WHEN: Monday, September 16, 2024, from 12 Noon – 1:30 p.m.
WHAT: A Nonviolent Vigil and Prayer Service for Peace and Justice during the annual AFA Air-Space-Cyber Conference and Technology Exposition, what we call an “Arms Bazaar.” See:
This witness is being held in solidarity with Campaign Nonviolence Action Days: https://paceebene.org/action-days and Catholic Days of Actions:
WHERE: Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, 201 Waterfront St., National Harbor, MD 20745. We will meet for the vigil at the corner of Waterfront St. and St. George Blvd., directly across from the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center.
Sponsored by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker
For more info contact: Art Laffin – 202-360-6416, artlaffin@hotmail.com
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“Why are deadly weapons being sold to those who plan to inflict untold suffering on individuals and society? Sadly, the answer, as we all know, is simply for money: money that is drenched in blood, often innocent blood. In the face of this shameful and culpable silence, it is our duty to confront the problem and to stop the arms trade.” –Pope Francis, September 24, 2015 Speech to the U.S. Congress
From September 16-18, the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center is once again playing host to the Air Force Association (AFA) “Air-Space-Cyber Conference and Technology Exposition,” what we call an “Arms Bazaar.” The AFA is “the voice for aerospace power and the Air Force family.” According to the AFA web site: “AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference provides first-class professional military development, facilitates sharing of emerging requirements and technologies, and helps fuel connections that advance the cause of air and space power. The theme of this year’s conference is “Achieving Decisive Advantage in an Age of Growing Threats.” There will be nearly 300 exhibitor booths at this year’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference.
The U.S. is the #1 arms dealer worldwide. U.S. weapons companies racked up $81 billion in new foreign military sales last year, a more than 50 percent increase from 2022. See:
Exhibitors taking part in this year’s Arms Bazaar play a prominent role in U.S. warmaking and global military intervention, including now in Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza. Weapons contractors like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and BAE, are profiting from war and literally are making a killing! But that’s not all. The Pentagon, in concert with numerous arms dealers, are committed to U.S. nuclear/military/cyber superiority and militarizing and controlling space.
During its three-day Arms Bazaar, the AFA will hold forums addressing how the U.S. can refine its war making apparatus and cyber capability so it can dominate earth and space. See Agenda: https://www.afa.org/air-space-cyber-conference/2024-agenda/
Additionally, there will be two gala banquets.
We decry the AFA Arms Bazaar for what it is: a scandalous affront to everyone, a theft from the poor, and a threat to people and the environment throughout the world!
On January 23 of this year, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists “Doomsday Clock” was reset to 90 seconds before midnight due to the existential dangers of nuclear war and climate change — threats compounded by cyber-enabled information warfare, upgrades to existing nuclear systems, the Ukraine war and worsening world tensions. https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/current-time/
The Ukraine war has further exacerbated the nuclear peril between the two foremost nuclear powers, the U.S. and Russia.
Last year the U.S. government spent over $51 billion on its nuclear weapons program.
The proposed National Defense National Authorization Act (NDAA) FY 2025 military budget is $923.3 billion. https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/fy25_ndaa_executive_summary.pdf
Since the October 7, 2023 horrific Hamas attack in Israel, the U.S. has continued to supply weapons, produced by arms contractors at the Arms Bazaar, to Israel who has waged a genocidal war in Gaza. Israel’s bombardment and siege of Gaza has resulted in some 41,000 deaths (the actual death toll is believed to be much higher), including over 16,500 children; nearly 100,000 injured, over 17,000 orphans, the displacement of some two million Gazans, and a catastrophic humanitarian crisis resulting in widespread famine and now an outbreak of polio.
Additionally, Save the Children estimates over 20,000 Palestinian children have gone missing during Israel’s war on Gaza, with thousands separated from relatives or buried under the rubble. Gaza is now rendered almost uninhabitable, with people lacking adequate sources of income and access to water, sanitation, health or education.
The victims in Gaza and worldwide cry out for justice, and the earth, under daily assault, groans in travail!
Who will speak for the poor and the victims, as arms dealers reap huge profits from their lethal weapons and death technology? Who will protect our sacred earth and environment and work to avert global catastrophe? Who will help to convert the U.S. war economy to meet urgent human needs? We need, more than ever, to nonviolently resist and work to eradicate what Dr. King called the interrelated triple evils of racism, poverty/economic exploitation, and militarism/war.
Together, in solidarity with sisters and brothers in the U.S. and worldwide, we appeal to all people of faith and goodwill to call on the U.S. government to:
–repent and make reparations for the harm it has caused people resulting from its military intervention and economic exploitation;
–renounce all systems of domination and oppression, rooted in white supremacy, which are reinforced by the murderous weapons displayed at the AFA Arms Bazaar;
–ensure an immediate permanent ceasefire in Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, provide emergency humanitarian aid to Gaza, release of all Palestinian and Israeli captives, and reparations to all victims; demand an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine, U.S. weapons to Israel to support the war and occupation, and support self-determination for Palestinians, and a just peace in Israel and Palestine;
— end U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia used to support its 9-year illegal war in Yemen, and to Morocco used to support the illegal occupation of Western Sahara;
–close its over 800 military bases worldwide, end NATO and AFRICOM, stop all forms of military intervention throughout the world, and cancel all arms sales worldwide;
–stop the deployment of U.S. and NATO missile defense systems ringing Russia and China which is increasing already heightened tensions and;
–heed Pope Francis’ plea that the possession of nuclear weapons is immoral and abolish all nuclear weapons now;
–ratify the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) which now makes nuclear weapons illegal under international law (70 nations have ratified the TPNW but the U.S. and other 8 nuclear nations refuse to do so);
–redirect exorbitant military expenditures, including the estimated $1.7 trillion over the next several decades to meet urgent human needs and safeguard the environment;
–promote nonviolent diplomatic solutions to conflict and establish peace between adversaries;
–create and economic and political order committed to placing people before profit, serving the common good, dismantling racism, promoting equality and restorative justice, and upholding the human rights and dignity of every person.
Let us continue to do all we can to establish the Beloved Community, end the climate crisis and create a world free of nuclear and conventional weapons and war. It’s time to end the AFA Arms Bazaar, abolish war, and establish a disarmed world!
Please join with members of the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker, Pax Christi and other peacemakers as we seek to say YES to Life and a resounding NO to the merchants of death and war profiteers.
Directions to Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center
Directions from Downtown D.C., Parking and Meeting Place
Take 395 South (off of New York Ave. or Constitution Ave. at 9th St. NW) Merge onto 295 South via exit on left (crossing into Maryland) – 7.4 miles. Take the exit toward National Harbor. Take ramp to National Harbor Blvd. Bear left on National Harbor Blvd. and go two blocks to St. George Blvd. Make a right on St. George Blvd. Go to one block before Waterfront St. and look for street meter parking. Also St. George Parking Garage is on right in case you can’t find street parking (just past the cross street called Mariner Passage). The garage is one block before Waterfront St., where the Gaylord National Resort is located. We will meet for the vigil at the corner of Waterfront St. and St. George Blvd. directly across from the Gaylord National Resort. If you are coming from Maryland or Virginia use Map Quest for the most precise route to the Gaylord.
For public transportation go to https://www.wmata.com/ and click on TRIP PLANNER.
