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Press ReleaseFor Immediate Release Worldwide Antiwar Petition Delivered to Security Council MembersOver 1 Million Signatures Gathered in 5 Days as Debate Over War Resolution BeginsJessica Lange & Ethan Hawke Join Win Without War Members MoveOn.org, American Friends Service Committee in Making Urgent AppealUnited Nations, New York, NY – Primed with more than one million signatures on an international antiwar petition, leaders of America’s antiwar coalition, Win Without War and Jessica Lange of Artists United to Win Without War, today sent a clear message to the UN: “Back tough inspections, not war.” In an unprecedented display of international antiwar unity, the petitions were gathered in only five days. The urgent appeal was made at a press conference adjacent to the ongoing Security Council deliberations while fleets of vans were dispersed to deliver the petitions to UN Security Council Missions. Former Congressman Tom Andrews, national director of Win Without War, announced that today’s delivery of petitions to the UN Security Council’s members is only the first step in a week-long worldwide effort, similar to last week’s Virtual March on Washington. “Security Council members are under enormous US pressure to authorize an invasion and occupation of Iraq. We are calling on millions of people around the world to send their governments a message: ‘Stand up for peace. We don’t need a war to protect the world from Saddam Hussein’,” said Andrews. “By now it is clear that the people of the world are against a US led invasion of Iraq. Only some of their governments have failed to respond to this. Now is the moment of truth for the wavering members of the Security Council. Will they stand up and be counted so that the UN continues to stand for peace and the rule of law - or will they cave in to Bush administration threats and pressure,” Andrews concluded. “As an American mother, I can only empathize with other mothers facing war - the devastation it will have on their families, their communities and the world in which they live. We Americans know the devastation that war can bring and war must always be our last resort,” said Academy Award-winning actress, Jessica Lange. “Just as we saw an immediate outpouring of opposition to an Iraq war from people all over the US in our Virtual March on Washington, so we are seeing just as intense a response from people all over the world. The message to the UN Security Council is: “Tough inspections are holding Saddam Hussein in check. We don’t need a war to protect our security,” added Peter Schurman, Executive Director, MoveOn.org. “The human cost of invasion will be enormous for Iraqis, over half of whom are under fifteen. And the devastation won’t end when the missiles stop flying. Millions of Iraqis will have no food, water, housing and medical care after a US led attack. Our soldiers will also be at great risk. The inspections are working. Saddam has been unable to threaten anyone since the end of the Gulf War,” concluded Mary Ellen McNish, General Secretary of American Friends Service Committee. |
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