Tell Palo Alto it is time to STOP THE WAR against IRAN & adopt the ERA

The women and men of the Palo Alto branch of the Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom vigil silently every Friday, noon to 1 on the public sidewalk at the corner of El Camino and Embarcadero, outside Palo Alto’s Town and Country shopping center. On FRIDAY 6th MARCH we will focus on STOPPING THE ILLEGAL WAR AGAINST IRAN and FOR women gaining full equality in an early celebration of INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY on 8th March.

War is a feminist issue. Women and children bear the brunt of retaliatory violence in times of conflicts that men instigate.

Our WILPF  US branch condemns Trump’s strikes, and our hearts go out to people in Iran and across the region impacted by this needless, destructive escalation. While Trump has tried to portray himself as an ally to brave protesters facing grave violence, the Iranian government’s horrific record does not justify this reckless push to war.

We know from decades of tragic U.S.-led interventions in Libya, Afghanistan, and beyond, that bombs do not build toward peace and freedom people struggling under brutal regimes so desperately deserve.

We are outraged and opposed to the notion that our government would ignore all international law, abandon diplomacy, and choose to use overwhelming military force with devastating results.
Our signs will call for the immediate end to the attacks on Iran and the resumption of diplomatic negotiations. Bring your own anti-war signs too.

Our signs will call for the adoption of the EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT (ERA); equal pay for women for equal work; the return of Roe Vs Wade protections; to eliminate discrimination against women in employment and ensure the right to work and to family benefits; to eliminate discrimination in the public and political spheres, ensuring women’s right to vote, participate in policymaking, and hold public office.

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is the 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which protects the equality of rights under the law regardless of sex.

We must work on modifying social and cultural patterns so as to eliminate prejudices and customary practices based on the idea of the inferiority of the female sex. Our signs (and bring your own) will remind the people in the thousands of passing vehicles that war is not the answer to any problem and women deserve to have equal rights to men.