New initiative to be launched on Capitol Hill May 16

‘I Will Not Kill’ Campaign
Supports Right to Resist War

As U.S. military recruiting numbers fall, the military is stepping up efforts to entice youth to join their ranks. The launching of the ‘I Will Not Kill’ campaign is an effort to educate youth about the reality of war and their right to say ‘no’ to killing.

‘I Will Not Kill’ held a press conference May 16th, at 3:30 p.m. at the U.S. Capitol Building (Room HC-9 – basement level on the House side). Sponsoring organizations include the Center on Conscience and War, the Fekllowship of Reconciliation and the office of Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA).

“The human right to say no to militarism and killing must be unconditionally supported for everyone,” said Ibrahim Ramey, coordinator of FOR’s disarmament program. “It is only when we refuse to kill that real peace and justice, in this nation and throughout the world, becomes a living possibility”.

IWNK’s mission is to raise awareness of resistance to war, educate youth about the impacts of war, oppose a future draft, dismantle the selective service system, promote a culture of life and promote conscientious objection to war as a positive alternative to violence and a way to strengthen and uplift communities and all of civil society.

The campaign will target high school and college age youth of color and youth from rural and impoverished white communities. With this audience in mind, the coalition of organizations sponsoring this campaign stress the importance of participation by youth and people of color.

The idea for "I Will Not Kill" grew out of a conference on Conscience and Courage hosted by the Fellowship of Reconciliation at its national headquarters in February. The four-day gathering brought together peace activists from a broad group of organizations across the United States and Canada who supprt the right of conscientious objection to war, nonviolent resistance to all forms of military recruitment, and who oppose the possible reintroduction of the draft (conscription) in the United States. Also emerging from the conference was the Nyack Declaration, affirming the right of conscientious objection.

At the press conference, which coincided with National Lobby Day on Conscientious Objection and Anti-Draft, IWNK also introduced its new website www.iwillnotkill.org which offers young people a space to publicly state their opposition to war.

One goal of the ‘I Will Not Kill’  website is to provide a national resource to support individuals, especially young people and current members of the armed forces, who affirm the moral right to refuse to kill other human beings or participate in armed conflict.

“It’s got to be a student movement … for me it doesn’t mean anything if we do something for students unless we have them leading the way,” Arlene Inouye, a Los Angeles public school teacher and founder of the Coalition Against Militarism in Our Schools, said. “We need to be giving our students opportunities to express themselves and to be leaders.

Participants in the press conference included:

• Imam Mahdi Bray, Executive Director of the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation
• Dave Robinson, Executive Director of Pax Christi USA
• David Whettstone, Legislative Associate for Domestic Affairs of the Mennonite Central Committee
• Oskar Castro, Militarism and Youth Program Associate of the American Friends Service Committee
• Marian Franz, Executive Director of the National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund
• Theo Sitther, Lobbyist with the Center on Conscience and War
• Anita Cole, conscientious objector and Center on Conscience and War Board member
• Ibrahim Ramey, Disarmament Coordinator for the Fellowship of Reconciliation
• The office of Representative Cynthia McKinney

A representative from Iraq Veterans Against the War.

To find out more about I Will Not Kill, contact Ibrahim Ramey, FOR Disarmament Coordinator, at 845-627-2665 or by e-mail at disarm@forusa.org.

You may also contact Theo Sitther, Center on Conscience and War, at 202-483-2220 or by e-mail at tsitther@nisbco.org.