Since VitW is an unincorporated entity we consider all people who share our philosophy of nonviolence and our concern for the people of Iraq to be of a part of Voices in the Wilderness. Thank you for your support. We invite you to join the Call for 20,000 Voices through some of the following actions or by creating your own way of joining with us in the kindred purpose of denouncing US military and economic violence against Iraqi people.

1) Write or fax Attorney General John Ashcroft at the Justice Department to express your outrage at the recent Office of Foreign Assets Control lawsuit against VitW and to ask that they refuse to prosecute. There are sample letters that you can download from our website. You may sign on to our petition and add your comments and signature or write a letter of your own. Please email at us at info@vitw.org or drop us a postcard to let us know that you have sent a letter or fax to:

Attorney General Ashcroft
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20530
Fax: (202) 307-6777

Our goal is achieve 20,000 letters or faxes sent to the Justice Department.

sign our petition to Attorney General Ashcroft

3) Do acts of nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience along with us as we continue to travel to Iraq and take medicines and school supplies there in defiance of the US sanctions on Iraq. (For more information about how a July 31, 2003 memo from President Bush extended US sanctions on Iraq until August of 2004, visit Truthout.org) Hold a “gag-in” at your local District Attorney’s office or at the Justice Department itself; this could be a sit-in with a gag in your mouth while wearing a sign of support for VitW. VitW sees the imposition of this lawsuit as a violation of our rights to freedom of speech and freedom of religion. The timing of this lawsuit is questionable too, as it seems to be intended to silence the voices of VitW as we continue to speak out against the failures of the US occupying forces and the continuing injustice of US sanctions on Iraq. We believe the public will be sympathetic to an organization being fined for taking medicine to children.

4) Organize a local media event, fundraiser, or symbolic event of solidarity with VitW, perhaps by “turning yourself in” to your local District Attorney as members of Voices in the Wilderness or by publicly welcoming the Wheels of Justice Bus Tour, co-sponsored with VitW by International Solidarity Movement, Al-Awda, and Middle East Children’s Alliance. To see the schedule for the Wheels of Justice tour, visit justicewheels.org.

5) Write an op-ed for your local paper to challenge the Justice Department on the hypocrisy of this lawsuit and teach others about the lies of the current administration and previous administrations which have been used to perpetuate economic sanctions and bombing campaigns against the people of Iraq.

6) Offer your time, media savvy or legal expertise to the VitW office in Chicago, where much of the work of responding to this lawsuit will be based. Call 773-784-8065 for more info.

7) Invite a speaker from Voices in the Wilderness to do a workshop on nonviolence or on the situation in Iraq for your local school, community center, church, synagogue, or mosque. Contact Laurie@vitw.org for scheduling.