Gold Star Families for Peace will announce a historic hunger strike against the war in Iraq. At 5pm, they will sit down in front of the White House to eat their last meal and hold a press conference before beginning the fast at the same location in the morning of July 4 at 10am.

“We’ve marched, held vigils, lobbied Congress, camped out at Bush’s ranch. We’ve even gone to jail. Now it’s time to do more,” says peace mom Cindy Sheehan. “While others are celebrating July 4th with barbeques, we’ll be showing our patriotism by putting our bodies on the line to bring our troops home.”

Hundreds of celebrities, veterans, mothers, and concerned citizens across the country will participate in a rolling fast. Strikers include musicians Willie Nelson and Michael Franti, actors Danny Glover, Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon, Gold Star parents Cindy Sheehan and Fernando Suarez, legendary faster and comedian Dick Gregory, environmental activist Diane Wilson, Iraq war veteran Geoffrey Millard and Gulf War vet Michael McPherson, labor leader Dolores Huerta http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/0627-04.htm

JOIN CINDY SHEEHAN AT THE WHITE HOUSE!!

If you cannot join Cindy in DC, please do something to provoke the revolution in your hometown As the July 4th weekend approaches, we want to encourage your group to think about planning antiwar actions during the holiday weekend. July 4th celebrations take place in cities and towns, communities small and large, urban centers and rural locations.

Sometimes antiwar organizers have stayed away from these highly "patriotic" gatherings, assuming an unfriendly response. But this year, given the deep public sentiment against the war in Iraq and the very low approval ratings for President Bush, it might make sense to organize something that will allow more people to express their own opposition to the war.

You’ll know what’s most appropriate for your community, but here are several ideas of things you could plan:

1) Organize an antiwar contingent in the official July 4th parade in your area. If you do this be sure to invite as many people as possible to join your contingent, you’ll want to look as strong and as representative of your communities as possible. An alternative to marching in the parade is to have your folks line up along the parade route. If you do this you’ll want to be in a location that affords the most visibility, both for the people in the parade and for other folks watching it, including the media.

2) Hold a vigil or picket, or set up a literature table, in a busy shopping area. The July 4th weekend is usually a major shopping period with lots of folks hitting the malls. Try to hand out educational materials, gather signatures on petitions, or get people to sign letters or postcards to their elected officials. Use this as a time to gather signatures on the Voters for Peace Pledge (http://www.votersforpeace.us/) and/or the Declaration of Peace nonviolent action pledge (http://declarationofpeace.org).

3) Use the weekend to get your message into the local media.

* Organize people to call into your local radio talk shows throughout the weekend. * Plan ahead to send in letters to the editor in order to get them printed on and around the holiday. * Call your local paper to see if someone from your group can submit an Op Ed piece for publication over the holiday weekend. http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/06/24/18282599.php