A hush fell over the crowd at ArtRage Gallery as a piece of paper depicting the faces of children who died in a U.S. drone strike was presented. While the paper made its way around the room, anti-war activist Kathy Kelly described a funeral she attended for a young child in Israel.

“What (Kelly’s) good at, and what’s important, is to put a face on war and not have it just be this abstract thing that happens somewhere else,” said Syracuse Peace Council staffer Lee Cridland. “It’s good to remember that it’s really about people.”

The Syracuse Peace Council was founded in 1936 and is believed to be the oldest grassroots peace organization in the United States. They have a full-time staff of “one and a half,” Cridland said, as she is the only full-time staff member and is joined by one part-time staff member. One of their committees, Beyond War and Militarism, organized Kelly’s talk this Monday.

Kelly has lived in multiple countries impacted by United States’ militarism, including Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon. Throughout these experiences, she has been supported by the Syracuse Peace Council, and at some points joined by members in her activism work.

“Kathy Kelly is an example of the part of the peace movement that witnesses,” Cridland said. “You go and you see and you’re there and you live with the people who it’s happening to.”

Events like this that teach people about the effects of war are important for the Peace Council’s goals. Education is the necessary first step of protests and other types of activism, said Ayeh Hajjari, a part-time staffer at the Peace Council.

“We can talk statistics all we want, about how many people are dying because of these weapons,” Hajjari said. “But without hearing the stories, they won’t resonate with people as much.”

Hajjari hopes more students and young people will attend the Peace Council’s events.

“One of the things we’re trying to do is to attract younger people and draw connections,” Cridland said. “War affects the environment, and that affects the climate … everything’s connected.”

Besides the event with the Peace Council, Kelly attended gatherings with various peace activists and causes, including one at All Saints Church, this weekend. She said one of the main focuses of her visit is meetings about the Merchant of Death War Crimes Tribunal, which aims to legally prosecute weapon manufacturers that profit off of war.

During her presentation, Kelly projected several war-related works of art to emphasize her points to the audience. Her speech focused on anti-war beliefs, specifically related to the Russia-Ukraine war, and her opinions on the greater ramifications of war in the world.

One of her slides depicted an art installation done over fields in Pakistan. From a bird’s-eye view, the field was made to appear as a likeness of a little girl whose parents were killed in a U.S. drone strike. Kelly said that the pictures put audiences in touch with art that is not commonly seen.

“Using great works of art can be a really compelling way to help people join together in their empathy for the victims of war and their willingness to seriously question why we would want to continue to support this,” Kelly said.

Published on September 11, 2023 at 11:00 pm