[stop-imf] Please come to Washington DC September 29-30 for Jubilee Justice Weekend (fwd)

[Robert Weissman]

A Call for Participation in Jubilee Justice Activities to coincide
with the Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank

Mark your Calendars! Washington, DC September 29-30!

Interfaith Worship Service, Saturday evening, September 29
Global Justice March and Rally Sunday September 30, noon-7 p.m., The Ellips=
e


Dear Friends,

Jubilee USA Network is co-sponsoring a legally permitted rally and march fo=
r
Jubilee debt cancellation and global justice Sunday, September 30 in
Washington DC on the ellipse. We are also co-sponsoring an Interfaith
Worship Service on the evening of Saturday, September 29. We strongly
encourage all who are able to come and join us in this non-violent
mobilization for Jubilee justice.

Rally and March, September 30
The demands of the Rally and March are simple and in full accord with our
Jubilee USA action program. We are calling on the United States as the
largest shareholder in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank
and the largest economy in the world to take the lead in reshaping the
global economy in the image of justice, compassion, and community. Our
specific demands are:

=B7 The IMF and World Bank must cancel impoverished country debts, using th=
e
Fund and the Bank=92s own resources, and end socially and environmentally
harmful IMF and World Bank policies. This means no =93structural adjustment=
,=94
no =93user fees=94 on health, education and other basic services, and no mo=
re
Bank lending for environmentally damaging projects such as large dams and
oil and gas extraction.  (This policy plank was drafted specifically to
accord with Jubilee USA=92s policy.)

=B7 Full Funding for the fight against Global AIDS. The US and other rich
countries must fully fund the Global Fund for AIDS. Trade rules must not ba=
r
governments from making lowest-cost generic AIDS drugs available. (Jubilee
USA=92s AIDS-debt campaign emphasizes these priorities.)

=B7 Stop Fast track trade negotiations authority. Fast track authority allo=
ws
the President to negotiate new trade agreements in secret and allows the
Congress only one up or down vote on trade agreements. The proposed Free
Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and the proposed new round of World Trade
Organization (WTO) negotiations both regulate trade in favor of corporate
interests at the expense of impoverished people, workers, farmers, and smal=
l
businesses in both the Global South and North. (See Jubilee USA=92s August
Action Alert at http://www.jubileeusa.org/august.htm )

Co-sponsors of the Rally and March include: AFL-CIO, Jubilee USA Network,
Jobs With Justice, 50 Years is Enough Network, Mobilization for Global
Justice, Oxfam America, United Students Against Sweatshops, the Religious
Working Group on the World Bank and the IMF, Friends of the Earth, the
Feminist Majority, Rainbow Coalition.

All sponsors of the Rally and March are fully committed to non-violence. Ou=
r
organizing statement of principles says in part: =93By undertaking a permit=
ted
march and rally we are committing to a legal, non-violent and peaceful
protest. We reject vandalism, property damage, assault, or any form of
aggression toward human beings or the planet.=94

More information will be posted very soon. For now, please mark your
calendars, and make plans to attend!

A note about housing: Hotels may fill up soon. If you are able to make
arrangements to stay with friends, please do so. We are hoping to be able t=
o
help find churches that will provide hospitality, but we must warn that suc=
h
accommodations are likely to involve sleeping on floors or pews. Please
begin to make your own arrangements now.

----------------------------------------

Interfaith Worship, September 29

The Interfaith Service is being organized by the Religious Working Group on
the World Bank and the IMF, a network which includes many of the founders o=
f
Jubilee USA.  Jubilee USA has endorsed this service, and we encourage your
faith-based organizations to do so as well. We will be posting more
information very soon, including the site of the service.

The text of the RWG letter inviting co-sponsorship for the Saturday
September 29 service follows.

Dear Friends,

We are writing to invite your organizational sponsorship of an Interfaith
Service of Commitment to Restoration and Justice in the Global Economy,
which will be held on Saturday evening, September 29th, as World Bank and
IMF officials gather in Washington for their annual meetings.

Calling for a global economy that protects the dignity of all human beings
and the integrity of creation, people who follow religious and spiritual
paths will come together seeking wholeness, forgiveness for our complicity
in policies that impoverish individuals and degrade the environment;
celebrating the potential of God=92s creation; and making a commitment to
promote the changes necessary to build a better world.

We believe that the visible presence of large numbers of people of faith
gathered for peaceful worship will make an important contribution to the
tone and atmosphere on those days. The service will be followed by a
candlelight procession, bringing our prayerful presence to the public arena=
=2E

It is being prepared by an interfaith committee representing national and
local communities of faith and coordinated by the Religious Working Group o=
n
the World Bank and IMF (RWG), a coalition of faith-based organizations
active on issues of global economic justice. RWG participating organization=
s
include, among others, Catholic religious orders, the National Council of
Churches and several member denominations, Church World Service, Witness fo=
r
Peace, the American Friends Service Committee, Jewish groups and ecumenical
associations.

Organizational sponsors will be listed on the program, and possibly on
invitations to the service. Sponsoring organizations are welcome to help
plan the event and participate in the processional. Any contribution to hel=
p
defray expenses would be welcome and should be sent to the Religious Workin=
g
Group on the World Bank and IMF, P.O. Box 29132, Washington DC 20017, but i=
s
not required for sponsorship.

If you have questions, please contact Diane Sherwood of the Interfaith
Conference of Metropolitan Washington at 202-234-6300 or Marie Dennis of th=
e
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns at 202-832-1780.  Please respond as
soon as possible, but no later than September 25th, by phone or to
mdennis@maryknoll.org.

--------

Drop the Debt Now! Build a just, sustainable, and participatory global econ=
omy!
http://www.jubileeusa.org/