https://www.democracynow.org/2023/10/23/headlines/protests_continue_to_demand_immediate_ceasefire_100_000_rally_for_palestinian_rights_in_london
#antiwar
Wrath: maybe it starts a war, but its powerful enough to stop one too
https://www.npr.org/2023/10/21/1207781842/london-pro-palestinian-protests-gaza
#antiwar #peaceactivist
October 19, 2023 marks the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the War Resisters League. We have an active WRL 100th History Committee working on a number of projects and we invite your participation.
#war #pacifist #pacifism #antiwar #peace #ProPeace #HumanRights
WRI executive statement on the escalation of violence in Israel-Palestine, October 2023
As full scale #war again returns to #Israel- #Palestine, we turn to the WRI founding statement, that “War is a crime against humanity. I am therefore determined not to support any kind of war, and to strive for the removal of all causes of war.”
War is sometimes fought with bombs and bullets. Sometimes it is fought by restricting access to the resources that allow people to meet their basic needs, and for humanity to flourish. As antimilitarists, we can and will always reject and condemn both the immediate, deliberate and organised violence that grabs headlines and shocks the world, and simultaneously recognise that the violence that has occurred in Israel-Palestine since Saturday 7th October is rooted in a decades long, asymmetrical, grinding conflict.
The Peace Pledge Union (PPU) described the plan as a threat to #civilian #democracy in the #UK.
The PPU pointed out that #troops have no authority to arrest #civilians under UK law. They said that no-one has any obligation to co-operate with the armed forces or obey instructions from them.
Their comments follow the news that the Ministry of Defence has offered #soldiers to support armed #police officers in the Metropolitan Police after a number of police officers withdraw from firearms roles.
The PPU described the proposal to deploy troops as a particularly alarming example of everyday #militarism. They added that the last 20 years have seen a rise in #military involvement in civilian life, through initiatives such as the introduction of Armed Forces Day, military covenants and sharply increased funding for cadet units while other youth services have been cut.
Symon Hill, Campaigns Manager of the Peace Pledge Union (PPU), said:
“Most British people do not want Britain to be the sort of country in which soldiers stand around on street corners brandishing guns. Deploying troops to carry out police functions is a threat to Britain’s traditions of democracy and civil liberty.
“No-one should feel obliged to obey instructions given by troops on the streets. We have our rights because our ancestors campaigned for them. We must not give up our freedoms by allowing ourselves to be subjected to military authority.
“The armed forces and their leaders are rarely held to account – even less so than the police. Certain police officers’ fears of accountability must not be used as an excuse for the armed forces to grab more power over civilian life.”
#pacifist #pacifists #pacifism #antiwar #antimilitarist #antimilitary #peace #propeace #HumanRights
Ninety years ago in 1933, the first white #poppies were created by members of the Co-operative Women's Guild. Many of these women had lost family and friends in the First World War. They were concerned about the way #RemembranceDay was going - its growing #militarisation and its detachment from a meaningful message of #peace. The Guild's General Secretary, Eleanor Barton, called for a renewal of "that 'Never Again' spirit that was strong in 1918, but seems to grow weaker as years go on".
Then as now, the white poppy stood for three vital principles:
• #Remembrance must include all #victims of #war, not only British #military #casualties, but also those excluded from mainstream commemorations - #civilians, #refugees, people of other nationalities, people affected by #conflict around the world today.
• We need to challenge militarism - both the militarisation of remembrance, and the war and militarism that leads to so much suffering.
• We must look forwards and work actively towards peace, even as we remember the past.
World Without War is a member of #War Resisters' International based in #SouthKorea, and is one of the most successful #pacifist and #antimilitarist movements in #Asia, taking action on issues such as the #arms trade, ending mandatory male #conscription and #activist #empowerment.
This year, WWW is celebrating its 20th anniversary by celebrating its achievements, reflecting on its challenges, and envisioning the coming years/decades. To mark this occasion, we interviewed front-line #activist Jungmin Choi. She has responded to our questions in consultation with the WWW team. Here, they have dived deep into their past, present and future, making this a valuable read for the #pacifists and antimilitarists actively resisting war and reducing its causes within the country and globally.
This interview, among other things, considers issues that are crucial for the Asia #Peace Network and the wider War Resisters' International to consider, if we want to build stronger movements to resist the arms trade, take action on climate crisis and #militarism, and promote activist emotional wellbeing. As we all know, the devastating effects of these issues transcend national borders.
Happy 20th birthday to World Without War!
Following the denial of political #asylum by the Lithuanian authorities for the #Belarusian #peacebuilder and #HumanRights defender Olga Karatch (Volha Karach), the international campaign #protection4olga has just been launched to demand #protection and asylum for the director of the organisation ‘Our House‘. She has been fighting for human rights in #Belarus for years, including the right to #ConscientiousObjection to #military service, and is therefore persecuted and faces capital punishment in her country of origin, where she has been labelled a ‘terrorist’ by the regime.
In Episode 190 of the #CounterVortex podcast, Bill #Weinberg discusses the cases of Azat #Miftakhov, Darya #Polyudova, Aleksandra #Skochilenko, Yelena #Milashina, Larysa #Schchyrakova, Maksym Butkevych and other Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian #anti-fascist activists imprisoned by the dictatorships of Vladimir #Putin and Alexander #Lukashenko. These courageous women and men recognize these twin allied regimes as now actually having crossed the line into fascism—despite the paradoxical fascist pseudo-anti-fascism of their propaganda. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon.
https://soundcloud.com/user-752167240/solidarity-with-imprisoned-anti-fascists-in-russia
#russia #belarus #ukraine #antiwar
https://progressive.org/magazine/sailing-the-seas-of-conscience-bradley/
#SailingforPeace #antiwar
https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/08/23/environmentalists-owe-an-enormous-debt-to-julian-assange/
The sacrifices #JulianAssange has made are profound, and his contribution to #ecological as well as #antiwar #movements is enormous. It is incumbent on all to demand an end to his #incarceration and #torment by the #US and #British governments.
#wikileaks #freeassange #environment #ecology #farmland #agriculture #gmo #monsanto #nogmos #health #freepress #freespeech #dropthecharges #weareallassange
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/aug/20/dmitry-muratov-russian-nobel-peace-prize-winner-who-wont-be-silenced-by-putin
#samizdat #undergroundnewspaper #antiwar
Stop The Arms Fair is a network of groups and individuals who have joined forces to put an end to DSEI and all UK arms fairs.
DSEI is one of the world’s biggest arms fairs. For one week every two years, in East London, arms companies display their weapons to buyers from around the world, including countries in conflict, authoritarian regimes and countries with serious human rights problems.
The UK government helps to organise this arms fair, invites these military buyers from around the world, and helps arms companies to make deals, at taxpayer expense.
This has to stop, and together we can stop it.
DSEI is planning to return in September 2023 and we are already working to stop it.
Monday 4 September 2023 - Friday 15 September 2023
https://www.codepink.org/clusterukraine
#ActionforPeace #peace #antiwar #Ukraine
The European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (EBCO), War Resisters’ International (WRI), the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) and Connection e.V. (Germany) strongly condemn the listing of the Russian Movement of Conscientious Objectors as “Foreign Agent” as of June 23rd 2023. This action is another blatant #HumanRights violation, a fundamentally discriminatory application of law that contradicts universally accepted human rights and #freedoms.
The Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation accuses the Movement of Conscientious Objectors of disseminating supposedly false information about the government's actions, decisions, and policies, in addition to opposing #Russia's #military actions in #Ukraine. For the current government of the #Russian Federation these allegations are sufficient to warrant the stigmatisation of the organisation.
The four organisations urge Russia to stop stigmatising human rights organisations and human rights defenders, and immediately and unconditionally release all those hundreds of soldiers and mobilised civilians who object to engage in the #war and are illegally detained and even ill-treated.
The right to #ConscientiousObjection to military service is inherent in the right to #freedom of thought, #conscience and religion, guaranteed under Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which is non-derogable even in a time of public emergency, as stated in Article 4(2) of ICCPR.
Conscientious objection is a tangible contribution to #peace; therefore, the protection of this human right is even more crucial in wartime.
#Turkey still does not recognize the right to #ConscientiousObjection. #ConscientiousObjectors are not only prosecuted and punished for #military conscientious objection or desertion, but also face many other rights violations and restrictions, including heavy fines, repeated prosecutions on the same charges, violations of their right to education, voting rights, and work, restrictions on their freedom of movement and the “civil deaths” of conscientious objectors.
https://invidious.lunar.icu/watch?v=-yiEdw-NB0o
#sabbysabs #rfkjr #robertfkennedyjr #antiwar #democrat #joebiden #primary #election #2024
