Dear John,
I’m John Reuwer, World BEYOND War’s Board Treasurer. If you’re receiving this email, it means you’re on our email list, which tells me that you are engaged on some level in the movement to abolish war and replace it with a just and sustainable peace. As violence escalates before our eyes in Gaza, Ukraine, and numerous other countries across the globe, it’s so important to recognize the individuals in our collective efforts to end the unchecked militarism. So thank you for your part in this.
I started my own anti-war activism 45 years ago, when I learned that my country had plans to “win” a nuclear war, knowing people would die by the hundreds of millions or even billions. My 40 years of studying, teaching, and practicing nonviolent alternatives to conflict led me to see the vision of World BEYOND War as a very realistic approach to saving our future, and I've been working with the team for the last several years, more recently as the Treasurer. I have seen first hand the power of well organized and trained people confronting violence head on with great success, through my anti-nuclear work and peace team field experience in Haiti, Colombia, Central America, Palestine/Israel, South Sudan, Ukraine, and U.S. inner cities.
Over the last year, in addition to attending rallies and protests in Vermont (where I also worked to divest the city of Burlington from the war machine) and Washington DC, I traveled to Ukraine to meet people who had used nonviolent methods to resist the Russian invasion, and followed the work of unarmed civilian technicians working on the front lines to keep the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant safe. One of the activists I worked with on this project was World BEYOND War’s very own Board Member, Yurii Sheliazhenko who is based in Kiev.
In the last few weeks I trained and prepared to sail with the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza, which is an effort of hundreds of activists to nonviolently break the siege of Gaza and deliver much needed medical aid and food. Political machinations from Israel and the U.S. have delayed its departure, but hundreds of us are ready to go back on short notice. (In the photo above I am with colleague Dr. Fauziah Hasan from Malaysia at the offices of the Marvi Marmara Association, the organizers of the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza in Istanbul, Turkey).
Not everyone is called to confront directly the horrors of war and genocide, but everyone can do something, and many letters or phone calls to officials make a huge difference. Donations support our wonderful staff who create courses, articles, and actions that multiply our efforts. Just this past year we expanded our programs into South America and Africa. Together, we are a powerful and resilient movement of people determined to create the world we want to live in.
We need your solidarity and help now more than ever -- from the Flotilla, to the halls of Congress, to college campuses around the world. For a global organization with such a small budget, we are accomplishing an incredibly significant amount of work. And this is thanks to you, our followers and donors, without whom we wouldn’t be able to do this. So again, I thank you for your work.
Please join me in contributing to a world based in peace, equity, and justice.
In peace,
John Reuwer, Treasurer / Activist /Donor, World BEYOND War
World BEYOND War is a global network of volunteers, chapters, and affiliated organizations advocating for the abolition of the institution of war.
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