Peace Coalition Vigil/Rally for Peace in Gaza

Date/Time
Date(s) - 06/06/2026
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Location
Corner of Main St and Illinois Ave

Categories No Categories

MONTHLY PEACE AND JUSTICE VIGIL/RALLY FOR PEACE IN GAZA:
ENDING WARS IS THE START OF EVERYTHING ELSE
SATURDAY, JUNE 6, 2026, NOON TO 1:00 PM
The Peace Coalition of Southern Illinois will hold the Monthly Peace and Justice Vigil on Saturday, June 6, noon to 1 P.M. at the corner of Main and Illinois Ave., Carbondale. The weekly Rally for Peace in Gaza will be held in conjunction with the vigil on Saturday.
It is time for Congress to step up and take action to end wars and promote diplomacy and reset relations with the rest of the world. It is devastating to the whole world that the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran continues despite claims of a ceasefire. The attacks on Iran have killed thousands and made a desperate situation worse. Retaliation threatens the whole region. Decades of sanctions have already inflicted severe suffering on the Iranian people while failing to weaken the regime.
The Trump administration claims that its actions somehow serve the goal of nonproliferation, when in fact they make the situation more dangerous and less stable.
Israel’s invasion of Lebanon threatens to derail any progress on peace negotiations. Thousands have been killed and injured, over a million citizens displaced, homes, cultural heritage sites and agriculture destroyed, health care workers targeted, all with weapons provided by the U.S. Stop providing arms, make the peace real!
In our own hemisphere, rather than threatening invasion and regime change, it is time to open up relations with Cuba. It is long past time for a different approach like investing in friendship and cooperation. Tight restrictions on travel and trade with Cuba are bad for peace, bad for business, bad for U.S. patients deprived of Cuban medicine, unpopular even among many Cuban Americans, and terrible for U.S. relations with the world.
It is time to shut down ICE’s war on our communities. Most countries spend less on their militaries than the United States spends on ICE — a paramilitary army aimed internally at the U.S. public. ICE has killed, kidnapped, threatened, and harassed us enough. That does not create safety.
These steps would make a start to healing our world and community.
Appropriate signs will be provided at the vigil, but all are invited to bring their own. The next monthly meeting of the Peace Coalition will be held on ZOOM, Tuesday, June 16, 2026, 6pm. For information about joining, contact georgeannhartzog@gmail.com.