susan Sarandon, and will appear in the New York Times on or near August 6th. We are encouraging local folks to run the same ad, with the addition of local names if you have the time to gather them, on or near August 6th (or anytime after that if that date doesn't work). A photo-ready ad template is available by calling the FOR at 914 358 4601 and asking for YVONNE ROYSTER, or emailing Yvonne at for@forusa.org. Kate Reuer will not be responding to any of these calls or emails. If you wish to design your own advertisement using the text provided that is fine. It is of the utmost importance, however, that you DO NOT change any of the language, as some signatures were conditional on the language selected. Any thoughts about the advertisement should be directed to John Dear (johndear@forusa.org).

This is a wonderful opportunity to get prominent names in local media--speaking out against the sanctions! Hope you find it useful!

(TEXT FOLLOWS)

Are the Children of Iraq Our Enemies?

Ten years ago, on August 6, 1990, the U.S. imposed economic sanctions on Iraq. Since then, over one million Iraqis, mostly children under five, have died. 10 years is enough! The military sanctions on Iraq should continue, but the economic sanctions not only do not work, they are killing innocent Iraqi children.

We say, the time has come to stop killing innocent Iraqi children.

Lift the economic sanctions on Iraq now!

Susan Sarandon

Tim Robbins

Martin Sheen

Liam Neeson

Rosie O'Donnel

Jeremy Irons

Robert Altman

Bonnie Raitt

Sr. Helen Prejean

Mike Farrell

Joan Baez

Rev. William Sloane Coffin

Ed Asner

Jackson Browne

Bishop Thomas Gumbleton

Natasha Richardson

Pete Seeger

Rev. Daniel Berrigan, S.J.

Sinead Cusack

Casey Kasem

Philip Berrigan

Richard Gere

John Densmore

Arun Gandhi

Maguire Maguire (Nobel Peace Laureate)

Jose Ramos Horta (Nobel Peace Laureate)

Adolfo Perez Esquivel (Nobel Peace Laureate)

Rev. James Lawson

Rabbi Douglas Krantz

Sr. Joan Chittister

Noam Chomsky

Richard Dreyfuss

Howard Zinn

Todd Oldham

David Dellinger

Ramsey Clark

Dennis Halliday

Dr. Helen Caldicott

Dr. Patch Adams

Elise Boulding

Rev. John Dear (FOR Executive Director)

and the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the largest, oldest interfaith peace organization in the US.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

____Send me information about the "Campaign of Conscience with the Iraqi

people."

____Send me information about FOR's work to promote the United Nations'
"Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the
World, 2001-2010."

____Send me information about the Fellowship of Reconciliation.

____Enclosed is my contribution to support FOR's work for peace &
justice:

_____$25 _____$50 _____$100 ______$250 _____Other

NAME___________________________________________________________________

ADDRESS________________________________________________________________

CITY_______________________________________STATE___________ZIP_________

PHONE_________________________________E-MAIL__________________________

Mail to: Fellowship of Reconciliation, Box 271, Nyack, NY 10960. (914)
358-4601.

Check our website: www.FORUSA.org

********

From Pax Christi USA: Please direct comments to:

Phyllis Jepson - Coordinator Barbara Richardson - Administrative Assistant Local/Regional Coordinating Office Pax Christi USA - National Section of the International Catholic Peace Movement paxwpb@gate.net

JOIN THIS EFFORT AND HELP SPREAD THE WORD....

Join with Pax Christi USA in a NEW YORK TIMES SIGN-ON AD demanding that the United Nations immediately lift economic sanctions against Iraq.

"We are destroying an entire society. It is as simple and as terrifying as that." - Denis Halliday

------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------

Leslie Stahl: We have heard that a half million children have died (as a result of economic sanctions against Iraq)_ more children than died in Hiroshima. ...Is the price worth it?

Madeleine Albright: I think this is a very hard choice, but the price, we think the price is worth it.

- CBS 60 Minutes Interview, May, 1996

-------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----

How Many More Iraqi Children Must Die?

For the past 10 years, the people of Iraq have endured a slow and painful death in the form of U.N./U.S. economic sanctions. The World Food Organization and UNICEF say that over one million people have died as a result of the sanctions. Children under 5 account for 600,000 of these deaths. Nothing could be worth the price of this suffering.

Economic sanctions were imposed on Iraq in 1990 as an alternative to military intervention after Iraq invaded Kuwait. Ten years later, they are a failed policy. They have not ended human rights abuses and aggression by the Iraqi government. In 1991, the U.N. decided to continue the sanctions to prevent the production of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Instead, the sanctions themselves have become a weapon of mass destruction, targeting innocent Iraqis and inflicting inhumane levels of suffering. Three senior U.N. administrators of Iraqi relief aid have resigned in protest over the sanctions: Denis Halliday, Hans von Sponek, and Jutta Burghardt. Halliday calls the sanctions genocidal. "We are destroying an entire society," he says. "It is as simple and as terrifying as that."

Economic sanctions have prevented Iraq from rebuilding its infrastructure, which was severely damaged during the Gulf War. Raw sewage flows in the streets. Broken water purification systems increasingly contaminate water. UNICEF reports a six-to-eight fold increase in the fatality rates in children due to diarrhea and pneumonia from 1991 to 1996.
On November 10, 1998, the United Natio
General Assembly proclaimed the years 2001-2010 to be "A Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World." We ask: How can the United Nations seriously call for a decade of peace and nonviolence while maintaining economic sanctions which are killing over 5,000 children each month?

We call upon the United Nations to end its hypocrisy by immediately lifting the economic sanctions against Iraq, leaving military sanctions intact;

We call upon the United States to take the lead on the U.N. Security Council by submitting a resolution calling for the immediate lifting of economic sanctions;

We call upon the Iraqi government to end human rights abuses and aggression throughout the region;

We call upon the governments of Iraq, the United States and all nations to cease production of weapons of mass destruction.

A Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World must include the Children of Iraq.

Pax Christi USA Ph: 814-453-4955 National Catholic Peace Movement Fx: 814-452-4784 532 West 8th Street info@paxchristiusa.org Erie, PA 16502-1343 www.nonviolence.org/pcusa

If you wish to add your name to this statement, return the form below and your payment before September 15, 2000.

RESPONSE FORM

Please add my name to the SIGN-ON AD HOW MANY MORE IRAQI CHILDREN MUST DIE?

LIFT ECONOMIC SANCTIONS NOW! to be published in the New York Times in October, 2000.

NAME _________________________________________________________

(print clearly as you would like your name to appear)

ADDRESS ____________________________________________________________

CITY ___________________________________ STATE____________ ZIP _______________

PHONE _______________________________ E-MAIL___________________________________________

Enclosed is ________ $30 per individual name ________ $60 per organization/group name.

Please make check payable to Pax Christi USA; return by September 15, 2000 to: Pax Christi USA, 532 West 8th Street, Erie, PA 16502-1343

THANK YOU!

Phyllis Jepson - Coordinator Barbara Richardson - Administrative Assistant Local/Regional Coordinating Office Pax Christi USA - National Section of the International Catholic Peace Movement paxwpb@gate.net

© Scoop Media