SATURDAY, JUNE 21, 2025
Weekend Reading
Hi Friend,
On June 13, Israel launched airstrikes against Iran, and the violence continues to escalate. Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands more injured. As a Quaker organization dedicated to peace and justice, we are urging Congress to help end the violence and work toward lasting peace and security for all.
To prevent further loss of life, the United States must stay out of Israel’s war with Iran. Tell elected officials: NO war with Iran! [link removed]
IN THE MEDIA
West Virginians speak out against SNAP cuts [link removed]
As Congress considers massive cuts to SNAP food assistance in the budget reconciliation bill, West Virginians are pushing back. AFSC and nearly 60 groups sent an open letter to Sens. Jim Justice and Shelley Moore Capito opposing the cuts. “This bill is a cruel assault on veterans, on people with disabilities, on our health care sector, on people who struggle with food insecurity, and on working families who deserve health care and food as much as anyone else in this country,” AFSC’s Lida Shepherd said. (News from the States)
Honoring a champion for immigrant rights [link removed]
AFSC’s Pedro Rios has received the Nancy Jamison Social Justice Award for his over 30 years of work on behalf of immigrant communities. Pedro lives in Chula Vista, the southern California border community where he grew up. Looking back, he says the immigrant rights movement has evolved. “We’ve moved away from measuring who’s ‘deserving’ of protection. Today, there’s more recognition that everyone, no matter where they’re born, has a right to dignity and respect.” Read more in The Star-News. [link removed]
JOIN US
Confronting Threats to Democracy, Peace, and Human Rights around the World [link removed] (June 26, 9 a.m. ET)
Around the world, authoritarianism is on the rise. Democracy, human rights, and peace are under threat. What can we do to change course? As a Quaker organization that has worked for social justice for over a century, AFSC knows that collective action can create lasting change. Join us for the launch of Voices for Peace 2025. This virtual dialogue series brings together leading experts to explore our current crisis and paths toward peace with justice for all. Register today. [link removed]
CELEBRATING JUNETEENTH
The unfinished work of abolition [link removed]
For over a century, people have celebrated Juneteenth as the end of slavery in the United States. But today, the U.S. is keeping nearly 2 million people in cages in jails, prisons, and immigration detention centers across the country. They are disproportionately Black people and other people of color. Today, we must recommit to ending white supremacy and working for a world without prisons or cages—the living legacies of slavery, writes AFSC’s Lewis Webb, Jr.
DONATE
Support our Refugee Respond Fund [link removed]
Don’t miss the chance to help unlock $40,000 in matching funds! Support immigrants in the U.S. and displaced people around the world with a gift to AFSC’s Refugee Response Fund today.
Special thanks to our monthly donors, our Partners for Peace, for their ongoing support to make all our work possible.
DONATE [link removed]
American Friends Service Committee
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Philadelphia, PA 19102
United States
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