Minnesota Peace Project

Minnesota Peace Project

Beginnings

In 2009, Roxanne Abbas, of Women Against Military Madness, helped form the Minnesota Peace Project.

“Never a meeting without an action!” Most of us know and live by WAMM’s motto, but we don’t all have the same preferred mode of action. Some like to hit the streets. Some write letters to the editor. Some plan or attend educational programs. Some lobby their members of Congress. And some do it all.

Several WAMM members are leading the development of a statewide network of peace activists and groups with the working name “the Minnesota Peace Project” to influence foreign policy through their elected officials in the U.S. House and Senate. The group, which is organized by Congressional district, plans to use dialogue techniques to build a mutual understanding of each other’s views and to present documented information from reliable sources to build credibility. District groups will function semiautonomously based on the issues of greatest concern to their members and their opportunities to influence their representative.

Although the project is still in the organizational stages, there has been some progress to report:

Peace activists have volunteered to serve as district organizers for eight of the 10 congressional offices. These 10 organizers will serve as a steering committee for the project.

Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer has written a comprehensive “Peace Agenda” for the group to use as its basic platform.

Keith Ellison and Wellstone Action have both offered to conduct a training session on lobbying techniques for group members.

A meeting was held with Amy Klobuchar aides to present the Peace Agenda and to exchange perspectives on the Israel/Palestine conflict.