Category Archives: Europe

Russian Attitudes about the Conflict with Ukraine

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

A survey by the Levada Center

(Editor’s note: Although we cannot be certain that these polls are not controlled by the Russian government, the fact that prominent dissident Sergey Aleksashenko quotes the polls suggests that we should take them seriously.)

About half of the respondents follow the Ukrainian events. The level of support for the actions of the Russian armed forces remains high(74%). Most of the respondents believe that the “special military operation” is being carried out successfully. At the same time, the share of Russians advocating peace talks continues to grow (up to 57% in November). This opinion is more common among women, respondents who trust information from social networks and YouTube channels, who do not approve of V. Putin’s activities as president of the Russian Federation, as well as those who believe that the country is moving on the wrong path.

What is happening mainly causes respondents to be proud of Russia or alarm, fear and horror. One in four respondents (same as a year ago) donated clothes and belongings to refugees from Ukraine. At the same time, the share of respondents who collected money and things to help the participants of the “special military operation” increased to 40%.

The level of attention to Ukrainian events has not changed significantly in the last four months. So in November, 18% of respondents said that they were watching the events “very closely” and another 35% were watching them “quite closely”. 34% of respondents follow events without much attention, and 13% do not follow them at all. People aged 65 and older are following the events in Ukraine most closely (31% – very closely, 49% quite carefully).

The level of support for the actions of Russian troops in Ukraine has remained consistently high over the past year and a half of observations. The majority of respondents (74%) support the actions of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, 18% of respondents do not support them.

Older age groups are more likely to support the actions of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in Ukraine (89% among 65+ respondents); viewers (84%); those who believe that things in the country are going in the right direction (86%); those who approve of the activities of V. Putin as president (83%).

The level of support for the actions of Russian troops is lower among younger age groups (24% under the age of 24); viewers of YouTube channels (31%); those who believe that the country is moving on the wrong path (47%); those who disapprove of the actions of V. Putin as president of Russia (62%).

The share of Russians who believe that peace talks should be started repeated the highest figures for the entire observation period – just as in October 2022 (after the announcement of partial mobilization) 57% of respondents stated the need to start peace talks (24% definitely start peace talks, 33% – rather start peace talks). 36% of respondents are in favor of continuing military operations (21% – definitely continue military operations, 15% – rather continue military operations).

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Questions related to this article:
 
Can the peace movement help stop the war in the Ukraine?

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The opinion on the need to move to peace negotiations is more widespread among women (64%); youth (73% under the age of 24); villagers (59%); respondents who trust information from social networks (67%) and YouTube channels (68%); those who disapprove Activity V. Putin as President of the Russian Federation (79%) & those who believe that the country is moving on the wrong path (80%).

Men are more likely to believe that military operations should continue (48%) as well as those who trust information from television (42%); respondents 55 years and older (43%); those who approve of the president’s activities (41%); those who believe that things are going well in the country in the right direction (46%). Moscow stands out somewhat from other localities. Muscovites are less willing to move on to peaceful negotiations – only 43%, while in other localities about half of the respondents believe that it is necessary to start peace negotiations.

Over the past five months, the proportion of respondents who believe that the special operation is progressing successfully has continued to grow. In November of this year, 66% of respondents thought so (55% in June).

Those who trust the information from television (78%), those who believe that things in the country are going in the right direction (79%), those who approve of the activities of V. Putin (74%) are more likely to be confident that the special operation is going well.

Russia’s military actions in Ukraine mainly cause Russians to be proud of Russia (45%) or alarm, fear and horror (32%), these feelings have prevailed among respondents since the beginning of the conflict. Since September, the share of Russians feeling proud of Russia has increased – 45% (38% in September).

Pride in Russia is mainly felt by men (47%) and older people (52% aged 55 and older). Anxiety, fear and horror are experienced more often by women (42%) and younger Russians (43% under the age of 24).

One in four respondents gave clothes and belongings to refugees from Ukraine free of charge (as well as a year ago). At the same time, the share of respondents who collected money and things to help the participants of the special operation increased in November – 40% (+13% compared to December last year).

Despite the fact that Moscow residents are more likely to talk about supporting the special operation and the continuation of hostilities, over the past 12 months they have been less likely to donate money for generally useful purposes (22%) and collected money and things to help participants in the special operation (25%), compared with residents of other localities.

In general, one in three respondents has donated money to socially useful purposes in the last 12 months, and their share has been gradually increasing since March 2020.

METHODOLOGY

The all-Russian survey by the Levada Center was conducted November 23 – 29 2023, among a representative sample of all Russian urban and rural residents. The sample consisted of 1625 people aged 18 or older in 137 municipalities of 50 regions of the Russian Federation. The survey was conducted as a personal interview in respondents’ homes. The distribution of responses is given as a percentage of the total number of respondents.

The statistical error of these studies for a sample of 1600 people (with a probability of 0.95) does not exceed:
3.4% for indicators around 50%
2.9% for indicators around 25%/75%
2.0% for indicators around 10%/90%
1.5% for indicators around 5%/95%

Powerful Protest Against Racism Sweeps Germany

. TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

An article from Common Dreams ( licensed under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

Up to 300,000 people took to the rainy streets of Berlin, Germany on Saturday as nationwide protests against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Protests were also taking place in dozens of other cities such as Freiburg, Dresden, Hannover, and Mainz, a sign of growing alarm at growing support for the AfD.


Video of protest

Under the slogan “We are the Firewall” — a reference to the longstanding taboo against collaborating with the far right in German politics — protesters turned the space next to the Bundestag, or national parliament, into a sea of signs, flags, and umbrellas.

“All together against racism,” the crowd in Berlin shouted. Some held posters that said “Heart instead of hate” or “Racism is not an alternative.”

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Question related to this article:
 
Are we making progress against racism?

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The new wave of mobilization against Alternative for Germany (AfD) was ignited by a January report by investigative outlet Correctiv. It revealed that AfD members had discussed the expulsion of immigrants and “non-assimilated citizens” at a meeting with extremists.

The report sent shockwaves across Germany at a time when the AfD was soaring in opinion polls, months ahead of three major regional elections in eastern Germany where their support was strongest.

“We absolutely must not allow the stories that we experienced in 1930 or even back in the 1920s to happen again … We must do everything we can to prevent that,” said Jonas Schmidt, who came from the western port city of Bremen told the Associated Press. “That’s why I’m here.”

Kathrin Zauter, another protester, called the strong attendance “really encouraging.”

“This encourages everyone and shows that we are more — we are many,” she said.

Jakob Springfeld, the spokesman for the NGO Solidarity Network Saxony, said he was shocked that it had taken such a long time for mass demonstrations against the far-right, given the AfD had been successful in many smaller communities already. “But there’s a jolt now. And the fact that the jolt is coming provides hope, I believe.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz praised the protests, writing in a Saturday post on the social media platform X that citizens’ presence at the gatherings is “a strong sign for democracy and our constitution.”

“In small and big cities across the country, citizens are coming together to demonstrate against forgetting, against hate and incitement,” he added.

Wives of Russian soldiers descend on Putin campaign office to demand demobilisation

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from Novaya Gazeta

The wives of Russian men called up to fight in the war in Ukraine visited Vladimir Putin’s re-election campaign office in Moscow on Saturday (January 20) to demand the return of their husbands from the front line, independent news outlet SOTA reported.


frame from video in telegram social media

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Questions related to this article:
 
Can the peace movement help stop the war in the Ukraine?

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Upon arriving at the office, the women were reportedly met by members of a pro-Putin “Volunteer Squadron” and anti-extremism police.

In a heated exchange, footage of which was quickly made available by Russian Telegram channels, the women asked staffers when Putin would sign a demobilisation order that would allow their husbands to return home.

In response to their demands, one campaign staffer replied that demobilising the troops would “damage male dignity,” and that men should fight as if they were “warriors and God’s unique creations.”

The women, part of demobilisation campaign group The Way Home, were watched by around 10 police officers as they laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside the Kremlin before entering the Putin campaign’s election office nearby. One journalist covering the protest was detained but later released.

The gesture came in the wake of similar actions earlier this month, when around 15 women also laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and picketed government buildings around Moscow to demand the return of their husbands from the front.

The artists Mira Awad and Noa: voices for peace in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article from enPositivo

Amid the chaos and tragedy that has marked the conflict between Israel and Gaza, the voices of Israeli singer Noa (Ahinoam Nini) and Arab-Israeli singer Mira Awad stand out as passionate calls for peace and coexistence. Representing a rare alliance between two seemingly opposing cultures, these artists have shared the stage and messages of hope over the years, seeking an alternative path to perpetual suffering and destruction.

In a world marked by tragedy and mistrust, these two exceptional voices represent beacons of hope, reminding us that, even in the midst of conflict, there is room for dialogue, understanding and, above all, the possibility of a more peaceful future.

This week (December 20) Noa and Mira Awad join forces again in a concert with the Berlin Philharmonic, whose funds will go to the Israeli forum that represents the relatives of the hostages in Gaza and to two women’s organizations for peace, one Israeli and the other Palestinian.

The talented Israeli singer Noa, known for representing Israel at Eurovision in 2009 in a duet for peace with Mira Awad, has strongly expressed her rejection of war and her firm support for the two-state solution. In a recent interview, Noa commented on the devastating events of October 7 and the subsequent bombings in Gaza, reinforcing her belief in the urgent need to end the conflict in the Middle East.

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(Click here for the original Spanish version of this article.)

Question for this article:

Do the arts create a basis for a culture of peace?

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“I do not support the cult of death. We have to do everything possible to save and protect human life, whether Jewish, Israeli, Palestinian… all human life,” Noa emphasized. Her position in favor of a diplomatic solution backed by international intervention is clear: “I want international intervention tomorrow.”

Additionally, Ella Noa advocates for the release of all Israeli and Palestinian hostages as part of a possible plan to stop the violence. Highlighting the tragedy unfolding in Gaza, she calls for empathy and understanding of the suffering on both sides of the conflict.

For her part, Mira Awad, the first Arab to represent Israel in Eurovision alongside Noa, offers a unique vision as an artist and activist.

From her London home, Awad reflects on the horrors of October 7 and the subsequent escalation of violence in Gaza. “The alternative to peace is the hell we see now,” she states forcefully.

Awad highlights the pain that Gazans are going through and exposes the complexity of the conflict, underscoring her commitment to peace and the recognition of Palestinian rights. Although she recognizes the difficulties of dialogue in the midst of trauma, she advocates for mutual understanding and recognition.

Both artists, despite their differences, share a common vision: the importance of working tirelessly for peace.

The two-state solution, mutual respect and an end to violence remain the fundamental pillars of their joint message: “There has to be another way.”

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Artists Pledge to Boycott German Institutions Over Stifling of Pro-Palestine Speech

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION . .

An article from Hyperallergic

Hundreds of artists and cultural workers around the world signed a petition calling to boycott German cultural institutions in response to the nation’s “McCarthyist policies” targeting critics of Israel’s violence against Palestinians.

(Update January 23. In response, the Berlin Senate has now dropped the anti-semitism clause in their funding agreements.


One of the graphics accompanying the Strike Germany petition features the word “Strike” overlaid on an icon of German art history: “Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer” (“The Wanderer above the Sea of Fog”) (1818) by Romanticist Caspar David Friedrich. (image via Strike Germany)

Signed by over 650 people including artist Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Palestinian poet and activist Mohammed El-Kurd, and French writer Annie Ernaux, the anonymously authored “Strike Germany” petition questions the European nation’s adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, according to which “the targeting of the state of Israel” can be construed as a form of hostility toward the collective Jewish people. Since the German parliament’s 2019 resolution equating the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement with antisemitism, the persecution of pro-Palestine speech and symbols has had profound effects on the local heavily state-subsidized art world.

“As the genocidal campaign on Gaza continues — amounting to one of the deadliest assaults on a civilian population in our times — the German state has intensified the repression of its own Palestinian population and those who stand against Israel’s war crimes,” the petition reads. “Palestine solidarity protests are mislabeled as anti-Semitic and banned, activist spaces are raided by police, and violent arrests are frequent.”

Germany has stood by Israel nearly unconditionally since the October 7 Hamas offensive that killed at least 846 Israeli civilians, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the first Western leader to visit after the attack, declaring that the country had “every right to defend itself.” Since then, as Israel faces accusations of genocide at the United Nations’s top court and the death toll from its ongoing bombardment of Gaza tops 23,000, Germany’s position has shifted slightly but remained staunchly supportive.

Earlier this month, the Berlin Senate introduced a clause that would require recipients of public funds to sign a self-declaration against “any form of antisemitism” as defined by the IHRA. Over 5,600 Berlin-based cultural workers across artistic disciplines, including visual artists Jumana Manna and Jesse Darling, opposed the controversial proposal in a recent open letter; such laws, the missive says, “only serve to create an administrative basis for disinviting and canceling events with cultural workers who are critical of Israel.”

Paradoxically, Germany’s persecution of anti-Israel voices sometimes extends to members of the nation’s Jewish community. Last year, Hamburg’s first antisemitism commissioner publicly attacked South African artist and scholar Adam Broomberg, a vocal critic of Israel who is himself Jewish, because of the artist’s solidarity with the BDS movement.

After he was hired as a visiting professor at the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design this fall, the school’s rectorate told him he could no longer instruct students, according to Broomberg, who explained that he had reached a “verbal agreement” with the administration barring him from teaching, although he would remain on the school’s payroll through the end of his contract this spring.

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Questions related to this article:

Free flow of information, How is it important for a culture of peace?

Presenting the Palestinian side of the Middle East, Is it important for a culture of peace?

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“I think the real danger here is a closing down of academic thinking and critical thinking,” Broomerg said. “And it also puts a lot of the amazing colleagues I had there in very precarious positions, because if journalists and the Senate are going to be scouring people’s social media feeds or anything they’ve ever written, and if you see my situation as a test case, you can imagine that a lot of them feel very anxious.”

The professor was leading a seminar that centered Palestinian and Israeli experiences and histories and had planned a small student trip to Bethlehem and Hebron, although the excursion was canceled after the events of October 7. He claimed the school’s decision was due to pressure from the German government and right-wing press, which has mentioned Broomberg’s active anti-Zionist posts on social media.

A Karlsruhe University spokesperson told Hyperallergic it could not comment on the contractual details of its employees, adding that as a public university, it “must mediate between public interest and the protection of its members.” The spokesperson stated that when confronted with “controversial” social media posts from Broomberg, the school decided to “seek a conversation” with him, to involve the school’s Academic Senate, and to consult “external experts.”

“It really feels kind of McCarthyite,” Broomberg added, repeating the same phrase used in the Strike Germany petition.

Yamna El Atlassi, a Belgium-based Diversity and Inclusion consultant for the cultural sector who travels frequently to Germany, said she sees artists in the nation “facing a level of repression not seen in recent history.”

“I’ve always seen discrimination in play in the cultural sector in all Western countries, but the difference is that Germany was presenting itself as a champion of progressive thinking,” El Atlassi told Hyperallergic. “The dissonance between this attitude and what is really going on is important.”

She specifically cited the controversy surrounding Documenta 15, during which several participating artists in the summer 2022 exhibition faced accusations of antisemitism for their pro-Palestine stance. On October 9, Documenta’s leadership released a statement decrying the curatorial collective ruangrupa, which organized the 15th edition, for its “liking” of social media posts expressing sympathy with the Palestinian cause.

Dystopic episodes of institutions stifling pro-Palestine expressions are far from absent from the United States’s cultural spaces, where just this week, the news of Indiana University canceling an exhibition of 87-year-old Palestinian artist Samia Halaby’s works — reportedly over her vocal advocacy for her country — drew outrage. Meanwhile, faculty members there penned a letter this week decrying the school’s decision to suspend their colleague Abdulkader Sinno, a Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies professor, for his alleged involvement in organizing an event with the Palestine Solidarity Committee. The missive asserts that the school’s decision comes as American universities are being pressured to “curtail free speech over the Israel-Palestine conflict.”

But in Germany, whose crimes and burden of guilt against the Jewish people are inscribed permanently in its history, the attitude taken toward Jewish figures who question the Israeli state’s actions strikes many as especially chilling. The irony was felt a month ago when the Russian-American, Jewish writer Masha Gessen received a scaled-down version of Germany’s Hannah Arendt Prize, nearly revoked altogether after they penned a New Yorker article in which they compared the humanitarian crisis in Gaza to Nazi German ghettos.

“German post-reunification ‘remembrance culture’ (Erinnerungskultur) — the state campaign to address Germany’s genocide of the Jews — acts as a repressive dogma, reinvigorating the oppression that real ‘rememberance’ should work against,” the Strike Germany petition articulates.

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Guernica stands in solidarity with Gaza

. TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY . .

An article from the Peoples Dispatch (published under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license)

On Friday, December 8, thousands of people from the Basque city of Guernica hit the city center in a stunning display of solidarity with the people of Gaza who are facing Israel’s genocidal attacks. The thousands who assembled at the Pasialeku Market Place in Guernica formed a human mosaic depicting the Palestinian flag and part of Pablo Picasso’s famed anti-war painting, Guernica.


Frame from a video of the event. credit: Gotzon Aranburu / @GotzonAr via Spectee.

In the event organized by the Guernica-Palestine Citizens’ Initiative, citizens, trade unionists, artists, anti-fascist groups, anti-war groups, and activists from left-wing parties, including the United Left (IU), condemned the Israeli bombardment of Palestinian people. The city’s anti-aircraft siren sounded  for a minute, drawing parallels between Guernica’s enduring pain from the bombing it faced during the Spanish Civil War and the ongoing airstrikes faced by the people of  Gaza.

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Question related to this article:

Presenting the Palestinian side of the Middle East, Is it important for a culture of peace?

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Guernica is a historically significant city in the Basque region of Spain that was bombarded on April 26, 1937, during the Spanish Civil War by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italian air forces in support of their ally, the Spanish military general Francisco Franco. The infamous bombing of the city, which was a stronghold of the Republican forces, was one of the events that paved the way for the Fanco’s capture of northern Spain.

Hundreds of civilians were killed in the bombing which evoked widespread outrage across the world. Renowned artist Pablo Picasso’s landmark painting  ‘Guernica’ was in response to the brutal bombing. It is regarded as an exemplary anti-war painting in modern history.

In its statement on the Palestine solidarity event, the Guernica-Palestine Citizens’ Initiative insisted that the world and history must not accept a new Guernica and that “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people. The international community [must] share the suffering of the Palestinian people and stop the massacre.”

On December 10, on the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Basque Federation of the United Left (IU) stated  “What is happening in Gaza is a genocide contrary to ideals envisaged by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

As of December 12, over 18,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli bombardment in Gaza, and around 50,000 people have been wounded. More than 7,500 people are reportedly missing and more than 1.9 million people have been displaced by the relentless airstrikes.

(Thank you to Fatima Zédira for calling our attention to this event.)

Romania: 1982 Concert for Peace on Earth

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

Sent to CPNN from Elisaveta Nica

As a promoter of Culture of Peace and Friendship (COPF), I send you this video that presents a musical message of peace. I hope you would enjoy it.  


(Click on the image to watch the video)

Question for this article:

What place does music have in the peace movement?

This musical concert was organized in Bucharest, Romania in 1982 by a genius poet and great patriot Adrian Păunescu during comunism regime more than 35 years ago. His genuine enthusiasm and love for peace greatly expressed in the way how he conducted this concert with thousands of people chanting “Să fie pace în lume” (Let there be peace on earth) associated with moments of a dove play and Olympic flames stand as  symbols of hope and beauty of all Romanians. 

Through its message, this concert has a great contemporary significance for the world we live in.

Păunescu has passed away since 2010, but he left a great legacy to humanity: love for peace and living in peace.
 
In the last years of his life he lived in loneliness. I read that in his last poem, he wrote “not even GOD sits at table with me.”

I wept.

Message from Ukrainian pacifist Yurii Sheliazhenko

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

Text of Youtube video by Yurii Sheliazhenko

Dear friends, greetings from Kyiv. Air raid alerts, cold shelter in the nearest underground parking and tragic updates about new deaths are my daily life under martial law during the criminal Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Additionally to regular pains of war experienced by all relatively lucky citizens who managed to survive mass killing, life of a pacifist is full of additional hardships. I am talking not only about everyday nonviolent resistance to war and militarism in words and deeds, burden of responsibility for a better future depending on conscience and efforts of a few enthusiasts who dare to dream and work for a world without wars in a hostile environment.


Frame from video

More painful is that peace dreamers are repressed. Conscientious objectors are jailed. I am under house arrest and risk to be tried and jailed for up to five years for alleged justification of Russian aggression in antiwar statement which condemns it. My letter to President Zelensky was dangerous, they say, because nonviolent resistance is utopia and the army don’t like conscientious objection.

See, you can’t dream about peace, you must adopt utopian ideas of the propaganda of war to make all people soldiers and to wipe Russia out from the world map. You should also think that Putin just bluffed when he said these horrible things about nukes and why he would not need the world without Russia. You must want to defeat Russia, they call it “morale.”

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Questions related to this article:
 
Can the peace movement help stop the war in the Ukraine?

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And if you live in Russia, the same sort of immoral “morale” requires to kill Ukrainians, portrayed as Nazi, and defeat Ukraine. A picture with woman showing heart by hands from behind the bars in Saint Petersburg captured my imagination: Sasha Skochilenko said “When you imprison pacifists, you delay peace,” and she was jailed for 7 years.

More than a half million people were killed, but that don’t stopped Presidents Putin and Zelensky from announcements of more military recruitment to sacrifice more lives in endless, pointless and senseless war. No equivalence here, of course: aggressor must be held accountable and reasonable self-defense is right thing to do, though I would rather do it without violence.

When you respond violently to violence, suffering and destruction multiplies. People feel it and knew it, that’s why people vote by foot against the war when it is possible. More than a million of Russians escaped Putin’s tyranny, not to mention those who fled from his complicit dictator Lukashenko, and more than a half million of Ukrainian refugees hide in Europe from cruel conscription, from abduction of draftees on the streets.

Every person saved from the meat grinder of war is a triumph of life and a step towards peace. That’s why we need to support Object War Campaign aimed at providing protection and asylum to all those who risk to be repressed for  refusal to kill in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.

Right to refuse to kill is absolute, because human life and dignity is sacred. I wish the serfdom of conscription could be prohibited by international law, because without such an authoritarian tool it would be hard to wage long and monstrous wars.

Peace is human right, it demands care instead of hate towards others, and war is no excuse for violations of freedom of conscience. We should remember and advocate that on the eve of Human Rights Day. I congratulate you with this meaningful date coming, and I wish you peace and happiness.

Never give up your hopes and your efforts for the world where people will forget how to wage wars.

More Demonstrations for Palestine

. . HUMAN RIGHTS . .

It’s been a week now since we published photos of demonstrations in support of Palestine involving millions of people around the world. Since the Israeli genocide continues, so, too, the demonstrations continue. Here are some videos and photos.

Video: Pro-Palestinian Protesters fill London bridge on October 28


Video: Despite attacks by Israeli security forces, Protesters in Hebron on the West Bank waved Hamas and Fatah flags and changed for Qassam Brigades.

Thousands gathered at a rally in San Francisco, California to protest against Israeli attacks on Gaza and call the US to stop aiding Israel. [Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu]

Yemenis performed prayers and demonstrated in support of Gaza, Oct. 27, 2023. | Photo: X/ @QastalNewsEn

October 27: A large night demonstration is currently being held on Avenue Habib Bourguiba, in Tunis.

October 28: People wave Turkish and Palestinian flags as the Turkish president speaks during a rally in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, in Istanbul. [Handout/Turkish Presidency Press office via AFP]

Video: October 26, Chileans have been gathering in their thousands in the capital Santiago to raise money for Palestinians under siege in Gaza.

October 28: Thousands of demonstrators protested in Paris on Saturday in a banned march in “support of the Palestinian people”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, October 28: PAS’s pro-Palestine rally draws large crowd. About 5,000 attended the gathering outside the US embassy earlier today.

Australia: October 28, Thousands gathered outside the Victorian State Library in a show of solidarity with the two million civilians trapped in Gaza. NCA NewsWire / David Crosling Credit: News Corp Australia

Video: A huge crowd of protesters demonstrate on Avenida Paulista in Sao Paulo, Brazil this Sunday morning (October 29) in defense of Palestine.

People gather during a protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Baghdad, Iraq, October 28. REUTERS/Alaa al-Marjani

Video: October 27, Thousands of Jordanians marched in support of the Gaza Strip and demanded the cancellation of the peace agreement with Israel.

Demonstrators on Elielinaukio square by Helsinki’s Central Railway Station on 28 October. Image: Mikko Stig / Lehtikuva

Sri Lanka, October 26: A protest was staged in front of Fort Railway station today expressing solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, who have been under siege by the Israeli forces

Video: October 28, Protests in support of Palestine were held in Japan

Protesters wave Palestinian flags and hold signs as they take part in a demonstration in support of the Palestinian people, in Madrid on October 29, 2023 (JAVIER SORIANO / AFP)

Hundreds of protesters gathered in the Polish capital Warsaw’s Old Town Square on Sunday, October 29, in a show of solidarity with the Palestinian people and to strongly denounce Israel’s attacks on Gaza

People march over the Brooklyn Bridge as Pro-Palestinian protesters attend “Flood Brooklyn for Gaza” demonstration, as the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas continues, in New York, US, October 28. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs

Video Oct 28, 2023: A demonstration was held in Brussels, the capital of Belgium, in support of Palestinians.

Video: October 28, Stockholm saw one of the largest protests in modern history today, as thousands came out to support the people of Gaza.

The Bahraini Society Against Normalization with Zionist Enemy organized, in front of its headquarters on Friday, October 27, 2023, a vigil in solidarity and support for the Palestinian people under “A cry of anger” slogan.

Video: October 28, Now in Tel Aviv first protest against the war

Question related to this article:

Presenting the Palestinian side of the Middle East, Is it important for a culture of peace?

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Thousands of supporters of a religious party Jamat-e-Islami take part in a rally against the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and to show solidarity with Palestinian people, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Oct. 29, 2023.

October 27: More than 300 Muslims in Southern Thailand today participated in a Palestine solidarity gathering to support the Palestinians amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East that has claimed thousands of lives.

October 28: Indian Union Muslim League, a regional party in India’s Kerala state, organised a massive rally in Kozhikode (Calicut) city. Tens of thousands of people joined the rally with the message: ‘Save Palestine, save Humanity; end Israel’s attack on Gaza; free Palestine’. [Handout via Al Jazeera]

Video: October 27, Pro-Palestine supporters rally in Doha, Qatar, in solidarity with the Palestinian people, protesting Israeli genocides in Gaza.

Supporters of the Islamic Group in Lebanon and Hamas protest in solidarity with Palestini-ans in Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in front of the Al-Amin mosque in Beirut, Lebanon, on October 29, 2023. (Reuters)

Protesters shout slogans as they unfurl Palestinian flags during a rally supporting the Palestinian people, outside the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, Saturday, October 28, 2023. (AP)

October 28: Rally in support of Gaza fills downtown Toronto as Middle East violence continues

October 26: Hundreds of Iranians demonstrate in solidarity with Hamas and the Palestinians in Teheran

Video: Oct 28, A group gathered in front of the railway station in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and organised a demonstration in support of Palestine.

A view of a crowd gathered in Copenhagen on Saturday, October 28, to take part in a demonstration organized by Amnesty International Denmark, CARE Denmark and Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke. (Emil Nicolai Helms/Ritzau Scanpix/Reuters)

People take part in the national demonstration in Rome, Italy, on Saturday, October 28, in support of the Palestinian population and against the bombings in Gaza, as the conflict between Israel and the Hamas group continues, causing thousands of civilian casualties.

Video: October 29, Ordinary South Africans should not tire of making their voices heard against the human rights atrocities in the Middle East. That’s the message from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign that took to the streets in Cape Town.

October 28: Marchers gathering in Civic Square in Wellington, New Zealand. Photo: Re: News

October 29: Thousands take part in a protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and against normalisation with Israel, in Casablanca, Morocco. [Mosa’ab Elshamy/AP Photo]

Video: October 28, Thousands of people gathered in Dublin, the capital of Ireland, in a demonstration in support of Palestine.

October 29: People march towards the Israeli embassy shouting ‘stop bombing’ during a pro-Palestine protest in Athens, Greece. [Louisa Gouliamaki/Reuters]

Islamic followers and supporters of the Palestinian cause march in front of Seoul Central Masjid, the first mosque in South Korea, in the capital on Oct. 27, 2023, to express their objection to a ground assault in the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces. (Yonhap)

People rally in support of Palestinians in Geneva, Switzerland. [Martial Trezzini/EPA]

The Church of Norway and several organisations held a rally in front of the Norwegian Parliament, demanding an immediate stop to the killing of civilians in Gaza, in Oslo, Norway. [Frederik/NTB Ringnes via Reuters]

Participants walk during a demonstration in solidarity with people in Gaza, in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin, Germany. [Clemens Bilan/EPA]

Thousands in Caracas, Venezuela demonstrated in support of the Palestinian people, rejecting the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip on Friday, October 27.

2 October: 3rd World March for Peace and Nonviolence officially launched in the Spanish Congress of Deputies

. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION .

An article from Pressenza

The 3rd World March for Peace and Nonviolence was officially presented at the Congress of Deputies of Spain in Madrid on 2 October, International Day of Nonviolence, in the magnificent Ernest Lluch hall.


Presentation of the 3rd World March for Peace and Nonviolence. Congress of Deputies. 2 oct 2023 (Image by Pepi Muñoz and Juan Carlos Marín)

The event had a total attendance of about 100 people (most of them in person and others online), including some members of parliament and several representatives of related groups. María Victoria Caro Bernal, honorary president of the Association of Rhetoric and Eloquence of the Ateneo de Madrid, director of the International Festival of Poetry and Art Grito de mujer, who acted as master of ceremony, first read the communiqué sent by Federico Mayor Zaragoza, president of the Culture of Peace Function and former director of UNESCO, who had not been able to attend in person: “The time for confrontation, for force, is over… it is now time to act in favour of the peoples, we must stop being impassive spectators and become active citizens…”.

Rafael de la Rubia, promoter of the previous World Marches for Peace and Nonviolence and founder of the humanist association World Without Wars and Without Violence, reviewed the previous marches and commented on the main lines and the main circuit of the 3rd WM which will begin in a year’s time on the same date in Costa Rica. He emphasised the feat and the ethical value of developing a project of this magnitude without funding or sponsors of any kind.

Martine Sicard of MSG France then intervened to comment on how delicate it was going to be to specify the Africa route because of the current instability in several areas of the continent, but that we could count on the best of its people and its cultures to enhance initiatives already underway; this was completed with a video sent by N’diaga Diallo from Senegal.

It was then connected live to the Legislative Assembly in San José, Costa Rica, where Giovanny Blanco of World without Wars and without Violence and coordinator of the 3rd WM in Costa Rica, was presenting the March in front of an enthusiastic and committed audience to ensure its start from the University for Peace, a UN dependent university where there are students of 100 nationalities. They will walk more than 22 km to the Plaza de la Abolición del Ejercito in San José.

(Click here for a version of this article in Spanish)

Questions related to this article:

How effective are mass protest marches?

Carlos Umaña, co-president of IPPNW, the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, recalled the importance that the March can have in continuing to raise awareness of the danger of nuclear weapons, alluding to the current position of the atomic clock, and invited people to watch Pressenza’s documentary, The Beginning of the End of Nuclear Weapons, to encourage a paradigm shift regarding their use.

Marco Inglessis from Energia per i diritti umani intervened live from Rome-Italy, shared some projects already underway in Europe, in particular Italy, Spain, Portugal, Czech Republic, Greece, Slovenia, France and Austria, among others, as well as the campaign Mediterranean, sea of peace, and highlighted the importance of educational work and the participation of the new generations.

Lizett Vásquez from Mexico, commented on the Mesoamerican and North American route. She pointed out that it would pass through different countries: Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico and the USA, where activities had already taken place in previous marches. The aim is also to arrange an interview at the United Nations at the highest possible level.

Cecilia Flores from Chile gave a sketch of what could be the route of the March in its South American part and the important spiritual role that the Parks of Study and Reflection in the area could contribute to it. In general, it would enter through Argentina-Brazil and the two possible Atlantic and non-violent corridors are still to be defined, going up to Panama to finish on 5 January in Costa Rica.

The video of the intervention of Madathil Pradeepan from India was broadcast, claiming Gandhi’s legacy as a responsibility it to make his legacy his own once again and to involve the whole of Asia in this next march. The Asian route that will finally take place remains to be defined. New Zealand, Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Nepal, and India are the places through which previous marches have passed.

Jesús Arguedas, as spokesperson for MSGySV Spain, recalled that it was from Madrid that the first and second Marches were conceived and committed himself to promoting various initiatives at the Spanish level in both cultural and educational ambits, inviting everyone to make their own contribution.

Next, Rafael Egido Perez, sociologist, councillor for the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) and secretary of the association Cuidadores de personas called for respect for human rights, in particular those of the elderly, migrants and women.

At the end of the event, spokespersons from various groups were invited to briefly present their field of action and their commitment to causes such as the defence of women, migrants and the environment, all of which will, of course, have a place in the March. And there were also several poetic interventions in homage to Gandhi, since 2 October has been designated as the International Day of Nonviolence precisely because it is the anniversary of his birth.

You can watch the whole event on the Congress TV channel