All posts by CPNN Coordinator

About CPNN Coordinator

Dr David Adams is the coordinator of the Culture of Peace News Network. He retired in 2001 from UNESCO where he was the Director of the Unit for the International Year for the Culture of Peace, proclaimed for the Year 2000 by the United Nations General Assembly.

How can we be sure to get news about peace demonstrations?

It has been argued that over the past century the control of information, especially through the mass media, has become the most important characteristic of the culture of war. Why?

It is because there has been such an advance over the past century in democratic participation that the modern state is forced to justify its culture of war. Since people in general do not want war, the state and its military-industrial complex must convince them that military preparations are necessary in the face of external enemies. This is a major change from earlier history when the state was not subject to election by the people and it could pursue its policies regardless of their attitudes.

In fact, we see that the mass media in countries with the most powerful military forces, such as the United States, are pro-military and continually publish propaganda against external enemies and give priority to news about unavoidable violence and disaster. They do not give place to peace initiatives.

If the commercial mass media will not give us news about peace demonstrations, how can we be sure to get it?

The answer is in the alternative media like CPNN that do not rely on advertising and support from the military-industrial-financial complex.

Here are comments in this regard from a recent meeting during Independent Media Week, now in its 13th year in Oregon.

Citing the “unprecedented antagonism of the Trump administration to media,” Jeff Golden, producer of “Immense Possibilities” on Southern Oregon Public TV, said our challenges didn’t start Jan. 20, because, years ago, much of the media abandoned its role in public service and became driven by profit.

This trend greatly increases the need for independent media, he notes, and much of it can flower on the internet.

“We’d be in much deeper trouble than we are now if not for independent media.”

(Click here for earlier discussion on this question.)

Here are the CPNN articles on this subject:

Peace Wave 2024

Austrian Censorship of Peace Conference Is An Outrage

More examples available of Russian opposition to the war against Ukraine

March 17: The struggle for free flow of information about the Russian war against Ukraine

Russian anti-war movement takes shape on the streets – and on screens

Russian regulator censors Ukraine war coverage, reporters told to toe Kremlin line

Over a Million Mobilize for International Women’s Day in Latin America

United States: Who Is Clare Grady and Why Should We Care that She is in Federal Prison?

USA: Patriots for Peace fighting the good fight

Launch of the Second World March for Peace and Nonviolence

2nd Walk for the Culture of Peace in Cotia, Brazil, receives support from the World March for Peace and Nonviolence

The Americas are preparing for the second World March for Peace and Nonviolence

Peacecamp Steinwenden, Germany, 28 June

UK: Nationwide Public Meeting Tour: Stop Bombing Yemen, Stop Arming Saudi

Peace and disarmament on the streets of Germany

UK: Protests: Trump & May – No More Bombs on Syria, 13-16 April, Nationwide

Global Anti-war Protests Against US-led Aggression in Syria[

London: International Peace Congress April 7

United Kingdom: Thousands call for Britain’s nuclear deterrent Trident to be scrapped

Protest to Stop Western Intervention in Syria

International Conference: Confronting War Ten Years On

Thousands march in London for Gaza and freedom for Palestine

October 27 Anti-War Marches in US

Peace Rally in Helena, Montana “>

Demonstrations around the World

d-disarmament, d-information

How can poetry promote a culture of peace?

Dr. Ada Aharoni, the founder of IFLAC considers that through poetry, people from both sides of conflicts, might come to understand each other better, and that this understanding can lead to the promotion of peace, as she explains below:

THE POWER OF THE POEM AND PEACE THROUGH POETRY

“The real profound difference between human beings is their Culture: mainly, their Cultural Heritage, Literature, Poetry, Language, Values, Norms, Traditions and their History. In the case of people in long conflicts – like the Israelis and Palestinians – feelings of fear, mistrust and lack of understanding have been piling up in their hearts and minds over the years, on both sides.

Only a suitable vehicle that can reach and profoundly penetrate through those layers of mistrust, suspicion and fear, can overcome those separating boundaries and build bridges of trust and respect for each other’s humanity. The best vehicle for this delicate operation is the magic and healing of the Poem, with its words of comprehension, feelings, care and tenderness. The poem has the marvellous ability to create bridges of trust and love.

Peace Poetry can also impart the important and crucial message that we all belong to one family, the family of humanity, and that violence and terror only lead to chaos, destruction, sorrow and deep pain and misery on all sides.

In every conflict there are two stories. The Poem of Peace, because of its wonderful ability to present both sides in all its reality, pain, hope and yearning for peace – can lead to mutual recognition and reconciliation, and to the building of confidence, trust, respect and love.”

Here are the CPNN articles on this subject:
d-education

Hall’s poetry about more than ‘black history’

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article by Jeff Schwaner in The News Leader

“We all have poetry in us.” This is the first thing Neal Hall wants to be clear about. The renowned African American poet and medical doctor reads from his work at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18, in the Carter Center for Worship and Music at Bridgewater College.

While Hall is identified as an African-American poet, the demand for him to accept reading engagements is not limited to Black History Month. Hall has performed poetry readings throughout the United States and internationally in Canada, France, Indonesia, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Morocco, Nepal and India. He participated in Bridgewater College’s 2015 International Poetry Festival last January.


Photo: SUBMITTED / Steve Ladner

The Bridgewater reading is sandwiched between trips to India and Italy, both chock full of readings and public addresses.

In an email interview, Hall responded to questions of how being an African-American contributed to his evolution as a poet.

“What comes with the label of African-American or Black is this institutionalized, generational legacy of a trail of tears we are forced to walk. This trail and our tears make us uniquely sensitive to the suffering and exploitation of all men and women. It qualifies us and challenges us to stand up to be the true standard bearers and guardians of freedom for all,” Hall writes. “My poetry is influenced by and speaks not just to the surface pain of injustice and inhumanity, but digs deep into that pain, into the genteel socio-political-economic- religious constructs used to blur the common lines of cause that is our shared story. This shared story, the poetry reminds us, should unite us in our common struggle to be free.”

When asked if being identified as an African-American poet could be an obstacle to his expression, Hall responded, “If it is an identifier and/or identity, I did not create it to identify me nor to limit me. As such, one has to ask the larger question: Who created it for me and for what reasons?”

Across the work of four books, Hall’s poetic voice is insistent on his readers realizing their own will to be free, but also identifies the oppressor in its various institutional and cultural forms. “When you see that you are not free / you must say and do, to be free,” he writes in one of the poems from his first book. In the poems “White Man Asks Me” (“A white man asked me to / be less than a man so that he could / find a face-saving way out”) and “Dr. Nigga” (“…save my life / without  changing my life / when my white life codes blue”) Hall directly confronts and reveals the structure of racism.

For some of his readers this is difficult but necessary: “knowing that you are the cause and then the painful act of changing your behavior which has afforded and enriched you (relatively speaking) generating socio-economic advantages over your brothers and sisters.”

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Question for this article:

How can poetry promote a culture of peace?

Are we making progress against racism?

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Poetry is one way to face such formidable challenges. “We are the only obstacle getting in the way of our deeper expressions. I find my deepest expression in breathing air in and out deeply in the full realization of my connection, brotherhood and common humanity with all that exists. This connection, this brotherhood, our common humanity is seamless. It is the greed of man exploiting our fabricated man-made differences that has created seams in us, to divide us from our oneness. There is nothing complex nor complicated about man’s gluttony.”

Hall earned his undergraduate degree from Cornell University and an M.D. from Michigan State University. He received his surgical subspecialty training in ophthalmology at Harvard University’s Medical School and was in private practice for more than 20 years in Flourtown, Pa.

Hall is the author of four books of poetry, Nigger For Life, Winter’s A’ Coming Still, Appalling Silence and Where Do I Sit, that deal with oppression and exploitation in American society.

The poet’s charismatic reading style has captured international audiences that go far beyond what any label as an African-American poet might mean. I asked him about the connection. “I have learned from my travels that the oppressors, oppression and their methods are the same all over the world and thus those who suffer from them are connected,” Hall wrote. “The oppressed all understand that their oppression is based in large part on gluttony/greed. The need for a source of continuous cheap labor and to rob people of their substance, their lands and resources often under the guise of religion, democracy, freedom, education, tradition, culture and self-serving charity.”

Few poets read in public as often as Hall. And Hall recognized this activity as a watershed moment in his development as a poet. “There in real time with the poetry of your heart and mind flowing from your mouth, you see yourself touching, moving audiences’ hearts and minds to feel and live the poetry you’ve lived and are re-living in the readings before them. There in real time, I learned to live in my poetry as much as my poetry lives in me.”

I asked him how that speaks to the mysterious relationship between writer and poem and reader.

“It is no mystery. What people get from your poetry is not only what you give them, but also the life experiences they bring to your poetry. And the life experience they bring to your poem can illuminate the words and impact far more — or less — in them than in you or your intent.

So when readers respond in a very surprising manner to a poem, does it make him feel differently about the poem?

“No. The poem is my poem and my experience. I can only feel what I bring to it and it to me. On the other hand, I do feel honored and grateful that others bring their different life experiences into play when reading about and connecting with my life experiences through my poetry. We are, as I have said, seamless! Poetry can bear witness to erase the seams man creates in us.”

Hall writes in one of his poems, “We are socialized and emotionalized to see / our plight in black and white.”

No such adhering to stereotype in Hall’s work.

The program is free and open to the public.

 

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, global, North America,

Researchers Develop Artificial Photosynthesis System that Generates Both Hydrogen Fuel and Electricity

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by Dan McCue from the Renewable Energy Magazine

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP), a DOE Energy Innovation Hub, have come up with a new recipe for renewable fuels that could bypass the limitations in current materials: an artificial photosynthesis device called a “hybrid photoelectrochemical and voltaic (HPEV) cell” that turns sunlight and water into not just one, but two types of energy – hydrogen fuel and electricity. The paper describing this work was published on October 29 in Nature Materials.


Illustration: The HPEV cell’s extra back outlet would allow the current to be split into two, so that one part of the current contributes to solar fuels generation, and the rest can be extracted as electrical power. (Credit: Berkeley Lab, JCAP)

Most water-splitting devices are made of a stack of light-absorbing materials. Each layer absorbs different parts or “wavelengths” of the solar spectrum, ranging from less-energetic wavelengths of infrared light to more-energetic wavelengths of visible or ultraviolet light.

When each layer absorbs light it builds an electrical voltage. These individual voltages combine into one voltage large enough to split water into oxygen and hydrogen fuel. But according to Gideon Segev, a postdoctoral researcher at JCAP in Berkeley Lab’s Chemical Sciences Division and the study’s lead author, the problem with this configuration is that even though silicon solar cells can generate electricity very close to their limit, their high-performance potential is compromised when they are part of a water-splitting device.

“It’s like always running a car in first gear,” said Segev. “This is energy that you could harvest, but because silicon isn’t acting at its maximum power point, most of the excited electrons in the silicon have nowhere to go, so they lose their energy before they are utilized to do useful work.”

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Question for this article:

How can we ensure that science contributes to peace and sustainable development?

Are we making progress in renewable energy?

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So Segev and his co-authors – Jeffrey W. Beeman, a JCAP researcher in Berkeley Lab’s Chemical Sciences Division, and former Berkeley Lab and JCAP researchers Jeffery Greenblatt, who now heads the Bay Area-based technology consultancy Emerging Futures LLC, and Ian Sharp, now a professor of experimental semiconductor physics at the Technical University of Munich in Germany – proposed a surprisingly simple solution to a complex problem.

“We thought, ‘What if we just let the electrons out?’” said Segev.

In water-splitting devices, the front surface is usually dedicated to solar fuels production, and the back surface serves as an electrical outlet. To work around the conventional system’s limitations, they added an additional electrical contact to the silicon component’s back surface, resulting in an HPEV device with two contacts in the back instead of just one. The extra back outlet would allow the current to be split into two, so that one part of the current contributes to solar fuels generation, and the rest can be extracted as electrical power.

After running a simulation to predict whether the HPEC would function as designed, they made a prototype to test their theory. “And to our surprise, it worked!” Segev said.

According to their calculations, a conventional solar hydrogen generator based on a combination of bismuth vanadate and silicon will utilize only 6.8 percent of the solar energy striking the cell and store it the form of hydrogen fuel. All the rest is lost.

In contrast, the HPEV cells harvest leftover electrons that do not contribute to fuel generation. These residual electrons are used to generate electrical power, resulting in a dramatic increase in the overall solar energy conversion efficiency. For example, according to the same calculations, the same 6.8 percent of the solar energy can be stored as hydrogen fuel in an HPEV cell made of bismuth vanadate and silicon, and another 13.4 percent of the solar energy can be converted to electricity. This enables a combined efficiency of 20.2 percent, three times better than conventional solar hydrogen cells.

The researchers plan to continue their collaboration so they can look into using the HPEV concept for other applications such as reducing carbon dioxide emissions. “This was truly a group effort where people with a lot of experience were able to contribute,” added Segev. “After a year and a half of working together on a pretty tedious process, it was great to see our experiments finally come together.”

The Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis is a DOE Energy Innovation Hub.

The work was supported by the DOE Office of Science.

North America, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

UNESCO proposes concrete projects to implement inter-Korean reconciliation

. .DISARMAMENT & SECURITY. .

An article from UNESCO

The Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, today met Moon Jae-in, President of the Republic of Korea, for the first time, and expressed the Organization’s determination to bolster cooperation with the Korean Peninsula.

“UNESCO wishes to commit its support to inter-Korean reconciliation through concrete projects,” declared the Director-General. “We can help restore the links between peoples through shared heritage, educational programmes and cooperation in natural resources management. Facilitating, even accelerating, the construction of durable peace in the Korean Peninsula through culture, education and the sciences is both the ambition and core mandate of UNESCO.”

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Question for this article:

Can Korea be reunified in peace?

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To that end, UNESCO intends to focus on projects that are at once concrete and symbolic. In her talk with the President of the Republic of Korea, the Director-General spoke of her will to reinforce cooperation in the three area of cultural heritage, education and science. These proposals will be discussed with the authorities of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

With regard to cultural heritage, discussions are expected to concern cooperation with a view to identifying shared nominations for inscription on the World Heritage List and on UNESCO’s lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Work will also be undertaken to publish a first dictionary of Korean etymology.

In education, UNESCO will lend its support to teachers by reinforcing global citizenship education. Educational programmes to be implemented across the Peninsula could also be developed.

Finally, Ms Azoulay and President Moon Jae-in also envisaged scientific cooperation with regard to water and environmental preservation. Discussions notably focused on initiatives that could be implemented to facilitate joint access, sharing and management of transboundary water resources, and the preservation of biodiversity and its sustainable use for the benefit of local communities.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, East Asia, United Nations,

UK Nationwide Public Meeting Tour: Stop Bombing Yemen, Stop Arming Saudi

. .DISARMAMENT & SECURITY. .

From the website of Stop the War Coalition

The Saudi regime is one of the most brutal and authoritarian anywhere in the world. Its ruler Mohammed Bin Salman is implicated in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey and has rounded up and tortured opponents at home. His government is also the main protagonist of the terrible war on Yemen.

The Saudi led war has already devastated Yemen and killed tens of thousands of people. Aid agencies warn that if it continues it will cause the worst humanitarian catastrophe since World War Two.

Yet the British government continues to back the regime. Earlier this year Theresa May welcomed Bin Salman to Britain, claiming he was a reformer. Really the British government stays close to Saudi Arabia because Saudi buys more arms from Britain than any other country, because it is a major oil supplier to the West and because it has long been a key ally in a region the West is desperate to control.

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Question for this article:

How can we be sure to get news about peace demonstrations?

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Ending arms sales to Saudi Arabia is essential and urgent. It could help to avert catastrophe. Come to one of our public meetings near you and join us in our campaign to make it happen:

>> 08 Nov | York | Stop Arming Saudi Arabia

>> 12 Nov | Brent | Break Links with Saudi Arabia: End the War in Yemen

>> 15 Nov | Cardiff | Vigil 4 Yemen

>> 27 Nov | London | Stop Arming Saudi – Stop Bombing Yemen

>> 27 Nov | Portsmouth | Stop Bombing Yemen, Stop Arming Saudi

>> 30 Nov | Norwich | Stop Bombing Yemen, Stop Arming Saudi

>> 01 Dec | Merseyside | Justice For Palestine: Freedom, Human Rights and a Lasting Peace

>> 04 Dec | Manchester University | Stop Arming Saudi – Stop Bombing Yemen

>> 04 Dec | Sheffield | Stop Bombing Yemen, Stop Arming Saudi

>> 06 Dec | Basingstoke | Stop Bombing Yemen, Stop Arming Saudi

>> 07 Dec | Liverpool Hope University | Stop Arming Saudi – Stop Bombing Yemen

>> 08 Dec | Edinburgh | Stop Arming Saudi, Hands Off Yemen Protest

>> 13 Dec | Lewisham | Stop Arming Saudi – Stop Bombing Yemen

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, Europe

Paris: World summit brings surge of new commitments to protect human rights defenders

…. HUMAN RIGHTS ….

A press release from the International Federation for Human Rights

Human rights defenders from across all corners of the world gathered this week [31 October] in Paris for the Human Rights Defenders World Summit, to develop a plan of action for how to protect and promote the work of activists fighting for rights, 20 years on from the first UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.

After three days of discussions and strategy development spanning regional and global issues, environmental rights and women human rights defenders and the increasing attacks on human rights defenders everywhere, the momentum culminated in the presentation of a landmark action plan which will be presented to the UN in December.


(Click on photo to enlarge)

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, who spoke at the opening ceremony said: “What human rights defenders teach us is that all of us can stand up for our rights and for the rights of others, in our neighborhoods, in our countries and all over the world. We can change the world .”

The Summit discussed calls on Governments, corporations, international financial institutions, donors and others, including the adoption of national governmental action plans, implementation of legislation to legally uphold the UN declaration, protecting defenders as a priority in foreign policy and prioritizing the protection and work of women human rights defenders, LGBT+, indigenous rights defenders and other marginalized defenders.

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Question related to this article:

What is the state of human rights in the world today?

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Kumi Naidoo, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, said: “The level of danger facing activists worldwide has reached crisis point. Every day ordinary people are threatened, tortured, imprisoned and killed for what they fight for or simply for who they are. Now is the time to act and tackle the global surge in repression of human rights defenders.”

The closing ceremony took place at the Palais de Chaillot, where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed 70 years ago. The 150 defenders gathered together to set out the Action Plan and pay tribute to the men and women who work tirelessly to defend human rights around the world.

Among those in attendance over the last three days were Alice Mogwe, Secretary General of FIDH and the Director of Botswana Ditshwanelo; Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Matthew Caruana Galizia, who is calling for justice after his mother, Daphne Caruana Galizia, was assassinated one year ago in Malta; Anielle Franco, who is bravely campaigning on behalf of her sister, Marielle Franco, a Brazilian activist and elected councillor who was shot dead in her car seven months ago.

Hina Jilani, President of OMCT, founder of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, and the first UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders said: “States have never given us space. It is because of human rights defenders that there is space for civil society. Seeing you all here engaged in defending human rights, I am not too pessimistic. As a movement, we have never been as global as we are now. But we have to be clear to states: you need to live up to the challenge and speak out for defenders. Human rights don’t come for free .”

The 1998 UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders

In 1998, governments adopted the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders to acknowledge the key role of human rights defenders. Despite progress in some areas, many governments are continuing to fall short of their commitments 20 years on from the first Summit and the global context in which human rights defenders operate in has become increasingly challenging. Democratic values are under threat and systemic corruption, extreme inequality and discrimination, religious fundamentalism and extremist policies are all on the rise. Alongside this, we have seen a concerted effort to undermine, discredit and kill human rights defenders. In 2017, at least 312 human rights defenders were assassinated, twice as many as in 2015, almost all with impunity for the perpetrators. The Action Plan hopes to tackle these injustices and support Human Rights Defenders to continue their critical work in a safe environment.

Europe, global, HUMAN RIGHTS,

Città della Pieve, Italy: The Declaration of the Scientists for Peace

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

A press release from Comunità di Etica Vivente

Can Peace be conquered on the Planet permanently? For the researchers of various branches of learning who took part in the International Conference “Scientists for Peace” – which was recently held in the “Aula della Cultura” – the answer is yes.


(Click on photo to enlarge)

The first step will be the commitment to increase the awareness of that part of the public opinion conditioned by information that is often distorted and incomplete.

Only effective communication can enable individuals to know, and therefore operate, with increasing awareness, in their daily actions, respecting themselves and their peers. Starting from their own consumptions and rethinking their needs, whose ideological, as well as economic, burden harms the entire planet and its resources.

All this requires dialogue between the various disciplines to arrive at a joint effort where Psychology and Physics intertwine in Mathematics and Law, Economics and Education, Philosophy and Medicine.

The goal is a Healthy world where Prejudice, Fear and War are no longer present. Where Science, as well, gives human beings awareness of the Cosmos, revealing more and more surprising analogical correlations and interconnections, taking a position for certain distortions to be corrected.

For these purposes, the scholars who took part in the Convention have signed the “Declaration of the Scientists for Peace” which will be sent to UNESCO [see text below]. Formative interventions are encouraged to increase a responsible human and social conscience in the school and university paths of those who become practitioners of applied sciences. Starting from the acceptance that scientists and technicians who are part (or that such could become) of a chain of production of war instruments can oppose, appealing to the ethical principles on which the applied sciences must be based. And that, at the same time, intervene in the media so that the war does not continue to be considered possible but definitely reveals the face of an absolute aberration and violation of fundamental human rights.

The Declaration will be brought into the world and will be enriched in the coming months with the signing of other scientists who will be joined under the aegis of “Flag of Peace”, the international association that promoted the conference and has in its mission the promotion of Culture as instrument of Peace, through Science, Art and Philosophy.

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Question for this article:

How can we ensure that science contributes to peace and sustainable development?

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Visit the Conference page to see photos, videos and to download the file of the abstracts of the speeches.

Declaration

Recommendations from the “Scientists for Peace” Conference

Science has an important role to play in promoting and achieving peace on Earth. The main question which we ask in this respect is, why are scientists and engineers, highly educated individuals, willing to violate basic humanistic principles by developing and producing weapons? This is mostly due to a limited ethical consciousness, whereby each human being is seen as an isolated individual, and the wider implications of one’s work for society and for humankind are usually belittled.

To change this state of affairs we must become conscious of the fact that humankind can only thrive in peace if it is able to live up to universal ethical principles. Peace on Earth can be fostered and maintained; a world without wars can be developed, where peaceful relationships of responsibility and respect among peoples and individual human beings are properly cultivated.

How can this vision be achieved? What is the proper role for scientists and engineers to fulfil this vision?

We are committed to a view of science as an invaluable resource to promote peace in all areas of life. Accordingly, as a meaningful step towards realizing Peace on Earth, we submit to the United Nations the following recommendations, directed to the world of science and engineering:

• Schools and universities should be strongly invited to offer courses addressing the social responsibilities of scientists and engineers, especially concerning the potential and actual warfare applications of their work. Along with their professional expertise, science and engineering students should develop the ability to raise societal awareness about the threats that existing and prospective weapons systems pose to the survival and flourishing of humankind, especially in connection with weapons of mass destruction.

• It should be made clear that scientists and engineers consciously participating in the development, production, distribution and use of weapons of mass destruction go against the fundamental ethical principles that should be at the core of science and engineering.

• Everybody shall have the right to refuse to obey when it comes to the use of weapons of mass destruction and should be protected accordingly.

• It should be continually reaffirmed that mass media and other sources of information which advocate the view that waging war is an acceptable way to solve conflicts betray universal ethical principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and the prohibition of propaganda for war asserted in the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

(Thank you to the Good News Agency for calling our attention to this article)

Europe, global, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT,

Abolish Militarism and War: Mairead Maguire to the International Conference against US/NATO Military Bases

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Transcript at Transcend

Presentation by Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate at the International Conference against US/NATO Military Bases, 16-18 Nov 2018, Dublin, Ireland

Dear Friends, It is good to be here with you all. I would like to thank the organizers for inviting me to address the conference.  Firstly I thank you all for your work for peace.  It is good that we will have an opportunity in the next few days to get to know each other and together discuss what kind of a world we want to live in?  There will be many different perspectives on this and the way forward, but let us agree to respect each other and to engage in deep listening and conversation no matter how hard and where the dialogue might take us!


Let us be encouraged by the fact that we have made an important first step when we agree to enter into dialogue, and when we agree that peace is both the means and the great achievable gift. It would be wonderful too no matter what area of social/political change we work in, if we can unite on a shared vision of a demilitarized world and find strength in agreeing we will not limit ourselves to civilizing and slowing down militarism, but demanding its total abolition.

Some people might argue that peace is not possible in such a highly militarized world.  However, I believe that peace is both possible and urgent.  It is achievable when we each become impassioned about peace and filled with an ethic that makes peace our objective and we each put into practice our moral sense of political/social responsibility to build peace and justice.

To build peace we are challenged to reject the bomb, the bullet, and all the techniques of violence.  Unfortunately, we are constantly bombarded with the glorification of militarism and war; therefore building a culture of peace and nonviolence will not be an easy task.  We are hearing about the building of a European army and we are asked to accept austerity and budget cuts to our health, education, etc. whilst increasing money to our own armies and also European military expansion.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization-NATO, which should have been disbanded when the Warsaw Pact was dissolved, continue to carry out wars and proxy wars in many countries pushing towards the borders of Russia and resurrecting a cold war between the East and West. I believe that NATO should be disbanded and should be made accountable and make restitutions to the millions of people in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and many others it has illegally attacked, invaded, destroyed.   We will never be allowed by our governments, or our mainstream media, to hear many of the stories of the lives of so many civilians killed by US/NATO forces.  NATO forces have targeted and assassinated individuals and entire families.

It is to all our shame in the International community, that their illegal criminal acts   of horror and bloodletting which embodies the comeback of barbarism, is allowed to continue.  NATO should be brought before the International Criminal Court  for war crimes.

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Questions related to this article:

Where in the world can we find good leadership today?

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It would be all too easy to point fingers and play the blame game but unless we all take responsibility for the highly dangerous militarised situation with which we are faced in the world today, things will not get better.

Ireland with the militarization of its Foreign and Defence Policy has been unfaithful to the Irish peoples’ wish for a Neutral State and worse by being complicit in accommodating illegal wars.  Ireland’s peace activists have been peacefully protesting US military use of Irish airports whereby over two and a half million armed US troops have passed through Shannon Airport on their way to and from the US-led Afghan and Iraq wars.  I believe ireland should refuse permission to any further stopover and refueling facilities being granted to aeroplanes ferrying troops or munitions to the wars and also withdraw Irish participation from all NATO and EU military operations overseas.

Ireland is deeply admired in many countries and has a proud record in helping developing countries.   Their role as mediators and peace negotiators is well known.   I would like to propose that Ireland disband their army and focus their finance and people on developing their great expertise in the science of peacemaking through a Government Dept. of Peace.   Recommitting to its tradition of neutrality and multilateralism, placing ethics, morality and justice as core values at the heart of its foreign policy would send out a clear message of Irish Government rejecting the road of militarism and war and choosing the road of peace and reconciliation, both locally and internationally.

For our survival through the UN we need to move to General and Complete Disarmament – including nuclear weapons.  This is not an impossible dream.  I commend the Irish Government in their work at UN to work for Nuclear Disarmament.  I believe we can take hope from Pope Francis statement after pointing out the dangers of nuclear weapons when he says‚

‘The threat of their use, as well as their very possession, is to be firmly condemned.’

And the Pope quotes as an example the

‘historic vote at the UN the majority of the members of the international community determined that nuclear weapons are not only immoral, but also must be considered an illegal means of warfare.’

It is to be hoped that UK, Israel, USA and other nuclear armed states will begin to dismantle their nuclear weapons and help turn back the hands of the doomsday clock.   Up to the end of 1961 at the United Nations general and complete disarmament was the aim of all governments.  In a joint Soviet-United states statement of 20 Sep l961 they stated,

‘The goal of negotiations is to achieve agreement on a program which will ensure that disarmament is general and complete and war is no longer an instrument for settling international problems’.

Let us unite our voices to call for an end to enmity and war, and for President Trump and President Putin to join together with all world leaders in a World Peace Conference to work for an agreed Programme of General and Complete Disarmament.  Such courageous leadership towards dialogue and disarmament would give hope to humanity.

Europe, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global,

International Cities of Peace and Rotary Peace Clubs

.. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION ..

Excerpts from an address by Fred Arment, Executive Diector of Inernational Cities of Peace to the Rotary E Club for World Peace, published November 18, 2018

In the International Cities of Peace we have had extraordinary growth in terms of being able to help and mentor and challenge people within communities to build city of peace efforts. . .

We started with the idea of the city of peace which is an idea that is not only hundreds of years old, but thousands. Jerusalem, for example, means city of peace in Hebrew and Arabic. The concept of a city of peace is really inspirational.

We define peace in a way that is a consensus value. So we define it as three freedoms:

– Safety: Freedom from risk of injury, danger or loss

– Prosperity: Freedom to achieve a good standard of living

– Quality of Life: Freedom to enjoy health and happiness

These cannot be taken for granted. I get emails every day from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, from Palestine, from Colombia. These people have a vision and a hope for their lives and for their children to create a peacebuilding operation in their city that will achieve safety, prosperity and quality of life. . .

This is about Rotary because Rotary has such intense potential to create peace in the world. . . Every Rotary Club has this need and desire to create a better community . . . Rotary Peace Clubs are a huge benefit not only through the United States but throughout the world . . . International Cities of Peace fits in as a pathway to build stronger Rotary Clubs. . . . It’s a platform for inspiring community action, for creating larger peace within the community . . . and it’s a way for Rotary Clubs to connect to the global family where there are people in great need . . .

As of this morning we now have over 224 cities of peace in 50 countries on 6 continents. The last one this morning was Hyderabad in Pakistan which we just learned about over the past couple of months.

It takes several months for people to create a city of peace initiative. It’s not just a signature on a piece of paper. . . It’s rigourous and that is why it is making a difference. There are five steps to establishing a community as an International City of Peace:

1. Get signatures on a Letter of Intent. . . It must be community-wide. The signature has to do with the culture of peace as defined by UNESCO and signing up for that.

2. Write a vision, mission, and goals statement for their unique community. We help them through that, engagig about 500 different people working with International Cities of Peace who serve as mentors for people around the world.

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Questions for this article:

How can culture of peace be developed at the municipal level?

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3. Send photos and captions of local peace events and we create a free web page for each of our cities with contact information.

4. Submit a photo and bio for the leader of the group

5. Write a statement about the peace legacy of the community. Every community has a peace legacy, whether it’s teachers or artists. Our children need to know about the peace work that has been done in their community.

It’s a rigorous process that people go through. The key word is “transformative.” The people who develop city of peace initiatives transform themselves personally. It’s a different way of thinking about the world. How can we create a culture of peace? . . .

Here is the UNESCO definition of the culture of peace to which they adhere in their Letter of Intent:

– Education

– Sustainable economic development

– Human rights

– Equality of women and men

– Democratic participation

– Understanding and tolerance

– Free flow of information

– International peace and security

It’s amazing how, around the world, some of these items are very controversial, for example, equality of women and men, democratic participation. They are literally at risk when they sign the Letter of Intent to create what UNESCO has said is a culture of peace. And, there’s Hindus and Muslims and Buddhists and Christians and Jews and all of the different religions. The UNESCO resolution did not address directly the cultures of faith, so what we added, when someone creates a city of peace they sign a document that says they are going to be inclusive and we use the Golden Rule as the moral ethic for creating a city of peace. It’s very inclusive of all creeds and religions and races and cultures. . .

I want to tell a few amazing stories about International Cities of Peace and reflect on their connection to Rotary [for details, see minutes 19-23 in the YouTube broadcast]. . . .

In conclusion, our goal is to establish 1000 Cities of Peace around the world by year 2025. Imagine the difference that could make in the lives of our 7 billion companions on Earth. By creating the global infrastructure of peace, the great challenges and issues of our time could be addressed locally through democratic and reasoned debate and action. The dynamic of top-down prescriptions for how to create peace has not worked so well. It is only through bottom-up, “in situ” peace building by citizens who know the needs of their communities that will foster the kind of commitment and compassion that will change the world… and change the world, we will.

For more information on how to establish your community as an International City of Peace, send an email to info@internationalcitiesofpeace.org, or go to www.internationalcitiesofpeace.org for an easy-to-use web resource.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, global