About 100 peace protesters organized by Massachusetts Peace Action demonstrated in freezing weather Friday, Feb. 24 to call for a negotiated settlement of the Ukraine war.
In Boston, 50 people gathered at Downtown Crossing. They denounced the Russian invasion of Ukraine but also criticized US/NATO expansion which provoked the Russian action.
“It’s so important that we gather here to stand for peace and diplomacy”, said Mike Connolly, State Representative from Cambridge and Somerville. “Many experts believe we are closer to nuclear war than we have ever been. We should be promoting conversation and demanding diplomacy, not war.”
“We are demanding that our government support peace talks between the U.S. and Russia,” said Rev. Vernon Walker, director of Communities Responding to Extreme Weather. “We need an end to this war. The path to a peaceful resolution will not come through military might but through negotiation. Our humanity is bound up in one another,” he commented.
Additional speakers included Paul Shannon of MAPA; Rabbi Victor Reinstein; Eileen Kurkoski of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom; Jeanne Trubek of Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment; John Harris of Boston Mayday Coalition; Doug Stuart of Veterans for Peace; and John Blumenstiel of the Green Rainbow Party. Susan Mirsky led the group in a song.
In recent weeks the US has agreed to send tanks, armored vehicles, and a Patriot missile battery in hopes of bolstering Ukraine’s forces, and it was revealed last week that US intelligence is directing Ukraine’s HIMARS artillery strikes. Both sides are expected to launch spring offensives as the crisis continues to escalate.
The group marched to the JFK Federal Building and delivered a petition to Shamin Garcia, staff to Sen. Ed Markey, and Caroline Freedman, who is with Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Signed by over 250 Masschusetts voters, the petition calls for the Senators to lead in efforts to convene peace talks.
To view video of the rally and march, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?
In Worcester, eleven people joined a stand-out despite a cold February wind on Shrewsbury Street in front of Rep. Jim McGovern’s office. One participant had come all the way from New Hampshire. Many drivers honked in support of the message calling for an immediate ceasefire and a negotiated end to the war.
In Springfield, some 10 people gathered in front of Rep Richard Neal’s office, and then 6 people went up to his office to meet with Jack Chamberlain, aide for International Affairs, and Joe Joyal, aide for Constituent Services. The group delivered a letter for the Congressman and then had a half hour discussion of the war in Ukraine, the U.S. role and obstacles to peace. Arising out of the discussion, the group asked the aides to convey two requests to the Congressman and that the group receive a written response: 1) Would the Congressman agree to set a limit to the weapons funding he is willing to vote for, and 2) Would he take a lead in pressuring for a negotiated settlement to end the Ukraine war. Attending the meeting with the aides were constituents from Easthampton, Springfield, Palmer, and Charlemont.
A group then went to the offices of Senators Markey and Warren to deliver letters to them calling for a negotiated settlement to the war and no more arms.
In Ipswich, Rev. Rebecca Pugh of First Church and some of her congregation, John and Carrie Schuchardt of the House of Peace and Veterans for Peace, and women from Romania and Ukraine, joined a standout for peace.
In Northampton, activists spread the peace message to passersby at the office of Rep. Jim McGovern on Pleasant Street.
In Greenfield, about 20 people called for negotiations to end the Ukraine war, standing in below freezing temperatures on the Town Common on Saturday, Feb. 25.
