Peace

Taking Nuclear Weapons To Court

May 14, 2014 David Krieger, www.wagingpeace.org Resist! Nuclear Weapons, Peace

Nuclear weapons remain the most urgent threat confronting humanity. So long as they exist, there is the very real chance they will be used by accident, miscalculation or design. These weapons threaten everyone and everything we love and treasure. They are fearsome destructive devices that kill indiscriminately and cause unnecessary suffering. No man, woman or child is safe from the fury of these weapons, now or in the future. Nor is any country safe from them, no matter how powerful or how much it threatens nuclear retaliation. Given the extreme dangers of nuclear weapons, we might ask: why isn’t more being done to eliminate them? There has been talk and promises, but little action by the nine nuclear-armed nations – United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea. All nine countries are modernizing their nuclear arsenals. One small Pacific nation, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, has decided to take legal action against the nine nuclear-armed countries, which are threatening our common future. As Tony de Brum, Foreign Minister of the Marshall Islands, points out, “The continued existence of nuclear weapons and the terrible risk they pose to the world threatens us all.”

New Short Film On Peace Mothers

May 14, 2014 LibHoffman, www.fambultokblog.org Educate! Peace, Women's Rights

The women of Sierra Leone suffered uniquely during the 11-year civil war, yet they are now leading the way to peace in their country. Calling themselves “Peace Mothers” their courageous example is inspiring others around the world and illuminating a new power for peace to celebrate this Mothers’ Day. To help celebrate this power for peace, Catalyst for Peace is thrilled to release a new 5-minute short film telling their story. In fact, our Mother’s Day celebration in America has its roots in peacemaking. After the horrors of our own Civil War, Julia Warde Howe (famous for writing The Battle Hymn of the Republic) called for a national Mothers’ Day of Peace in 1870. When you read her stirring Mother’s Day Proclamation and watch the Fambul Tok Peace Mothers proclaim their optimism for their families and their country, you will see how they speak to each other across generations and across borders. As Fambul Tok‘s program of community reconciliation was growing across the country, village women said that in addition to the truth-telling and reconciliation bonfire ceremonies, they also wanted some focused time to come together as women. Simply to come together. And the rest, they said, would take care of itself.

Costa Rican Lawyer Roberto Zamorra Crusades For The Right to Peace

May 8, 2014 Medea Benjamin, www.codepink.org Educate! Costa Rica, Peace, Wars and Militarism

Sometimes it just takes one person with a creative mind to shake up the entire legal system. In the case of Costa Rica, that person is Luis Roberto Zamorra Bolaños, who was just a law student when he challenged the legality of his government’s support for George Bush’s invasion of Iraq. He took the case all the way up to the Costa Rican Supreme Court—and won. Today a practicing lawyer, Zamorra at 33 still looks like a wiry college student. And he continues to think outside the box and find creative ways to use the courts to fuel his passion for peace and human rights. During my recent visit to Costa Rica, I got a chance to interview this maverick attorney about his past victories, and his brilliant new idea to seek compensation for Iraqis. Let’s start out recalling the key moment in Costa Rica’s pacifist history. That was 1948, when Costa Rican President Jose Figueras declared that the nation’s military would be abolished, a move that was ratified the following year by the Constituent Assembly.

Intelligence Veterans Call For Obama-Putin Summit

May 5, 2014 Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, www.commondreams.org Organize! Peace, Russia, Ukraine

The buck stops with you, Mr. President. If you want to stop a bloody civil war between east and west Ukraine and avert Russian military intervention in eastern Ukraine, you may be able to do so before the violence hurtles completely out of control. You need to take the initiative and do it now. We recommend that you publicly disavow any wish to incorporate Ukraine into NATO and that you make it clear to Moscow that you are prepared to meet personally with Russian President Vladimir Putin without delay to discuss ways to defuse the crisis and recognize the legitimate interests of the various parties. You are surely aware by now that some of your key advisers do not share the goal of heading off even more serious violence. Or, if they do, it is hard to understand why they are giving you such a one-sided picture of the genesis of and the culpability for what has become an almost inexorable slide toward still wider hostilities and untold human misery among Ukrainians. We believe you need to overrule those, like Secretary of State John Kerry, whose words and actions Kremlin leaders regard as aimed at giving Russia a bloody nose in its own backyard and – not incidentally – destroying the working relationship enjoyed earlier by you and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Veterans For Peace Urges Honesty, Caution Regarding Ukraine

May 1, 2014 Veterans For Peace, www.veteransforpeace.org Resist! Peace, Russia, Ukraine

The crisis in Ukraine is escalating to the point where a new Cold War threatens to become a hot war between nuclear-armed powers. How did we get here and what can we do to avoid war? In February of this year, the U.S. government supported the violent overthrow of the elected president of Ukraine, after he decided against entering into an exclusive economic and political agreement with the European Union. Hundreds of thousands of people in western Ukraine were in the streets calling for the president to step down, for a variety of reasons including corruption. But extreme right-wing nationalist militias led the mob violence that sent the president packing, and neo-fascist leaders now hold key positions in the U.S.-backed government in Kiev, including overseeing the military and police. Russia responded by facilitating the annexation of Crimea, historically part of Russia and home to its Black Sea naval fleet. The insertion of Russian troops into Crimea was a violation of international law, and thus the popular referendum on annexing to Russia can be called into question. But the massive participation in the referendum, with over 90% approving annexation to Russia, appears to accurately reflect the sentiment of the Crimean people, and was followed by widespread dancing in the streets. No Russian tanks. Crimea had been part of Ukraine only since 1954, when it was so ordered by Russian president Nikita Krushchev, without the consent of the people of Crimea.

Open Letter To President Obama: Time To Disarm

April 27, 2014 Jackie Cabasso, www.popularresistance.org Organize! Nuclear Weapons, Peace

Dear President Obama, During the closing session of the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague on March 25, 2014, you cited a number of concrete measures to secure highly-enriched uranium and plutonium and strengthen the nuclear nonproliferation regime that have been implemented as a result of the three Nuclear Security Summits, concluding: “So what’s been valuable about this summit is that it has not just been talk, it’s been action.” Would that you would apply the same standard to nuclear disarmament! On April 5, 2009 in Prague, you gave millions of people around the world new hope when you declared: “So today, I state clearly and with conviction America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.” Bolstered by that hope, over the past three years, there has been a new round of nuclear disarmament initiatives by governments not possessing nuclear weapons, both within and outside the United Nations.

Breakdown Of Israel/Palestine Peace Talks Might Be A Good Thing

April 26, 2014 Adam Horowitz, www.mondoweiss.net Educate! Israel, Palestine, Peace

Haaretz reports that John Kerry and the Obama administration are livid over Mahmoud Abbas’s move to reconcile with Hamas and Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to walk away from negotiations for the time being. While it’s not yet clear the talks will permanently break down, the trend is in that direction. Rather than view these events as a setback for a peaceful resolution in Israel/Palestine, there are several reasons why this turn of events should be understood as a positive step forward. This round of negotiations was doomed by continuing Israeli settlement expansion, indicating its lack of commitment to the process, and Israel’s refusal to abide by its agreement to release a fourth round of Palestinian prisoners. Still, the last nail in the coffin was the Palestinian reconciliation deal between Fatah and Hamas which led Israel to walk away from the talks completely even though the agreement only calls to begin discussions on forming a unity Palestinian government. There is still a long way go before Palestinian reconciliation is said to be complete, and although there are obvious reasons to be cynical about the deal the fact remains that without a unified Palestinian voice in negotiations there is no conceivable way they can be successful.

Jewish Voice For Peace Calls For Process That Recognizes Power

April 25, 2014 Jewish Voice For Peace, www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org Educate! Israel, Palestine, Peace

Israel’s sudden withdrawal from peace talks and its threat to punish the Palestinians for the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation agreement is a tactical move meant to deflect from the main cause of the failure of decades of peace talks —Israel’s ongoing settlement expansion and the entrenchment of the occupation, materially and diplomatically supported by the United States. Given decades of failed US-orchestrated peace talks that have deepened the hold of Israel’s occupation, Jewish Voice for Peace will be grateful for an official end to the current round of talks. They appear to be all but dead, and show virtually no promise of achieving a just agreement. We do believe a fair and lasting resolution will be possible one day when Israel and Palestine sit at a negotiating table with relatively equal power. But today is not that day.

Today: Join Global Day Of Listening

April 21, 2014 Staff, www.globaldaysoflistening.org Create! Peace, Wars and Militarism

Global Days of Listening is active listening to people around the globe conversing about each others paths of action toward a peaceful world. It is inspired by the Afghan Peace Volunteers who invite everyone to listen to the ordinary voices of those whose homeland is occupied with violence. The regularly scheduled Days of Listening are on the 21st of each month - from 6:30 - 10:30 pm Afghanistan time,planning calls by collaborators are on or about the 10th of the month - email us for info. Next GDoL: Monday April 21, 2014 (click to see the schedule) You can listen & type into the conversation on the livestream page, or listen to previous Days of Listening!

What’s Happening In Eastern Ukraine?

April 19, 2014 Dieter Duhm, www.terranovavoice.tamera.org Organize! Peace, Ukraine

The population rises up against the orders of its government in Kiev. They stop tanks and ask the soldiers that were sent there to lay down their arms. The soldiers hesitate, but then follow the peoples’ orders. They refuse to shoot at their own compatriots. Following this are moving scenes of fraternization in a nation that will not allow itself to be forced into war. The transitional government in Kiev declares the civil rights activists in east Ukraine to be terrorists. They do not see the possibility of exemplary peace that could take place here. Instead they send tanks into the cities in order to secure their power with military force. They cannot think differently. In the beginning, the soldiers obey until they arrive at the area of operations, where they do not meet terrorists, but an entire people that defend themselves against tanks driving through their landscape. They do not want war and they do not see why it should be fought. Yes, why actually? For long they have been lied to and betrayed by Kiev – now they can no longer trust the new government. They do not want to be occupied by Russia either – they want freedom and civil rights, and in fact many of them are closer to Russia than to the West. What does the West actually want? With which right does it claim the east Ukrainian regions?

Good Friday Anti-Drone Vigil To Be Held At Beale Air Force Base

April 15, 2014 Staff, www.popularresistance.org Resist! Drones, Peace, Protest

On April 18 at 3 p.m., Internationally recognized peace activist Kathy Kelly will join anti-drone demonstrators at the Schneider (Main) Gate of Beale Air Force Base at a Good Friday prayer service followed by nonviolent action. Organizers say that they are gathering at Beale, "in the shadow of killer drones, modern day equivalents of the cross, to pray, to act, and to build a community of peace." There have been frequent anti-drone demonstrations at Beale, home of the Global Hawk Drone, a surveillance drone that assists in finding targets for armed Predator and Reaper drones. The prayer service will include songs, prayer, Holy Communion, and reflections by Kathy Kelly. The following clergy will lead the service: The Reverend Dr. Gerald O. (Jerry) Pedersen, former U.S. Marine, present as part of the Honor Guard on the U.S.S. Missouri during the surrender of the Japanese at the end of World War II, retired Lutheran pastor, Sacramento, author of Unfinished Journey: From War to Peace, From Violence to Wholeness, member Veterans for Peace.

Plant Trees Not Bombs In Afghanistan

April 2, 2014 Afghan Peace Volunteers, www.ourjourneytosmile.com Create! Afghanistan, Peace, Wars and Militarism

Dear friends, on the 28th of March, 2014, at about 4 p.m., the Afghan Peace Volunteers heard a loud explosion nearby. For the rest of the evening and night, they anxiously waited for the sound of rocket fire and firing to stop. It was reported that a 10 year old girl, and the four assailants, were killed. We had been thinking about an appropriate response to the violence perpetrated by the Taliban, other militia, the Afghan government, and the U.S./NATO coalition of 50 countries. So, on the 31st of March 2014, in building alternatives and saying ‘no’ to all violence and all forms of war-making, a few of us went to an area near the place which was attacked, and there, we planted some trees.

79 Year Old Irish Protesters Interviewed On Day Of Her Release From Prison

March 27, 2014 Sabina Becker, www.sabinabecker.com Resist! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Peace, Protest

Irish peace activist Margaretta D’Arcy was recently released from prison. She’s 79, she has cancer and arthritis (from a broken neck!), and one would think someone in that condition would be more than happy to take to her rocker and never mind the wicked old world at all anymore. But one would be wrong. She’s more engaged with the world than ever, and if you want to know what it’s like when someone just up and tells death to go to hell, well…listen to her. She takes on everything from the CIA and its torture flights (out of Shannon Airport, which is why she was arrested), to gender discrimination and the crappy situation of the Mountjoy women’s prison. And she even finds time to give the interviewer a hand-knit teddy bear for his child.

On Afghan New Year, Wishes For Border-Free World

March 22, 2014 Hakim Young, www.popularresistance.org Create! Afghanistan, Peace

Salam from Afghanistan, where the Afghan New Year ( Nao Roz / New Day ) is on the 21st of March. Alas, peace is far away. We ask for your friendship and time in making a Skype or telephone connection with our Afghan family, the Afghan Peace Volunteers, on Nao Roz or in the next few weeks, to talk about their wishes for the new year, their joy in flying kites, and their hope to build a world free of human borders. Like people all over the world, the Afghan Peace Volunteers are so tired of war. We are therefore determined to build relationships to abolish war. This winter, we built those relationships through service to fellow Afghans, through the duvet project and the street kids program. We also believe that another immediate way for people to be a strong 99% is to get to know one another through arranging Skype or telephone connections across all borders.

Video: Women’s Peace Delegation to Gaza

March 8, 2014 Crystal Zevon, www.popularresistance.org Educate! Palestine, Peace, Wars and Militarism

Between March 3rd and March 5th, 2014, 100 women from many different countries headed for Gaza via Cairo, Egypt. Our mission was to express our support for the women of Gaza on International Women's Day, March 8th. We were 'armed' with solar lanters, chocolates, children's clothing and toys, microscopes for the hospital, laptops for students and a soaring spirit of solidarity for the women and children imprisoned on the Gaza Strip without access to basic necessities, health facilities, electricity.

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