January 4, 2000

In response to the devastating effects of ongoing economic sanctions against the people of Iraq, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), jointly launch the Campaign of Conscience for the Iraqi People.

The humanitarian crisis in Iraq is of catastrophic proportions and will continue unabated as long as the U.S. embargo and the United Nations sanctions remain in effect. These prohibitions violate both international and humanitarian law, as well as the moral law of all people of conscience.

The Campaign of Conscience is a nationwide campaign to awaken the soul of the American people. The U.S. embargo undermines our ideal of justice, inflicting lethal punishment on a civilian population in retaliation for the actions of its government. Years of war and more than nine years of sanctions have brought the Iraqi infrastructure to the brink of collapse and the people of Iraq into deep despair. More than 150 children die in

Iraq every day - from malnutrition, poor drinking water, waterborne diseases, lack of medicines, and lack of health care facilities - all as a direct result of the sanctions.

A central goal of the Campaign of Conscience is articulated by Kara Newell, Executive Director of AFSC: "Lifting the economic sanctions is an essential first step to allow for reconstruction in Iraq and reconciliation with the Iraqi people." The Rev. James Lawson, a close associate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Chair of the FOR National Council, noted that: "When leadership fails, as it has with respect to the U.S. economic embargo against Iraq, citizens of conscience have a responsibility to provide an alternate vision and strategy."

During the next six months, you may contribute to the Campaign of Conscience which will purchase critically needed items and send them to Iraq as part of a nonviolent campaign to lift the sanctions.

For more information about the Campaign of Conscience please contact:

American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
Middle East Peace Building Program
1501 Cherry Street * Philadelphia, PA. 19102
Tel: 215/241-7170 * Fax: 215/241-7177
E-Mail: plems@afsc.org
www.afsc.org/iraqhome.htm

(or 2161 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, Mass. 02140
Tel: 617-661-6130 * Fax: 617-354-2832
E-Mail:JGerson@afsc.org)

Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR)
Peace and Demilitarization Program
521 North Broadway * Nyack, NY. 10960
Tel: 914/358-4601 Ext. 34 * Fax: 914/358-4924
E-Mail: disarm@forusa.org
Www.nonviolence.org/for/fellowship