Jan. 26, 2024, Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet
Honor Veterans!
This week in Hilo, Hawaii, Jan. 22 through 28, 2024, will be a motorcycle escort and display of “The Wall That Heals.” The wall is a ¾ replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. that includes the names of 58,281 Americans who died in that war. The Wall will be available for the public on the Hilo Bay Front soccer fields from 2 PM on Wed. Jan. 23 around the clock to 2 PM Sunday, Jan. 28 to honor the memory of those Americans who died in that war.
Many of us had family and friends who died in that war, and I know the pain and loss are still very real and deep. Many of us believe that war should never have been fought. Some of us, instead of going to war, joined in non-violent resistance to oppose and stop the war and went to jail and prison out of conviction. Others left the country. It was a war that divided the country and much of the world. Many saw the war, not as a war for freedom and democracy, but a war for US profiteers. I was very moved by US Vietnam War veterans returning from Vietnam who joined in protests against the war. Many even threw their medals on the US Capitol steps in protest. On a single day in 1970 more than 13,000 people, including many vets, were arrested in Washington in a protest against the war.
More than 3.5 million Vietnamese died in that war. Many more died in Laos and Cambodia too. Hawaii was a command center and staging ground for that war. Since Vietnam, it has been endless wars and regime changes for US global domination, When will we ever learn? It used to be that weapons were manufactured to fight wars. Now wars are manufactured to sell weapons. In the process, good, decent people are sacrificed as pawns to make money for the weapons makers. And tax payers money is diverted away from pressing human needs like housing, medical care, education, etc.
Today, the US is funding the Israel Genocide in Gaza. The bombs killing Palestinians are US-made. More than 25,000 people have been killed in 3 months in Gaza, mostly women and children. More than 70,000 were injured, and thousands are unaccounted for, likely buried under rubble, 90% of the 2.3 million Gaza population has been displaced. Many people are starving. It’s time for an Immediate Permanent Ceasefire in Gaza. End all US military Aid to Israel. Stop a wider war that could spread to Lebanon, Syria, Iran, etc. even to a global nuclear war. The US is now bombing Yemen. Enough!
Don’t Fund More Wars!
1 . Mourn all victims of violence. 2. Reject violence & war as solutions. 3. Defend civil liberties.
4. Oppose all discrimination: anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic, anti-Hawaiian, anti-Black, anti-Asian, anti-Russian, anti-LGBTQ, etc. 5. Seek peace through peaceful means and work for justice in Hawai`i and around the world.
Malu ‘Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action
P.O. Box 489 Ola’a (Kurtistown), Hawai’i 96760
Phone (808) 966-7622 Email ja@malu-aina.org to receive our posts.
For more information see https:malu-aina.org
Jan. 26, 2024, Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet – week 1165– Fridays 3:30-5 PM downtown Post Office
