Does the Peace & Justice Center do Climate Justice Work?

Does the Peace & Justice Center do Climate Justice Work?

-Rachel Siegel, PJC Executive Director Because there have been so many powerful, global climate justice actions1 recently, we have been asked at the Peace & Justice Center on more than a few occasions if environmental justice is part of our mission. My answer has usually been that we support the amazing work that other groups…

International Law and the Rights of Palestinian People

International Law and the Rights of Palestinian People

-Ian Stokes, Vermonters for Justice in Palestine   International law is “a body of rules established by custom or treaty and recognized by nations as binding in their relations with one another” – a major aim is preventing war or at least regulating its conduct.  After Armistice Day in 1918 people thought WW1 (the Great…

NATURAL COINCIDENCE? No – environmental racism: yesterday, today, tomorrow

NATURAL COINCIDENCE? No – environmental racism: yesterday, today, tomorrow

-Michaela Compo, PJC Fair Trade Intern The term environmental racism was coined by Benjamin Chavez to refer to the movement developed in the 1970’s and 80’s, but the idea can be traced back over 500 years to when the Europeans originally arrived in the Americas and displaced the local population. In Chavez’s words, environmental racism…

Palestinian Kids Don’t Belong in Cages: Support HR 2407

Palestinian Kids Don’t Belong in Cages: Support HR 2407

-Mark Hage, Vermonters for Justice in Palestine Eight weeks ago, in the occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers, full armed, descended on an elementary school for Palestinian kids in the city of Hebron.  They abducted a nine-year-old named Zein.  (The arrest was captured on video.)   The Israeli military routinely subjects Palestinian children to horrific treatment, including choke holds,…

Statement on Israel, Palestine, and BDS

Statement on Israel, Palestine, and BDS

Approved by Peace & Justice Center Board of Directors 6/24/2019 Over the years, the Peace & Justice Center (PJC) has raised concerns over the militaristic, anti-democratic tendencies of many countries as well as criticized U.S. foreign policy, military aid, and sales that exacerbate tensions and feed continued violence in the world. The Israeli-Palestinian situation continues…

Phil Scott Celebration of Scott Walker Proves the Fallacy of the “Vermont Republican”

Phil Scott Celebration of Scott Walker Proves the Fallacy of the “Vermont Republican”

By Kristen Vrancken, Organizer, Women’s March Vermont and PJC member Many Vermonters are proud of what they see as the state’s uniquely progressive politics. To be sure, it has earned some of those bona fides: Vermont was the first state in the nation to introduce civil unions, and later, the first to introduce same-sex marriage…

Reflection on “Banana Land: Blood, Bullets and Poison”

Reflection on “Banana Land: Blood, Bullets and Poison”

Join us for a screening of “Banana Land: Blood, Bullets, & Poison” on Wednesday, April 17, 7-9pm at the UVM Davis Center from 422. -Ariane Goldsmith, Fair Trade Intern After studying environmental justice for a few years, I have come to understand that the majority of production under capitalism is exploitative and deadly. Learning about…

Getting Real About Antisemitism

Getting Real About Antisemitism

-Kathy Shapiro, Vermonters for Justice in Palestine An atmosphere of hate and discrimination against oppressed minorities flourishes under the current administration.  We’ve seen a 17% rise of hate crimes in 2017 according to the FBI, 59% of which were race-based, and 20.7% religion based (58.1% of these anti-Jewish).  Perhaps it’s because I am Jewish, but…