Recent Events
Peace Lobby Day to Washington D.C.
On Thursday, June 26, CFPA sent a small delegation of CFPA leaders and experts to Washington, D.C. as Congress faced crucial decisions about diplomacy with Iran leading up to the July 20 deadline for negotiations. The day included a face to face meeting with Sen. Bob Casey, followed by an appointment with his chief foreign policy aide; and meetings with aides to Sen. Toomey, Representative Fattah, and Sen. Booker.
Left to right: Philadelphia Office Director Ed Aguilar, Prof. Frank von Hippel, Sen. Casey, CFPA Executive Director Rev. Bob Moore, and FCNL intern, Yemi Melka.
CFPA Executive Director Rev. Bob Moore Receives Award
CFPA Executive Director Rev. Bob Moore was presented the Peace and Understanding Award from Peace Islands Insitute on Monday, June 16 at a Ceremony in West Orange, NJ.
CFPA Executive Director Rev. Bob Moore (third from right in left photo) poses with other honorees after he was honored on June 16.
A summary of Rev. Moore's remarks, from the Peace Islands Institute web site, is below.
In receiving his award, Rev. Moore said he was reminded of the Gospel and the words of Jesus said during the Sermon on the Mount. “Jesus told the people: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God’. For peace to become a reality in our world, we must have peacemakers. We have to do more than just hope for peace. We need people who are willing to put their shoulders to the plow and do the hard work of peace making.”
Rev. Moore said that, for him, being a peacemaker has been a blessing, not a burden. “We see so much violence around us, some might think of peacemaking as a burden,” he said. “But I’ve found that taking up the challenge of peacemaking is my blessing. We can all be part of peacemaking. None of us can do everything, but we each can do something. I invite all of you to be part of this blessing when we take up that faith-based challenge to be peacemakers.”
Master of Ceremonies Shareef picked up on Rev. Moore’s remarks, noting that “it’s been recorded the prophet Muhammad once said: ‘you will not enter paradise until you have faith and you will not have faith until you learn to love one another.’ As peace makers, every word we say carries a spirit.”
Since 1981 Rev. Moore has served as executive director of the Princeton-based Coalition for Peace Action, a regional group dedicated to the abolition of nuclear weapons, a peace economy, and a halt to weapons trafficking.
Annual Membership Dinner & Gathering honoring Rep. Rush Holt
The Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA) 33rd Annual Membership Dinner on Sunday, June 8 was attended by 200 supporters from around the region.
Rep. Rush Holt, who will retire from Congress at the end of 2014, keynoted and was presented the George F. Kennan Distinguished Peace Leadership Award. Click here to see Rep. Holt's handwritten thank you note!
Below is a photo; click here to see a full gallery of excellent photos (of reception, honorees, etc.), special thanks to John Lien! Click here to see a more compact collage of photos on CFPA's Facebook page (you don't need to have your own Facebook page to view it!). Special thanks to Alesha Vega, our incoming Assistant Director.
Click here to see video of awards to Edward Aguilar, Esq.; the Rev. Carlton Branscomb; Dr. Firoozeh Vali; and special award to Rep. Rush Holt followed by his keynote speech. Click here to see YouTube video just of Rep. Holt's speech (33 minutes) Click here to see Q and A after Rep. Holt's address. Special thanks to Leigha Cohen!
After being presented with the George F. Kennan Distinguished Peace Leadership Award, Rep. Rush Holt gives his keynote address to crowd.
Collaboration with Environmental Leaders
HYDRAULIC FRACTURING (“FRACKING”) IN PENNSYLVANIA
The event was hosted by Moratorium NOW! (Liz, first on left, standing front), and by Coalition for Peace Action (Ed, third from left, standing front), 5/27/14. Further campaign actions are planned, Fall, 2014, on gas hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) in Pennsylvania. Contact Ed at 215 480 7744, or go to www.peacecoalition.org.
Attending were leading environmental organizations, and citizen-witnesses to the effects of gas fracking, including Craig Stevens (fourth from left, standing, front row), who appears in Groundswell Rising, with his account of resistance in central Pennsylvania, along with actor Mark Ruffalo, and leaders of New York and Colorado climate activist organizations, Sierra Club, Riverkeepers, and many others.
2014 Tax Day Penny Poll
COALITION FOR PEACE ACTION RELEASES RESULTS OF “PENNY POLL” ON FEDERAL BUDGET PRIORITIES
Photos by Anna Savoia.
The Princeton-based Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA) today announced the results of its “Penny Poll” conducted in front of the Palmer Square Post Office from 12:00-1:30 PM on April 16, the day after the filing deadline for income taxes, as well as at the CFPA table at Communiversity on April 27. Below are the results of area residents would like to see their federal tax dollars spent.
As people came to the post office, or to the CFPA table at Communiversity, they were invited to express their opinion on how they would like their federal tax dollar to be spent.
Each of the 381 participants were given ten pennies and asked to distribute them between five tubes representing categories of federal spending: education, environment, health care, housing, and military. The results are below.
Category |
Number of Pennies |
Percent |
|
Education |
1,275 |
33 |
|
Health Care |
846 |
22 |
|
Environment |
788 |
21 |
|
Housing |
488 |
13 |
|
Military |
415 |
11 |
Participants were then handed a fact sheet showing that 57% of the “Discretionary Budget” for FY2014 was for military spending. Discretionary spending is what Congress can allocate for what it chooses each year, as distinct from entitlements. Discretionary Budget Funding for Education was just 6%, Health Care 5%; Environment 3%, and Housing 5%.
“This year’s results remain consistent with Penny Poll results from previous years. Taxpayers want more of their hard-earned tax dollars going to education, environment, and health care, and far less to military purposes. We encourage taxpayers to contact their US Representative and Senators to urge them to support more peaceful federal budget priorities,” said the Rev. Robert Moore, Executive Director of CFPA.
Click on year to see past "penny poll" results: 2013; 2012; 2011
Annual Penny Poll
12:00-1:00 PM
Tuesday, April 17 (Tax day)
Palmer Square Post Office, Princeton, NJ
As people come to the post office to file their income taxes on the deadline for doing so, we hand them 10 pennies and ask them to divide them between tubes representing five categories of federal spending: education, health, environment, housing, and military. After participants divide up their pennies, we give them a pie chart showing how their federal tax dollar is actually spent, urging them to contact their federal representatives if their priorities are different from the chart. We then let the area media know the outcome of the Penny Poll.
Date: Tuesday, April 17
Time: 12:00-1:00 PM
Place: Palmer Square Post Office
Princeton, NJ
For more information contact Coalition for Peace Action
(609) 924-5022
COALITION FOR PEACE ACTION TO CONDUCT “PENNY POLL” ON FEDERAL SPENDING PRIORITIES IN PRINCETON ON TAX DAY, APRIL 17; EVENING TOWN HALL IN TRENTON TO FOLLOW
The Princeton-based Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA) will conduct its annual “Penny Poll” on federal spending priorities on this year’s deadline for filing federal tax returns, Tuesday, April 17, from 12 noon until 1:00 PM in front of the Palmer Square Post Office in downtown Princeton.
People approaching the post office, many to mail their tax returns by the deadline, will be handed 10 pennies and invited to distribute them among five tubes proportionate to how they would like to see their federal tax dollars spent. The five choices will include: Military, Environment, Education, Housing, and Health Care.
After distributing their pennies, participants will be handed a fact sheet describing how their federal tax dollar is actually spent. If their choices are dramatically different from those on the fact sheet, they will be urged to write a letter to their elected representatives urging change.
Interested people are invited to participate in the Penny Poll and/or to help conduct it by coming to the Palmer Square Post Office in Princeton between 12 and 1. For further information, visit CFPA’s web site at www.peacecoalition.org or call the CFPA office at (609) 924-5022.
CFPA Executive Director, the Rev. Robert Moore, will speak on Reprioritizing Federal Budget Priorities Toward Meeting Urgent Needs at Home at a Tax Day Town Hall hosted by the New Jersey Chapter of the Zeitgeist movement from 5:30-7:30 PM in the Main Meeting Room of the Trenton Public Library, 120 Academy Street in Trenton. The Town Hall is free and open to the public.
“For many years, the Penny Poll has had hundreds of participants throughout the region with strikingly similar results: the vast majority of respondents wanted the majority of their federal tax dollar spent on education and health care. Next came environment and housing. By a large margin, the least popular category of spending was for the military.
Yet in the FY 2011 Federal Budget, 57% of the Discretionary Budget (which Congress can allocate how it wants, and thus excludes trust funds like Social Security) was for Military Spending, while only 6% was for Education, 5% for Housing, and 3% for Environment[1].
The only way these distorted budget priorities will change is if we, average citizens, put enough pressure on our elected officials to insist that it change,” said the Rev. Robert Moore, Executive Director of CFPA.
[1] Statistics from the National Priorities Project
2014 Tax Day Penny Poll
COALITION FOR PEACE ACTION RELEASES RESULTS OF “PENNY POLL” ON FEDERAL BUDGET PRIORITIES
Photos by Anna Savoia.
The Princeton-based Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA) today announced the results of its “Penny Poll” conducted in front of the Palmer Square Post Office from 12:00-1:30 PM on April 16, the day after the filing deadline for income taxes, as well as at the CFPA table at Communiversity on April 27. Below are the results of area residents would like to see their federal tax dollars spent.
As people came to the post office, or to the CFPA table at Communiversity, they were invited to express their opinion on how they would like their federal tax dollar to be spent.
Each of the 381 participants were given ten pennies and asked to distribute them between five tubes representing categories of federal spending: education, environment, health care, housing, and military. The results are below.
Category |
Number of Pennies |
Percent |
|
Education |
1,275 |
33 |
|
Health Care |
846 |
22 |
|
Environment |
788 |
21 |
|
Housing |
488 |
13 |
|
Military |
415 |
11 |
Participants were then handed a fact sheet showing that 57% of the “Discretionary Budget” for FY2014 was for military spending. Discretionary spending is what Congress can allocate for what it chooses each year, as distinct from entitlements. Discretionary Budget Funding for Education was just 6%, Health Care 5%; Environment 3%, and Housing 5%.
“This year’s results remain consistent with Penny Poll results from previous years. Taxpayers want more of their hard-earned tax dollars going to education, environment, and health care, and far less to military purposes. We encourage taxpayers to contact their US Representative and Senators to urge them to support more peaceful federal budget priorities,” said the Rev. Robert Moore, Executive Director of CFPA.
Click on year to see past "penny poll" results: 2013; 2012; 2011
Annual Penny Poll
12:00-1:00 PM
Tuesday, April 17 (Tax day)
Palmer Square Post Office, Princeton, NJ
As people come to the post office to file their income taxes on the deadline for doing so, we hand them 10 pennies and ask them to divide them between tubes representing five categories of federal spending: education, health, environment, housing, and military. After participants divide up their pennies, we give them a pie chart showing how their federal tax dollar is actually spent, urging them to contact their federal representatives if their priorities are different from the chart. We then let the area media know the outcome of the Penny Poll.
Date: Tuesday, April 17
Time: 12:00-1:00 PM
Place: Palmer Square Post Office
Princeton, NJ
For more information contact Coalition for Peace Action
(609) 924-5022
COALITION FOR PEACE ACTION TO CONDUCT “PENNY POLL” ON FEDERAL SPENDING PRIORITIES IN PRINCETON ON TAX DAY, APRIL 17; EVENING TOWN HALL IN TRENTON TO FOLLOW
The Princeton-based Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA) will conduct its annual “Penny Poll” on federal spending priorities on this year’s deadline for filing federal tax returns, Tuesday, April 17, from 12 noon until 1:00 PM in front of the Palmer Square Post Office in downtown Princeton.
People approaching the post office, many to mail their tax returns by the deadline, will be handed 10 pennies and invited to distribute them among five tubes proportionate to how they would like to see their federal tax dollars spent. The five choices will include: Military, Environment, Education, Housing, and Health Care.
After distributing their pennies, participants will be handed a fact sheet describing how their federal tax dollar is actually spent. If their choices are dramatically different from those on the fact sheet, they will be urged to write a letter to their elected representatives urging change.
Interested people are invited to participate in the Penny Poll and/or to help conduct it by coming to the Palmer Square Post Office in Princeton between 12 and 1. For further information, visit CFPA’s web site at www.peacecoalition.org or call the CFPA office at (609) 924-5022.
CFPA Executive Director, the Rev. Robert Moore, will speak on Reprioritizing Federal Budget Priorities Toward Meeting Urgent Needs at Home at a Tax Day Town Hall hosted by the New Jersey Chapter of the Zeitgeist movement from 5:30-7:30 PM in the Main Meeting Room of the Trenton Public Library, 120 Academy Street in Trenton. The Town Hall is free and open to the public.
“For many years, the Penny Poll has had hundreds of participants throughout the region with strikingly similar results: the vast majority of respondents wanted the majority of their federal tax dollar spent on education and health care. Next came environment and housing. By a large margin, the least popular category of spending was for the military.
Yet in the FY 2011 Federal Budget, 57% of the Discretionary Budget (which Congress can allocate how it wants, and thus excludes trust funds like Social Security) was for Military Spending, while only 6% was for Education, 5% for Housing, and 3% for Environment[1].
The only way these distorted budget priorities will change is if we, average citizens, put enough pressure on our elected officials to insist that it change,” said the Rev. Robert Moore, Executive Director of CFPA.
[1] Statistics from the National Priorities Project
Bucks County Against Gun Violence Meeting
BuxMont Coalition for Peace Action co-sponsored a Talk by Shira Goodman, Director of Ceasefire PA, on April 28 in Langhorne, PA.
Demonstration Against Horsham Drone Command Center
The Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA) is co-sponsoring monthly demonstrations against a planned drone command center on the last Saturday of every month in Horsham, PA. Below are selected photos of some of them since May, 2013. Thanks to John Lien! Click here to see a larger group of John's photos of the April 26, 2014 demonstration.
Protestors gather outside of the Horsham Air Guard Station with a message to stop the drone command center before it starts.
The Rev. Robert Moore, Executive Director of the Coalition for Peace Action, was one of the event's speakers.
Bill Perry of Vietnam Veterans Against the War also spoke.
A drone replica created by demonstrators.
CFPA Candidate Briefings
CFPA Sponsor Dr. Frank von Hippel (on far left), Princeton University physicist and Professor Emeritus of Public and International Affairs, presents information to Shaughnessy Naughton, candidate for US Congress in Pennsylvania's 8th District, in one of seven Candidate Briefings CFPA has done leading up to Primary Elections in NJ and PA.
Persian New Year Celebration (Noruz)
The Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA) co-sponsored a Persian New Year Celebration (Noruz) on Sunday, March 30 at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton. The celebration included Iranian music by the Tarannom Ensemble, an explanation of traditional observances of the Persian New Year, beautiful decorations, and plenty of traditional sweets. The celebration was attended by approximately 175 people. See below for pictures, thanks to John Lien.
See more of John's pictures here.
Another set of pictures can be found on the online edition of The Times of Trenton here.
Membership Renewal Gathering with Medea Benjamin
The Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA)'s Membership Renewal Gathering was held on Sunday, March 16 and featured Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin. Medea energized a crowd of approximately 100 regional members and friends of CFPA with a talk centering on the topic of drones, as well as a question and answer time. Special thanks to John Lien for the photos below.
Click here to see YouTube video of Medea Benjamin's talk. Also see an exclusive interview with Medea about her harrowing experience in Egypt by clicking here. Special thanks to Leigha Cohen for these!
The Rev. Carlton E. Branscomb of First Baptist Church of Princeton gave the interfaith blessing before the meal.
Medea Benjamin speaks to the full house gathered for the membership renewal event.
Medea Benjamin at the podium
The Rev. Bob Moore at Muslims for Peace
Coalition for Peace Action's Executive Director, The Rev. Bob Moore was the keynote speaker at "Prophet Muhammed (s): Leading Us From Darkness Into Light" on March 9, 2014 at Rutgers University. Rev. Moore spoke about "Interfaith Peacemaking" to the approximately 300 gathered for the event. The event was organized by Muslims for Peace, Inc.
Rev. Moore at the podium.
(photo courtesy of Irene Etkin Goldman)
Philadelphia Demonstration to "Give Diplomacy a Chance!"
Coalition for Peace Action's Pennsylvania chapters spearheaded a Demonstration to Give Diplomacy a Chance on Friday, January 17 - the eve of the Martin Luther King birthday weekend - starting at Sen. Bob Casey's and marching to Sen. Pat Toomey's Philadelphia offices, where a letter from 39 local/regional leaders advocating to Give Diplomacy a Chance was presented.
It was attended by over 80 and speakers included: Ed Aguilar-PA Peace Project of Coalition for Peace Action; John Grant-Veterans for Peace; Maziar Shirazi, MD-Professor at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital; The Rev. Isaac Millar-Church of the Advocate; The Rev. Robert Moore-Coalition for Peace Action; Tammy Murphy-Project for Nuclear Awareness; Robert M. Smith-Brandywine Peace Community; and Rabbi Arthur Waskow-The Shalom Center. See pictures below.
Newark Demonstration to "Give Diplomacy a Chance!"
Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA) co-sponsored a Newark Demonstration to Give Diplomacy a Chance on Thursday, January 16 - the eve of the Martin Luther King birthday weekend - on the Plaza next to the NJ offices of Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker. It was attended by over 50 supporters and speakers included: Carol Gay-NJ State Industrial Union Council; Lawrence Hamm-Peoples Organization for Progress; Madyln Hoffman-NJ Peace Action; The Rev. Robert Moore-Coalition for Peace Action; and Dr. Shapoor Vali-Iranian-American Professor, and the Solidarity Singers provided spirited music. See pictures below:
The Solidarity Singers, Industrial Union Council
Lawrence Hamm, President, People's Organization for Progress and The Rev. Robert Moore, Executive Director, Coalition for Peace Action
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The Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA) is a grassroots citizens' organization bringing together people of all ages, backgrounds, professions and political persuasions around three goals: global abolition of nuclear weapons, a peace economy and a halt to weapons trafficking at home and abroad.
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