Press Release: UNPRECEDENTED GATHERING OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS TO JOIN MARCH FOR PEACE, JUSTICE AND DEMOCRACY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou (314)249-8825 revsekou@unitedforpeace.org

UNPRECEDENTED GATHERING OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS TO JOIN

MARCH FOR PEACE, JUSTICE AND DEMOCRACY,

SATURDAY APRIL 29, 2006, NYC

Rabbis, Ministers, Imams, Bishops, Catholic and Buddhist Priests hold Interfaith Sabbath, Evening Revival and Civil Disobedience at UN in New York City to Call For New National Priorities.

“We repent for the silence of our own religious communities in the face of unmitigated misery. We are beseeching our nation to turn from a path of empire and war-making to way of peace, justice, and democracy. As people of faith we escalate our commitment to resist both indifference and injustice. And in the tradition of liberation, resurrection, and kindness to the stranger, we are renewing our engagement of righteous indignation, which sits at the heart of our diverse faiths.�

–Clergy and Laity Concerned about Iraq Steering Committee

April 27, 2006, New York, New York: Clergy and Laity Concerned about Iraq (CALC-I), in partnership with United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ), is organizing a number of inter-faith activities in support of the March for Peace, Justice, and Democracy.

Saturday, April 29th

9:40am-11:45pm

Interfaith Sabbat and contingent gathering

(19th Street between Broadway and 5th Avenue )

7pm-9pm

Interfaith Revival

Middle Collegiate Church

50 E. 7th Street (at 2nd Avenue); and

Monday, May 1st

10:00am

Civil disobedience action at the U.S. mission to the UN to call for the close of Guantanamo;

Our theme for this coming weekend is “Repent, Resist, and Renew.�

Religious leaders from around the country gathering participating this weekend have press availability are:

· Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Executive Director, The Shalom Center-Philadelphia, PA;

· Rev. Grayland Hagler, National President, Ministers for Racial, Social and Economic Justice-Washington, D.C.;

· Rev. Dr. Dennis Jacobsen, Executive Director, Gamaliel National Clergy Caucus-Milwaukee, WI;

· El Hajj Talib Abdur-Rashid, Imam, Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood-New York, New York;

· Rev. Dr. Rita Nagashima Brock, Co-Director, Faith Voices for the Common Good-Oakland, CA;

· Rabbi Or Rose, Professor of Rabbinic and Jewish Thought, Hebrew College-Boston, MA;

· Samer Alraey, Imam, Islamic Cultural Center-New York, New York

· Mary Lord, Assistant General Secretary for Peace and Conflict Resolution-Philadelphia, PA;

· Ve. Suhita Dharma, Chua Dieu Phap Buddhist Temple-Los Angeles, CA;

· Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou, National Coordinator, Clergy and Laity Concerned about Iraq-New York, NY

CALC-I serves as a national coordinating body for over 250 religious institutions organizing to end the war and occupation in Iraq. In September of 2006, CALC-I led a civil disobedience action at the White House where more than 60 religious leaders were arrested.

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