Pressure to Stop Drones in Evanston

Activists in the Chicago suburb of Evanston are pushing to put a stop to drones in local skies:

Members of the North Shore Coalition for Peace and Justice, working with Alderman Jane Grover, drew up the drone resolution. It seeks to suspend “the use of drones in Evanston, either for surveillance or use as weaponization” (a very remote possibility, supporters agree), until state and federal legislators undertake meaningful regulations ...”

(Full story: Evanston Revies, May 7, 2013 - Evanston considering restriction on unmanned drones )

The resolution is projected to come before the full Evanston City Council on Monday, May 13, at 7:30 p.m.

See related stories on drones in the skies over Illinois:

Champaign Sheriff "WAAAaaay ahead of the pack" in the "drone game"?

Armed Predator Drone Over Illinois?

Pressure is building nationwide to curtail domestic drone use: April Days See Local Drone Controls and Bans Intensify

Demonstrators make a resounding appearance at Boeing's annual stockholder meeting

As reported in the Chicago Tribune, protestors from Veterans for Peace and other Chicago organizations made sure that Boeing stockholders understood where their funds are going: to the development of new technologies for illegal drone killing overseas.

The "Phantom Ray," Boeing's new technology for illegal killing

Speakers also drew attention to a more than 60 million dollar tax
 break Boeing received to relocate to Chicago: this means that
Chicago taxpayer money is indirectly funding the development
 of drone technology. 

"U.S. Drone Pilots Suicide Rate-DOUBLE other U.S. Military."
 A side effect of drone use hidden by whitewashed media accounts
 that depict it as a "surgical" method for killing known terrorists.

By drawing attention to tax breaks Boeing has received, demonstrators
 revealed that we are all stakeholders in the perpetuation of U.S. imperialism.

"STOP DRONE TERROR"

Media were out in force to transmit the message:
"BOEING KILLING CHILDREN."

"MURDER FROM A DISTANCE IS STILL MURDER"

"BOEING: STOP MAKING WAR MACHINES"

See video of the demonstration here!

Check out more information on Fight Back News!

Chicago demonstrators joined protests across the country to complete the April Days of Action Against Drones. GET INVOLVED IN THE BURGEONING MOVEMENT!

April Days of Action Against Drones in ILLINOIS

Chicago helped lead the kickoff of the April Days of Action Against Drones last week with a protest against Boeing's new killer drone program:

Chicago protesters performed Star Wars-themed street theater, with Darth Vader
representing Chicago-based Boeing Corporation, followed by a die-in in front of
Boeing headquarters to represent victims of Boeing's new Phantom Ray drone.

Full details of the April 6 Chicago protest against the Boeing drone program here.

Followup: April 29 BOEING STOCKHOLDERS MEETING PROTEST



OTHER ILLINOIS EVENTS

CARBONDALE - Thursday, April 11, 2013 - 2nd Margie Parker Teach-in for Peace on Drones - talk by Robert Naiman, Policy Director of Just Foreign Policy, "Bringing Transparency and Accountability to the Drone Strike Program: A winnable fight.

CHICAGO - On Good Friday, March 29, a cast consisting of long-time Chicago antiwar activists was joined by a NY playwright (and defendant in actions against US drone bases), Jack Gilroy, for one of the events kicking off a series of events in Chicago and other Illinois cities as part of the campaign of anti-drones events across the country. The Chicago event, a play entitled The Predator, about a drone pilot, her teenage daughter, a peace activist, and a U.S. Senator, was offered in conjunction with the 33rd Annual 8th Day Center for Justice Good Friday Walk for Justice. The play was staged at Grace Place (637 S Dearborn,Chicago), and was co-produced by the American Friends Service Committee, the White Rose Catholic Worker, and the No Drones Network, all based in Chicago.

Read more about the Chicago production of The Predator.

(Add additional Illinois events to the master list of national April Days of Action actions.)

P.S. - KEEP DRONES OUT OF ILLINOIS

The Illinois Freedom from Drone Surveillance Act – Senate Bill 1587 – is designed to place modest guidelines on the use of this powerful technology. The bill, for example, would bar the arming of drones, except in certain emergencies. The bill also would curb how much information could be gathered by drones and require annual reporting to the public about the use of drones in Illinois. Act now: tell your state senators to regulate surveillance drones!

What about YOU? Become part of No Drones Illinois!

Read about ALL the ways YOU can be involved 

in the April Days of Action Against Drones!

April 29: Protest Boeing Drones at Annual Stockholder Meeting

Join the Anti-War Committee (AWC) of Chicago to oppose Boeing CEO James McNerney’s plan to make the next combat drone for the US military.

Protest at Boeing Stockholders Meeting
No Killer Drone for Boeing
Monday, April 29th, 9:30 am
Field Museum, South Entrance

Boeing is competing with the other top arms manufacturers for the growing budget for unmanned aircraft for the military. This year, the Navy is asking for designs for a new combat drone. Boeing is expected to propose its “Phantom Ray.”

Boeing’s stockholders meeting will take place at the Field Museum on Monday, April 29th. Members of the AWC, including Sarah Simmons and Newland Smith, have purchased Boeing stock and will hold a press conference at the Field Museum to condemn the plans for the new killer drone.

After years of denial by the Obama administration, Senator Lindsey Graham of the Armed Services Committee recently admitted the number of casualties from killer drones. “We've killed 4700,” he told a pro-drone crowd. This is the estimated number of casualties in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen, but including drone strikes in Afghanistan and Iraq would result in a much higher number.

There is growing controversy around the US drone wars. Earlier this month, McClatchy News Service released a top secret paper from the White House which proves that the administration statements about who is targeted by the drones are lies. Most of the drone strikes are not Al Qaeda leaders. In Pakistan, as many as 881 deaths in the past decade were civilians, including 176 children. Almost all the rest are “alleged combatants.”

AWC has taken a number of measures to oppose the drone wars, including submitting a statement to Senator Richard Durbin’s hearing this week on the topic. Our main campaign is to target Boeing, headquartered in Chicago, for their role. (See April 6 Chicago protest against Boeing.) Boeing, the number two arms manufacturer, wants to keep the profits they make from producing arms. While the budget for manned aircraft will decline in the Pentagon strategy, the budget for drone warfare is only going to increase. The key element in Boeing’s plans for capturing war spending is to build the Phantom Ray.

Money for Schools, Not for War

In addition to the deaths caused by their products, Boeing received over $60 million in tax breaks to move to Chicago. It’s not acceptable that our public schools and city streets are crumbling, while tax breaks are given to a company which has $25 billion in defense contracts.

We also recognize that drone pilots are victims of drone warfare, as they experience a rate of PTSD and suicide higher than combat veterans.

Join us to say: It’s time to end the drone wars, not prepare to build another generation of more deadly weapons.

Join the Facebook event for the Boeing Stockholder's Meeting Protest and invite friends!

Sign the petition on the Anti-War Committee Chicago website.

April Days of Action Against Drones: Protest Against the Boeing Killer Drone Program on Saturday April 6th

Local news reported Saturday on the demonstration by Chicagoans from all walks of life against the next generation of drone warfare: Boeing's new Phantom Ray, which is expected to be unveiled later this year. This event was a part of the national April Days of Action Against Drones.



Joe Iosbaker of Antiwar Committee Chicago talked to local radio ahead of the event, noting that although drones are nominally cheaper, they will ultimately be much more damaging to the national budget, as more enemies will be created via rampant civilian casualties. The result: perpetual war. "The United States war-making machine has to be stopped," thundered Joe.

"Money For Schools, Not War!": highlighting the perversity of pouring
 federal money into the perpetuation of war in a time of crippling debt.

Passersby were regaled with Star Wars-themed street theatre,
 in which Boeing was represented by Darth Vader.

"I’ll call it the Phantom Ray!
We’ll arm them with missiles made of depleted uranium, 

which will cause instant and long term damage.

And what the people of Chicago don’t know is that the money 

we, Boeing, make from tax breaks could be used to fund jobs, 

education, and health care.

You don’t know the power of the empire! Of the dark side!"

"I felt a great disturbance in the force, as if millions of voices suddenly
 cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced."

"The drone strikes on my planet have killed at least 178 children!
Please join us in our fight to stop the next phantom ray!"

Person X:  "I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that

 I like the empire,I hate it, but there's nothing I can do about it right now.
It's such a long way from here."

"When schools are floundering, public intergalactic transportation
 has become less accessible, and jobs are becoming scarce,
we are told there is no money for people’s needs. But where do you
think that money goes?"
"For killing those in other star systems so the empire
maintains galatic domination?"

Yes. So you see, fighting to improve your planet means showing
 solidarity with those whose planets are being destroyed by the empire.
 Together can we defeat it."

Picketing continued at the Chicago Lyric Opera

"Drones make killing Quick and Easy.
That doesn't make killing Legal or Right"  

A show of solidarity from veterans of the United States' most recent war.

The bottom line: "DRONES KILL INNOCENT PEOPLE."

The groups then marched across the river to Boeing HQ 

Kids came out in solidarity with children across the
world who are threatened by U.S. drone warfare

Speakers affiliated with Antiwar Committee Chicago came out to
inflame the crowd once it reached Boeing's headquarters.

Boeing heard the message loud and clear.

"Hands off Syria!" Repudiating the use of drones
to expand the sphere of American influence

The demonstration ended with a die-in, representing those
doomed to death by Boeing's Phantom Ray.

More information and pictures can be found at fightbacknews.org

THE APRIL DAYS OF ACTION AGAINST DRONES CONTINUE! GET INVOLVED IN YOUR CITY!

All photos courtesy FJJ.

April Days of Action Against Drones hit Chicago this Saturday

As part of national days of protest against drone warfare, join the Anti-War Committee of Chicago to send a message to Boeing CEO Jim McNerney: 

Say “No” – To their plan to manufacture the next killer drone for the Pentagon; To their current production of spy drones; And demand they use their resources to fund research and development of green and sustainable forms of air travel.

The Boeing Company is competing with the other top arms manufacturers for the growing budget for unmanned aircraft for the military. The Pentagon has a $259 billion spending plan that will triple drone purchases over 10 years. This spring, the Navy is asking for designs for a new killer drone. Boeing is expected to propose its Phantom Ray.

In recent weeks, there’s been a lot of talk about the use of killer drones. Drones are controversial because the Obama administration has sent drones to assassinate American citizens in Yemen, for example; and because their use is officially a secret kept from Congress and the people of the US.

We oppose drone attacks for these reasons, but also because in Pakistan and Afghanistan where they have been most heavily used, the majority of their victims are not combatants on the US “kill list,” but civilians, including many children.

No New Wars - on Iran or Syria; No U.S. drones or intervention in Mali

We’re against drones - for spying on Iran and Mali, or for killing people in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia and Yemen, or in new wars in Syria, Mali or Iran. We also oppose Boeing’s production of other weapons, like the uranium depleted bombs that they supplied Israel to drop on Gaza, resulting in increased birth defects (see link here).

Money for Jobs, Healthcare and Education, Not War

We as part of a nationwide movement want the tax money being given to Boeing and spent to wage wars to be kept in our community to fund jobs, education and health care.

We will assemble to deliver this message at 12:30 PM on Saturday, April 6th at Washington St & Wacker Drive.

Join the facebook event and invite friends! Add your voice to the chorus of NOs.

Call for "No Drones" in Illinois Colleges, Universities, and Research Institutions

Friends,

A national call has been made for “April Days of Action” to focus on three key components of U.S. drone work: Drone Manufacturers, Drone Bases in the U.S., and Drone Research. (See the list about nationwide actions and post your own planned actions for April.)

Given the fact that drones are now the primary weapons of warfare used by the US, and for surveillance both domestic and abroad, the research and development of this warfare is growing rapidly at academic institutions, in our towns and neighborhoods. Drones are the perfect instrument for endless war that kills civilians, even as they target “militants” in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Afghanistan.

Academic institutions often receive large grants from the U.S. Department of Defense, enabling them to build labs within schools of engineering, for instance. We are well aware that without this research in robotics, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), and the accompanying accessories, these drone warfare projects would probably not take place. So there is an interdependent relationship between the universities and the U.S. government and or its Department of Defense and CIA. (CIA drones are used in countries with which the U.S. is not “at war”, ie Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan, Mali, and others.)

While universities tend to publicize some information on their respective websites regarding the drone work, it is most often said to be for non-military purposes. And there are students working in the labs who are convinced that all the research is for humanitarian purposes. However, history has told us that non-military can quickly and easily become military. Moreover research has shown drones make mistakes on recognizing their targets.

We are therefore asking organizations and individuals, nationwide, to explore any drone research that might be going on at their local university. We are calling for local actions between April 16 and 18, 2013 (Suggested actions are listed below) Our limited research into University and Academic UAV programs indicates that at least one research center is operating in Illinois:

University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign

Before those dates in April we will need to know what information you have acquired about the research and what actions and events your group is planning.This will be shared among groups in the Network. You can send this information to us at notodrone@gmail.com.

We will have a press committee that will receive your press release and any articles you are able to publish before or after the event.

This project will complement other outreach, education and action projects that will be launched in April, focusing on drone bases, April 27-28 and drone manufacturers , April 4-6.

Suggested actions:

1. Learn what research is being done by searching on a university website. Look especially at the Engineering Dept. 
2. Organize a forum, preferably on campus, with speakers and discussion. Be sure to publicize in campus newspapers, and possibly include a professor as one of the speakers. Also include local activists.
3. Plan a small meeting with the appropriate persons in the department working on drone research, both professors and students.
4. Hold vigils and leaflet on or close to the campus, as well as in town.
5. Let us know if you need further tools for your research.

Thanks in advance for your reply to notodrone@gmail.com.

With all good wishes,

Marge Van Cleef, WILPF, Philadelphia
Leila Zand, For USA
Kathy Kelly, co-coordinator, Voices for Creative Nonviolence