PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 27, 2003

Contact:

Michelle Smith, 257-6724
Pete Meyers, 256-9733, 339-1680 (cell)
Bill Trochim, 257-7234

(Ithaca, NY) A broad-based coalition of over 150 individuals and organizations committed to peace and justice in the Ithaca, Tompkins County and surrounding areas convened on Saturday, April 26, 2003 for a Peace Summit and agreed to:

• Work collectively to assure that George Bush is not reelected president in 2004 and to support a candidate committed to an agenda of peace and justice.
• Develop a sustained long-term coalition committed to addressing issues of peace and justice locally, nationally and globally.

To these ends, the summit participants developed a number of specific actions that they intend to undertake. Among these is: the establishment of a Center for Peace and Justice in Tompkins County, New York; a focus on providing local humanitarian aid; and, ongoing actions to keep the reality of war and its consequences in front of us.

"The Peace Summit was a major step in bringing together a broad coalition of individuals and groups -- everyone from local church organizations, to individual activists, and traditional political organizers -- to come to consensus about next steps in the wake of the Iraq invasion,” said one of the Summit organizers, Bill Trochim. “It resulted in a clear and focused short-term goal -- assuring that Bush doesn't get re-elected and that the person who does get elected supports an agenda of peace and justice -- and an overarching long-term goal of coordinated actions to address issues of peace and justice."