Community Corner

Local Peace Group Rallies Against Bombing Syria

The South Mountain Peace Action held a "Don't Bomb Syria Rally!" rally on Labor Day.

More than 40 Maplewood residents gathered on Ricalton Square, Monday, to show their opposition to US Involvement in Syria.

The rally was held on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 2 just across from Maplewood Theater on Maplewood Ave.

“Attendees expressed their concerns about US military engagement in Syria and called for diplomatic means to act through the United Nations to hold those who used chemical weapons in Syria accountable and put Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles under UN oversight,” said South Mountain Peace Action Chairman Paul Surovell.

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Maplewood Mayor Victor De Luca attended the rally, saying that war was not the way to address the problem. Endorsing action through the United Nations is a better alternative, he told the crowd.

Protesters held up signs from the war in Iraq which substituted the word "Syria" for "Iraq,” said Surovell.

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The attendees all signed a petition to President Obama, Senators Jeff Chiesa and Robert Menendez and Congressman Donald Payne Jr. The South Mountain Peace Action will circulate the petition locally until Congress votes on whether to authorize military force against Syria, they said.

The petition reads as follows:

Petition:

No War on Syria

  • We the undersigned call on you to:
  • Vote NO and refrain from acts of war against Syria;
  • Allow the UN inspections process on Syrian chemical weapons to be completed;
  • Comply with the United Nations Charter, as required under the Constitution, in our policy toward the Syrian crisis."
Click here for more information.


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