United for Peace and Justice

thumb|The United for Peace and Justice logo

United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) is a coalition of more than 1,300 international and U.S.-based organizations opposed to "our government's policy of permanent warfare and empire-building."

The organization was founded in October 2002 during the build-up to the United States' 2003 invasion of Iraq by dozens of groups including the National Organization for Women, National Council of Churches, Peace Action, the American Friends Service Committee, Black Voices for Peace, Not In Our Name, Nodutdol, September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, and Veterans for Peace. Its first joint action was anti-war protests on International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2002. The direct precursor to UFPJ was "United We March!", initiated by Global Exchange, the Green Party of the United States, and others, which organized the April 20, 2002, demonstration against the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.

UFPJ primarily organizes large-scale protests. The group separates its work into seven issue campaigns: Iraq, counter-military recruitment, global justice, nuclear disarmament, Palestine–Israel, civil liberties–immigrant rights and faith-based organizing.

UFPJ's most recent major rally and march was in Washington, D.C., on January 27, 2007. Among the featured speakers were several celebrities including Jane Fonda.

UFPJ's previous major action occurred from September 24 to 26, 2005, in Washington, D.C. UFPJ called the protest "End the War on Iraq!" On September 24, there was a march and rally, co-sponsored with the ANSWER Coalition, followed by a festival. Although exact numbers are never known, the organizers estimated that hundreds of thousands of people attended these events; the NYCLU says 300,000 attended the march.

On January 27, 2007, a protest of the Iraq war was held in Washington, D.C., with approximately 400,000 people participating.

Unity statement

UFPJ's lengthy Unity Statement begins by asserting their opposition to the "pre-emptive wars of aggression waged by the Bush administration" and the "drive to expand U.S. control over other nations and strip us of our rights at home under the cover of fighting terrorism and spreading democracy." It then echoes the rhetoric of Not in Our Name (founded six months earlier and itself a member of UFPJ) stating, "we say NO to [the U.S.'s] use of war and racism to concentrate power in the hands of the few, at home and abroad."

It goes on to call for "a broad mass movement for peace and justice" and, in particular, for "peaceful resolution of disputes amongst states; respect for national sovereignty, international law, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the defense and extension of basic democratic freedoms to all; social and economic justice; and the use of public spending to meet human and environmental needs." However, UFPJ had sponsored protests outside the Democratic National Convention in July 2004, calling for an "emphatic rejection of the Democratic 'leadership' that supported the war." In 2006, UFPJ, and many of its member groups, participated in the Voters for Peace campaign, a pledge which states, "I will only vote for or support federal candidates who publicly commit to a speedy end to the Iraq war, and to preventing future 'wars of aggression'."

Another critic has criticized the hierarchy, as he perceives it, within the New York City based leadership of UFPJ. He also stated that "term limits must be enforced if the office of [UFPJ's] national coordinator is to be continued."

"No Stolen Elections!" campaign

In September 2004, UFPJ joined with the Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolution, Code Pink, and Global Exchange to launch the "No Stolen Elections!" campaign. Participants were invited to join in signing a pledge that began, "I remember the stolen presidential election of 2000 and I am willing to take action in 2004 if the election is stolen again." The campaign stated that it would prepare for widespread protest and civil disobedience in the event of significant fraud in the 2004 election. On November 3, tens of thousands of people, demonstrating in over 80 cities, protested purported vote suppression and mechanical irregularities in Ohio and other states.

Sharp disagreement with ANSWER

Although UFPJ worked with A.N.S.W.E.R. to build the September 24, 2005, Washington, D.C., rally, by December 2005 the two groups had definitively fallen out. A December 2005 statement by UFPJ says that "engagement with A.N.S.W.E.R.… [has been] …a difficult and controversial aspect of our work," and that UFPJ "has decided not to coordinate work with ANSWER  again on a national level." The document discusses events surrounding the September 24 rally, charges that A.N.S.W.E.R. "violated the terms of our agreement in ways that substantially and negatively impacted September 24’s message and impact," remarks that "co-sponsorship with ANSWER on September 24 was welcomed by some in the antiwar movement but limited or prevented completely the participation of others," and explains, "We did not have consensus" about the decision not to work with A.N.S.W.E.R., but had "a more than two thirds supermajority … We make no recommendations or mandates on this issue to UFPJ member groups in local or constituency-based area…"

A.N.S.W.E.R. responded by saying that "UFPJ has publicly proclaimed its intention to split the movement," and accused UFPJ of "a false and ugly attack on the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition," and of doing so for "embarrassingly petty and astonishingly trivial" reasons. Besides giving their own version of the events surrounding September 24, A.N.S.W.E.R.'s statement indicates some less trivial differences between the groups: they criticize UFPJ for its willingness to embrace even moderate politicians, such as John Murtha, who are disaffected with the war, while A.N.S.W.E.R. "considers it harmful to try to tailor the message of the progressive movement to please the long-awaited but fictional support from the politicians."

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