End the Sanctions on Iraq: Philadelphia Actions Oct/Nov 1999

1. Friday. October 29, 1999: Demonstrate against Sanctions during Clinton’s visit to Philadelphia. The Inquirer reported that Clinton will be in Philadelphia on this date to campaign for John Street. We have no specifics on Clinton’s itinerary but will forward information as we receive it. { One souce, unconfirmed, has revealed he and Jesse Jackson will be speaking at LaSalle. U. - JP} We are calling for a demonstration to demand an end to the sanctions. We will bring banner, the "Mr. Death Puppet", and large placards with the slogan, End the Sanctions, Stop the Bombing. We hope people will reserve this date and spread the word.

2. You are invited to a reception on November 4, 6 to 8 pm at 5 Awbury Rd in Germantown, Phila. for Denis Halliday who has just returned from a week-long visit to Iraq. Mr. Halliday, a 34-year veteran of the United Nations, resigned his posts as UN Assistant Secretary General and Chief UN Relief Coordinator for Iraq in October of 1998, to protest the devastating effects of the UN/US sanctions on the Iraqi people. Based on his thirteen-month experience, he can testify to the degradation of all aspects of Iraqi society for which sanctions are responsible: the deaths and malnutrition of over a million children, the complete collapse of the economy, the breakdown of formerly highly effective medical and educational systems, and the depression and despair that beset an adult population that has lived for over nine years under such desperate circumstances. The extent of the human destruction in Iraq is appalling and morally compelling.

Few Americans know the facts that would enable, much less compel them to take a moral stand against the sanctions. As US policy has effectively isolated Iraq from the rest of the world, Americans have been denied access to truthful information about the situation there. To its discredit, the US administration has repeatedly charged that it is the Iraqi government’s mishandling of the sanctions that has caused the crisis for its people. Mr. Halliday, who is one of the few people in the world with first-hand knowledge, has publicly testified to the untruthfulness of these charges.

His experiences are an invaluable resource to understanding the horror in Iraq caused by US sanctions policies.

At the reception Mr. Halliday, who is currently a Visiting Professor at Swarthmore College and teaching a course on the United Nations, will be talking about his recent trip to Iraq, where he participated in the filming of a documentary on the effects of the sanctions. Also attending the reception will be a number of activists who have traveled to Iraq, including Kathy Bergen and Peter Lems of the American Friends Service Committee, and Johanna Berrigan from Catholic Worker, House of Grace.

We hope you will attend this reception to learn the extent of the plight of the people of Iraq, to enable you to speak out against the sanctions wherever you have the opportunity.

We are also requesting a donation of $10 from each activist who attends the reception, to help cover our costs.

Please RSVP to Endsanctions@cs.com if you are planning to attend. We can forward you information on how to get here (we’re easily accessible from the R7 Washington Lane stop).

Very truly yours,

Kitty Bryant and Bob Allen
Campaign to End the Sanctions
National Peoples Campaign & International Action Center - Philadelphia
215-724-1618
philnpc@op.net

Back to: Actions by State/Nation