The Green Party makes a strong and urgent call for U.S. passage of CEDAW, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which was adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly and ratified by 173 countries. It is also known as the Women’s Convention, the Women’s Bill of Rights, and an International Bill of Rights for Women. The United States is one of a very few countries and the only industrialized nation that has not ratified it.
Greens from all over the United States will join together in Washington, D.C. April 1-5, 2019 to lobby their congresspeople by asking them to take the the “Public Funding Only Pledge“. Additionally, they will be asked to sponsor or co-sponsor a bill in Congress to free our elections from any sort of bribery cash: special interest PAC, corporate or dark money donations. Instead, qualified candidates from every party would get an equal chance in TV, radio and printed ads, debates and appearances. This would allow other voices to be heard and the American voters to be aware of all of their choices.
The lobby starts on April 1st (Monday) and runs until the 5th (Friday). It will be in the halls of Congress. Information and downloads available at: www.greensvsgreed.org.Read more
It’s official we have the new 2019 calender and the lobby dates! Greens from all over the United States will join together during this week to lobby their congress to ask them to take the the public funding only pledge and also to sponsor or co-sponsor a bill in Congress to free our elections from any sort of bribery cash: special interest PAC, corporate or dark money donations.
Instead – qualified candidates from every party would get an equal chance in TV, radio and printed ads, debates and appearances. This would allow other voices to be heard and the American voters to be aware of all of their choices.Read more
Trenton — Saturday, January 19, 2019 — The Green Party of New Jersey is proud to join members of The March on the Pentagon (formerly: The Women’s March on the Pentagon) to form a peace contingent at the Women’s March on Trenton. This peace contingent seeks to put the anti-war agenda back into political activism and confront the bi-partisan war machine. Read more
The Green Party of the United States has identified “Green Candidates to Watch” in federal, state and local races on Election Day, Nov. 6, 2018.
The list includes Green candidates who are running energetic, well publicized, and well organized campaigns for local office across the U.S. The list is a sample of the many Green Party candidates running in the midterms who deserve attention. Read more
Exclusion of candidates violates the right of voters to be informed about all names on the ballot
Green Party candidates have been excluded from debates and polls across the country by news media and polling criteria that favor Democratic and Republican candidates. Exclusion means Green Party candidates cannot make their case to undecided voters or try to sway decided ones, which is especially crucial in races that determine ballot status. High numbers of undecided voters are a wild card in many races this year and may lead to some “Green” surprises on election day.Read more
On Saturday, the U.S. Senate made a terrible mistake that will harm all of us. The Senate confirmed Brett Kavanaugh to a lifetime position as a Justice for the U.S. Supreme Court. Making this undemocratic decision even worse, the Senators who voted in favor of the confirmation voted in favor of party and against the interest of the majority of their constituents.Read more
The National Women’s Caucus of the Green Party of the United States thanks Professor Christine Blasey Ford for coming forward to offer her testimony about the wisdom of not choosing Judge Brett Kavanaugh to fill a vacancy on the US Supreme Court. This testimony has not only demonstrated indelibly why Judge Kavanaugh should not be confirmed to this position, it clarifies for the nation the societal issues involved, in denial of harm and of victim shaming, that should inform any future candidate for the bench, or for any positions of power and judgment.Read more
At the just held, Traverse City State Membership Meeting (SMM), the Michigan Women’s Caucus was officially formed. Open to all members of the Green Party of Michigan, here is your chance to get in on the ground floor. Plans are to trade information and meet up at the Next SMM at the latest.
The next SMM is set for Saturday, November 10th after the elections.Read more
Wikileaks and the Future of Malign Institutional Secrecy
The Green Partysupports worldwide efforts to promote institutional transparency, because many social evils arise from the concealment of malign actions and policies. Wars, domestic repression, and economic mismanagement are all enabled by secrecy and deception of the public. Accordingly, the Green Party US Peace Action Committee calls for the immediate release of Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, by the UK authorities and dropping of all charges against him by the US government.Read more
The United States Government is engaged in a campaign of personal destruction directed at Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange. Under the cover of questionable legal arguments, The US has carried out a relentless, multifaceted, punitive program aimed at making an example of an Internet publisher who has challenged the power of the US national security establishment. Through the actions of the US government, Assange has been stripped of his political asylum, imprisoned by the UK, and is awaiting extradition to the US to face espionage charges with a penalty of life imprisonment. He is being held in Belmarsh prison, a high-security facility, officially for the minor crime of a bail violation but for the ultimate purpose of rendition to the US. Assange was recently moved to the hospital wing at Belmarsh, and reports indicate he is in poor health.Read more
The arrest of Julian Assange not only puts the free press in the United States at risk, it puts any reporters who expose US crimes anywhere in the world at risk. As Pepe Escobar wrote
“Let’s cut to the chase. Julian Assange is not a US citizen, he’s an Australian. WikiLeaks is not a US-based media organization. If the US government gets Assange extradited, prosecuted and incarcerated, it will legitimize its right to go after anyone, anyhow, anywhere, anytime.”Read more
Strong Support For Wikileaks Publisher’s Immediate Release Among Michigan Greens
(DETROIT, MI – 04/15/2019) Leaders and members of the Green Party of Michigan issued strong reactions to the arrest of Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange by Metropolitan Police officers last Thursday. Greens cited journalistic freedoms and whistleblower protections should be available to Assange, who has been confined inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since 2012.Read more
Pippa Bartolotti, former chair of the Wales Green Party, addressing the rally
Albany, New York – The Upper Hudson Green Party rallied today in support of Julian Assange and Wikileaks, and against his imprisonment and potential extradition to the United States to face charges. These consist of aiding Chelsea Manning in remaining anonymous as she leaked evidence of grave war crimes by the United States government to Wikileaks, which commentators have pointed out is standard journalistic practice.Read more
Green Party Members Organize Protest at UK Embassy in Washington, DC at 5:00 p.m. today
The Green Party of the United States strongly and unequivocally condemns the arrest of Julian Assange and calls for his immediate release. Assange was expelled from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London this morning and is being held in the United Kingdom for extradition to the United States, where he is very likely to face espionage charges. Assange is the publisher of Wikileaks, which published documents exposing US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, human rights violations at the Guantanamo Bay prison and State Department cables that showed corporate corruption of US foreign policy.Read more
Albany, New York – A rally in support of Julian Assange, against his arrest and the attempt by the United States to extradite him from the U.K. will be held in Albany, outside the Leo O’Brien Federal Building in Clinton Square, today, April 16 at 5:30 p.m. The rally is being organized by the Upper Hudson Green Party.
The Green Party strongly and unequivocally condemns the arrest of Julian Assange and calls for his immediate release. Assange was expelled from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on Thursday April 11th and is being held in the United Kingdom for extradition to the United States, where he is very likely to face espionage charges. Read more
The Sangamo Valley Green Party will be hosting a gathering of activists today at 6:00 pm in the Old State Capitol Plaza in Springfield, Illinois to observe the release of Chelsea Manning, following President Obama’s commutation of her 35 year sentence. Manning, who leaked evidence of US war crimes to WikiLeaks while serving in the army, was held for months in solitary confinement, a violation of international law. Springfield residents, including Greens, came out in 2012 to raise money for Manning’s defense at a local Music for Manning fundraiser and the occasion of her release provides an opportunity for local activists to gather and celebrate Manning’s freedom and the inspiration she represents to transparency advocates.Read more
Water is essential to all forms of life. The Green Party calls for an international declaration that water belongs to the Earth and all of its species. Water is a basic human right! The U.S. Government must lead the way in declaring water a fundamental human right and prevent efforts to privatize, export, and sell for profit a substance that is essential to all life.
We face a worldwide water crisis. According to the United Nations, more than one billion people lack access to safe drinking water. If current trends persist, by 2025 as much as two-thirds of the world’s population will be living with a serious scarcity of water. Multinational corporations recognize these trends and are moving fast to monopolize water supplies around the world. They argue that privatizing water is the best way to allocate this valuable resource, and they are scheming to have water declared a human need so that it can be commodified and sold on the open market ensuring that the allocation of water will be based on principles of scarcity and profit maximization.
We do not agree. With water sold to the highest bidder, the rich will have plenty while the poor will be left with little but polluted water. Short-term profits will preclude any concern for long term sustainability. We must stop this privatization before the infrastructures become so established that it will be impossible to avoid a disaster of epic proportions.
Jesse Johnson, Mountain Party of West Virginia 2010 Gubernatorial Candidate
Opposes Grab by Oil and Gas Industry for More Political Power, Protection for Fracking
Endorses Proposal 2 to Give Protection Against Warrantless Searches of Electronic Devices
Grand Rapids, Mi – The Green Party of Michigan (GPMI) urges a NO vote on Michigan Proposal 2020-1, which would tie the state’s operating budget to continued oil and gas drilling — including fracking. GPMI also calls for a YES vote on Proposal 2020-2, which would block warrantless searches of electronic devices.Read more
Operators flare off a well in southwestern Pennsylvania. Credit: Bob Donnan
PHILADELPHIA – It has taken slightly more than a decade for hydraulic fracturing to entrench itself in PA, forming a beltway of 10,000 wells that arc from the southwest to the northeast. Colloquially referred to as fracking, the process involves drilling and pumping high pressure chemical-laden water and sand deep into underground shale deposits to release and capture gas and oil. Over the years, it has become evident that economic prosperity has fallen short of original promises, while alarming reports of public health decline, potent greenhouse gas leaks, and environmental devastation have bubbled to the surface.Read more
Residents of Newark, New Jersey learned last year that their water was poisoned with high levels of lead, something the government failed to inform them about even though it knew about it in June 2017. When people learned of the problem, the government first denied it and then tried to blame homeowners and downplayed the severity of the impacts. Then, the city offered half-hearted solutions.Read more
Uwchlan Township, Chester County, PA – All three statewide candidates of the Green Party of Pennsylvania (GPPA) toured a portion of Sunoco’s Mariner East Pipeline at the invitation of the Uwchlan Safety Coalition on Tuesday, September 18 (see video at the bottom of the page). Governor and Lieutenant Governor hopefuls Paul Glover and Jocolyn Bowser-Bostick and U.S. Senate candidate Neal Gale met with homeowners and community members negatively impacted by drilling and operations in Chester and Delaware counties.
In November of 2015 I launched my radio show, The Offensive Feminist with Jenny K on Cave Radio Broadcasting. This happened to coincide with the public disclosure of lead found in the water of Flint, a story which I followed for all 100 episodes before going on hiatus in January of this year. As I followed the news on the breaking Flint Water Crisis, I noticed discrepancies and contradictory information being shared in the news.Read more
It has been four years too long since the residents of Flint were forced to drink poison in order for a pipeline to be built. High levels of lead are still being found across the city, including in local public schools, yet this is not being reported widely across the state. When Emergency Manager Ed Kurtz signed the order to switch residents over to the Flint River for drinking water in 2013, he was fully aware that the city’s water treatment plant could not properly treat water as shown in documents for the KWA pipeline beginning in 2009.Read more
The Green Party of Colorado (GPCO) expresses its opposition to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposals of federal oil and gas lease sales on Sept. 6, 2018 of approximately 22,175 acres of land in Huerfano, Kiowa, Lincoln, Washington, Weld and Baca Counties, Colorado. Green Party key values of ecological wisdom, future focus and sustainability inform our recognition that these proposals are shortsighted and misguided.
“The BLM is couching this leasing in terms of “the Administration’s priority to make America safe through energy independence,” and supporting jobs, but in reality this is an attempt to create short term capital at the long term expense of the climate and local environment,” said Andy Hamilton, chair of the Mesa County Green Party in Grand Junction. “A transition to renewable energy sources would better address the real needs of the working class.”Read more
Today, Governor Rick Snyder announced his budget for FY2019. The Governor has yet again neglected to mention that the city of Flint still does not have access to clean, safe drinking water while proposing an additional investment of $25.9M to Flint for service line replacements. He neglected to mention that Michigan is currently giving 130 million gallons of our groundwater to Nestle while only charging them $200/year when they make over $300 million/year from our public resource.
We could certainly fix the water mains in Flint much faster if Nestle was charged an equitable fee for their water withdrawal. He has yet again neglected to include the full costs of fixing Flint in the 2019 budget, allowing for this crisis to continue and be passed on to his successor. While he may be leaving the state with a projected “rainy day” fund of $922 million, he is also leaving our state with our own version of Katrina with a cost to fix of $1.2 – $4 billion.Read more
Phoenix, AZ — At their recent state meeting (Saturday, January 27, 2018), members of the Arizona Green Party (AZGP) endorsed five of their candidates for the 2018 Election. The candidates are:Read more
December 11, 2017 – The final day to file objections to candidate ballot access petitions has passed, and the Illinois Green Party slate for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Board of Commissioners went unchallenged. Your Illinois Greens will be on the ballot in the March 20, 2018 primary election!
In keeping with the Green Key Values of diversity, social justice and feminism, we support full legal and political equality for all persons regardless of sex, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity, characteristics, and expression.
The Green Party affirms the rights of all individuals to freely choose intimate partners, regardless of their sex, gender, or gender identity.
The Green Party recognizes the full civil rights of sexual and gender minorities. The existing civil rights act prohibits discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, and disability. We will work to add sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression to the existing civil rights act.
The Green Party will be inclusive of language in local, state and federal anti- discrimination law that ensures the rights of intersex individuals and prohibits discrimination based on gender identity, characteristics, and expression as well as on sex, gender, or sexual orientation. We are opposed to non-consenting intersex genital surgery.
The Green Party affirms the right of all persons to self-determination with regard to gender identity and sex. We affirm the right of choosing non- binary and gender fluid identification. We therefore support the right of individuals to be free from coercion and involuntary assignment of gender or sex.
We will pursue legislation where offenders must pay compensation to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual (LGBTQIA) people who have suffered violence and injustice.
The Green Party will end all Federal military aid to national governments whose laws result in the death, other harm, or imprisonment of its citizens and residents who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual (LGBTQIA).
The Green Party will enact a policy that the U. S. Government recognize all same sex marriages or legal equivalents such as civil unions, in processing visitor and immigration visas.
The Green Party would end security surveillance and covert infiltration of organizations that promote rights for sexual and gender minorities.
Calls for Systemic Social Justice Reforms on Transgender Remembrance Day
As Transgender Awareness Week wanes and Transgender Remembrance Day begins, we in the Green Party of Virginia are mindful of the 34 known trans and gender non-conforming individuals who have lost their lives to transphobic violence this year. (1) The Green Party Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity platform plank, in keeping with the Green Key Values of diversity, social justice and feminism, supports full legal and political equality for all persons regardless of sex, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity, characteristics, and expression.(2)Read more
The National Women’s Caucusof the Green Party of the United States released a statement today in support of the Transgender Day Of Remembrance (TDOR), which is observed this year on November 20. The statement is appended below. TDOR is observed in remembrance of people subjected to discrimination, violence and murder directed against transgender, intersex, non-binary, gender-nonconforming people, and anyone who appears to be stepping outside of normative gender stereotypes.
The Women’s Caucus held a webinar event on Friday, November 20 featuring Green Party members and transgender women Veronika Fimbres, Avery Seal, and Cynthya BrianKate, who discussed TDOR and the unique challenges faced by transgender women.Read more
The National Women’s Caucus of the Green Party of the United States released a statement today in support of the Transgender Day Of Remembrance (TDOR), which is observed this year on November 20. The statement is appended below. TDOR is observed in remembrance of people subjected to discrimination, violence and murder directed against transgender, intersex , non-binary, gender-nonconforming people, and anyone who appears to be stepping outside of normative gender stereotypes.Read more
On June 28th, 1969 the Stonewall Riots erupted onto the streets of New York City and led to the Gay Rights movement in the United States. We’ve reflected on various aspects of Stonewall over the years and, 51 years later, our streets are full of protests demanding a change. As #BlackLivesMatter protests are sweeping the country and state after state are passing legislation to restrict transgender participation as full, equal citizens in life, Marsha P. Johnson (pictured to the left) wants better for us. Marsha was there that June night in 1969 and the echoes of the bricks thrown still resonate loudly today.Read more
BALTIMORE – The Baltimore City Green Party (BGP) reached full positive consensus at its Monthly General Meeting on July 29, 2017 to issue a statement affirming the centrality of the struggle for Trans Justice in the larger struggle to realize a better Baltimore. While oppression of trans folks has been ongoing in our city, the attack on and resistance of this community is particularly acute now. So, BGP is raising its voice and the voices of its membership:Read more
PHILADELPHIA – On March 22, delegates to the Green Party of Pennsylvania (GPPA) spring convention voted to support the Lavender Greens’ objection to the recent actions of the Georgia Green Party (GGP). This support had been requested by Vice-chair Garret Wassermann of the Green Party of Allegheny County, who had objected to homophobic language in a GGP statement.Read more
ALBANY, NY – There has been considerable discussion over the last few weeks within the Green Party about transgender rights. The Lavender Caucus of the Green Party of the United States issued a statement calling on the state Green Party of Georgia to retract its endorsement of the “Declaration on Women’s Sex-Based Rights” or face decertification by the national party. Some Greens have condemned Georgia’s actions outright while others have called for a respectful dialogue to facilitate understanding of the different points of view.Read more
On December 17th, the U.S. Senate, by a vote of 86-8, passed the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This bill increases the military budget to an obscene $738 billion. Senator Cory Booker did not vote. Neither did Senators Harris, Klobuchar, Sanders or Warren. How can presidential candidate Booker speak out in a national interview exactly one month ago today about the need to contain military spending and executive power in declaring war and then not vote on the NDAA which both increases military spending and fails to rein in executive power? This is unacceptable — New Jersey is the loser here.Read more
HUNTINGTON, NY – The Green Party of Suffolk continues its support of Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR). TDOR is a worldwide event held every November to raise awareness about discrimination, violence, and murder directed against transgender (living as or expressing a gender other than the one expected at birth), intersex (biologically in-between or outside male and female), and gender-nonconforming (acting in any way contrary to gender stereotypes) people, to commemorate the lives of transgender, intersex and gender-nonconforming people around the world who have been killed due to this kind of discrimination and violence within the past year, making a more safe, understanding, and accepting world.Read more
In 1898, Puerto Rico was invaded by the United States and has been held by the U.S. in the form of a colony ever since. In response to international pressure, in 1952, the U.S. established the “Free Associated State” status for Puerto Rico but continued to claim that Puerto Rico belongs to, yet is not a part of, the United States. The root of the crisis is the colonial status of Puerto Rico as echoed in the UN Decolonization committee resolution on Puerto Rico adopted on June 22, 2015 which states ñthe condition of political subordination prevents Puerto Rico from taking sovereign decisions to attend to its serious economic and social problems including unemployment, marginalization and poverty (Crisis and Colonialism in Puerto Rico by Olga Sanabria Davila).
Greens support the right of the people of Puerto Rico to self-determination and independence in conformity with United Nations Resolution 1514(XV) of 1960. Greens call for the release of all Puerto Rican political prisoners, such as Oscar Lopez Rivera, who has been held in U.S. prisons since 1981. Read our full platform plank on Puerto Rico.
October 30th, 2020, marked the 70th anniversary of the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico’s uprising in Jayuya, Puerto Rico, in 1950, against the United States Military Government, which was brutally imposed on Puerto Rico by Washington DC. The Latinx Caucus supports the decolonization and Independence of Puerto Rico as a sovereign Nation and joined the International Community in a Media Blitz to establish henceforth on that day, October 30th, “International Day of Solidarity with the Independence of Puerto”.Read more
I think a lot about the future of Puerto Rico. Especially after the hurricanes and recent earthquakes. Puerto Rico has been in a recession the last twelve years. It also has been plagued by corruption and the imposition of the Junta (financial control board) has just made matters worse.Read more
Greens Deplore Conviction of Cheri Honkala as attack on First Amendment rights
Green Party leaders responded to yesterday’s ruling in the case of United States vs. Honkala with strong words of condemnation for government officials involved and strong support for Honkala. On June 10, 2019, a federal court in Washington, D.C., issued a guilty verdict in the case, finding former Green Party Vice Presidential candidate Cheri Honkala guilty of charges of trespassing. Honkala is an internationally-known activist and founder of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC).Read more
The US territories of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands remain devastated from hurricane Maria in 2017. People still lack adequate food, water, housing, power, transportation, communications, schools, and health care while Trump seeks to cutoff disaster relief funds. 45% of Puerto Ricans and 22% of Virgin Islanders live below the poverty lineRead more
United Nations Hearings On The Decolonization Of Puerto Rico, June 24, 2019.
From Puerto Rico To Palestine, Colonialism Is A Crime!
Latinx Caucus of the Green Party of the United States – Every year the United Nations holds hearings on the Decolonization of Puerto Rico during which individuals, groups and organizations from Puerto Rico, the United States, and other countries testify in support of decolonization and for the independence of Puerto Rico. We are grateful to the UN, to Keisha Anita McGuire and the UN Committee of 24, (that deals with Colonized Nations under domination of Colonizers), for holding these very important hearings.Read more
S.E. Walton Alfonso Webson of Antigua & Barbuda President of United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization of Puerto Rico New York, NY 10017
Your Excellency,
My name is Darlene Elias, and I am a National Co Chair of the Green Party of the United States. Thank you for permitting me to speak before yourself and this prestigious committee.Read more
A Call to Action on Puerto Rico Collective was formed in July of 2015. It is an integral part of the rebellious, militant and determined diaspora that understands that the precarious political, social and economic conditions that confront Puerto Rico are a direct result of its colonial relationship of subordination to the United States.
La mayoría de los ciudadanos estadounidense creen que su gobierno respecta el estado de derecho. Eso es lo que sus escuelas enseñan. Pero, si uno estudiaría por su cuenta la historia de Estados Unidos, uno se daría cuenta que el gobierno de Estados Unidos cree que el fin justifica los medios.
Los libros de historia de Estados Unidos dicen que España le cedió a Puerto Rico como un botín de guerra después de la Guerra Hispana-Americana del 1898. Eso suena inocente. ¿Pero qué realmente sucedió?Read more
Darlene Elias, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States, addresses the Unity March for Puerto Rico. The march was held in Washington, DC on November 19, 2017.Read more
We are asking for participation from East Coast Chapters. Specifically we are asking that each East Coast State send 5 volunteers to represent the Green Party at the march. Darlene Elias, Latinx co-chair, and several other Latinx Caucus members are planning to attend and would like to join with other Green Party members at the march.Read more
The Green Party stands in support of our Muslim sisters & brothers
The exploitation of fear fuels Islamophobia and drives reactionary activists to promote propaganda and messaging to keep the narrative alive. A network of bloggers, think tanks and propaganda mills have raised and spent hundreds of millions of dollars since 2001 to propagate misinformation about muslims and Islam.
Islamophobia manifests in this country in the form of:
police-state surveillance, infiltration and entrapment;
a Clinton crime-bill statute criminalizing ‘material support of terrorism’ used to prosecute and incarcerate a volunteer board seeking to send humanitarian relief to the people of occupied Palestine;
a chilling impact on political discourse to rival COINTELPRO, the Red Scare, the HUAC, the Palmer Raids;
hate crimes including assaults, murders, mass shootings, graffiti, vandalism and arson targeting mosques and community centers, muslims and those mistaken for muslims;
the promotion of mis-information and false narratives which justify the dehumanization and the othering of a quarter of our global neighbors and 1-2% of our neighbors here in the United States;
public fear and public policy shaped by folks whose Arabic vocabulary seems limited to the pejorative misuse of two words expressing key concepts of the Islamic faith: jihad and sharia.
As Green Party candidates and activists, we have a role as an opposition party to educate ourselves and our communities on issues related to Islamophobia, racism, sexism and gender-identity and to prioritize work to support the struggles of the most vulnerable and marginalized in our communities. We must make an active contribution to the work of defending the human rights of our neighbors. We can build enduring alliances by engaging with the political crisis now present in this country.
On this page we will collect resources useful to our work to engage effectively in challenging the Islamophobia we encounter in the world around us.
Our Green values oblige us to support popular movements for peace and demilitarization in Israel-Palestine, especially those that reach across the lines of conflict to engage both Palestinians and Israelis of good will.
We support the implementation of boycott and divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era, which includes pressuring our government to impose embargoes and sanctions against Israel; and we support maintaining these nonviolent punitive measures until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law by
Ending its occupation and colonization of all Palestinian lands and dismantling the Wall in the West Bank
Recognizing the fundamental rights of Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and
Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194.
We support a U.S. foreign policy that promotes the creation of one secular, democratic state for Palestinians and Israelis on the land between the Mediterranean Sea and the River Jordan as the national home of both peoples, with Jerusalem as its capital.
Both in Israel and the US, conversations about reparations and the Palestinian right of return are stifled by arguments explaining why injustice must go on and a yearning for the status quo.
The calls “Black Lives Matter” and “Free, Free Palestine,” serve to remind us that Palestine is not free and that if the lives of Black people mattered, there would be no need for the call. In both cases, people are in the grips of a cruel, racist system that refuses to let go. In both cases, people are being hunted down, caged, strangled, and shot to death, and the root cause of their suffering is rarely addressed.Read more
FLANDERS, NJ – “The so-called Peace Plan announced by Trump/Netanyahu legitimizes the illegal actions of the Israeli government and reinforces the system of apartheid that already existed,” said Madelyn Hoffman, the Green Party of New Jersey’s candidate for US Senate in 2020. “As if to add an exclamation point, the IDF once again took aim at Gaza and started bombing on 1/29/20.”
We spent the last week in Occupied Palestinian Territory, commonly referred to as Israel, where we traveled around the country to visit communities in Jerusalem, Jaffa, Bethlehem, the West Bank, the Nagab, and more.Read more
The controversy over Israel’s refusal to allow an official visit by two members of Congress highlights the negative effects of a misguided bipartisan attempt by representatives of both major political parties to attack and smear the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights and freedom. By an overwhelming margin in July, the House of Representatives passed a nonbinding resolution to condemn the BDS movement and to endorse an Israeli-Palestinian two-state solution. Legislatures in more than two dozen U.S. states have passed measures condemning the BDS movement or banning contracts with businesses involved with it.Read more
The Nakba — the expulsion of the majority native Christians and Muslims from historic Palestine from 1947-1949, a dispossession that continues to this day — is the core of the conflict, not the military occupation. For a sustainable and just peace, Palestinian refugees’ international human right to return to their homes in Israel must be honored. And the only plausible way that can happen is if Israel-Palestine becomes one democratic state with equality before the law, the national homes of two peoples.
The March of Return is a scream for life so that we may leave the walls of our prison. These are the words repeated by Ahmed Abu Artema in his many lectures and interviews. Abu Artema is the brain behind the most powerful expression of unarmed Palestinian resistance, The March of Return, which began on March 30, 2018, and has become a weekly occurrence in the Gaza Strip for close to a year.
“Why would we die here in silence? We want our message to reach the world. We want to say to the world ‘here there is a people. A people searching for a life of dignity, human rights and freedom.'”Read more
I applaud your publishing Michael Galant’s excellent (Nov. 18) essay, “Chris Murphy wants a new foreign policy.” As Murphy’s constituent, so do I.
Still, I couldn’t agree more with Galant about Murphy’s bellicose attitude toward Palestinians and apparent veneration of a Zionist Israel. Consider a 2015 press release issued on Murphy’s becoming a ranking member of the Mideast Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in which he says:Read more
In recent weeks, racism against Palestinian people and the expansion of apartheid-Jim Crow policies have escalated. The Israeli lobby and its supporters attacked freedom of speech in the United States, showing how far they will go to prevent the US public from being aware of their behavior.
If more people in the US become aware of the truth about Israel’s genocidal policies, the economic lifeline and political protection of the United States will disappear. Israel could be forced to make significant changes that recognize the human rights and self-determination of Palestinians.Read more
New York City – On Monday, May 14, Israeli forces killed at least 58 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded thousands. Today’s march is the response to the near-culmination of the historic #GreatReturnMarch, where for six weeks, tens of thousands of Palestinians — families, children, elders — have been gathering along the fence that keeps 2 million people penned in in an open air prison.
In grief and rage, we will mourn those who have been killed. With respect and inspiration, we will amplify the demands of Palestinians: the right to live in freedom and dignity, and the right to return home.
The Green Party stands firmly for social justice for all those living in this country regardless of their immigration status. Above all, policy and law must be humane. Anything less would be inconsistent with our Green Values, and with our nation’s values.
The Green Party accepts as a goal a world in which persons can freely choose to live in and work in any county he or she desires. We recognize that this would be impractical without reciprocity between nations. We seek that reciprocity as a practical goal. Countries do have a right to know the identity of persons seeking to enter. They also have the right to limit who can come in to protect public safety.
CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. (WDBJ) — More than 200 people gathered Wednesday, waving signs and chanting things like, “Families belong together,” all in the hopes their message would ring clear with Congressman Morgan Griffith of Virginia’s 9th District.
“We’re here because this is our Congressman’s office, who is completely unavailable,” said demonstration participant Marian Mollin. “Doesn’t do town halls, doesn’t speak to us, so this is our way to speak to him, and therefore, the federal government.”Read more
On June 28th, families, advocates, and allies will rally in the park across the street from the Brownsville Federal Court, where immigrants are being prosecuted en masse for crossing the border into the United States, and then separated from their children. There are families that are legally seeking asylum that will have their children taken from them. Enough is enough!
Green Party members from across Texas will be traveling to Brownsville, Texas.Read more
Portland, OR – The Green Party of Portland condemns the actions of the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for separating families in the name of making our country “great.” The removal of children from their parents is traumatic, heartless, and immoral. Despite President Trump’s assertions, this is not the way.
Despite the assertions of Democrats, they too have a shameful history of supporting deportations. We support the #OccupyICE action and any nonviolent means of resistance against ICE facilities in our community and across the United States.Read more
RICHMOND, VA — The Green Party of Virginia is appalled by the treatment of immigrant children at Health and Human Services (HHS) centers across the country. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in conjunction with Border Patrol agents, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Department of Justice (DOJ), has forcibly taken nearly 2,000 children from their parents in the last several months. Despite President Trump’s statements, there is no law forcing the President or any executive agency to remove children from the custody of their parents.Read more
We are witnessing the separation of families at our borders. Babies are being taken away from their parents. We all know that America has a history of separating families. This has to stop.
Here in Texas, there are families that are legally seeking asylum only to have their children ripped from them and in some cases their children are detained thousands of miles from their families.Read more
Salt Lake City, Utah – The Green Party of Utah (GPUT) is denouncing the U.S. Federal Government’s practice of separating children from their immigrant families and is demanding the dismantling of ICE to put an immediate halt on inhumane policies.
The Green Party Platform on Immigration stands firmly for social justice for all those living in this country regardless of their immigration status. Calling for humane policy and laws are consistent with Green Values, and the nation’s values.Read more
Statement by Ms. Dueñas, Green Party candidate for the U.S. House in California District 29
On December 5th, Green congressional candidate Angelica Dueñas was detained by police, after demonstrating in Senator Dianne Feinstein’s Los Angeles office in support of permanent protection for DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients.Read more
On December 5th, Green congressional candidate Angelica Dueñas was detained by police, after demonstrating in Senator Dianne Feinstein’s Los angeles office in support of permanent protection for DACA recipients. Her statement about DACA and her detention:
The current presidential administration is on the path of destroying millions of people’s lives – including by taking away DACA protection from over 800,000 Dreamers, putting them at risk to lose everything that they are working for. Breaking up families and destroying homes. And robbing us all of the rich contributions Dreamers have to offer.Read more
Speaking will be Sara John, Interfaith Committee on Latin America; Tia Byrd, Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment; and Jose Alfredo Chavez, Latinos en AxionSTL. Rita Mauchenheimer, Green Party of St. Louis will be the moderator.Read more
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Green Party of the United States strongly condemns President Trump’s cancellation of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), urges Congress to override the White House and reinstate the program, and demands humane U.S. policies on the treatment of undocumented immigrants.
Greens said that the president’s order, which threatens 800,000 young immigrants with uncertain status and possible deportation, is the culmination of bipartisan disregard for the rights and welfare of undocumented immigrants in recent decades. A statement from the Latinx Caucus of the Green Party of Colorado on President Trump’s decision and the role of Democrats follows below.
As we warned earlier in the year, the US Postal Service is failing due to a long term effort to weaken it plus the confluence of the COVID-19 pandemic, recession and intentional efforts by the Trump administration to suppress the vote.
Members of Congress and state leaders are starting to take notice because of the magnitude of the crisis and public outcry, particularly over valid concerns that mail-in voting will be disrupted. Now is the time to not only protect the vote but to end privatization and selling off of the US Postal Service and expand it as a critical public institution that provides high-quality jobs and services to all communities, rich and poor, urban and rural, across the country.
The Long Push to Dismantle and Privatize the Post Office
The Post Office is mandated in the Constitution (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 7). It is a critical service and a public good that has been provided to all people. With the passage of the 1981 budget, the US Postal Service was required to be self-funded from its revenues alone without support through taxes, which it was able to achieve until the pandemic. In fact, for more than 200 years, it has been solvent despite being the target of big banks and profiteers.
Ellen Brown describes the long history of the plan to dismantle and privatize the US Postal Service (USPS) going back to 1910 when the Postal Savings Bank Act was passed to provide a safer alternative for people after the banking crash of 1907. The big banks were upset by the competition from a postal bank. In 1966, the postal banks were dismantled after a series of laws were passed, beginning in the New Deal Era, which strengthened the private banks and gave them an advantage over postal banks.
Profiteers searching for more public entities to loot, as they have done with water, education, healthcare, and more have long viewed the Post Office as a fertile field for making money if they could weaken it enough so it would fail. A serious step in this direction was taken in 2006 with the so-called ‘Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act‘ (PAEA).
The PAEA was sponsored by two Republicans and two Democrats. It passed in the House with the full support of the Democrats (including Congressman Bernie Sanders, one Democrat abstained). Most of the Republicans supported it; twenty voted against it. It then went to the Senate where it passed with unanimous consent (a procedure used when Senators do not want to be held accountable for their vote).
A requirement of the PAEA is that the Postal Service must pre-fund all of its retirement funds including health benefits for the next 75 years (for people who have not been born yet). No business is required to go to this extreme and two-thirds of Fortune 1,000 businesses don’t pre-fund retirement at all. This costs the USPS over $5.5 billion each year. It is a way to “fatten the cow” for its eventual sell-off to private corporations.
One of the first impacts of the PAEA was that 65,000 postal workers lost their jobs in 2009. The USPS is one of the largest employers of African Americans in the US. This continued throughout the Obama administration as almost half of the postal processing plants were shuttered, local post offices had their hours reduced by 25 to 75% and 3,700 post offices were closed. The move to end Saturday mail delivery was attempted and stopped. A total of 150,000 postal workers lost their jobs under Obama and those who remained had their wages cut.
Under Obama, mail sorting and trucking were sub-contracted to private entities that pay their workers less. Activists began to protest in 2013 by delivering petitions and occupying post offices. In Berkeley, CA, people occupied the main post office for 33 days to prevent the historic New Deal Era building from being sold. This was part of a year-long successful campaign that gained tremendous public support, media attention, and support by local and state elected officials.
In 2015, A Grand Alliance to Save the Post Office, created by the four postal worker unions and other organizations, including Popular Resistance, formed under the leadership of APWU President Mark Dimondstein (Listen to our interview with him on Clearing the FOG in April). The Alliance lobbied Congress to repeal the 2006 PAEA and to stop the sell-off to private corporations.
The Alliance successfully organized to stop Staples from being allowed to provide USPS services. The campaign used protests outside Staples’ stores, a boycott of Staples, and a complaint filed with the National Labor Relations Board. A judge ruled in favor of the USPS in November of 2016 and Staples was ordered to shut down its postal services by March 2017. If Staples had been allowed to continue, it would have led to the closing of more post offices and the loss of more jobs.
The Future of the Post Office is Uncertain
The US Postal Service has continued to face the same struggles throughout the Trump administration. Despite a majority in the House and enough Senators to have power over the passage of any legislation in the Senate, the Democrats did not take steps to save the post office until it threatened their re-election in 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic and recession created an emergency situation for the Post Office. The closing of businesses and record bankruptcies has meant a sharp decline in the quantity of mail. Postmaster General Megan Brennan started putting out the warning early in the year that the situation is dire and that the USPS could run out of funds during the summer. The Postal Service board of governors asked Congress for a $75 billion rescue package that would provide $25 billion in immediate funds and the rest as credit and financing for modernization projects.
Instead, the CARES Act, passed in late March, provided a measly $10 billion, which has been held up by the Trump administration and used to pressure the board of governors to elect Louis DeJoy as the new Postmaster General in June. On March 30, President Trump said on FOX if there was a high voter turnout “you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.” Trump was explaining why he opposed more money being spent to help states conduct the 2020 election during the pandemic.
The Democrats offered $25 billion in aid and relief of the yearly $5.5 billion in retirement funds in their House version of the bill but did not use their power in the Senate to demand relief for the USPS. Meanwhile, Amazon received tens of millions of dollars in support of its private delivery providers through the Payroll Protection Program for small businesses.
A new Institute for Policy Studies report found that when cuts are made to the USPS, it is rural communities that are hit the hardest. Rural residents rely on the postal service for medication deliveries, bill paying (because they often do not have internet access), and voting (because many don’t have polling places). Private delivery companies like Amazon and FedEx won’t deliver to rural areas and use the USPS to do it for them instead.
Under the new Postmaster General DeJoy, changes have been made that are slowing down mail service and delaying the delivery of medications and other necessities. Almost 700 mail sorting machines were removed and people showed photos on social media of blue mail receptacles being taken away in trucks. On Friday night, top executives in the Postal Service were fired or reassigned. This sparked a large ‘noise demonstration‘ early Saturday morning outside Louis DeJoy’s home in Washington, DC.
President Trump made it clear last week that his actions are intended to suppress the vote in the November election. There is a large push for universal mail-in voting because of the pandemic. People are reluctant to vote in person and states are having trouble finding people willing to work the polls. Although President Trump requested an absentee ballot for himself in Florida, he said that mail-in voting is subject to fraud and can only be trusted in Republican states. He denied a request for emergency aid for universal mail-in voting saying, “They want $3.5bn for something that will turn out to be fraudulent. That’s election money, basically.”
States are reporting that they’ve received letters from the Postal Service saying they will not be able to handle the influx of mail-in ballots in a timely manner. AP News reports 46 states plus Washington, DC are impacted by this and millions of voters will be disenfranchised if action is not taken.
This has gotten the Democrat’s attention and they are now planning to hold an emergency meeting on Monday. They have also scheduled a hearing for when they return to work in September to bring Louis DeJoy in for questioning. Some members of Congress are calling for DeJoy to resign.
Fight Back
It is important to acknowledge that while lawmakers are upset now with the attack on the US Postal Service, this is likely because it is an election year. The Post Office is the most popular government institution so this stance is not only favorable to voters but it also protects the election. Both major parties are responsible for the situation that exists today and, after the election, they will likely return to their previous apathetic positions.
Saving the post office requires a popular movement with a vision of what needs to happen and mobilization to support that vision. The protest at DeJoy’s house was a good one, but it is the bipartisan Postal Service board of governors who have the power to remove Dejoy and Congress that has the power to provide financial support.
The steps that are required to save the US Postal Service over the short term include:
Immediate appropriation and release of $75 billion in pandemic relief funds and credit.
Provision of funds for universal mail-in voting.
Repeal of the 2006 PAEA requirement to pre-fund 75 years of retirement benefits (in fact if those funds are allowed to be used by the USPS, it likely won’t need the pandemic relief).
Then, over the longer term, steps include:
Reopening and modernizing postal offices, especially in rural areas, and reinstating normal operating hours.
Rehiring postal workers at all levels and providing pay increases.
Prohibiting private contracting of postal services and policies that give advantages to private corporations such as Amazon, FedEx and UPS.
Expanding postal services to include more financial services, especially for the 28% of people who are underserved by banks.
The return of the Postal Savings Bank to provide direct banking services, including loans, throughout the country.
A Grand Alliance to Save the Postal Service is holding a meeting on Tuesday that we will attend and report back actions. For now, you can join the US Mail Not for Sale campaign here. And you can contact your members of Congress (look up their websites) and the members of the USPS board of governors, see below:
Pay a living wage which reflects real value of work
Ten Key Values: (#6) Community Based Economics
We recognize it is essential to create a vibrant and sustainable economic system, one that can create jobs and provide a decent standard of living, for all people, while maintaining a healthy ecological balance.
A successful economic system will offer meaningful work with dignity, while paying a “living wage” which reflects the real value of a person’s work.Source: Ten Key Values as ratified at 2003 Green Party Convention , Nov 19, 2003
Support a Living Wage
We advocate reinvesting a significant portion of the military budget in family support, living wage job development, and work training programs. Publicly funded work training and education programs should have a goal of increasing people’s employment options at living wage jobs.
We support public funding for the development of living wage jobs in community and environmental service, for example, environmental clean-up, recycling, sustainable agriculture and food production, sustainable forest management, repair and maintenance of public facilities, neighborhood-based public safety, aids in schools, libraries and childcare centers, and construction and renovation of energy-efficient housing. We oppose enterprise zone ‘give aways’ which benefit corporations more than inner city communitiesSource: Green Party Platform, at 2000 National Convention , Jun 25, 2000
America’s 25+ million jobless is intolerable
The Republicans are right when they point to America’s 25+ million jobless and ask whether the President is serious in proposing job training as his primary remedy. The Democrats are right when they respond that the Republicans have proposed no real jobs alternatives of their own.
Five years after Obama’s historic mandate, the conditions of the great mass of Americans remains intolerable. And yet to hear his 5th State of Union address, an uninformed listener might think America’s problems are limited and manageable.
The reason for this dissonance is that this State of the Union was not delivered by the man elected in the mandate of 2008. This State of the Union might as well have been given by a robot, or an actor, or a media spokesperson. In fact, a media spokesman is what this President of the United States has long since become. His is a voice that modulates the reality experienced by an ever more disconnected political establishment for a polity that grows smaller by the year.Source: Green Party response to 2014 State of the Union , Jan 30, 2014
$10.10 federal contractor minimum wage still not living wage
The big announcement by the president that he will by executive order raise the minimum wage under federal contracts to $10.10 an hour is really a dud. The reality is that $10.10 is still not a living wage, so rather than ending poverty wages he continues them with a little less poverty. But, to make it worse even these poverty wages are an empty promise. The executive order will only apply to future contracts. That means all the existing federal contractors can continue to pay the existing poverty wage. Of the millions of federal contract employees living in poverty perhaps 200,000 will be helped by the president.Source: Green Party response to 2014 State of the Union , Jan 30, 2014
Pay liveable wages, not just minimum wage
The Green Party’s national platform endorses the liveable wage and the guaranteed basic income: “All workers, temporary or permanent, must be paid a living wage. We support the enactment of living wage laws that apply to all workers.”
Green Party activists noted that a minimum wage that matched current productivity growth would be more than $16.50 an hour and said that this figure should factor into the calculation for a liveable-wage guarantee. Greens said that enacting a liveable wage would boost the economy by providing millions more Americans, especially low-income families, with spending power.
The Green New Deal, advocated by Green candidates including 2012 presidential nominee Jill Stein, calls for the creation of millions of new green jobs that pay liveable wagesSource: Green Party press release, “Liveable wage, not just minimum” , Mar 8, 2013
Irreducible right to form a union without hindranceThe right to organize unions, bargain freely and strike when necessary is being destroyed by employers and their representatives in government. Today, nearly one out of ten workers involved in union organizing drives is illegally fired by employers who wage a campaign of fear, threats, and slick propaganda to keep workers from exercising a genuinely free choice.
The Green Party supports the irreducible right of the working people, without hindrance, to form a union and to bargain collectively with their employer. This right was guaranteed under the National Labor Relations Act of 1935.
We support the right of workers, without penalty, to inform other workers on the premises of a union being formed. This includes advertising and recruiting.
On June 28th, 1969 the 
Islamophobia manifests in this country in the form of:
