"Community Vigils for Global Action"

JOIN with

 Bridges for Peace

SUNDAYS

12 noon to 1pm 

in Your Community

see 

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About Bridges for Peace            Connecting Communities               Bridges for Peace is a grassroots organization that began in Maine as the threat of war in Iraq escalated in the fall of 2002. On first one bridge, and then another, the vigils began to spread along the coast, and then inland. A few people soon led to small groups and soon larger crowds of people joined together at noon each Sunday.      The simultaneous vigils have continued in Maine and several other states since October, 2002.  Of course the symbolism of meeting on bridges is undeniable, and bridges are central to many Maine towns.  But more importantly, the Bridges for Peace vigils allow people to participate in a widespread demonstration right in their own individual towns.  The network is highly visible to those who pass over the bridges, one after another, and each individual bridge provides community and courage  to those who gather on it. Many people there will report that they have never before taken part in a demonstration or a vigil, and would not be boarding the buses to the larger rallies. It is only at the community level that dialogue and effective, lasting change can occur - this is the true grassroots.  Every week....

Links to Peace and Justice Sites

'Standing for Peace '

'Dealing with confrontation'

Calendar of Events 

Article about Bridges for Peace on Peace Action Maine's web site.  

The rising costs of war        US troops  killed : 3257     Iraqi citizens:  200,000+++ US troops wounded: 24314  reported

routine, visible.....

Can you imagine what would happen if people took to the streets in every town and city ???

Join us each Sunday       noon-1pm in your community

routine, visible.....

 

	There are many Bridges that meet each Sunday from 12 to pm.  At some times there are a few people while at others there are a great many. It is very powerful to see people stretched across a bridge, from one end to the other, but is is also powerful to be that one to stand alone, supported by those doing the same further up the road, in the next town or the next state on another bridge. And as the weather and the individual signs change, the witness for peace remains clear. Some bridge groups have grown, forming new regional Peace and Justice programs and others meet  more intermittently, but the network of the bridges continues to grow. Weekly vigils are held in Maine, Maryland, Vermont and New Hampshire. We hope that the concept of simultaneous community action will spread.        Bridges for Peace has supported  past International Days of protest. On January 15 and February 15, 2003, over 1200 people stood against war on  very cold bridges throughout Maine and in Maryland and New York City while buses carried friends to the demonstrations in those and other major cities.  In October of that year another call to Bridges for Peace went out to support protests in Washington DC, and in March 2004 we gathered to mark the first anniversary of the war.  On March 19 2005 and 2006 we watched this country begin its third then the fourth year of war and occupation of Iraq from Bridges for Peace. Each year we hoped it was the last. In 2007, Bridges for Peace joined On Every Village Green in communities throughout Maine, and vigils all over the world to mark the fourth anniversary of 'shock and awe', and the start of another year of occupation.         Bridges for Peace welcomes you to its website and invites you to visit its Calendar and  Peace and Social Justice Links pages. We would like to add your community to the network of vigils listed below and welcome ‘bridges’ large and small, near and far, to join with us. The connections that we make with each other as activists and with members of our communities form the threads in the fabric of peace.  Each bridge that we build is important. !	`