There are many reasons to celebrate the election of Barack Obama as our next President. Our nation has taken a great step toward inclusion and racial equality and restoring civil liberties. We will have a President who believes in science and who cares about the environment and the interests of all people, not just the wealthy. And the election was a great victory for peace — the American people voted to end the war in Iraq and to approach Iran diplomatically, not militarily. South Mountain Peace Action looks forward to helping build community support for turning these election-day victories into national policy.

March 21, 2009 at the Peace Memorial in the Ethical Culture Society Garden, Maplewood NJ.
We recalled our six years of efforts for peace and welcomed the President’s commitment to end the war. We stated our concern about the continuing human and economic costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and restated our dedication to working for peace and a peace economy. A moment of silence was held for South Orange residents Augie Schroeder and Dwayne Kelley and all Americans and Iraqis whose lives have been lost and damaged in the war.

— Photos by Mary Gallagher.
See blog by Chris Black on The NY Times Local.

“Be About Peace” design © Jackson Roberts 2003
Dove-and-hand and “Shalom Salem” designs
© AquaStudios

May 25, 2009

On May 6, 2007, South Mountain Peace Action received NJ Peace Action’s “Sylvia and Oscar Akelsberg Peace Award” and a “Certificate of Congressional Recognition” from Congresswoman Barbara Lee.

Click for SMPA Statement on Be About Peace Day, Posters and Proclamations by Maplewood and South Orange
Click for Photos of Be About Peace Day at the Burgdorff Center: 1 :: 2 :: 3 :: 4 :: 5 :: 6
Click for Photos of Ceremony for Major Dwayne Kelley: 1 :: 2
Click for Maplewood Online Video
of Be About Peace Day by Jamie Ross:

SMPA’s “Be About Peace Day” template appears on Cities for Progress. Maplewood and South Orange peace proclamations appear on this page and here and here. For Maplewood’s 2003 antiwar resolution, click here

We support the Department of Peace campaign.

Congressman Ron Paul gave an antiwar speech at the conference on April 10, 2010, and then was voted second place (one vote behind first place) by the Republican activist attendees in the Presidential straw poll. Here is an excerpt of his speech:

“No matter how badly you would like to have them, all empires end, not because they’re defeated militarily. All empires end for financial reasons and that is what the markets are telling us today.

“Besides, if you want a strong national defense, it should be designed for defense, not to support preventative wars and not to support wars that are undeclared. Don’t you think it’s rather conservative to say, ‘Oh, it’s good to follow the Constitution except for war! Let the Presidents go to war anytime they want!’.
“I would say that if you want go to war, only Congress can declare the war. Declare the war, know who the enemy is and go fight and win it and get out of there!
“And also, politically, it’s much easier and it makes a lot more sense to cut the militarism and the bases overseas than it is to cut child welfare here at home. There’s just so much room for that and I don’t hesitate for a minute because I know we would be stronger for it.”
“…Twenty years, the French and the Americans trying to tell the Vietnamese how to be westernized totally failed at a fantastic, horrible cost to us and now we have won more in peace than we have ever won in war because they’re trading partners, we travel over there, their president comes over here, we can do better with peace than with war.”

Click for text of speech.

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