H-PAD Supporters
Colleagues,
The H-PAD SC has recently been involved with national groups that are organizing activities during the Winter Olympics and Paralympics to educate the US public about the current Korea crisis, and to oppose US war with North Korea. Using the tradition of the truce during the ancient Olympics as a metaphor, this organizing effort is called the Olympic Truce Campaign, and it will extend at least through February and March 2018.
We ask H-PAD supporters to join this campaign in any way we can. To facilitate H-PAD participation in the campaign, we have drawn up a call to action (below), and are placing support materials on the H-PAD web site including:
· Information on other participating organizations
· An easily reproducible Broadside by Robert Oppenheim, “North Korea and Nuclear Weapons”
· A hyperlinked reading list of useful, recent articles
· A list of expert speakers who are available to speak on the U.S.-Korea crisis
· Some sample flyers to be used to publicize local events
· A National Calendar of Actions
· A blog for reporting events and sharing organizing experiences
All of these resources can be found at https://www.historiansforpeace.org/korea/ and will be updated frequently.
Let’s join the campaign and build H-PAD presence!
Solidarity, H-PAD Steering Committee
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A CALL TO ACTION
“War or Peace with North Korea?”
An Olympics Truce Campaign
February and March 2018
Of all the dangers the reactionary Trump administration poses, the most immediately devastating would be another war with North Korea. Such a war would almost certainly go nuclear, with catastrophic loss of life. President Trump’s bluster and instability, matching that of the North Korean president, pose a constant risk of a tense situation getting completely out of control. The public needs to weigh in on the need for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict. Peaceful options exist, and they need to be brought to the forefront of public discussion.
Historians for Peace and Democracy (H-PAD) has joined a large coalition of national peace and justice organizations in calling for a multi-faceted campaign of teach-ins, forums, debates, roundtables, film showings, and political actions—on campus and in the community—to raise consciousness about the danger of war and the options for peace.. We want these events to raise the question “Korea: What Are the Options?”
The fact that the Winter Olympics (February 9-25) and the Paralympics (March 9-16) are to be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, offers a unique opportunity to use the ancient tradition of an Olympic Truce to achieve peaceful resolution of the U.S.-North Korean confrontation. Already the occasion of the Olympics has reduced tensions, as North and South Korea have reinstituted dialogue, and planned US-South Korean military exercises are suspended. However, without public awareness and pressure, these steps will become just a short-lived peaceful interlude.
WE CAN’T LET THIS MOMENT PASS: WE MUST ORGANIZE!