Largest Movement of Nonviolence the world has ever seen, LED by WOMEN

December 27, 2017

Subject: A New Global Peace Movement – the Largest Movement of Nonviolence Ever Seen

with WOMEN LEADING the WAY!

Namaste, Salam, Shalom, Peace, Pyeongwha (Korean).

I am very honored and privileged to have been working on a plan to promote women as the leaders of a global peace movement for the past 15 years. It all began after September 11, 2001.

Before September 11th, I had been writing a book about my elderly parents Alzheimer’s, and caretaking. It was boring. To enhance the story line, I attempted to spice it up by adding international intrigue. The main character would become motivated by all that she had learned from the sacrifice of caretaking and become dedicated to working with women in the women’s peace movement. Interestingly, I had no experience working in a peace movement, but was motivated because the ending of the plot was apparent to me. The women’s movement had strength! I kept writing to get to the end.

When September 11th occurred, my focus became clear because of a few elements. There

was a lot of introspection evident throughout the U.S. after September 11th. A friend stated to me that the way to find peace in the world is to first find peace within yourself. I knew she was right. Spirituality became a unifying quality. The questions I was asking myself were, what are the basic common denominators -- what are the commonalities between people and society? The answers I found were family and children. All societies want to procreate, raise children, and protect the family for the next generation. I realized, if societies were focused on the needs of the children, there could be peace. All my research pointed to women, the caretakers of family and society, to lead the way.

I believe women have the power to create peace at their fingertips. The initiatives One Billion Rising, Women Cross the DMZ, the Women’s March on Washington, the marches on Jerusalem, the #MeToo movement, plus many other initiatives have set the stage!

The time has come for women to rise-up and unite as the PEACEMAKERS to begin a new global peace movement – A Global Movement of Nonviolence, For the Children (GMofNV), LED by WOMEN! I found nonviolence and the children to be the uniting elements.

I am proud to announce a GMofNV is one step away from beginning and it is designed to begin immediately.

The world needs women now! Without a peace movement, the environmental movement will fail. Without women rising as the peacemakers to enlist the people ordinarily not involved, there will be no peace in Israel or anywhere. Without nonviolence as the goal, there will be no peace! Women can do it! The patriarchal world is part of the economic, military, corporate obstacle (I call a “Behemoth”) to change. Here comes women and nonviolence to change the consciousness of the world. This is the moment women have been waiting for!

My inspiration comes from women’s actions:

Please see the article about Women Wage Peace. Look what the women are saying!

“We are not stopping until there is an agreement.”

“ENOUGH is ENOUGH.Before more blood is shed in the streets and before more mothers lose their beloved children… we will not be silent. We will be louder than the sounds of weapons and sirens… Violence will only bring more violence and suffering for all sides.

“ENOUGH is ENOUGH.We call upon the leaders of Israel and Palestine to sit down together and work towards a just peace.

“ENOUGH is ENOUGH.We, the women, will stand against any act of violence from any side. We will march to reclaim our lives. We will take to the streets to prevent this madness. We, the women, will fight for the security, wellbeing, and the future of our children. ENOUGH is ENOUGH!”

What would happen if women, and men, support these words globally?

The people in every city and community can participate in promoting nonviolence while at the same time leaders can be demanding NO WAR on a global scale.

WOMEN are already organized as evidenced by CODEPINK and the Women Say No to War campaign and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and the Women’s Power to Stop War campaign (watch the continuous videos).

I envision a GMofNV to be implemented by a new initiative to “Reach into Every Household” to enlist women everywhere. Non-governmental women leaders will issue a CALL to WOMEN, a World-Wide Unity Campaign to promote a GMofNV. Women leaders will ask women to be the “first” to rise up and promote a new narrative of committing to nonviolence and committing to working together for humanity – helping others. It is not just for women, it is for everyone, as the Civil Rights movement in the U.S. was for everyone.

Grassroots orgs and initiatives are everywhere and therefore an objective of a GMofNV is to BECOME as LARGE as POSSIBLE! A GMofNV is designed to unite the people in every country and all the religions, movements, mayors and community leaders in every village, town, and city!

The focus must be on nonviolence to defuse the crisis or nothing will change! It will not be easy and will require nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience. I believe the movement must be called a movement of nonviolence so people know what the main goal is and to relate it to Gandhi and King who had movements of nonviolence! A main objective of a GMofNV is for the people in every country to attain POLITICAL CLOUT to influence THEIR OWN GOVERNMENT to RENOUNCE WAR.

I have networked with women leaders from around the world (see list below), as well as peace activists, leaders of humanitarian efforts, etc. planting the seeds. The seeds are ready to sprout!

I live in Boston where there is a plethora of women leaders and right from the start I had initial success communicating with Dr. Helen Caldicott and having her indicate interest. Immediately afterward, Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, chair of Global Peace Initiative of Women, stated if Dr. Caldicott is involved, I am involved, which proved my theory – women will follow other women. To my good fortune, Howard Zinn, author and activist, and Elise Boulding, author and activist (both now deceased) lived close to me and had become friends and confidantes.

My pathway became specific. I would dedicate myself to facilitating women being the catalyst for bringing the peace movement into the mainstream of politics. The attempt had to be proactive and bold. It needed to have leaders. It needed to have women leaders. One person couldn’t do it, but many influential “women” leaders could do it!

The intricacies are complex, but there is simplicity in setting the movement in motion. The key is to get it started. All the leaders have to do is announce it, as the Women’s March on Washington was announced and within two months, women rallied around the world. A GMofNV is a three year segment of a 10 to 30 year plan. It will not solve all of our problems and there will be risks. It is all about direction to influence others that are not in the choir and set a precedent for the future.

The door is open and we must act now. The sages throughout history lived and died to teach us that nonviolence works! When women rise up as the peacemakers and promote nonviolence, it will affect all women’s issues! The children are watching.

Peace and Love,

Andre Sheldon

Director, Global Strategy of Nonviolence, For the Children

Website: www.GlobalStrategyofNonviolence.org

P.S. I am a man, a person, 67 years old, who believes society can change from a male-dominated society to a partnership society (cultural transformation theory from the Chalice and the Blade by Riane Eisler) and am dedicated to help bring it to fruition. The video was made in 2013, before th Women's March, etc.

Gila Svirsky - Co-founder of Coalition for Women for Peace and Women in Black

“I completely agree with your vision and overall approach – to mobilize women to lead the way to peace. This has been core to our peace activism in Israel for almost 20 years.”

Louise Diamond - Author, Activist –“Thanks for sending the information on your wonderful project. The children are indeed a unifying force, and women are indeed the active agents of a most great peace. Your GSofNV/Call to Women can enliven the spirit of peace that we so desperately need on the planet in these days.”

Marianne Williamson – Author, Activist, and Spiritual Leader: “What you have created is so remarkably relevant to everything that's going on in the world. I join with you in hoping that the women of the world unite, and unite in time, to lead humanity back to its heart.

FEDERICO MAYOR, Director General of UNESCO “The world needs a peace movement now! Yes, right now. Otherwise, it can be too late. We are facing challenges that are potentially irreversible and therefore humanity can reach points of no return. I fully support your initiative.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peAf3dNExyY&t=64s