On Thursday evening from 6-8:30 p.m., September 10, local constituents will hold a candlelight vigil at the Westwood Federal Building in Los Angeles in support of peace and diplomacy right before the congressional vote scheduled this week on the nuclear agreement with Iran.
The vigils build on the grassroots activism by Peace Action, MoveOn, Progressive Democrats of America, Jewish Voice for Peace, LA Jews for Peace, CODEPINK members and allies over the past six weeks. During the August congressional recess, thousands of pro-diplomacy activists turned out at hundreds of town hall meetings, rallies, demonstrations, and other events nationwide to make visible their support for the deal.
Attendees will also thank Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer for courageously supporting diplomacy over war, as well as applauding House Reps. Janice Hahn, Xavier Becerra, Adam Schiff, Karen Bass, Maxine Waters, and Alan Lowenthal. The rally will take place in the district of Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA33) who just announced his opposition to the deal.
MoveOn vigil organizer Marcy Winograd: “On Thursday, we will gather with other Americans across the country to light candles to illuminate the need for diplomacy, not war. I am sorely disappointed to learn that my congressman Ted Lieu is rejecting diplomacy and the most rigorous UN inspections of any nation with a nuclear power program to instead choose the prospect of regional or world war. In announcing his opposition to the President’s peace initiative, Rep. Lieu is siding with those who took us to war on Iraq and urged the bombing of Iran, a nation with 75-million people, over half under the age of 30. It’s no secret that last month Lieu joined a junket to Israel, sponsored by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the same lobby group spending 40-million dollars to defeat the Iran deal. We need representatives who are not beholden to big money lobby groups and whose allegiance is to peace and global cooperation.”
Statement of Jon Rainwater, Executive Director, Peace Action West: “We are gathering together to recognize the courage and foresight of those who are supporting smart diplomacy over the path to war. We are on the cusp of a major victory for diplomacy as a solution to international conflict at a time when the U.S. has been through over a decade of constant war.
Representative Lieu’s claim that his vote against the deal is a pro-peace vote is as silly and it is disingenuous. It’s a transparent attempt to mollify pro-diplomacy voters. To say that the pact will lead to war rather than prevent war puts him at odds with the thinking of national security leaders from Republicans like Colin Powell and Brent Scowcroft to Democrats like Barack Obama.”
