The Houston Peace Council is a chapter of the US Peace Council.

Mission of the US Peace Council

The US Peace Council is a multi-racial, pro-working class, anti-imperialist organization committed to peace, economic and social justice and to international solidarity with the peoples of the world. The U.S. Peace Council was founded in 1979 in the major Cities. It is affiliated with the World Peace Council, the world’s largest peace organization and an NGO member of the United Nations.

PRINCIPLES AND OBJECTIVES:

The guiding principles of and objectives of the US Peace Council are:

• Prohibition of all weapons of mass destruction and ending of the arms drive; abolition of foreign military bases; total and universal disarmament under effective international control;
• Elimination of all forms of colonialism, neocolonialism, racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination;
• Respect for the right of the peoples to sovereignty and independence, essential for the establishment of peace;
• Respect of the territorial integrity of states;
• Non-interference in the internal affairs of nations;
• Establishment of mutually beneficial trade and cultural relations based on friendship and mutual respect;
• Peaceful coexistence between states with different political systems;
• Negotiations instead of use of force in the settlement of differences between nations.

WHAT WE STAND FOR:

Peace and Justice

Basic to US Peace Council’s mission is the understanding that there cannot be peace without justice, both nationally and internationally. The US Peace Council recognizes that the struggle for peace is indivisibly connected with the rights and needs of working people. Connecting the issue of peace with economic, environmental, social and political issues is crucial to the success of our movement.

Today, the US Peace Council works with many groups in the community: the trade unionsorganizing workers for economic justice and job security; for immigrant rights and the protection of the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights; with those lobbying for gun control; working against police brutality; marching for living-wage jobs; students against sweatshops; demonstrating to end child poverty; supporting a healthy environment.

The US Peace Council understands that success requires unity among all those struggling for peace and justice, and encouraging joint actions, coalitions and cross support. The world needs a massive, united peace and justice movement.

Struggles for National Independence and Sovereignty

The US Peace Council has initiated and participated in the many struggles for freedom and self-determination:

• The US Peace Council opposed the Gulf Wars, the invasion of Afghanistan and organized opposition to the Iraq War. We call for an end to the occupation of Iraq and the return of all U.S. and foreign troops. The United States, United Kingdom and countries with troops in Iraqare obligated to fund the restoration of the country, The Iraqi people alone must determine the future of their country. We call for the return of U.S. soldiers from Afghanistan and the assistance of the United Nations to the people of both countries to organize their own society.
• The US Peace Council initiated the campaign to free Nelson Mandela from Robbins Island and end the barbaric Apartheid system in South Africa. The Peace Council was instrumental in organizing the Free South Africa coalition, which united labor, peace, religious and community groups.
• During Apartheid, we demanded that the U.S. and South Africa end aid to counterrevolutionaries who tried to overthrow legitimate governments in Angola andMozambique.
• We have organized opposition to U.S. interventions in El Salvador, Nicaragua andColombia; and invasions of Grenada and Panama.
• We stand for a just, two-state solution in the Israel‑Palestine conflict, ending the occupation.
• We call for normalization of US relations with Cuba and an end to the US interventions in the internal affairs of that country.
• We insist that the U.S. government stop its attempts to overthrow the legitimate government of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and Evo Morales in Bolivia.
• We initiated the collaboration of the peace movement with the trade unions in the historic Immigrant Rights Freedom Ride campaign.

Universal Disarmament

The US Peace Council opposes the doctrine of preemptive strikes by the United States, as these policies express the US drive for imperialist domination of nations and resources. This doctrine vitally threatens world peace, foreshadows the end of international laws and undermines the Charter of the United Nations.

• We call on the U.S. government to end research on and development of space‑based weapons of mass destruction intended to dominate the peoples of the earth.
• We call for the closure of all U.S. foreign military bases located in over 40 countries, a drastic reduction in the military budget and transferring those funds to civilian production providing jobs and fulfilling social needs.

THE WORLD PEACE COUNCIL
“Peace is Everybody’s Business”

The WPC is an open, democratic, independent, pluralist and non-aligned international movement of mass action. It is an integral part of the world peace movement and acts in cooperation with other international and national movements.

Since its creation in 1949-50, the WPC stood for peace, disarmament and global security; for national independence, economic and social justice and development, for protection of the environment, human rights and cultural heritage; solidarity with and support of those peoples and liberation movements fighting for the independence, sovereignty and integrity of their countries, and against imperialism.

The WPC has consistently adhered to the main principles and objectives laid down by its founders and is inspired by the UN charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the principles of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Final Act of the Helsinki Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.

As an NGO member of the United Nations, the WPC cooperates with UNESCO, UNCTAD, UNIDO, ILO and other UN specialized agencies, special committees and departments; with the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organization of African Unity, the League of Arab States and other inter-governmental bodies.

The WPC initiates and cooperates in actions to eliminate nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, and to reduce conventional arms. It also acts in particular for the dissolution of military blocks and pacts; the dismantling of all military bases and the withdrawal of foreign troops; for social and economic development, the establishment of a new international economic order, a just solution of the problem of foreign debt; for the recognition of every nation’s freedom of choice; for the establishment of a new international information and communication order; in support of the liberation movements; for the settlement of regional conflicts on the basis of respect for the rights of the peoples to self-determination.

In its activities and structures, the WPC pursues the goal of equal participation of men and women. The WPC believes that the solution of global security problems is possible by enlarging the popular movement and raising the level of public awareness.

Join hands with millions of others around the globe in our common struggle to make a peaceful world for all. Join the US Peace Council.