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The ACP&J Annual Membership Meeting

…will take place March 28th. If you are interested in serving on the Coordinating Council (CC), please nominate yourself by emailing a blurb about yourself to council@abqpeaceandjustice.org. We will not accept nominations on the floor, so please send these in by the March 14 deadline. A full statement is attached in this email, and we look forward to seeing members on Saturday, March 28 at 3pm!

CC Statement about the War on Iran

On Saturday, after months of disingenuous negotiations with the Republic of Iran, the United States  and Israel made the cruel and brazen decision to begin strikes against the Iranian people in violation of international law. Our government claims to only be targeting Iranian leadership and military targets, but so far they have killed over 1000 people, the majority of them civilians. Our first strike destroyed a school in Minab, killing 153 most of them children. 

This invasion is an egregious act of violence against a country which up until last year was still holding itself accountable to the terms of the 2015 JCPOA (Iran nuclear deal), terms geared towards peace and abandoned in 2018 by the same president who helps instigate war in the region today. 

This administration had no real intentions of negotiating in good faith for a peaceful resolution to any disputes. This invasion is purely that of imperialist conquest for resources and expansion undertaken by the governments of the United States and Israel. This illegal war ensures not only that the cycle of violence is to continue, but that the economic concerns, and needs of the people of both the United States and Iran are further neglected. 

Even if the military action is halted, like it was last June when the U.S. last bombed Iran, it will likely be temporary and will result in the United States enacting new sanctions upon the Iranian people, causing further economic instability and worsening conditions like malnutrition, and disease for the people of Iran. 

The Unites States’ actions, in addition to the attacks and kidnapping in Venezuela are war crimes being again committed in our name and with our tax dollars. The willingness of this government to spend billions of dollars and committing to more, while at the same time cutting hundreds of thousands of Americans off of SNAP, Medicaid, and Medicare exposes where their priorities are. 

The Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice’s Coordinating Council strongly condemns this illegal war and encourages members to get involved in resistance, whatever that looks like to you. Whether that's showing out for the many protests against this imperialist war, fighting to increase community food access, to fight against fascist austerity measures and their impacts on our community, or other avenues of working for peace and justice. 

We encourage community, solidarity and action during a time when our government looks to isolate, divide and pacify us. There cannot be peace without justice.

We will be sending out solidarity events in the community as we hear about them, feel free to forward events from the wider community so they can be sent out to the broader membership.

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