War Abolition Walk

media release: Declaring that “diplomacy is the path to peace,” activists in the Madison area are organizing for a demonstration on Feb. 24 – the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The protest, sponsored by local group Madison for a World BEYOND War, will begin at 2:30 at 10 E Doty Street, Representative Mark Pocan’s office, then continue with pickets and a walk of 2.5 miles. From Rep. Pocan’s office, the walk will proceed at 3:15 pm to Madison Mayor, Satya Rhodes-Conway's office at the City County Building (210 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd.) then at 4:00 pm the walk will head west on Washington Ave, banner at the corner of W. Wash and S. Park St. and then walk south to the Catholic Multicultural Center (1862 Beld St.)

Adam Schendel will be coming from Sparta, Wisconsin to be part of the event. Adam said today: 

"As both Democrats and Republicans continue to funnel over $100 billion in weapons and military aid to Ukraine, the endless escalations continue to prolong this war that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions while threatening every life on the planet with the potential for nuclear conflict and a direct war with Russia. The United States must end all military assistance to this war and negotiate an immediate ceasefire to begin the hard diplomatic work of bringing a true end to the conflict.”

Last year, Rep Pocan introduced legislation to cut the Pentagon budget by $100 billion. But he voted yes on each bill to send lethal weapons to Ukraine. The activists requests of Rep Pocan, and a detailed event schedule are here:  https://www.safeskiescleanwaterwi.org/defuse-nuclear-war-war-abolition-walk-feb-24-madison/ 

Dozens of similar public events will occur across the country on the same day, coordinated by the Defuse Nuclear War coalition. The keynote themes of the events are:

 Diplomacy Is the Path to Peace

      Stop the Killing

      Avert Nuclear War

In a statement, the coalition said: “The Feb. 24 anniversary of the invasion should serve as an opportunity to amplify calls for genuine diplomacy to end this terrible war. The anniversary is on a Friday, in a week that the House and Senate are not in session – so this is an extra good opportunity for constituents to bring public pressure on members of Congress while they are presumably in their home area. Protests are appropriate, given the widespread failure of Congress members to challenge the current militarism that threatens everyone’s future.”