This Week in the World

On Monday, we joined the United Nations and people around the world in celebrating the 45th International Day of Peace.

At a time of surging U.S. militarism and global conflict, the International Day of Peace provides a hopeful reminder: Amid the unrelenting news of violence, countless people all across the globe are also acting each day to build peace.

25 years ago this week in the wake of the September 11 attacks, Congress passed the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF), opening the door for what became the never-ending “Global War on Terror.”

The AUMF passed unanimously in the Senate. In the House, 420 representatives voted “yes.” Courageously, Rep. Barbara Lee stood alone in voting “no.”

As we mark 25 years since the September 11 attacks, we join people all across the country and the globe in remembering all those lost in the horrific attacks of that day.

We honor all of the first responders, fire fighters, and other ordinary people who acted with extraordinary courage to save the lives of others, even at the cost of their own.

This week, President Trump once again resumed strikes on Iran, killing more civilians and causing more economic turmoil.

On Wednesday, a U.S. airstrike hit a wedding celebration in a small costal town, killing at least four people, including two children, and wounding dozens of others.

As Senator Chris Van Hollen (MD) pointed out, this horrific strike fits into a broader pattern of the Trump administration’s callous and reckless disregard for civilians.

Next week will mark one year since the Trump administration carried out its first attack against an alleged drug trafficking boat, killing 11 people.

In that time, the U.S. military has blown up 68 boats in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean, killing at least 227 people.

Since the outset of President Trump’s second term, his administration has disregarded longstanding religious protections to target immigrants and activists inside houses of worship.

But people of faith, including Quakers, are pushing back to defend the right to worship freely without fear or intimidation.

This week, our friends at the American Friends Service Committee sued the Trump administration over its efforts to punish and intimidate human rights defenders seeking justice for Palestinians.

“A child hunger crisis is unfolding in plain sight.”

That was the warning this week from experts from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities over the fallout from President Trump’s devastating cuts to food assistance.

Over the past several weeks, the fragile bridge towards peace that was the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the U.S. and Iran has frayed and broken. The U.S. and Iran have started attacking one another again, and more countries are getting involved.

This week, the House of Representatives narrowly passed, by a vote of 216-212, its annual military policy bill, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This bill would authorize an astounding $1.15 trillion in Pentagon spending. Most years, this bill moves forward with strong bipartisan majorities, so this level of debate is a real win.

Lawmakers across partisan divides are reconsidering if they should authorize a massive bill for weapons and war.