ABOUT THE ANTI-WAR COMMITTEE

The original Anti-War Committee (AWC) in Chicago arose from the campaign to oppose the NATO summit held here in 2012. After a decade of war and destruction in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, the US/NATO war machine was preparing to turn next towards Syria and Iran. 15,000 demonstrators answered the call to protest and march that May, confronting not only NATO leaders but a heavy-handed police presence under the direction of Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

In the summer following the NATO summit, the AWC organized protests to mark the tenth anniversary of the Afghanistan War and marched on Boeing Headquarters to confront the military contractor for its complicity in the growing US drone-warfare program. That winter, as Israel launched its deadly 2012 assault on Gaza, the AWC joined thousands from Chicago's Palestinian community to expose Boeing for supplying Israel with F16s, Apache helicopters, missiles and depleted-uranium bombs.

Now, as Israel expands its siege of Gaza into an all-out genocide of the Palestinian people, the United States and its NATO allies have committed to back the Zionist regime's war crimes to the bitter end. “Genocide Joe” Biden has the ability to stop the bloodshed in Gaza at any time, but instead he has given Netanyahu a blank check and complete diplomatic cover. We know that the death and wanton destruction will continue, in one form or another, until this material support comes to an end.

After a period of inactivity for the anti-war movement, the Anti-War Committee was formally relaunched at a meeting of activists in February 2024. As Biden and other Western leaders act against their own citizens’ demands for peace and justice in Palestine, and inflame tensions across the Middle East and beyond, there is a desperate need for an organized antiwar movement that can oppose the war criminals at every turn. If you object to US military and economic aid to the Israeli regime; oppose the genocidal siege on Gaza; and support a free Palestine, from the river to the sea, we need your help. Please join us and help build the anti-war movement in Chicago today!