PEACE CENTER ACTIVIST ALERT

August 31st, 2026

ONGOING.....

Petition for a campaign to educate the public about Palantir and have PGE terminate its contract with that company. 

Background:

As Californians struggle with skyrocketing utility bills, PG&E is quietly handing over millions of our dollars to Palantir, a company that enables human rights violations at home and abroad. By maintaining this contract, PG&E is forcing millions of captive ratepayers to finance a company that profits from violence, displacement, and mass surveillance.

Palantir is responsible for atrocities at home and abroad. Their technology empowers:

• The Israeli occupation of Palestine. This partnership began in 2014 and has escalated during the current genocide.
• ICE kidnappings of thousands of our neighbors in the Bay Area.
• Illegal military strikes in Iran and elsewhere.

Palantir is positioning itself to become the AI system of the United States Government while its founders and leaders publicly fantasize about a dystopian future of targeted assassinations, authoritarianism, and automated surveillance.

They say as much and more in their 22-point manifesto.

Demands: 

We are calling on PG&E to:

• Terminate all contracts with Palantir immediately.
• Stop funding human rights abuses. Commit to an ethical procurement policy that bans contracts with companies facilitating genocide and mass deportations.
• Guarantee ratepayer’s data isn't used for mass surveillance.

If you would like to stay updated, bookmark the campaign website!

Who we are:

This campaign was initiated by the Alliance of Californians For Community Empowerment (ACCE) in their effort to make California's Investor Owned Utilities (PG&E, So Cal Edison, and SDG&E) accountable to customers by lowering utility rates. The East Bay Democratic Socialists of America joined the campaign to advance the goal of divesting from companies that facilitate human right violations in support of Palestinian liberation and in defense of our immigrant neighbors in California. Learn more about the East Bay DSA and our Divest from Apartheid campaign.

LEARN MORE HERE AND SIGN THE PETITION

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1st, 5 - 6 PM

ONGOING WEEKLY PROTESTS

Intersection of Mt. Diablo Blvd. and Moraga Road

LAFAYETTE

5:00 - 6:00 PM

A PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATION FOR COMMUNITY BUILDING - THE WORK CONTINUES!

ADDED A WEEKLY FOOD DRIVE TO THE MIX!

Meet Local Activists,

Bring your own signs or make one when you arrive.

MORE INFORMATION BELOW

BEFORE THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3rd

ATTENTION EDUCATORS AND ALL WHO CARE

Dear Friends and Educators

And if you are not an educator you can still write, but please pass this on to friends who are part of CalSTRS

PLEASE TAKE ACTION AND EMAILTHE CalSTRS Board by Sept. 3!!!

The CalSTRS Divest Team is asking Union members (active and retired) to reach out to the CalSTRS Board, asking them to add a discussion of socially and ethically responsible investments of our pension funds to their September Board Meeting agenda.  

This is your pension - and CalSTRS Divest is advocating for our pension to divest from organizations that commit human rights violations, are tied to the Military Industrial Complex, and other awful things. Do you agree?  

Here is the contact information and a template to copy, paste, and revise, and send to the CalSTRS Board :

Email board@calstrs.com, hkcalstrs@gmail.com, dbradford@calstrs.com, kyamamoto@calstrs.com, mcohen@calstrs.com, mgunning@calstrs.com, shendricks@calstrs.com, sjuarez@calstrs.com, fma@calstrs.com, tthurmond@calstrs.com  

Cc: clichnock@calstrs.com, dstanton@calstrs.com, calstrsdivest4palestine@gmail.com, awilcox@calstrs.com, kjenkinson@calstrs.com, dmurphy@calstrs.com, nabel@calstrs.com, pkohli@calstrs.com 

We want to continue to let them know we are not going away. Here is a resource that includes a sample email 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTW4kdVUj6sy2DndN8dACZhvyqTNfUaJNW-aiwsNGRJwYfmRtFBcWQf7oJ3lmHLvI9ssKaUJTZRovQh/pub

Thanks for taking action:

Carla Schick*

*MDPJC Peace Award Winner 2025

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20th, 9 AM to NOON

BERKELEY ANIMAL RIGHTS CENTER

2414 SIXTH ST. BERKELEY

Join Albany/El Cerrito for Palestine for a morning breakfast fundraiser supporting Sulala Animal Rescue, which cares for animals in Gaza, from donkeys and chickens to dogs and cats.

Animals are essential to Palestinian culture, mental health, food production, and transportation. In Gaza, they have suffered devastating losses alongside their human communities. Sulala provides lifesaving care, whiles and cats also offer comfort and emotional support to people living through unimaginable circumstances.

Encouraging community and solidarity while supporting animals and the people who care for them.

Enjoy a vegan brunch, Pet parade, Kids activities and Gaza livestream.

MORE INFO AND RSVP HERE: bit.ly/paws816

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23rd,

6:30 PM

ZOOM STATEWIDE MEETING

(LAST WEDNESDAY EACH MONTH)

Who votes, who doesn't,

and what to do about it.

With fewer than four months until the midterms there's a lot to do to protect voting rights. And you have probably wondered: why don't people vote? We hear remarks that our votes don't matter, but since 2018 in California alone ten elections were won by ten votes or fewer. The news is full of stories - from the right and the left - about voter suppression, but California has high voter registration rates.

RSVP now

Forward together, California Poor People's Campaign

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24th, 4 PM

1015 STANLEY DOLLAR DR.

WALNUT CREEK (ROSSMOOR)

FRIENDS OF MT. DIABLO PEACE & JUSTICE CENTER

Hosts

RAMI KHADER

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24th

5 - 7 PM (reception) 7 - 9 PM (main event)

700 ALMA ST. MENLO PARK

Are you seeking out

independent media?

Mt. Diablo Peace and Justice Center is collecting a variety of media including readings, documentaries, and podcasts on the topics of the day, to be read and shared.

Our goal is to educate, encourage discussion, and inspire activism.

NEW THIS WEEK:

CHRIS HEDGES: How the Media Sells Genocide

"The Western media manufactures consent for genocide. It normalizes Israel’s decades-long military occupation and apartheid. It erases Israel’s flagrant violations of international law. It perpetuates the fallacy of Israeli victimhood. It betrays, discredits and demonizes the work of Palestinian journalists and media workers in Gaza, at least 220 of whom have been killed by Israel between Oct. 7, 2023, and August 2025. It supinely accepts draconian Israeli censorship. It acquiesces with tepid letters of protest at Israel’s refusal to allow foreign reporters in Gaza — an effort by Israel to mask its war crimes. It amplifies Israeli lies, from beheaded babies to widespread sexual assault of Israeli women on Oct. 7, to obfuscate the truth."

ANDREW NAPOLITANO: Twilight’s Last Gleaming

"There is a point in the decline of republics when the problem is no longer that government breaks its own laws. Governments will always behave unlawfully. The deeper problem comes when the constitutional machinery designed to prevent those acts stops functioning — when spending becomes detached from arithmetic, presidential power becomes detached from law and Congress and the courts become detached from the Constitution.

That’s where America is today."

NIMA R. ALKHORSHID: Iran Launches MAJOR Retaliation…Record-Speed Strike on Jordan Changes Everything

FROM LAST WEEK:

FATIMA BHUTTO: The Silence of Western Feminists Over Gaza Exposes Their Fraud

MARIO NAWFAL: Interview of Pepe Escobar, Iran's Warning to America

MARIO NAWFAL: Interview of Prof. Robert Pape BREAKING: IRAN BOMBS UAE, ISRAEL ATTACKS TURKISH MILITARY

NIMA ALKHORSHID: Interview of Paul Craig Roberts: The US Decline Is Accelerating: Trump Just Trapped America In A New Quagmire

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

PLEASE READ/WATCH and SHARE!

ARE YOU TAKING ACTION THIS WEEK?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

VOTE NO ON VOTER RESTRICTIONS!

Sign the petition: BLOCK the SAVE America Act

The U.S. House passed the SAVE America Act, an extreme “show your papers” voter suppression bill fueled by far-right propaganda and anti-immigrant conspiracy theories.¹

Trump is trying to force through national voter ID at the polls. He’s demanding proof of citizenship to register to vote. The SAVE America Act will stop millions from casting ballots in the midterms.² Our Senators must oppose Trump’s attempt to shred our constitutional right to vote.

Sign the petition: Block the SAVE America Act

Under Trump’s restrictive bill, people can’t register to vote or update their registrations without a passport or original birth certificate — documents that 21 million people don’t have ready access to. Tens of millions of women who’ve changed their last names after marriage and may not have a passport or birth certificate with their current last name would face additional burdens. And every single voter would need to show a government-issued photo ID with an up-to-date address and current name before casting a ballot.³

The SAVE America Act is yet another Trump attempt to interfere in our free and fair elections. There is no mass “noncitizen” voting that justifies any of this. The 2020 election was not stolen. But Trump, Stephen Miller, and Pam Bondi are counting on enough Republicans and MAGA loyalists to get behind these myths so they can rig the midterms. Steve Bannon even wants to send ICE to “surround the polls” come November.⁴

The Senate must reject the worst voter suppression bill in modern history.

Reject the SAVE America Act now!

Sources:

1. The Associated Press, "House GOP pushes strict proof-of-citizenship requirement for voters ahead of midterm elections," February 11, 2026.
2. Democracy Docket, "New version of GOP suppression bill would impose nationwide proof of citizenship, photo ID requirements," February 7, 2026.
3. ACLU Press Release, "ACLU Condemns House Passage of SAVE America Act as Dangerous Assault on Democracy," February 11, 2026.
4. Democracy Docket, "White House ‘can’t guarantee’ ICE won’t be at polls," February 5, 2026.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

ONGOING WEEKLY LOCAL PROTESTS

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

TUESDAY EVENINGS

Intersection of Mt. Diablo Blvd. and Moraga Road

LAFAYETTE

5:00 - 6:00 PM

A PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATION FOR COMMUNITY BUILDING - THE WORK CONTINUES!

ADDING A WEEKLY FOOD DRIVE TO THE MIX!

Meet Local Activists, Bring your own signs or make one when you arrive.

AND A MESSAGE FROM THE ORGANIZERS OF THIS WEEKLY EVENT:

We are concerned with safety and have a monitor at each corner wearing an orange vest. They will help keep the crosswalks and sidewalks clear for pedestrians. If you have any questions or concerns, please let one of them or Gordon Lake, our main event organizer, know.  

Our mission statement and some norms for our group: .

Mission:

We are meeting to collectively defend democracy and support and protect the institutions which are vital to the wellbeing of all of us, and which are now under attack. Our goals are to meet every week to express our values and ideas, to promote solidarity and mutual support within our protest community, and to encourage other like-minded citizens to join us.

Norms:

We are non-violent in word and deed. We will follow all laws and act in ways that ensure personal safety. We will not block crosswalks or walkways.

We will not respond to those in cars or on the street who express different views. We will contact monitors in orange vests if we have questions or concerns.

LAMORINDA PEACE & JUSTICE GROUP

NEED INFORMATION ON FOOD DONATIONS?

Food collected at this protest will go to the

NEIGHBOR TO NEIGHBOR FOOD PANTRY

CLICK HERE FOR SUGGESTIONS

WE THE PEOPLE PROTESTS

taking place on various days

WALNUT CREEK, LAFAYETTE,

MARTINEZ and OAKLAND!

CHECK THE SCHEDULE HERE

Organized by Indivisible ReSisters Contra Costa!

Join us for a rousing honk and wave visibility action.

Bring your signs and raise your voice for democracy and to protect our rights!

This is a nonviolent event. Stay within your rights, don’t break laws, stay safe, stay peaceful, and avoid any risk you don’t feel comfortable with. Don’t obstruct traffic, impede pedestrians, or commit any acts of property damage.

If counter-protestors appear, do your best to ignore them. When people shout from cars, just remember that we are standing for their rights, too. They just don't know it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

ADDITIONAL ONLINE SOURCES FOR ACTIONS and INFORMATION ON PALESTINE/GAZA and other MILITARY ACTIONS WORLDWIDE

ACTIONS TO TAKE!

Continue contacting Congress to

demand they pass these resolutions: 

Block the Bombs – Support H.R. 3565

Call on your member of Congress to support the

Block the Bombs Act (H.R. 3565), introduced by

Rep. Delia Ramirez, to stop U.S. weapons transfers to Israel.

https://actionnetwork.org/letters/block-the-bombs-act

RECENTLY RELEASED!

2026 edition of Mapping Militarism

24 interactive maps to highlight

the state of war and peace on our planet.

Each map allows the viewer to spin the globe,

zoom in and out, scroll the timeline back through the years,

or switch from map view to list view. 

TRY IT HERE!

World BEYOND War has

a DIVESTMENT campaign!

About the Campaign

Grassroots-led war divestment campaigns are springing up all over the world, from students organizing to divest university endowments, to municipalities and states coming together to divest public pension funds. Divestment means organizing to remove public and private assets from weapons manufacturers, military contractors, and war profiteers.

Public pension and retirement funds especially are often invested, directly and indirectly, in weapons companies. Teachers and other public servants whose interests lie with promoting human needs have their retirement security tied up with maintaining or enlarging the war industry. Every dollar currently invested in weapons and war is a dollar that could be better spent on job creation, education, housing, healthcare, food security, and so much more.

War profiteering is largely normalized today. We’re working to stigmatize the war machine. World BEYOND War assists divestment campaigns led by our chapters, affiliates, other coalitions, and individuals around the world.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN HERE

This website provides comprehensive information including events & campaigns

CHECK HERE FOR LINKS TO REACH OUT TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVES!

Includes a frequently updated

calendar of local events

Peace work in the Quaker tradition

American Friends Service Committee

BOYCOTT

DIVESTMENT and SANCTIONS!

CHECK OUT THIS HANDY APP!