By Sebastian Miscenich
July 17, 2026

Chicago — From July 11-12, the Anti-War Action Network (AWAN) held its second national conference in Chicago. Reflecting AWAN’s growth of 11 more committees since its founding conference in 2025, over 250 participants gathered from more than 24 local antiwar groups from across the U.S.

As a grassroots, nationwide network, AWAN unites antiwar, pro-Palestine and student groups from across the country. The network’s growth follows a year of victorious campaigns led by AWAN affiliates and coordinated days of action responding to Trump’s aggression against Iran, Venezuela and Cuba.

Among these victories, New Orleans Stop Helping Israel’s Ports (NOSHIP) led a successful campaign to kick Chevron out of the city’s French Quarter Fest, and Palantir’s corporate headquarters was forced out of Colorado after a sustained campaign by Denver Anti-War Action.

The two-day conference reflected the geographic scale of AWAN’s growth, with speakers and panelists from cities including Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Jacksonville, Florida, Minneapolis, New Orleans,  and San Jose, California.

Attendees benefited from the collective experience of AWAN through nine volunteer-run workshops on topics like “Lessons in Campaign Building,” “How to be in Coalitions and Build your Work,” “Design Matters: Using graphic design and zines to build the antiwar movement” and “Media Relations 101: Strategies, tools, and tips for organizing.”

The conference’s opening panelists included Hatem Abudayyeh, the national chair of U.S. Palestine Community Network (USPCN); Steve Ellner, an advisory board member of the Science & Society journal and associate managing editor of Latin American Perspectives; Chrisley Carpio of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression; Sara Flounders, coordinator of the International Action Center (IAC); and Meredith Aby, a key AWAN leader, director of Women Against Military Madness and co-founder of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee.

Speaking of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement against Israel, Abudayyeh said, “Divestment victories are happening everywhere, including the recent one in Michigan and the one led by USPCN and AWC right here in Illinois, when the Illinois State Board of Investments divested more than $33 million from corporations profiting off war, genocide and ICE raids.”

In her opening remarks, Aby said, “The Anti-War Action Network’s guiding objective as an organization is building a broad movement opposed to the greatest cause of injustice in the world today, which is the United States and its destructive wars, sanctions and interventions.” Aby reported that AWAN remains on a trajectory of growth, boasting 28 member organizations and many other groups are planning to affiliate after the conference.

Flounders of the IAC told conference attendees: “We have more in common with the oppressed of the world than with the warmongers. The enemy is at home.”

The conference received greetings from BAYAN USA, a progressive, anti-imperialist alliance of grassroots Filipino organizations across the United States, and Nodutdol, an organization of Koreans organizing for social justice, Korea’s reunification and an end to U.S. imperialism.

On the second day of the conference, AWAN elected an expanded steering committee to reflect its nationwide reach and passed 12 resolutions, which are available on its website.

If your organization would like to learn more about AWAN or join and participate in national calls to action, go to www.antiwaractionnetwork.org.