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The Defenders provide this Web page as a courtesy to the Virginia Anti-War Network.

 

 

The Virginia Anti-War Network (VAWN)

 

... is a statewide alliance of 22 anti-war, community and labor organizations, plus many individual activists. Founded on Jan. 8, 2005, VAWN is dedicated to supporting the right of all oppressed peoples to self-determination, as well as uniting the movement against U.S. wars and interventions with the struggles for justice here at home.

 

If you agree with our Principles of Unity (The Green Sheet) and would like to work to make them a reality, we invite you to join us. Together, we can make this a better world for all its peoples.

 

MARCH 19, 2009

 

Anti-War Demonstrations at VEC and Federal Reserve Bank -

4:30 pm - Virginia Employment Commission, 7th & E. Main Streets

5:30 pm - Kanawha Plaza in the shadow of the Federal Reserve Bank building, plaza at 8th and Byrd Streets. Co-sponsored by Richmond Peace Education Center, RVA4Peace, Pax Christi, Left Liberterian Alliance, Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality and the Virginia People's Assembly.

MARCH 20, 2009

Blacksburg VA - Anti-Iraq War Protest - Friday, March 20, 2009 at 5:00 pm - Drillfield, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg VA - For more information contact marbarbou@aol.com.

MARCH 21, 2009

Plowshare Silent Peace Vigil - Saturday, March 21, from noon to 1 PM in front of the City Market building, Campbell and Market in Roanoke. All are welcome. Plowshare is broadening the concern of the vigil to include not only the Iraq War but the Afghanistan and Gaza Wars. Participants in the vigil are encouraged, if they bring signs, that the signs ask all sides in these wars to cease the violence. As this is the sixth anniversary of the Iraq war, we will have signs listing the names of American and Iraqi dead available for people to hold, too.

Lexington VA - 6th Anniversary Vigil
On Saturday, March 21, 2009 from 1-2:00 pm, there will be a vigil
recognizing the 6th anniversary of the war on Iraq. It will be held at the old county courthouse on Main St.in Lexington. Respectful signs are welcome. We will be reading the names of U.S. soldiers who have died in this conflict. The vigil is sponsored by Rockbridge Response which is a network of
residents in the Rockbridge County area formed in January 2003 to oppose the invasion of Iraq and to prevent future wars of choice. For more information contact Kathy Fox at kathy.fox@hughes.net

RECENT EVENTS:
 
"IRAN: STOPPING THE NEXT WAR BEFORE IT STARTS"
The 20th anniversary of the day the USS Vincennes shot down an Iranian civilian airbus in the Persian Gulf, killing nearly 300 men, women and children. We will rededicate ourselves to working to prevent any U.S. military attack or sanctions against Iran. Presentation - A group-reading of a letter written to Capt. Will Rogers of the USS Vincennes by Capt. Habib Ahmadzadeh of the Iranian Navy on the 10th anniversary of the Iran airbus disaster. Members of the People’s Peace Delegation to Iran met Capt. Ahmadzadeh during our journey to Iran. He asked us to share his letter with the people of the United States, in the hope that it would lead to a world in peace, not war. Video: ‘BAM 6.6’ — In 2003, a devastating earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 leveled the southern Iranian city of Bam, killiing more than 30,000 people. "Bam 6.6" explores the aftermath of this disaster through the story of two California tourists, one of whom is Jewish. The film strips away cultural and religious differences to provide a glimpse of the deep humanity of the Iranian people. Introduced by Rostam Pourzal, U.S. President, CASMII. Sponsored and presented by The Defenders for Freedom Justice & Equality.

STOP THE WAR AT HOME & ABROAD - MARCH 19, 2008

VIGIL: 5:30 p.m., Broad Street side of Richmond City Hall - Sponsored by the Virginia Anti-War Network and Richmond Peace Education Center. The vigil was followed at 7:00 p.m. by a PUBLIC FORUM at Asbury United Methodist Church, 324 N. 29th St. in the Church Hill neighborhood of East Richmond - Sponsored by the Virginia Anti-War Network: "Stop the War at Home and Abroad: How Our Struggles Here at Home are Affected by the War" featuring a panel of community and labor activists:  LILLIE BRANCH-KENNEDY - Founder & Director, Resource Information Help for the Disadvantaged (R.I.H.D.), a Richmond-based prisoner advocacy organization; JOANNE DAVIS - City Worker & Union Organizer with the Petersburg City Employees Association - UE Local 160; DIEYAH RASHEED - Richmond-based Community Organizer with the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality; SIMIN ROYANIAN - Former Union Official & Co-founder of Women for Peace & Justice in Iran (Fairfax); and TERECITA JACINTO – Member of immigrant rights organization Mexicanos Sin Fronteras (Prince William County).

 

download Mar. 19 event flier

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THE PEOPLE'S PEACE DELEGATION TO IRAN
 
Co-sponsored by the Virginia Anti-War Network &
The Richmond Defender newspaper
 
July 20-30, 2007
Tehran - Shiraz - Yazd - Esfahan - Qom
 
 
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Carlos Arredondo with his mobile shrine to his son, Lt. Alexander Arredondo, Richmond VA, 7/21/07.

Cindy Sheehan Impeachment Caravan in Richmond
 
Carlos Arredondo, who lost his oldest son to a sniper in Iraq, peers through the window of his mobile shrine to his son - a pick-up truck outfitted with a flag-draped coffin, his son's military portrait, his boots and dogtags, as well as a waffle (his son's favorite food) and a small pile of stones, representing the power of the small and determined over the large and seemingly inconquerable. Mr. Arredondo was traveling with the Cindy Sheehan impeachment caravan which stopped in Richmond Va on July 21, 2007.
 
 

Click here to read an analysis of the counter-demonstration at the March 17, 2007, March on the Pentagon.

VAWN takes a stand against U.S.-Israeli aggression in Lebanon -- click here for flier for Aug. 12 march in D.C.

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Photo by Caine Rose

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Photo by Caine Rose

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Sep. 24, 2005 March & Rally in DC

Organizations that have formally affiliated with VAWN
Augusta Coalition for Peace and Justice
Black Campus Progressives (Hampton University)
Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII)
Charlottesville Center for Peace & Justice
Coalition for Justice (Blacksburg)
Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality (Richmond)
Green Party of Virginia
Hampton Roads Indy Media Coalition
Hampton Roads Peace & Justice Coalition
Little Flower Catholic Worker (Louisa County)
New River Independent Business Association (Blacksburg)
Pax Christi - Richmond
The People United
Plowshare Peace Center (Roanoke)
Prosser-Truth Division #456 UNIA-ACL (Richmond)
Resource Information Help for the Disadvantaged (R.I.H.D.) (Richmond)
Richmond Food Not Bombs
Richmond Independent Media Center
Richmond Reproductive Freedom Project
Tidewater Peace Alliance
United Electrical Workers Union Local 160 (statewide)
United Parents Against Lead National, Inc. (Richmond based)

VAWN Steering Committee Members

Junaid Ahmad, Hampton Roads Amnesty International, Yorktown *
Seamus Allman, Twin Oaks Community, Louisa *
Margaret Breslau, Blacksburg Indy Business Association, Blacksburg
Rain Burroughs, Richmond Green Party, Code Pink *
Gary Sandman, Plowshare Peace Center, Roanoke 
Thomas Cleary, Pax Christi Richmond, Chesterfield County
Ana Edwards, Chair, Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project, Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality, Richmond
Muna Hijazi, Richmond Independent Media Center, Richmond
Jonathan Hutto, Appeal For Redress, Norfolk
Ruth Kaufman, Augusta Coalition for Peace and Justice, Staunton
Jen Lawhorne, Richmond Independent Media Center, Richmond
Allen Layman, President, UE Local 160 and Western State Hospital Chapter, Staunton
Linda Lisanti, Code Pink: Women for Peace *; Charlottesville Center for Peace & Justice
Tyla Matteson, Board Member, Richmond Peace Education Center *;
Conservation Chair, Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club, Richmond *
Marian Mollin, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg *
Tom Palumbo, Veterans for Peace *, WildGrassroots Collective/RegimeChanger.com, Norfolk *
Rostam Pourzal, U.S President, Campaign Against Sanctions & Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII)
Jerry Tenney
Representative, Prosser-Truth Division #456 UNIA-ACL, Richmond
Garrie Rouse, Unitarians for Peace and Justice, Aylett *
George Waksmunski, Organizer, UE Local 160, Waynesboro
Phil Wilayto, Editor, The Richmond Defender
Ann Williams, Hampton Roads Indy Media Coalition, Hampton Roads Peace & Justice Coalition, Virginia Beach 
 
*  Organization listed for identification purposes only
 

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Rallying in Fayetteville. Bring the troops home now!

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Getting ready to march in Fayetteville.

Visit the Defender's Anti-Imperialist Activities page.