Recent Events

On April 4, 2018, a joint delegation of the Coalition for Peace Action and New Jersey Peace Action met with Sarah Arkin (front middle of picture), the Deputy Director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, under the ranking member, Senator Menendez. The delegation discussed diplomacy in Yemen, North Korea, and Iran.

The delegation subsequently met with one of Senator Booker's staffers on the same issues. 

On Saturday, March 24, the Coalition for Peace Action was actively involved with several of the Marches for Our Lives. These rallies took place across the nation, standing with the survivors of the Parkland, Florida school shooting, and calling for substantial gun safety reform. CFPA sent 70 people from Princeton to the D.C. March on charter buses, and co-sponsored the Princeton, Doylestown, and Philadelphia local events. 

Click here to see how you can keep the March for Our Lives momentum going!

Princeton, NJ
co-sponsored by CFPA, and featuring speaker Rev. Robert Moore, CFPA's Executive Director. Over 4,000 attended, making it the largest Princeton rally in at least 25 years!

(Photos by Anna Savoia)

The Rev. Robert Moore speaks to crowd at Princeton's March for Our Lives, standing next to Ceasefire NJ's Legislative Director, Dolores Phillips. 

Doylestown, PA
co-sponsored by CFPA's BuxMont Chapter 

(Photo Credit: Mike Maney)

Philadelphia
"Thousands of Philadelphians and area students, parents, and friends marched on March 24th, as part of the 800+ cities where people marched for our lives, in solidarity with the Washington march that day. We all need to keep fighting for change. Go Philly Marchers!" - Ed Aguilar, for CFPA Pennsylvania 

Westfield, NJ
Rev. Bob Moore spoke to a crowd of 1,000 Saturday morning, before heading to the Princeton rally.

On Saturday, March 17, the Coalition for Peace Action participated in the 12th annual Mercer Green Fest to highlight our No Wars, No Warming campaign. 

Attendees at the Green Fest voted in our Penny Poll (pictured below) on how their federal tax dollars should be spent. At the end of the day, the poll showed that most people prioritized the environment, education, and healthcare. 

Click here to see where your tax dollars are actually going. 

"Gun Control Advocates Rally in Langhorne," by Christian Menmo, in Bucks County Courier Times, Feb. 17, 2018

"Friday’s rally was sponsored by several activist groups including the BuxMont Coalition for Peace Action and The Peace Center in Langhorne.

“There’s no quietness here,” said coalition organizer Cathy Leary, referencing the constant blare coming from car horns as passing drivers responded to the signs requesting they honk for support.

“Something has to be done,” Leary said. “At minimum I’d like to see universal background checks (prior to gun purchases). I personally would like to see an assault weapons ban. Children are dying. I support owning firearms. I’ve owned firearms, but this is a no-brainer. When the country didn’t have (assault rifles available) we didn’t have these mass shootings.”

Leary is also in favor of more specialized care for those suffering from mental illness, but she considers that is an entirely different conversation than “sensible, common sense” gun control when it comes to preventing these types of killings.

“What happens is they get intermixed and then nothing changes. Ever,” she added.

Kathey O’Brien, of Solebury, said she’s been outspoken on the issue since the 1980s.

“It’s getting worse and worse,” she said Friday. “Too many of our babies and children have died.”" (Click to read full article). 

Across the region, CFPA and co-sponsors held six successful events, with over 200 total participants, to support a Diplomatic Surge in Korea.

We have a very urgent need to keep up this surge of activism during the two month "window" of the Olympics and Paralympcs before the next round of US-South Korea military exercises in April. We urge all to help us keep up the momentum and support CFPA's Activist Surge for Diplomacy, Not War, in Korea, by clicking here.

Enjoy photos from our events!

Philadelphia Vigil in Support of the Olympic Truce:

Langhorne Vigil:

Allentown Vigil:

 Princeton Vigil: 

Click here to see more photos from the Princeton vigil.

Sacred Heart Gathering for Peace and Justice, where CFPA's Executive Director, the Rev. Bob Moore, spoke on Diplomacy, Not War, with Korea. (Click here to watch video of his talk: Part 1, Part 2).

CFPA Director Rev. Bob Moore (center) was part of a January 26 press conference in Trenton with NJ Gov. Phil Murphy and NJ Senate President Steve Sweeney announcing new initiatives on gun violence prevention. Dolores Phillips, Legislative Director of CFPA's gun violence prevention project, Ceasefire NJ, was also present.

We're pleased to report that at the press conference pictured above, Gov. Murphy and his Attorney General announced that they are taking steps to restore the "justifiable need" criteria for getting a concealed carry gun permit in NJ.

That means that to qualify for getting such a permit, a person needs to show that they are facing a specific threat that necessitates them carrying a gun, e.g. a previous attack. It can't just be a general perceived threat of danger.

Previously, former Gov. Christie, had attempted to unilaterally loosen the criteria so anyone who perceived such a general threat would qualify to get a permit. This was strongly opposed by the NJ legislature, both by bills and a court challenge.

CFPA's Ceasefire NJ Project (CFNJ) had spearheaded citizen activism to oppose Christie's changes, including coordinating testimony against it at hearings held by the NJ State Police; and supporting legislation and court challenges against it. Special thanks to Dolores Phillips, and counsel Howard Moskowitz!