Kathy Kelly (USA)
➡️ Kathy Kelly – Peace Activist, Pacifist, and Voice in the Wild
Kathy Kelly is a prominent American peace activist committed to nonviolent protest and her work in war-torn regions.
Throughout her career, she has received numerous awards and recognitions for her tireless efforts in peace activism, bringing humanitarian aid to war-affected populations, and educating the public about the atrocities of war and peaceful alternatives. She is a recipient of the U.S. Peace Memorial Foundation Prize and has been nominated several times for the Nobel Peace Prize.
In attempts to silence further exposure of the atrocities and human costs of war, she has been arrested more than sixty times at home and abroad.
In 1996, she co-founded the organisation Voices in the Wilderness, a campaign to end the US and United Nations sanctions against Iraq. In direct violation of the sanctions, they sent over 70 delegations to Iraq to supply food and medicine to Iraqi citizens – Kathy joined on 26 of the trips.
They engaged in multiple negotiations with the Israeli Defense Forces and were the first outsiders to visit the Jenin refugee camp. Kathy went on to report her first-hand experiences of the heavy citizen toll after a recent attack at the camp. The organisation was fined $20,000 by the US Treasury in 2003 for exporting unspecified goods to Iraq, which it refused to pay.
Her work with Voices in the Wilderness led to a 3-month prison sentence, where her experiences formed much of the content for her book ‘Other Lands Have Dreams’. In this collection of essays, she shares her experiences in Iraq, the brutal story of the School of Americas. She also gives an account of life inside prison and the suffering that is endured by millions.
The organisation disbanded just two years later to be replaced with Voices for Creative Nonviolence, which challenged the US military and their warfare against Iraq and other places such as Afghanistan, Yemen, and Gaza. She visited many places to voice the experiences of Iraqi refugees, including Lebanon and Jordan.
During the 15 years of its operation Kathy occupied the offices of Senators, organised and took part in week-long vigils, entered military bases to protest drone attacks, demonstrated against torture at Guantanamo Bay, visited various warzones and refugee camps to document the deplorable conditions faced by ordinary people, interviewed aid workers, was part of the Freedom Flotilla II which sailed to Gaza from international waters in defiance of the Israeli naval blockade, visited 5 Russian cities to build activist connections opposing a new cold war, fasted for Yemen, took part in the Black Lives Matter demonstrations, and conducted multiple peace walks.
World Beyond War, Killer Drones & Merchants of Death
The Voices campaign ended in 2020, and Kathy refocused her work on campaigns with Ban Killer Drones (a campaign to end US drone warfare) and World Beyond War (a global nonviolent movement dedicated to ending war and establishing a just and sustainable peace) of which she is now president.
Most recently, in 2023, alongside fellow peace advocates Nick Mottern and Brad Wolf, she organised the Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal. It aims to hold US weapons manufacturers accountable for knowingly producing, selling, and making enormous profits from an industry which is responsible for the deaths of thousands in armed conflicts around the world.
The event has brought together some of the most well-known organisations in the peace movement, such as World Beyond War, Code Pink, Ban Killer Drones, PAX Christi USA, Veterans for Peace, and ourselves here at Better World Info – a much-needed step towards greater collaboration in the peace world.
Kathy Kelly is the author of the celebrated book "Other Lands Have Dreams: from Baghdad to Pekin Prison" and regularly contributes to excellent real news websites such as Democracy Now, Common Dreams, and Truthout. Her work has brought a human perspective to military policy discussions, filled with first-hand accounts, which challenge policymakers and leaders to think critically about the ethics, effectiveness, and costs of military intervention.
Kathy Kelly is a valued supporter of Better World Info, and we thank her for her tireless commitment to the peace movement and her ability to bring together like-minded peace advocates and organisations from around the world. Greater synergy brings greater strength to the enormous battle against war machines, weapons stockpiling, the arms trade, and rampant military funding.
➡️ Be sure to check out our comprehensive guides to peace and nonviolence, nuclear disarmament, conflict regions, and the military.
Author: Rachael Mellor, 10.01.25 licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0
For further reading on Kathy Kelly see below ⬇️
- @voiceinwild293341
- Facebook - Kathy Kelly293348
- Ban Killer Drones293345
- World Beyond War - President294661
- Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal449996
- Voices for Creative Nonviolence - VCNV8951
- Voices in the Wilderness (Archive)8952
- Voices in the Wilderness Records !296894
- Kathy Kelly Papers - Marquette University296895
- Library of Congress - Voices in the Wilderness: The Nonviolence Web296896
- YouTube - Kathy Kelly & Peace8958
- Kathy Kelly - Wikipedia8950
- World Beyond War293346
- Common Dreams8953
- DemocracyNow!8955
- CounterPunch8954
- Toward Freedom293370
- The Progressive Magazine293347
- Truth Out293360
- Peace News293344
- Guardian8959
- C-Span293367
- Sojourners293354
- Massachusetts Peace Action293351
- American Friends Service Committee8961
- Americans Who Tell the Truth - Kathy Kelly293342
- Podcast: Eyewitness Afghanistan: Kathy Kelly - AFSC293353
- Book: Other Lands Have Dreams: Letters From Pekin Prison 5/05296878
- Book (Chapter): Voices for Peace: War, Resistance and America’s Quest for Full-Spectrum Dominance - T.J. Coles 9/178956
- Book (Foreword): War No More: The Case for Abolition - David Swanson 9/13296879
- US policy towards Saudi Arabia ensures continued bloodshed, hunger, division and destabilisation - Peace News 01.10.23376417
- Blood Does Not Wash Away Blood - WBW 14.03.23441387
- Video: Kathy Kelly: War Is Never the Answer - A Webinar 4/22294668
- Podcast: Kathy Kelly and the courage for peace - World Beyond War 04/22293369
- UN Urged to Hold Israel Accountable for Horrifying War on Gaza - WBW 26.12.24449995
- Face 2 Face with Kathy Kelly - Pressenza 06.04.23341784
- Progressives Demand Congress Cut Military Support for War on Yemen - Truthout 25.03.22300652
- The People of Yemen Need Our Help, Too - Progressive 21.03.22297122
- Kathy Kelly: Six Lessons for Peacemaking and Stopping the Spread of Violence, Learned in Places like Afghanistan and Iraq - Preemptive Love 3/22293343
- The US Owes Afghanistan Reparations, Not Starvation 2/22297121
- Bearing witness in Afghanistan — a conversation with Kathy Kelly on ending war and listening to its victims - Waging Nonviolence 28.09.21293363
- Video: Peace Activist Kathy Kelly on Reparations for Afghanistan & What the U.S. Owes After Decades of War - DN 31.08.21296883
- Q & A with Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace Kathy Kelly on Afghanistan, US withdrawal & what’s next - Pax Christi USA 27.08.21293356
- Q & A with activist Kathy Kelly on Afghanistan, US withdrawal and what's next - NCR Online 26.08.21293350
- Interview: Peace Activists Kathy Kelly and Medea Benjamin Talk about Afghanistan and What Comes Next - Indypendent 18.08.21293355
- Making the Pandemic Worse - Progressive Magazine 3/20293365
- An Honorable Course in Iran: End Sanctions, Resume Dialogue - CD 6/19293368
- Video: Kathy Kelly: Trump Sides with Saudis & U.S. Defense Contractors While Yemeni Children Face Famine - DN 11/18296884
- Video: Kathy Kelly on Afghanistan: Destitution, Unemployment & Hunger Must Be Addressed to Achieve Peace - DN 6/18296885
- Video: Peace Activist Kathy Kelly: Yemenis Are Facing Twin Terrors of Aerial Bombings and Starvation - DN 4/17296886
- Peace activist Kathy Kelly heads to prison for protesting U.S. drone war - Peace & Justice Center 12/14293358
- Video: Peace Activist Kathy Kelly Heads to Prison for Protesting U.S. Drone War - DN 12/14296887
- Podcast: Marc Steiner Show 12/13293349
- Video: Kathy Kelly on Afghan Humanitarian Crisis, Civilian Casualties and Drone Warfare - DN 3/12296888
- Making Friends in High Places: Three American peace activists meet their young Afghani counterparts - Humanist 2/11296882
- Video: Peace Activist Kathy Kelly on the Secret US War in Pakistan - DN 6/10296889
- Video: Worse than an Earthquake: Peace Activist Kathy Kelly on the Destruction in Gaza - DN 1/09296890
- Marquette Acquires Voices in the Wilderness Records 4/078963
- Enduring Memories 5/068964
- The Peace Warrior 1/068965
- The Peace Warrior - Chicago Tribune 10/04 (Archive)296893
- 'I talked myself into pacifism' - Guardian 2/03296891
- The Hunger for Peace - Interview with Kathy Kelly 10/02 (Archive)8966
- Podcast: Kathy Kelly and the Courage for Peace - World Beyond War 3/02293352
- The Most Precious Gift - by Kathy Kelly 12/018968
- Kathy Kelly: "Time to Break Ranks" 12/018969
- A Passionate Voice in the Wilderness: Woman crusades for Iraqi people 8/01 (Archive)8970
- Iraq’s Torture by Sanctions — an interview with Kathy Kelly - Marxists 01/01293361
- American Friends Service Committee nominates Denis Halliday and Kathy Kelly for the Nobel Peace Prize 5/008971
- Wired Art from Wired Hearts - Faces of Reality 12/98 (Archive)8972
- Banning Child Sacrifice: A Difficult Choice? 3/98 (Archive)8973
- Does Killing Iraqis Get Easier? 19988974
- St. Francis Catholic Worker House of Hospitality (Chicago)296892
- Google Scholar - Kathy Kelly + nonviolence296880
- Google Scholar - Kathy Kelly + peace296881
- Google Images - Kathy Kelly + peace8975
- WikiTravel Chicago296877
- Wikipedia - Chicago296876
- BBC Weather Chicago296875
- Time & Date Chicago296874
- NONVIOLENCE
- IRAQ
- AFGHANISTAN
- Killer DRONES
- World Beyond War
- Merchants of Death
- RUSSIAN INVASION 2022
- ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR 2023
- ISRAEL - HR
- SHIPS for GAZA ! - Aid Flotilla
- GAZA SIEGE - a crime against humanity !
- Operation Cast Lead 12/08 - 1/09
- Yemen
- VEGETARIANS
- Kathy Kelly (USA)
- SANCTIONS & Humanitarian Crisis !
- Peace Tax = War Tax Resistance
- Gulf War 1990-1991
- School of the Americas
- David Swanson (USA)
- REAL Nobel Peace Prize
- Denis HALLIDAY (Ireland)
- Studs Terkel (USA)
- Daniel Berrigan
- Dorothy Day (USA)
- Martin Luther King (USA)
- CATHOLIC Church