The women’s peace group CodePink has launched a massive anti-Iraq war petition campaign called “Women Say No to War.” The group aims to gather 100,000 signatures from women worldwide by March 8, International Women’s Day, at which point the petition will go to the White House and to US embassies. As of January 31, more than 30,000 women and male allies (such as Venezuela president Hugo Chavez) had signed, including Eleanor Smeal, Angela Davis, Susan Sarandon, Eve Ensler, Margaret Cho, Alice Walker, Lynn Woolsey, Barbara Ehrenreich, Cindy Sheehan, and the leaders of Iraqi women’s peace groups.
The campaign is the first to draw together women’s anti-war groups from different countries to call for peace in Iraq, according to CodePink. “We’re unleashing a global chorus of women’s voices shouting ÔEnough!'” said Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK co-founder.
The new issue of Ms. magazine, on newsstands nationwide, includes a cover story entitled: “Can We Stop the War in Iraq?” Ms. features the current women leaders of the peace movement, and a piece by Blanche Wiesen Cook about the early women peacemakers such as Eleanor Roosevelt and Jane Addams. “The role of women in the leadership of the anti-war movement has been ignored for too long. As our coverage demonstrates, women are making a critical difference in the peace movement, just as they always have,” said Katherine Spillar, executive editor of Ms., and an endorser of the CodePink “Women Say No to War” campaign.
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