Our hearts and prayers go out in compassion to the victims and their families who have suffered so greatly from the unspeakable acts of brutality committed on September 11, 2001.

We share the shock, anger, and grief of so many people in the U.S. and around the world and call for a response that is prompt, just, and effective.

We foresee that a military response would not end the terror. Rather, it would spark a cycle of escalating violence, the loss of innocent lives, and new acts of terrorism. As citizens of this great nation, we support the efforts being made to find those behind the acts of terror. Bringing them to justice under the rule of law - not military action - is the way to end the violence.

We note that although the terrorist acts of September 11 were aimed at the United States, citizens of over 40 nations are counted among the victims. The carnage of terrorism knows no borders. Our best chance for preventing such devastating acts of terror is to act decisively and cooperatively as part of a community of nations within the framework of international law to root out terrorism and work for justice at home and abroad.

We affirm that the United States is a nation of laws, rooted in fundamental American values of democracy, justice, human rights, and respect for life. The laws that protect our civil liberties and freedoms in the United States are part of what define us as a nation. They must not be abridged; to do so would offer victory to those who wrought these vengeful acts.

Initiated by:

• Harry Belafonte, activist/entertainer
• John Cavanagh, executive director, Institute for Policy Studies
• Danny Glover, activist/actor
• David Korten, president, People-Centered Development Forum
• Frances Korten, executive director, Positive Futures Network
• Sarah van Gelder, executive editor, YES! magazine

Signatories as of 12:30 pm September 21; organizational affiliations for identification only

• Sharif Abdullah, Director, Commonway Institute
• Patch Adams, MD, Gesundheit Institute
• Gar Alperovitz, President, National Center for Economic and Security Alternatives, and Lionel Bauman Professor of Political Economy, University of Maryland
• Ray C. Anderson, Chairman and CEO, Interface, Inc.
• Carl Anthony, Ford Foundation
• Naseer Aruri, professor emeritus University of Massachusetts, and President Trans-Arab Research Institute
• Ziad Asali, MD, Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee
• Kenny Ausubel, Founder, Bioneers
• Zenobia Barley, Executive Director, Center for Ecoliteracy
• Harriet Barlow, Director, Blue Mountain Center
• Tom Barry, Interhemispheric Resource Center, Co-Director, Foreign Policy In Focus
• Peter Barnes, Writer
• Harry Belafonte, entertainer and activist
• Medea Benjamin, Founding Director, Global Exchange
• Peter Berryman, Cornbelt Records, Recording Artist
• Grace Boggs, Boggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership
• David Bollier, Whole Earth
• Christie Brinkley
• Frank A. Butler, retired President, Eastman Gelatine Corp., a Kodak subsidiary
• Helen Caldicott MD, Founding President, Physicians of Social Responsibility
• Nancy Carstedt, President and CEO, Chicago Children’s Choir
• John Cavanagh, Director, Institute for Policy Studies
• Michael Christ, Executive Director, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (1985 Nobel Peace Prize Recipient)
• Ben Cohen, Co-Founder, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream
• Terry Collingsworth, Executive Director, International Labor Rights Fund
• Paul S. Collins, author, Banvard's Folly
• Peter H. Cook, Chairman, Star Foundation
• Anthony Cortese, Sc.D., President, Second Nature, Inc.
• Robert Costanza, Professor, University of Maryland
• Peter Coyote, actor and activist
• Casey Coates Danson, President, Global Possibilities
• James Cromwell, activist and actor, Founder, Hecel Oyakapi
• Claire Hope Cummings, Producer/Host, KPFA- FM, Berkeley
• Ossie Davis, entertainer and social activist
• Susan Davis, Chair, Grameen Foundation
• Walter J. Davis, Professor, San Francisco Theological Seminary
• Tanya Dawkins, founder, Inter-American Forum
• Ruby Dee, entertainer and social activist
• Marie Dennis, Director, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
• Hari Dillon, President, Vanguard Public Foundation
• Amy Domini, Managing Principal and Founder, Domini Social Investments
• Barbara Dudley, former Director, Greenpeace, USA
• Barbara Ehrenreich, Writer
• Mike Farrell, actor and producer
• Dr. Maureen A. Fay, O.P., President, University of Detroit Mercy
• Richard Foos, President, Rhino Records
• Isao Fujimoto, Professor, University of California, Davis
• Barbara and Russell Fuller, Coordinators, Interfaith Council for Peace & Justice, Michigan
• Meg Gage, Proteus Fund
• Jim Garrison, President, State of the World Forum
• Bernie Glassman, Co-Founder and President, Peacemaker Community
• Herbert P. Gleason, Lawyers Alliance for World Security
• Danny Glover, actor and activist
• Tom Goldtooth, Executive Director, Indigenous Environmental Network
• Sean Gonsalves, syndicated columnist
• Akuyoe Graham, actor
• Alisa Gravitz, Executive Director, Co-op America
• Jerry Greenfield, Co-Founder, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream
• Susan Gzesh, Director, Human Rights Program, University of Chicago
• John Harvey, National Coordinator, Grantmakers Without Borders
• Paul Hawken, author
• Randy Hayes, President, Rainforest Action Network
• Richard G. Heck, Jr., Professor, Harvard University
• Hazel Henderson, Calvert-Henderson Quality-of-Life Indicators
• Doug Henwood, Editor, Left Business Observer
• Anne Hess and Craig Kaplan
• Gary Hirshberg, President and CEO, Stonyfield Farm
• Nancy Hirshberg, Vice President, Stonyfield Farm
• Jeffrey Hollender, President, Seventh Generation
• Rev. Dr. Melvin Hoover, Director, Faith in Action, Unitarian Universalist Association
• Rick Ingrasci, MD
• Bernice Powell Jackson, Executive Minister, Justice and Witness Ministries, United Church of Christ
• Gary W. Janka, Executive Director, Peacemaker Community
• Rev. Robert Jeffrey, pastor, New Hope Baptist Church, Seattle
• Douglas Johnson, Executive Director, Center for Victims of Torture
• Jon Kabat-Zinn, author and Professor, UMass Medical School
• Don Kegley, Labor Chairman, Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and Environment'
• Marilyn King, former member, U.S. Olympic Team
• Bob Kinsey, Peace and Justice Task Force, Rocky Mountain Conference, United Church of Christ
• Steve Kirsch, Founder and Chairman, Steven and Michele Kirsch Foundation
• Frederick Kirschenmann, President, Kirschenmann Family Farms
• Michael Klare, Professor, Hampshire College
• Alan E. Kligerman, CEO, Akpharma Inc.
• Josh Knauer, Founder, GreenMarketplace.com
• David Korten, President, People-Centered Development Forum
• Frances Korten, Executive Director, Positive Futures Network
• A.V. Krebs, Corporate Agribusiness Research Project, Everett, Washington
• George Lakoff, Professor, University of California at Berkeley
• Dal Lamagna, Founder and President, Tweezerman Corporation
• Saul Landau, filmmaker and Professor, California Polytechnic University, Pomona
• Rabbi Michael Lerner, Editor, Tikkun Magazine
• Brenda Levin
• Mark Lichty, CEO, Bustin Industrial Products
• Catherine S. Manegold, Professor, Emory University
• Conrad Martin, Executive Director, Fund for Constitutional Government
• Fleet Maull, North American Director, Peacemaker Community, Executive Director, Prison Dharma Network, and President, National Prison Hospice Association
• Chris Moore, Co-Founder and CEO, LivePlanet
• Frances Moore Lappe, author, Diet for a Small Planet
• Nancy Lewis, Co-founder, Charlie’s Place
• Sally Light, Executive Director, Nevada Desert Experience
• Ambassador John McDonald, Chairman and CEO, Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy
• Anuradha Mittal, Executive Director, Food First
• John Mohawk, Associate Professor, University at Buffalo
• Robin Morgan, author and activist
• Michael S. Moushabeck, President and Publisher, Interlink Publishing
• Helena Norberg-Hodge, Director, International Society for Ecology and Culture
• Larry Olds, North American Alliance for Popular and Adult Education
• Molly Harriss Olson, Director, Eco Futures, former Executive Director, President’s Council on Sustainable Development
• Torie Osborn, Executive Director, Liberty Hill Foundation
• Rosa Parks, civil rights leader
• Richard Perl, President, Pacific Partners International Investments, Inc.
• Marc Pilisuk, University of California
• Gifford and Elizabeth Pinchot, Pinchot and Company
• Timothy R. Quigley, The New School
• Bonnie Raitt
• David Ranney, Professor, University of Illinois Chicago
• Marcus Raskin, Co-Founder, Institute for Policy Studies
• Michael Ratner, Vice-President, Center for Constitutional Rights
• Paul H. Ray and Sherry Ruth Anderson, Integral Partnerships
• Andrew Reding, Senior Fellow, World Policy Institute
• Mark Ritchie, President, Insitute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
• John Robbins, author, Diet for a New America
• Vicki Robin, President, New Road Map Foundation
• Belvie Rooks, Educator, “Hey, Listen Up!”
• Marshall Rosenberg, Director of Educational Services, Center for Nonviolent Communication
• Randy Rowland, Founder and Producer, Video Quarterly, Pepper Spray Productions
• Alan Sagner, past chairman, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
• Edward W. Said, Author and Professor, Columbia University
• David Salniker, Executive Director, Tides Center
• Juliet Schor, author and Professor, Boston College
• John Sellers, Director, The Ruckus Society
• Martin Sheen
• Doug Schuler, Director, Public Sphere Project, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, and Professor, Evergreen State College
• Nina Simons, Executive Director, Collective Heritage Institute
• Alice Slater, President, Global Resource Action Center for the Environment
• Ted Smith, Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition
• Marc Sommer, Executive Director, Mainstream Media Project
• Krishna Sondhi, Publisher, Kumarian Press, Inc
• John Stauber, author and activist
• Gloria Steinem
• Rt. Rev. William E. Swing, Episcopal Bishop of California and President, United Religious Initiative
• Woody Tasch, Chairman, Investors' Circle
• Betsy Taylor, Executive Director, Center for a New American Dream
• Chet Tchozewski, Global Greengrants Fund
• Ellen Thomas, Executive Director, Proposition One Committee
• Lori Ann Thrup, writer
• Nina Utne, Utne Reader, Chair and CEO
• Barbara L. Valocore, Presidnent, The Lifebridge Foundation
• Sarah van Gelder, Executive Editor, YES! magazine
• Heidi VanGenderen, Senior Associate, University of Colorado at Denver
• Rev. John H. Vaughn, Executive Director, Peace Development Fund
• Alice Walker, Pulitzer-prize winning author
• Lori M. Wallach, Director, Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch
• Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Director, The Shalom Center
• Cora Weiss, President, Hague Appeal for Peace
• June Zeitlin, Executive Director, Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO)