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.

Mexico: the First Conference for Peace is held at the Metropolitan Autonomous University in Cuajimalpa

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article by Maribel Lozoyade from UAM/UNIDAD CUAJIMALPA

A group of research professors from the Metropolitan Autonomous University (UAM) has created the Research Network on Culture of Peace, Justice and Solid Institutions. Its objective is to promote a culture of peace through reflection, education and discussion of issues, as well as the implementation of actions that contribute to the strengthening of the ideals of peace. This initiative seeks to intervene and have a social impact in solving problems from various disciplines.

In commemoration of the International Day of Peace, established by the UN on September 21, the Network organized the First Days for Peace. The opening ceremony took place on September 18 at the Cuajimalpa Unit of the UAM, and was attended by authorities from the different academic units that are part of this university.

Dr. José Antonio de los Reyes Heredia, general rector of the UAM, inaugurated the conference and highlighted that universities and Higher Education Institutions have the responsibility of addressing priority issues, satisfying specific needs and accompanying society in its adaptation to challenges. current. This involves promoting perspectives of peace, working to eradicate violence and assuming environmental responsibility. The rector stated that the UAM has incorporated these efforts transversally into its university policies.

(Article continued in right column)

(click here for the original version in Spanish).

Questions for this article:

Is there progress towards a culture of peace in Mexico?

(Article continued from left column)

De los Reyes Heredia pointed out that these days highlight the efforts made by various entities to strengthen their institutions. Almost half a century after the founding of the UAM, the university is implementing strategies that reflect the important social contribution it has had over five decades. He concluded by stating that these first days reflect the identity of the university community and how they wish to be perceived as an institution.

Professor Octavio Mercado González, rector of the UAM-C, stressed that current times are characterized by enormous challenges and threats in different areas and scales. He expressed concern about the polarization of public discourse and how social media influences the local and global context. He highlighted that public universities must reaffirm their ability to contribute to the debate from a climate of respect that makes room for all voices.

“Working in cultures of peace allows us to generate spaces, agreements, but above all, reinforce the way in which the university addresses problems. Universities are not islands, they are not separated from these conflictive environments. We cannot think of the notion of a culture of peace as an absence of conflict, but as the way to address these conflicts towards mediation and construction of agreements that allow a climate of respect to give voice to all parties and to sustain the life of the community.”

Dr. Gabriel Pérez Pérez, director of the Division of Social Sciences and Humanities, explained that the First Conference for Peace takes place until September 22 in different spaces of the UAM academic headquarters. He thanked the work of Dr. Jesús Elizondo, research professor at the UAM-C and head of the Research Network on Culture of Peace, Justice and Solid Institutions, for his remarkable work in ensuring that these sessions were carried out in a public space such as the UAM.

Finally, Dr. Claudia Salazar Villava, member of the Network, spoke on behalf of her research team and highlighted that this initiative seeks to create spaces for learning, debate, reflection and exchange to strengthen the work in favor of peace and justice from different units and approaches. “The network seeks for this Culture of Peace week to be the stage that makes visible the institutional efforts that contribute to the strengthening of peace, the peaceful transformation of conflicts and harmony. We must address the context of violence that affects the daily lives of the university community by promoting reflection and the development of strategies of respect, mutual care and supportive forms of coexistence.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

Revista CoPaLa, Constructing Peace in Latin America, July-December 2023

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

Extracts from the Revista núm. 18, introduction by Roberto Mercadillo and David Adams

. . . after long reviews and discussions, between 2019 and 2021, the three of us (Roberto Mercadillo, David Adams and Federico Mayor) undertook the task of shaping a new Declaration for the Transition towards a Culture of Peace in the 21st century following a cognitive approach to human consciousness with four axes: recognize, remember, understand and act. . . . (with regard to action) we propose 12 strategies that can be acted on in two simultaneous routes: local and global. The local route is fundamentally pedagogical to be carried out, mainly, by organized civil society supported by local governments. The global route involves the creation of a “Security Council of Mayors” made up of representatives of the major cities in all regions of the world and the expansion of the General Assembly of the United Nations to integrate citizens of the world in the analysis, proposals and resolutions of the problems that affect us.

In February 2022, with Cristina Ávila-Zesatti, Correspondent of Paz – Mexico, Myrian Castello from Fábrica dos Sonhos – Brazil, and Alicia Cabezudo from the Global Alliance for Peace Ministries and Infrastructures – Latin America and the Caribbean, we formed a group of academics, construction companies, peace educators and journalists in Latin America to discuss the relevance of the Declaration in this region of the world and join efforts for its dissemination. . . .

In September 2002, CoPaLa Magazine opened the call to publish a special issue that would give space to experiences, Latin American thoughts and proposals focused on culture and peacebuilding that coincide with the premises set forth in the Declaration for the Transition towards a Culture of Peace in the 21st Century. As a result of this effort, the current Number 18 of the CoPaLa Magazine provides Spanish-speaking readers with 15 texts with a diversity of ways of communicating and thinking about peace . . .

(1) The first essay exposes cognitive and universalist positions on the human mind. In “Culture of peace: A selfish paradox”, Clemens C.C. Bauer reflects on Nietzsche and the life of the Bodhisattva to argue that understanding our feelings and thoughts leads us to recognize our own well-being intertwined with the well-being of others. . .

(2) It is precisely from the historical approach and from his own experience, that Edgardo Carabantes Olivares writes “Peace and Human Rights in Chile fifty years after the overthrow of Allende”. Half a century after the coup d’état in 1973, the author wonders about the inadequacies of the political, social and cultural system that keeps the people Chile in a space that is neither dictatorship nor democracy, but rather a hybridocracy characterized by hidden violence, a negative peace and manipulation of the exercise citizen. He emphasizes civil disobedience, active nonviolence, and hope as acts of resistance to always choose life and peace.

(3) Meanwhile, in “Total Peace: A New Opportunity for Peace Initiatives ex-combatants of the FARC”, Laura C. Fuentes and Juan D. Forero analyze peace initiatives from and for ex-combatants of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. These initiatives form resistance to the Colombian conflict and constitute peacebuilding strategies. The “Total peace”, proposal of the recent and current administration of the Colombian government, could provide – the authors suggest – a stable framework for the construction of a more just and equitable society . . .

Citizen organizations

(4) In “The (re)construction of peace in Mexico through communication”, Lucía Calderón observes and analyzes the violence experienced in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. She describes how the population became managers of information that kept them safe from the actions of criminals. She emphasizes that, to a large extent, the recovery of peace depends on the willingness of the society to rebuild itself and to become aware of the alliances they can build with their peers.

(5) From Mexico City, Arturo Ramírez Ruíz writes “Rodar el pueblo: structures of youth learning and community reception”. He describes and analyzes youth actions organized to ride bicycles and, with this, to build learning structures, community centers and spaces to coexist and live with others. Pedaling the bicycle, says the author, becomes a political act of resistance and vindication of rights that imply knowledge and know how to organize ourselves, know how to take care of ourselves, know how to show solidarity, know how to resist, know how to transform and know how to sustain ourselves.

(6) In “Chiapanecas moving collectively towards a life free of violence: challenges and learning”, Mónica Carrasco Gómez shows us a meticulous and daring participatory ethnography of a collective project of women to build economic independence and live free of violence in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. After searching and creating safe spaces to express their voices, women reestablished a collaborative environmentthat favored their economic independence, becoming aware of their power relations and learning new ways of relating in which the intention to act or speak had no
objective of imposition, but rather the possibility of cooperation.

(7) Carolina Escudero gives us “Culture of peace in the TEB campaign on forced disappearances in Spain.” Through qualitative research, she analyzes the “We Are Here” campaign with families who are victims of the forced disappearance of babies in Spain. She describes the alliances between organizations that ensure Truth, Justice and Reparation that lead to, as one of the participants says, accepting that “We are all equal, we are a family”. The TEB campaign contributes to managing conflict, by denouncing and recognizing the abuses by the State and institutions during the dictatorship, by placing democracy as an antidote to violence, and by strengthening cohesion and group action.

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(Click here for the original article in Spanish.)

Questions related to this article:
 
Latin America, has it taken the lead in the struggle for a culture of peace?

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Education

(8) In “Teaching ethics in the face of the Technological Revolution (CRI). A hermeneutics-analogue perspective”, Alfonso Luna Martínez raises relevant ethical dilemmas for the assimilation if technological and industrial change in education. He concludes with an ethical proposal, presenting us with the need to overcome the neoliberal capitalist world and to regulate access to the data about people’s interests, so that they are not used in mass manipulation to define market and consumption trends.

(9) Jair Alejandro Vilchis Jardón writes “Thinking about neoliberalism. A critical view from analogical pedagogy of everyday life.” The author calls us to understand that the capitalist model not only acts in the economic sector, but has managed to permeate the educational system through excessive loads and/or work hours justified under the logic of production. He also invites us, collectively, to think about more humane ways of doing science with aspiration of social justice and not as productive agents of knowledge.

(10) In “Understandings about interculturality and its pedagogical implications”, Ximena Marin Hermann reflects on the relationships between interculturality and pedagogy. Interculturality, she suggests, emerges from the need to build public policies focused on social differentiation and globalization, from the resistance and defense of cultural particularities and their identities, and from the investigation to understand the problems of diversity and cultures. Its pedagogical implications lead to the construction of an inclusive intercultural citizenship that would allow us to answer the question “Can we talk about citizen and social construction based on pluriversity and what would be the keys to being able to travel this path?”

(11) Elia Calderón Leyton presents “Education for peace: reflections from literacy criticism”. Her text shows us the importance of writing and critical reading in education. Alluding to the thought of Husserl, Arendt, Habermas, Foucault and Cortina, she points out the need to practice the confrontation of knowledge and experience, as well as to distinguish inequalities in pedagogical practices. Critical thinking contributes to the pedagogy of peace and the ability to listen to others as a political act, because it places the individual in a community to transform doubt into truth, to understand and achieve authentic dialogue in Latin America.

(12) In “Educating towards a culture of peace in the 21st century: Guidelines for thinking and acting”, Anita Yudkin Suliveres proposes a positive vision of peace and a critical approach to education that prioritizes creative thinking, awareness of local problems and global, novel ways of investigating, experiencing and knowing, the cultivation of empathy and solidarity, the arts and the generation of spaces for participation. As educators, we must rethink what happens in educational processes, the experiences of training at all levels and reconsider both the study contents and the capabilities and knowledge that we aspire to promote.

(13) Mónica Lizbeth Chávez González in “School violence and interstitial spaces in Mexico. An ethnographic approach in Uruapan, Michoacán” presents an ethnography of focus groups in a secondary school. She describes how young people, through pedagogy of violence, build relationships and spaces of risk, vulnerability, impunity and defenselessness. Youth are presented as perpetrators of school violence and power through threats, certain criminal practices or the exercise of violent sexual-affective behavior. She urges us to attend to the intersection between these manifestations of violence to collectively them as daily problems.

Action and innovation

(14) In “Culture of peace, service-learning and citizen training: Experiences and reflections”, Benilde García-Cabrero, Alejandro R. Alba-Meraz and María Montero-López Lena reveal to us their proposal for education-action arising from the analysis of three psychosocial interventions carried out by themselves in Mexico. They describe the philosophical underpinnings and pedagogical methods of service-learning as an alternative to promote a culture of peace and citizen training in higher education institutions. With this, they deploy the transformative role of higher education for social awareness, the assumption of collective responsibility and the sense of responsibility. Service-learning enables groups who have a peace or social justice mission to reap the benefits of mutual support and collective action.

(15) In “Psicocalle Colectivo: A university proposal for education and construction of peace”, Lorena Paredes, Mosco Aquino and Roberto E. Mercadillo narrate the trajectory of a transdisciplinary university initiative to understand by means of neuroscience, anthropology and psychology the phenomena of street life and psychoactive substance use. They propose an action research model framed in the culture of peace and compassion as ways to connect with others and to use scientific knowledge in everyday life. Compassionate feeling and acting should motivate our action when confronted with the suffering of others. The culture of peace leads to actions towards the construction of an
active peace, conciliatory, emancipatory and resistant for life on the street and in the use of psychoactive substances.

Issue 18 of CoPaLa closes with a review of two relevant books

“The right to peace and its developments in History” (2022) published by Tirant lo Blanch, edited by María de La Paz Pando Ballesteros and Elizabeth Manjarrés Ramos: a review written by Erika Tatiana Jiménez Aceros. The book covers the history of Human Rights and the history of peace and peace research, thereby, unfolding the methodologies and objects of study of peacebuilding and allowing us to understand our history with new configurations.

“The other in the sand: 20 glances and a blink at Western Sahara” (2014) published by Gedisa and by the Metropolitan Autonomous University and coordinated by Roberto E. Mercadillo and Ahmed Mulay. This book, reviewed by Luis Guerrero, presents the vision of academics, activists and journalists from Latin America on the war, the conflict and the peace strategies developed in the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. With this review, we stand in solidarity with the Sahrawi circumstance, we remember it and make it visible in Latin America in this year 2023 that commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Polisario Front, an organization that has maintained the survival of the Sahrawi people, their quest for peace and their demand for autonomy

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, Latin America

Mexico: Universities ratify peacebuilding strategy

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from the Universidad de Colima

Last weekend (June 13), 113 rectors of universities and public and private institutions in the country ratified the strategy for building a culture of peace in Higher Education Institutions (IES), during the LXII Ordinary General Assembly of the National Association of Universities and Higher Education Institutions (ANUIES), which was held in person at the University of Colima.

With a broad agenda of national educational issues, the rectors also ratified the creation of the National Network for Peace and the National Network of Higher Education for Inclusion. The general director of Academic Strengthening of ANUIES, Luis Alberto Fierro Ramírez explained that these are the path towards the construction of the university that Mexico needs.”

The person responsible for the Comprehensive Peace Building Program from the ANUIES Universities, Hortensia Sierra Hernández, prioritized the concepts of dignity, integrity and well-being as the values for actions for a culture of peace within educational communities.

Likewise, she said that the General Education Law is a mandate: “Many times we do not know where to start, but each community has actions that only need to weave together these three concepts.” Thus, she highlighted, “the culture of peace concerns human rights, equity, collaborative work, networks, gender perspective, equality, elimination of stereotypes, promotion and respect for the equality of women and men, mental health and eradication of any type of violence.”

(Article continued in right column)

(click here for the original version in Spanish).

Questions for this article:

Is there progress towards a culture of peace in Mexico?

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For his part, Francisco Gorjón Gómez presented the National Network for Peace as a collaborative work scenario between institutions involving experts and actions in the culture of peace and including students and researchers to promote the international objectives defined by the the objectives of sustainable development of the United Nations.

He also spoke of establishing a peace and human rights laboratory, as well as generating projects that have an impact as a network. As a national initiatives of the ANUIES, it calls for support from all the rectors of the IES and the largest number of people and experts.

Likewise, Servando Gutiérrez Ramírez spoke about what will be the National Network of Higher Education for Inclusion. He said that the number of people in conditions of exclusion has increased “at the same time as conditions of vulnerability that impact the situation of people, not only with some disability but also those who are in vulnerable conditions such as indigenous people, Afro-descendants, people of sexual and gender diversity and older adults.”

He added that there is interest in collaborating in a national network and that a large number of public and private institutions already collaborate. All of them have people who are experts in inclusion and vulnerability issues. This, he continued, “will give important solidity and social meaning to this network, because as people with disabilities insist: ‘nothing about us without involving us.’”

Upon learning details of both networks, different rectors highlighted the current importance of the two themes, asking how to integrate them, if there was any financing, and requesting that they not be bureaucratized.

In this regard, the general director of University and Intercultural Higher Education, Carmen Rodríguez Armenta, indicated, via virtual presentation, that within the federal and state resource ministries and as part of the 2023 financial plan, “there is the idea of presenting a protocol about sexual harassment and an institutional program on a culture of peace.”

She continued, “It is now an obligation of the General Law of Higher Education and also a commitment of the resource that are needed.” She added that the auditors of the Higher Body of the Federation in 2024 will have this document duly formalized by their general university council.

Finally, she recalled the importance of the session convened by ANUIES, with its protocol to eradicate gender violence and with the institutional peace program authorized by its university councils.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

Book: Culture of Human Rights for a future of Peace

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

A note from the Secretaría de Gobernación de México

Peace is a constant search, it is something that requires permanent work. When we talk about peace we refer to the dignity of life; the protection of individual and collective rights; and the generation of conditions for development.

This book is an initiative of the General Directorate of Public Policy and the Economic Culture Fund, which explores the construction of a culture of peace in relation to human rights. That is, it links the idea of making peace, understood as a way to address the causes of the conflict, with the prerogatives that allow the integral development of individuals. To address this question, a group of activists and academics who share an interest in exploring peacebuilding processes in Mexico and Colombia were invited.


This publication was officially presented at the Bogotá International Book Fair on April 20, 2023, and its content was discussed at a dialogue table that included the participation of the Mexican ambassador to Colombia and the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in colombia.

It will soon be available at the Economic Culture Fund.

(Review continued in right column)

( Click here for the original version in Spanish.)

Question for this article:

What are the most important books about the culture of peace?

Latin America, has it taken the lead in the struggle for a culture of peace?

(Review continued from left column)

A brief review

Peace is more than the absence of armed conflict or criminal violence. This book questions the dominant notions of peace, often associated with the territorial integrity of a national State, and instead it confronts the processes of domination, injustice and inequality. For many of the authors, achieving peace is a process that cannot be achieved until structural violence, such as poverty or impunity, is overcome. In that sense, peace is conceptualized in a broad way, not from the negative definition of a pure absence of war, but as a positive statement. That is to say, peace becomes an alternative to militarist and sexist ideologies, to criminal violence and to warlike values.

Table of contents

* Total peace and human security in Colombia: potentialities and limitations / Pablo Emilio Angarita Cañas

* Moving towards peace: neuroscientific perspectives from Mexico / Roberto Emmanuelle, Mercadillo Caballero

* The challenges of peacebuilding in contexts of chronic violence and persistent human insecurity in Latin America / Alexandra Abello Colak

* The total peace in Colombia: a necessary attempt / Juan Camilo Pantoja, Raúl Zepeda Gil

* About the identity and particularity of education in the key to building a culture of peace: contributions for Colombia / Alicia Cabezudo

* Peace and human rights / Miguel Concha Malo, Carlos Ventura Callejas

* Weeding out militarism: cultures of peace in the struggle of the Lesvy Berlin femicide case Rivera Osorio / Sergio Beltrán-García

* How to discern the nuances of apparent forms of peace: a tale of two peoples / Trevor Stack

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

Music video: We are all Palestinian

. TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY . .

Received by email from Mistahi Corkill

Greetings,

Here is my new song and music video We are all Palestinian, linked below.

If you find it inspiring please feel free to share with others.

All the best!

Mistahi Corkill

Click here for the video: We are all Palestinian


Frame from the video

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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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Frame from the video


Frame from the video

Mideast, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

CPNN by region

Region tag for CPNN articles from 2015 through 2023

Global = 720

Latin America = 600

Africa = 432

Europe = 392

North America = 345

United Nations = 304

Asia = 249 (see below)

Arab & Mideast = 240

– – –

East Asia = 145

South & Central Asia = 104

Uncategorized

Results of the 2023 Luanda Biennale, Pan-African Forum for the Culture of Peace

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Excerpts from press releases of the Angola Press Agency

Unlike previous additions of the Luanda Biennale, Pan-African Forum for the Culture of Peace, there was very little publicity about the results. However, there were several press releases by the Angola Press Agency, that included the following excerpts.

The Biennale calls for the continuation of intergenerational dialogue .

According to the final communiqué, the forum organized by the Angolan Government, the African Union and UNESCO, advised the implementation of policies guaranteeing the participation of young people in decision-making processes to ensure that their proposals are heard and integrated in programs and strategies.


(Click on image to enlarge)

It called for a review of education systems, prioritizing the training of critical and active citizens, enabling young people and entrepreneurs to better understand political processes and play greater roles in society.

It suggested the formulation of policies promoting gender equality and the creation of scientific research centers and resilience programs to face climate change.

The forum also recommended the promotion of the culture of peace through access and effective use of digital technologies and the creation of a network of African women for conflict prevention, peace negotiation and national reconciliation.

The Biennale also spoke out in favor of the integration of women in conflict resolution, in compliance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the UN, as well as the increase of the number of women in conflict prevention and resolution actions.

The forum, which brought together 790 participants from different African countries, advocated the establishment of partnerships between political leaders and young people, in sustainable social and economic projects, which could benefit society as a whole.

The role of women in peace processes dominates the second day of the Biennale.

“The process of transforming educational systems, innovative financing practices in the African context” and the “role of women in the process of peace, security and development at the African level” marked Thursday the second day of the Pan-African Forum for the culture of peace – Biennial of Luanda.

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Question related to this article:

The Luanda Biennale: What is its contribution to a culture of peace in Africa?

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The agenda for this second day also included the approach to “Challenges and opportunities for the integration of the African continent and prospects for economic growth” and “Climate change: ethical challenges, impact, adaptation and vulnerability”.

Visit to historical sites marks end of Luanda Biennale.

Visits to the Agostinho Neto Memorial, the Iron Palace and the National Museum of Military History will mark Friday the closing of the Pan-African Forum for the Culture of Peace and Non-Violence – Biennial of Luanda, which has been taking place since Wednesday . Participants will also visit the Mint and Anthropology museums. . . .

The Pan-African Forum for the Culture of Peace and Non-Violence was attended by the Presidents of the Republic of Cape Verde, José Maria Neves, the Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Carlos Vila Nova and the Federal Republic Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Sahle-WorkZewed. The Vice President of Namibia, Nangolo Mbumba, and the Prime Minister of Equatorial Guinea, Manuela Roka Botey also took part in the Luanda Biennale.

Biennale participants commit to spreading the message of peace in their country.

Young participants in the Luanda Biennale 2023 pledged on Friday to disseminate as much as possible, in their countries, the contents and experiences learned during the Pan-African Forum for the Culture of Peace, held in Luanda, aimed at consolidating pacification efforts on the continent.

Speaking to Angop, the Botswanan Mpule Kgetsi, the Mozambican Cheldon Maduela, the Tanzanian Genila Hiel, as well as the Angolan Antonira de Carvalho discussed the importance of the forum and the need for young people to be proactive in the promotion of actions that contribute to peace and the well-being of societies, highlighting peace as the main element.

According to Genila Hiel, a university student eager to spread the message to fellow citizens, the spirit of peace must be instilled from a young age within communities so that people grow up and work in healthy coexistence for sustainable development.

 For Cheldon Maduela, it is not only up to governments to address issues related to peace and democracy, which is why he considers the Biennale an inspiring platform to disseminate the experiences obtained. He stressed that peace is the “cornerstone” of the socio-economic development of States and that its preservation requires the contribution of all, without exception.

Namibian leader praises Angola’s commitment to peace in Africa.

The Deputy Minister of Education and Culture of Namibia, Faustina Caley, congratulated this Friday, in Luanda, the Angolan Executive for its key role in the process of the culture of peace and democracy in Africa. . . .

She considered the 3rd edition of the Luanda Biennale a success not only for Angola, but for the continent, because it allowed learning about the concerns of young people, as well as the exchange of knowledge and transmission of experiences between government leaders and former African leaders, with the perspective of leading this fringe towards the best paths for healthy coexistence. 

(click here for the original French version of this article.)

Africa, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

David Malcom Krieger, Man of Peace

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION .

An obituary from Waging Peace

David Malcom Krieger, man of peace, passed away on December 7, 2023 and left the world with one less champion.

David was born on March 27, 1942 to Herbert and Sybil Krieger in Los Angeles. The family settled in the San Fernando Valley where his father was the first pediatrician. David attended North Hollywood High before heading to Occidental College where he graduated with a degree in Psychology. He was getting his PhD in Political Science from the University of Hawaii when he met and married Carolee, his wife of 57 years. He did get the PhD, too.

David traveled to Japan to study as part of his PhD work and was so moved by what he experienced and learned in Hiroshima and Nagasaki that he dedicated the rest of his life to abolishing nuclear weapons and achieving peace. He was drafted into the army during the Vietnam War almost simultaneously. However, his clarity of mind and morals would not allow for participating in war and killing. He was, as far as we know, the first Officer in the Vietnam War to sue for Conscientious Objector status.

In 1972, David came to Santa Barbara to work as an assistant to Elisabeth Mann Borgese at the Center for The Study of Democratic Institutions. Here he collaborated with some of the greatest minds of the time on the subject of democracy. He and Carolee stayed in Santa Barbara, raising their three children among the blood orange trees and peacocks on the property they worked tirelessly to convert from rocks and weeds to the artists’ and gardeners’ paradise that it is now.

In 1982, David, Frank Kelly, Wally Drew, and two others founded the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. This was to be David’s proudest accomplishment. David Krieger led the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation until his retirement in 2019. His work, educating, advocating, writing extensively, and speaking all over the world about the dangers of the nuclear age and the insanity of the nuclear arms race helped advance the cause of peace with justice, particularly among young people, however, also with nearly everyone he personally encountered. David’s charisma, honesty, and depth of knowledge on the subject were hard to disagree with. David Krieger was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize ten separate years.

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Questions related to this article:

Where in the world can we find good leadership today?

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David developed a passion for karate when he was in Japan in his early 20s. As with everything he was passionate about, he dedicated himself to being among the best at it, earning his black belt in the Shito-Ryu form, and founding and running his own Dojo, Pacific Karate-Do Institute. He taught many Santa Barbarians karate in the 1970s and 1980s, and counted some of those former students among his closest friends.

David loved to play tennis and for years, his free afternoons and weekend mornings were spent playing with some of his other closest friends.

David was also a prolific poet. He found poetry to be an excellent way to express his impression of world events and daily joys.

David Krieger was a man of thought, of conviction, and of honor. He wanted to make the world safer, more peaceful, and ultimately a kinder and more just place for everyone and everything. He never stopped believing it was possible. In his honor, we admonish you to carry this work on.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to: The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

– –

Here is an excerpt from his last message as President of the Nuclear-Age Peace Foundation:

When we founded NAPF in 1982, the world was adrift in nuclear dangers. We began with a belief in the necessity of awakening people everywhere to the dangers of the Nuclear Age – a time in which our technological prowess exceeded our ethical development. This dilemma continues today. For nearly four decades, we have been a steady, consistent and creative voice for peace and a world free of nuclear weapons.

As the calendar page turns to 2020, we are working to create a peace literate world, based upon empathy, caring, kindness and overcoming fear, greed and trauma: a world in which nuclear weapons can be abolished and stay abolished. Our Peace Literacy Initiative, headed by Paul K. Chappell, a West Point graduate, goes to the root causes of war and nuclear weapons. It is a profound way of waging peace.

As the next generation prepares to take the helm at NAPF, I ask you to believe in the power of our work now more than ever. We have exciting plans to scale up our Peace Literacy work and deliver measurable and increasing impacts over the coming months and years.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, North America

Nikolai Firjubin, Founder of UNOY Youth Peace Network

. TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

On December 11, CPNN was informed that Nikolai Firjubin has passed away by the facebook post that follows from Celine Del Felice:

We are sad to share that one of UNOY’s founders, Nikolai Firjubin, passed away last Friday.

On his 50th birthday, Nikolai had a dream about a general assembly hall filled with young people discussing the major challenges facing humanity. Nikolai gathered together a group of young people with a shared vision and commitment to build a world in which peace, justice, solidarity, human dignity and respect for nature prevail. In September 1989, UNOY was founded.

We are honoured to carry on Nikolai’s vision: a growing, global network of peace powered by youth.

Nikolai, thank you for your dream and belief that young people can “save the world and preserve peace on Earth”

UNOY made important contributions to the culture of peace, including advocacy campaigns in 2005 and again in 2006 at the United Nations during the International Decade for a Culture of Peace.

Here are excerpts from Firjubin’s account of the source of the idea for UNOY back in 1989:

The dream that became UNOY It was a beautiful early morning, that Saturday in July, in Geneva on the eve of my 50th anniversary. A few days before, in flagrant but very joyful violation of the ‘Rules of the Soviet Citizens working abroad’ I became a member of The Ski Club International. That was my first ever personal secret rebellion against the Communist Party and the KGB; an act of free will and for the first time in my life, I felt really free and full of joy… I boarded the train to Martigny, not suspecting that this simple act would radically change my life and make me a happy and an accomplished human being. . . . At the Alpine Club in Champex, I finally celebrated my 50th birthday at a noisy party attended by my very nice and kind fellow trekkers…

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Question related to this article:
 
Youth initiatives for a culture of peace, How can we ensure they get the attention and funding they deserve?

How can just one or a few persons contribute to peace and justice?

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The night was very short, and I slept not more than two, maybe three hours. I asked permission from the Leader to spend the day in Champex as we had to climb another mountain before returning back to Geneva. He kindly allowed me to stay for the reason of my birthday. I was very happy as I wanted to reflect on the dream which I had during that short night. In my dream I saw a large hall filled with young people with different ethnic backgrounds and having different skin colors. They were gathered together for some serious purpose. They were listening to an old man, who vaguely looked like a self portrait of Dr. Svetoslav Roerich. I was very surprised that I even remembered my dream – for the first time in my life. The old man said something like: “We brought you here to help save the world and preserve Peace on earth….”

Before taking the bus back to Martigny station, I spent a few hours on a bench of a small island in the middle of Lake Champex, in an attempt to understand the meaning of this dream, until I suddenly got a vision of a United Nations of Juniors (UNOJ) which appeared in my mind.

The week thereafter, I was looking for the address of Dr. Svetoslav Roerich in India. Quite unexpectedly, I was invited for a 5 o’clock tea by my colleague from Moscow who came for a private visit to Geneva. He helped me to contact Dr. Roerich. Soon after, I wrote a letter to Dr. Roerich about my dream and asked for an appointment in Bangalore to talk about it. In his reply he supported my UNOJ vision and agreed to meet me in India.

On the 2nd December, I left Geneva for Bangalore and on December 4th, I met Svetoslav Roerich for the first time in his office in Bangalore. That day, I talked with him for several hours about the dream. Hence, this was the beginning of the beginning of the UNOY. (During the first UNOY meeting in Handel, the Netherlands in May 1989, the youth participants renamed UNOJ ‘United Nations Of Youth’ (UNOY ).

No account of the origin of UNOY could be complete without reference to Maria Kooijman, who co-founded the organization with Firjiubin:

It was April 1989. At that time, I worked for Universal Education and its magazine Educare, promoting holistic and inclusive approaches and methods in education and child rearing. I was approached by Nikolai Firjubin (at that time a UN civil servant/ diplomat) who shared his dream and requested me to assist in organising the 1st International Working Group for the UNOY. The whole staff of Universal Education also became involved. In 6 weeks time, all was arranged and set for the participants to arrive in Handel, the Netherlands at De Weyst, a conference centre based on Ghandian principles. The event became a great success. It was a revealing and overpowering experience to see how youth from around the world bonded together as true friends and took the concept of UNOY utterly serious and as a great challenge.

global, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

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.)

Europe, Mideast, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY,