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.

US: The United National AntiWar Coalition – Call to Action

. .DISARMAMENT & SECURITY. .

Announcement of webinar from The United National AntiWar Coalition

The past months of the Black Lives Matter Movement have confirmed once again the only way to challenge this racist, militarized system is with the explosive power of people making demands and shutting it down.

Regardless of what happens in November our only way forward is to stay mobilized! The people must lead from below through organized, strategic protest.


• Demanding justice and accountability against racist killer cops!

• For economic justice in response to the economic collapse.

– For a public health response to the pandemic with Medicare for all.

• In defense of migrants rounded up and deported!

• In solidarity with LGBTQ+ and disabled people

• Against endless wars, sanctions and occupations

We face the greatest capitalist crash in US history and an out of control COVID-19 pandemic. At every level of government from the president to Congress down to mayors and local officials, the response to the pandemic and economic collapse shows a failed state.

The people must remain mobilized through the election and beyond. We will not win the change we need at the ballot box. The two candidates of the parties of the billionaires ignore the super-majority of people in the US who support improved Medicare for all, a robust Green New Deal, an end to inequality and taxation of the wealthy, an end to the never-ending wars and US imperialism. Neither party is responding to the call to stop racist militarized policing, invest in alternatives to policing while cutting police budget and democratic community control of the police. No matter who is elected the people must be mobilized in 2021 to make the country ungovernable until the people’s demands are met.

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Question for this article:

The peace movement in the United States, What are its strengths and weaknesses?

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We defend:

• Resistance and uprisings against racism and police violence

• Education workers opposing dangerous school reopening

• Organizing for rent strikes and against evictions

• Black Lives Matter Movement everywhere

• Social movements seeking peace and justice

• Solidarity with all those resisting US imperialist violence

Click here to register: bit.ly/DNCRNCWebinar

An Online RALLY supported by: March on DNC and RNC, UNAC – United National Antiwar Coalition, ILPS – International League of Peoples Struggles, BAYAN – Philippine Coalition, NAARPR – National Alliance Against Racism & Political Repression, BAP – Black Alliance for Peace, IAC – International Action Center, VFP – Veterans For Peace, Cuba Si, IFCO, FIRE – Fight for Im/migrants & Refugees Everywhere, AFGJ – Alliance for Global Justice, Code Pink, Popular Resistance, SanctionsKill Campaign, US Peace Council, WILPF – Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom -US chapter, Peoples Power Assemblies NYC, December 12 Movement, Call to Action on Puerto, Colectivo de Mujeres Mexicanas NY, Jornada: Se Acabaron Las Promesas, USPCN – U.S. Palestinian Community Network, POWIR – People’s Opposition to War Imperialism, and Racism, Southern Workers Assembly, SDS- Students for a Democratic Society, The People’s Forum, other groups to be added.

Enddorse the call: bit.ly/KeepItInTheStreets

Support UNAC

Please make a much needed contribution at: hppts://UNACpreace.org/donate.html

Join our Facebook group at: https://facebook.com/groups/unac1

Subscribe to the UNAC Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6zb1Rg8CiAO9Ff8kLlXXiQ

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, North America

USA: Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks to the 2020 Democratic National Convention

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

A video from Youtube

USA: Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks to the 2020 Democratic National Convention

Click on image to see video.

Good evening, ​bienvenidos​, and thank you to everyone here today endeavoring towards a better, more just future for our country and our world.

Questions related to this article:

Where in the world can we find good leadership today?

In fidelity and gratitude to a mass people’s movement working to establish 21st century social, economic, and human rights, including guaranteed health care, higher education, living wages, and labor rights for all people in the United States; a movement striving to recognize and repair the wounds of racial injustice, colonization, misogyny, and homophobia, and to propose and build reimagined systems of immigration and foreign policy that turn away from the violence and xenophobia of our past; a movement that realizes the unsustainable brutality of an economy that rewards explosive inequalities of wealth for the few at the expense of long-term stability for the many, and who organized an historic, grassroots campaign to reclaim our democracy.

In a time when millions of people in the United States are looking for deep systemic solutions to our crises of mass evictions, unemployment, and lack of health care, and espíritu del pueblo and out of a love for all people, I hereby second the nomination of Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont for president of the United States of America.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, North America

Plan for Campaign Nonviolence Action Week, September 19-27, 2020

…. HUMAN RIGHTS ….

From the website of Campaign Nonviolence

Every year, Campaign Nonviolence organizes a national week of action across the United States and around the world, built around the third week of September, near Sept. 21st, International Peace Day. For the last six years, we have organized an unprecedented national grassroots movements with actions in every state where people connect the dots between the issues of injustice and violence, including war, poverty, racism and environmental destruction, and hold public events, actions and marches demanding immediate positive social change.

In September, 2019, the Campaign Nonviolence National Week of Action held over 3,300 actions, events and marches across the USA and in 20 countries. This was an historic unprecedented new form of organizing in the US, and we invite you to help us build up this national week of action.

The only way positive social change has happened in the US is from bottom up, people power, grassroots movements of nonviolence, so we invite everyone to join this Campaign Nonviolence National Week of Action Sept. 19-27, 2020, as an organizing tool, to help get the movement moving, to invite people of all walks of life to take to the streets against violence and injustice, and to carry on Dr. King’s vision of what we could become—a new culture of nonviolence. Join the growing Campaign Nonviolence national week of action movement by signing up for an action, or join with others planning an event.

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Questions related to this article:

The post-election fightback for human rights, is it gathering force in the USA?

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SEE THE FULL LIST OF PLANNED ACTIONS THIS SEPTEMBER

To support these powerful forms of action, Campaign Nonviolence invites people everywhere to:

* Take the Campaign Nonviolence Pledge


* Host or attend a Nonviolence Training in preparation for your action


* Start a Nonviolence Study Group and use our newest nonviolence study guide, Engaging Nonviolence!


* Spread the word on Facebook and Twitter


* Find tools and resources for Action Week. Get the CNV action toolkit, flyers, graphics, action ideas and more! See below.


* Read the 10 Tips for Great Actions and read about some great actions ideas.


* Join action organizers around the country as we come together for the next Campaign Nonviolence National Conference ONLINE to mark the 75th anniversary or Hiroshima and Nagasaki featuring Richard Rohr, Erica Chennoweth and more!


HUMAN RIGHTS, North America

USA: Will COVID-19 Spur a Wave of Unionization?

…. HUMAN RIGHTS ….

An article by Steven Greenhouse from Dissent Magazine

Workers have been infuriated by the callous treatment they’ve received in their workplaces. Many of them recognized that the most surefire way to get their employers to provide the protection they needed was through collective action.


Protestors outside a Staten Island Amazon warehouse fulfillment center on May 1, 2020 (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

This essay is part of a special section  on the pandemic in the Summer 2020 issue.

In mid-March, someone asked me whether COVID-19 would spur a wave of unionization. My first reaction was no. How could workers possibly unionize when there was all this social distancing and people couldn’t even meet in groups? Moreover, I thought workers would be so cowed by the horrors of the pandemic that they wouldn’t give much thought to unionizing.

That response was short-sighted. I didn’t realize how furious many workers would become about the uncaring, even callous way their companies have treated them during this crisis—about the many employers that didn’t lift a finger to provide masks or hand sanitizer. Many of these irate workers recognized that the most surefire way to get their employers to provide the protection they needed was through collective action.

We’ve seen that kind of action from workers at Amazon, McDonald’s, Domino’s, Instacart, Perdue Farms, Whole Foods, and smaller grocery stores like MOM’s Organic Market in Philadelphia. Many workers have incorporated social distancing into their battles—standing six feet apart as they picketed their workplace, or using cars to block the drive-thru at their McDonald’s.

Many of these workers would no doubt vote to join a union tomorrow if they could (even though Trump’s anti-union National Labor Relations Board [NLRB] temporarily suspended all unionization elections in late March). But it remains very unclear whether all the coronavirus-inspired anger and activism will result in increased union membership. The overriding reason why it might not is an old one: when there are unionization elections in the United States, the playing field is tilted sharply in favor of corporations and against workers seeking to organize.

Kate Bronfenbrenner of Cornell University found in a study that companies often use intimidation tactics to thwart organizing drives. In her analysis, which looked at NLRB-supervised unionization elections between 1999 and 2003, 57 percent of companies threatened to close operations if workers voted to unionize, while 47 percent said they would cut wages or benefits. Bronfenbrenner also found that 34 percent illegally fired union supporters, 28 percent illegally attempted to infiltrate the union organizing committee, and 22 percent illegally used “bribes and special favors” to encourage workers to vote against the union. Another study of elections in 2016 and 2017 found that companies terminated nearly one in five rank-and-file workers who spearheaded unionization campaigns.

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Question(s) related to this article:

The right to form and join trade unions, Is it being respected?

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The federal judiciary’s conservative tilt makes unionization harder still. Not only do employers often require workers to hear anti-union consultants and watch anti-union videos, but they also have the right to prohibit union organizers from setting foot on company property, thanks to a 1992 Supreme Court ruling that exalted private property rights far above workers’ rights and concerns. Under that ruling, employers can even bar organizers from putting flyers on windshields in the employee parking lot.

During the pandemic, many employers remain as aggressive as ever in fighting unions. Amazon seems to have gone out of its way to signal that it won’t tolerate organizing efforts. The company fired Christian Smalls, who spearheaded a walkout by employees at its Staten Island warehouse who felt Amazon was doing far too little to protect them from the virus. Amazon also fired Bashir Mohamed, the lead worker-activist at a Minnesota warehouse, as well as two tech workers in Seattle who were outspoken climate campaigners and had criticized safety conditions at the warehouses. Whole Foods, an Amazon subsidiary, has created a heat map that uses twenty-five metrics, including diversity levels and number of complaints about safety, to keep tabs on which of its stores are most at risk of union activity.

On March 31, the CEO of Trader Joe’s sent an anti-union letter to all employees, while a Trader Joe’s worker in Louisville said the company fired him for airing safety concerns about COVID-19 on his Facebook page. All that came after Google fired four worker leaders who were promoting collective action and after the tech darling, Kickstarter, suddenly dismissed several members of its union organizing committee. (Kickstarter said they were not terminated for backing a union.)

The outlook for unionizing isn’t all glum. The burst of coronavirus-related walkouts and sickouts comes after the biggest wave of strikes since the 1980s: the 2018–19 #RedforEd strikes, as well as major work stoppages at General Motors, Marriott, and Stop & Shop. The public approval rating for unions has climbed to nearly its highest level in fifty years. There has also been a surge of unionization among adjunct professors, grad students, digital and print journalists, museum workers, nurses, cannabis store workers, and nonprofit employees.

Another welcome development for labor is that this year’s crop of Democratic presidential candidates put forward the most ambitious plans to rebuild unions in decades, perhaps ending a long period in which the party took labor for granted. One Democratic candidate after another seemed to realize (or acted as if they just realized) that if wage stagnation is going to end, if income inequality is going to be reduced, if the Democrats are to win back Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, then it will be vital to strengthen the labor movement. It’s hard to know whether the presumptive nominee Joe Biden means what he says about fighting hard to rebuild unions; one sure thing is that workers would benefit from a Democratic majority on the NLRB, which comes with control of the White House.

In a video of a walkout at an Amazon warehouse in Chicago, one courageous worker said, “This is not about Amazonians being lazy. We want to work. We want to work in a clean facility. We want to work where it’s going to be safe and our kids are going to be safe and our families are going to be safe. How can we be essential workers when our lives are not essential?”

She expressed an essential point: in a society where corporations are relentlessly focused on maximizing profits and productivity, collective action is by far the most effective way for workers to get employers to address their pressing needs. Most corporate executives couldn’t care less whether their employees have a voice at work. It’s up to the nation’s workers to make their employers hear their voice—loud and clear. There is no more pressing time to do this than during a horrid pandemic, when many workers have died because their companies failed to take adequate safety precautions.

Steven Greenhouse was a New York Times reporter for thirty-one years, spending his last nineteen years there as its labor and workplace reporter. He is the author of Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor, which was published last year by Knopf and will be released in paperback in July.

HUMAN RIGHTS, North America

‘Stop Lukashenko’: Hundreds of Thousands Protest Against Belarusian Leader for Eighth Straight Day

…. HUMAN RIGHTS ….

An article from Common Dreams (licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License)

Hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered in Belarus on Sunday [August 16] for an eighth straight day of anti-government demonstrations a week after Alexander Lukashenko, who’s ruled the country since 1994, claimed victory in an election widely viewed as fraudulent.

Protesters in Minsk held signs reading “We want fair elections,” “Stop Lukashenko,” and “Stop the violence.”


 (Photo: Valery Sharifulin\TASS via Getty Images)

A pro-government rally also took place in the capital, though that crowd’s estimated size of roughly 10,000  was a fraction of the roughly 200,000 that came out for the opposition action.

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Questions related to this article:

How effective are mass protest marches?

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From Politico:
In a rambling speech to his backers, Lukashenko gave no indication he was prepared to give way. He insisted that the August 9 election—widely considered a fraudulent vote that gave him an 80 percent victory—won’t be held again.

The Associated Press reported:

During 26 years in office, Lukashenko has repressed opposition figures and independent news media. But this year, protesters fed up with the country’s declining living standards and Lukashenko’s dismissal of the coronavirus pandemic have posed the biggest challenge to his rule.

Amnesty International warned  last week that Belarusian authorities were carrying out a campaign of torture and mistreatment against the anti-government demonstrators. 

“For days the world has watched in horror as police in Belarus fire rubber bullets and tear gas, into crowds of peaceful protesters. It is now becoming increasingly clear that the bloody scenes on the streets of Belarus are just the tip of the iceberg,” Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said in a statement Thursday.

“Former detainees told us that detention centers have become torture chambers, where protesters are forced to lie in the dirt while police kick and beat them with truncheons. They described being stripped naked and subjected to sadistic beatings while listening to the screams of other victims,” said Struthers. “These are people whose only ‘crime’ was to take to the streets in peaceful protest.”

“What we are seeing in Belarus is a human rights catastrophe that demands urgent action,” she said.

Europe, HUMAN RIGHTS

For colleges in the United States: First Year Connect

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An announcement from Search for Common Ground

American society is plagued by far-reaching polarization stemming from deep grievances and divides. College campuses have become a battleground, with racial hate incidents, controversy over guest speakers, and heated debates over creating safe spaces or protecting free speech.

First Year Connect aims to combat polarization on college campuses and in American society by equipping a generation of young Americans to engage constructively across their differences. We intend for First Year Connect to be the primary orientation program used by colleges to develop healthy campus communities, reaching tens of thousands of students per year on a fee-for-service basis.

THE PROGRAM

First Year Connect is an orientation program for first-year students that will facilitate intra-campus dialogue and build trust, respect, and constructive coexistence across differences.

Students will meet in small groups (8-12 members) through an online video-conferencing platform before arriving on campus. Each group will be composed of students spanning political, racial, and other lines of diversity within the student body, and will be guided by a highly-trained facilitator.

A wide range of topics will be discussed, such as politics, religion, and personal values, and students will be given the chance to feel heard, welcomed, and embraced before they arrive on campus.

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Question related to this article:
 
What is the relation between peace and education?>

Youth initiatives for a culture of peace, How can we ensure they get the attention and funding they deserve?

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First Year Connect builds on over 20 years of experience facilitating online, cross-cultural dialogue experiences for young people from varied backgrounds in universities, language centers, and youth organizations across the globe.

OUR GOALS

First Year Connect will empower students to set the cultural and social norms on campus during times of tension. The program will enable students to drive constructive dialogues on campus themselves rather than relying on top-down direction from administrators.

Even before starting classes, the student body will develop norms of constructive discourse, helping all students to feel heard and respected.

First Year Connect aims to protect both safe spaces and free speech. Students will be able to express themselves openly while creating a productive, genuine, and respectful dialogue with others.

A greater sense of community across campus will be developed and maintained as a result of the mutual trust and respect cultivated by First Year Connect. Students will become trained facilitators themselves, which will help hold the community together during times of heightened tension.

PATHWAY TO SUSTAINABLE SCALE

First Year Connect has partnered with a state university and a small liberal arts college for its 2-year pilot program. These pilot institutions have agreed to cover a portion of the program costs for the first two years, and then will cover the full costs starting in year 3 if the program meets agreed-upon metrics. If successful, First Year Connect can achieve scale by tapping into new markets through a fee-for-service model rather than relying on philanthropy.

In order to scale, a public relations campaign will target higher education leaders to popularize First Year Connect as the preferred program for orienting diverse student bodies into healthy campus communities.

Search for Common Ground has partnered with Soliya and Tiger 21 to implement First Year Connect.

North America, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

United Nations: Nothing less than equality and a seat at the table for youth

. TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

An article from UN Women

UN Women, in collaboration with ITU (the UN agency for information and communication technologies), and youth and gender equality activists around the world, celebrated International Youth Day on 12 August with a virtual event. Co-hosted by international activist and Miss Universe, Zozibini Tunzi, the event featured performances by international artists and vibrant conversations about social justice, peace and security and the impact of COVID-19 on youth.


Watch this video on www.youtube.com.

Opening the event, Zozi welcomed participants and shared her thoughts on what International Youth Day meant to her. Young leaders from Japan (Satoko Yamaguchi ), Kenya (Kathy Kyler), South Africa (Munnira Katongele), and the United States of America (Ayanna Depas) also shared their visions for Youth Day.

Following a musical performance by Maia Reficco (Argentinian-American singer) and a message from the Beijing +25 Youth Task Force, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka reminded youth leaders and audiences that while UN Women was still “a young girl, [of] ten years old, [it is] made up of people with many years of fighting for gender equality.” In her remarks, the Executive Director stressed the need for intergenerational collaboration. “We are encouraged by your radical impatience; it is most refreshing. We need you to be at the table where decisions are being made…in the streets…on the podiums,” she said.

Fire-chat conversations were led by UN Secretary-General’s Youth Envoy Jayathma Wickramanayake and Hajer Sharief, human rights activist and the co-founder of “Together we build it”.

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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?

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In a conversation with Ms. Wickramanayake about activism and intersectionality during COVID-19, youth activists highlighted the importance of responsible storytelling to inspire and mobilize action, and to prevent the erasure of diverse youth voices.

“Every activist has a story to tell, and every story has a solution to give, and every solution has a life to change,” said youth climate justice activist, Vanessa Nakate (Uganda).

Samantha Paige Davis, Black Swan Academy Founder and Executive Director (USA), spoke about the importance of intersectionality: “When you start recognizing the layers of identity, it allows us to create solutions that meet the most marginalized among us. [And] when you centre the voices, the experiences and stories of the most marginalized in our communities, then we all benefit.”

The panelists concluded by sharing their vision of post-pandemic “new normal”. Ines Yabar, activist from Peru, emphasized the need for change, action and solidarity, making sure that diverse youth have space at the table to make the decisions that shape their lives.

The second panel discussion focusing on peace and security featured . Fatima Askira, Founder/Executive Director of Borno Women Development Initiative; Juanita Ibanez Santamaria, Colombian political scientist; and Mallika Iyer, Global Network of Women Peacebuilders. According to Malika Iyer, “gender equality is inextricably linked to conflict prevention, sustainable peace and women’s empowerment.” A gender equal world must also be peaceful, she said, adding that, “peace cannot just be defined as an absence of war or armed conflict, but should include human security, harmonious government and good governance.”

The panelists agreed that upcoming anniversaries and milestones for women’s rights and peace and security, such as the UN Security Council resolution 1325 (adopted in 2000), the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (adopted in 1995), the 10th anniversary of UN Women and 75th birthday of the United Nations, offer opportunities to push for transformative changes on the ground.

Award-winning performers and spoken word artists, such as 25 May Movement, Malkia Band, Yvonne H+, Maia Reficco Viqueira, Manizha, and Masha Brodskaya, also participated at the virtual event.

The event closed with a call to action by youth outlining 5 demands: gender equal Legislation, women in leadership and policy making positions, ending gender based violence, equal access to education; and, youth leadership.

(Thank you to Phyllis Kotite, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

global, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY, United Nations,

Palestine: 15 lessons from 15 years of BDS

TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

An article by Alys Samson Estapé from the Electronic Intifada

July marked the 15th anniversary of the launch of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement.

Much has happened over those years. Here are 15 lessons I’ve learned on the journey to dismantle Israeli apartheid.

A grassroots movement is powerful because it is grassroots

Anyone who adheres to the BDS principles can join the movement. This empowers and enables everyone to effect extraordinary changes.

The BDS movement speaks directly to people of conscience who understand that by not acting they are allowing states, companies, artists, institutions, universities and businesses to remain complicit and fuel Israeli apartheid.

Joining and taking action allows each one of us to take responsibility and make sure we are at the very least not contributing to harming the Palestinian people. It allows us to speak out and mobilize others to take action too.

The power of the equality that grassroots mobilization brings to politics and the community is instrumental in making every single member give their best and take ownership. No single person in the movement is more important than anyone else. This powers collective leadership.

We don’t work with everyone who works on Palestinian freedom

Unfortunately, there are still those who stand up for freedom for the Palestinian people but do not care about the rights and dignity of other discriminated and oppressed groups.

Our deep commitment to anti-racism and intersectionality means we do not liaise with just anyone who agrees on Palestinian rights unless they also respect and support rights and dignity for all. We cannot build and fight for a new world while agreeing to oppress others.

Think small to win big

Every little success matters. Small victories can help in reaching a much larger aim.

Getting a small pension fund to divest from the weapons firm Elbit Systems  can contribute to discussion of the need for a military embargo against Israel. This small pension fund can encourage others to follow suit.

As we tackle local issues, we must remember the global picture and how being part of a global movement means that what happens somewhere can affect the movement as a whole, positively and negatively.

BDS is also about correcting the narrative

The BDS movement has already contributed to mainstreaming awareness of the fact that Israel is an apartheid regime.

Why is this so important? In a world with such biased media and even schoolbooks that are still deeply embedded in a colonial narrative, it is essential we take time to clarify reality.

When calling for a boycott or organizing a campaign, we must always remember how doing so helps to clearly explain what Palestinians are facing and how injustice is taking place. Even campaigns that may not reach their objective can contribute to explaining what is happening on the ground and what the Palestinian people are calling for, and to raising awareness about Israel’s regime of dispossession and colonization.

BDS supports the largest coalition of Palestinian civil society groups

The fact that we support Palestinian rights does not mean that we know best what Palestinians should do, and it does not give us a free pass to say whatever we want. Moreover, when facing attacks, we must defend our right to freedom of expression in a manner that centers Palestinians and keeps the focus on the crimes perpetrated by Israel against them.

We must remember that, by defending the right to freedom of expression, we are defending the right of Palestinians to make their experience and views heard – directly or through us – by the public and decision-makers in our country.

Privilege Palestinian voices.

Earlier this month, Rafeef Ziadah and Riya Al’sanah wrote  how “it is worth reflecting on why Palestinians are treated as mere spectators in debates concerning our daily lives.”

While the BDS movement calls on allies around the world to take action, Palestinians have a clear, pivotal role. When this isn’t happening, it means we are doing something wrong.

We must keep on decolonizing our actions and make sure Palestinians are being heard and that we take guidance from them while organizing in the BDS movement.

(article continued in right column)

Question related to this article:

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

How can a culture of peace be established in the Middle East?

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BDS has to be part of the struggle for a just and free world

Our oppressors are more connected than ever.

At a time when the right and the far-right are gaining power in many institutions worldwide, the left and progressive groups and movements have the opportunity and duty to rethink themselves and to create stronger, more solid and inclusive movements. We must make sure Palestine is a part of that.

We also must be more connected than ever.

Everywhere you look you will find allies

We have often been surprised to find allies where we wouldn’t expect them. We usually have more allies than we think.

To connect to them we must consider different approaches, language and context-sensitivity. We must ask ourselves, are we helping the movement grow? Are we empowering others to join?

The world changes and so do we

“The BDS movement has shown itself to be highly adept at pivoting to new strategies and building influential alliances. There continue to be numerous arenas in which it faces little effective resistance.” These are the words of Asher Fredman, who used to work with Israel’s strategic affairs ministry.

We must learn from other liberation struggles while bearing in mind that times and political relations change.

While the BDS movement is highly inspired by the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, the world is very different from how it looked 30 years ago.

We should not look for patterns to copy, but politically analyze the present and adapt to new times. This means continuing to learn, grow and use the best opportunities in a changing context.

Stick to the principles

Like all social movements, the BDS movement is facing severe and sustained attacks. Israel’s government and its lobby groups are regularly attacking and smearing us in an attempt to delegitimize our struggle.

We must not let their attacks shape our plans; strategizing and sticking to our anti-discrimination principles and our proactive and effective campaigning are what protect us the most.

While they seek to distract us from our target, the most powerful thing we can do is to keep on working for Palestinian rights. The best way to defend our right to boycott is to keep on boycotting while mobilizing mass support for our right to freedom of expression.

Supporting our allies is a matter of principle

Solidarity is not unidirectional. At all times we must take responsibility and reject any form of racism, sexism, LGTB-phobia, and any other form of discrimination or bigotry within the movement.

While we call on others to support Palestinian rights, we must show support for other struggles too. Palestine is an Indigenous, anti-racist, feminist, LGTBQAI+, anti-fascist and climate justice issue, and this makes all these struggles crucial to ensuring Palestinian self-determination.

Social movements have always been repressed

The Israeli government and its supporters spend hundreds of millions of dollars on criminalizing and persecuting the BDS movement and groups in solidarity with Palestine.

But this cannot be understood as something unique or isolated. Social movements have always been repressed by those seeking to maintain injustice and oppression.

Activists everywhere have been imprisoned for criticizing governments, and many calls for justice are being repressed in the streets and online. Let us not forget that those most oppressed by the Israeli government are always the Palestinians.

Never underestimate creativity

Using different tactics helps us reach a broader audience. As racism, sexism and disaster capitalism adapt and reconfigure, finding different ways to keep on oppressing, we must also keep on finding creative new ways to engage with others and accomplish our goals.

Political resistance can be beautiful  too.

The most important actions happen behind the scenes
Holding events, lectures, protests and public activities are crucial to show and visualize support for Palestinian rights. But talking to people, organizing, doing research, building alliances and strengthening relations all happen behind closed doors and are what enable us to then go public.

We should never forget how important it is to plan, foster relationships and carefully organize to then build our campaigns.

Hope is a political tool

It is incredible how many cities and cultural spaces have declared  themselves “apartheid free zones,” how many companies have divested from Israeli apartheid, how many artists have decided  not to play in Israel and how many academics have ended  relationships with Israeli institutions as a result of BDS campaigns.

Yet it is often difficult to keep our hopes up while knowing that Israeli apartheid is the cruelest it has ever been, knowing ongoing Palestinian pain and suffering, and seeing Israel maintain its impunity despite its televised crimes. But we keep on struggling and growing because we know that justice can and will prevail.

Fifteen years on, and during a time of global uprising against an entire system of racist exploitation and oppression, the BDS movement continues learning, adapting and growing, making connections, and exposing and challenging Israeli apartheid.

Mideast, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

US: WNBA players wearing T-shirts opposing Dream owner

.. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION ..

An article from ESPN

WNBA players are wearing “Vote Warnock” T-shirts to games this week to support Rev. Raphael Warnock, who is challenging Atlanta Dream co-owner Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) for her U.S. Senate seat.

Last month, Loeffler wrote a letter to WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert objecting to the league’s promotion of Black Lives Matter — which is painted on the courts at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, where the league is holding its restart — and advocating instead for teams to add American flags to jerseys.


Photo from Twitter – Sue Bird

Elizabeth Williams, a forward on the Atlanta Dream, told ESPN that the league’s executive committee began exploring the shirt idea as a response to Loeffler’s statements, because “for effective change to happen, there has to be policy changes. And so if we’re going to sit here and talk about wanting justice reform, part of that is making sure that we have officials in office that understand that.”

Williams said the Dream and other players have made a coordinated effort not to discuss Loeffler or her statements in recent weeks, and instead focused on how they could best support a candidate they felt better represented their political views.

“I think when all this stuff started happening with her, we didn’t want to feel like we were pawns,” Williams said. “We can only control so much about what the league does [in regard to Loeffler], and so for us, we wanted it to be bigger than that.

“That’s kind of been the theme of this season. So we wanted to make sure we could still keep the focus on our social justice movement, and funny enough, Rev. Warnock is somebody who supports everything that we support and just happens to be running in that seat. So it just worked out really well.”

Williams said Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird initially came up with the idea.

Bird told ESPN that participation in the campaign to support Warnock is voluntary and that all players have discussed the idea over Zoom calls while at IMG Academy, where the WNBA season resumed in late July.

“This was a situation where given what was said in regards to the owner of Atlanta and how, basically, she came out against a lot of what the women in our league stand for, I think was emotionally tough for a lot of the women in our league to hear that,” Bird said. “But very quickly we started to realize that this was only happening for her political gain. This was something that she wanted. And the more noise we made, whether it was a tweet saying to get her out, that was just playing into her hands.

“I’m not some political strategist, but what I do know is that voting is important. And I think our league has always encouraged people to use their voices and to get out and vote.

“So, what a great way for us to get the word out about this man, and hopefully put him in the Senate. And, if he’s in the Senate, you know who’s not. And I’ll just leave it at that.”

Last month, Loeffler told ESPN that she feared the WNBA’s public support for the Black Lives Matter movement could drive some fans away.

“I think a lot of people feel that they may not have a place,” Loeffler said. “They may feel excluded from this sport and other sports that make them feel like American values aren’t at the core of what we’re doing here.”

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Question for this article:

How can sports promote peace?

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She also contended that there is a difference between saying “Black lives matter” and the organization Black Lives Matter.

“I think we all agree the life of every African American is important,” Loeffler said. “There’s no room for racism in this country, and we have to root it out where it exists. But there’s a political organization called Black Lives Matter that I think is very important to make the distinction between their aim and where we are as a country at this moment.

“The Black Lives Matter political organization advocates things like defunding and abolishing the police, abolishing our military, emptying our prisons, destroying the nuclear family. It promotes violence and anti-Semitism. To me, this is not what our league stands for.”

Warnock released a statement through his campaign Tuesday saying he was “honored and humbled by the overwhelming support from the WNBA players. This movement gives us the opportunity to fight for what we believe in, and I stand by all athletes promoting social justice on and off the court.

“Senator Loeffler and those like her who seek to silence and dismiss others when they speak up for justice have planted themselves on the wrong side of history. We are in a moment of generational, transformative change, and there is no place in that movement for bigotry. We celebrate the courage and resolve of these players standing for justice, and I am proud to stand with them.”

Later Tuesday, Loeffler followed up with a statement of her own, saying, “This is just more proof that the out-of-control cancel culture wants to shut out anyone who disagrees with them. It’s clear that the league is more concerned with playing politics than basketball, and I stand by what I wrote in June.”

Following the Dream’s 81-74 loss to the Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday night, the players’ decision was a primary talking point.

“We definitely decided to wear it because he’s for Black Lives Matter,” guard Chennedy Carter said. “He supports the league and the movement, and we support him. We’re voting for Warnock.”

Forward Betnijah Laney concurred.

“He’s just somebody that also supports the Black Lives Matter — the movements that the WNBA is standing behind this year,” she said. “So, this is somebody that we’re supporting, as well.”

Also on Tuesday, the Seattle Storm defeated the Connecticut Sun 87-74. After the game, several members of the Storm spoke about the process.

“What we’re trying to do is first educate ourselves, and then educate everyone else. Initially, this kind of came from Sue — vote for Warnock. We had an opportunity to be on two separate Zooms with him and see what he stands for and what he’s fighting for,” forward Breanna Stewart said. “I think he’s someone who’s fighting to create change and fighting to be on the right side of things. Obviously, I’m not voting for Georgia, but continuing to use my platform to help with that — but I did vote today, just want to let you know.”

Guard Sami Whitcomb concurred, saying the players “are very concerned with leadership in this country and people that we want to be representing us and the morals that they represent. I think [Loeffler has] proven that she doesn’t represent us, she doesn’t represent our voices — not in this league, not in the community. Rev. Warnock does, so we’re putting our support behind him because of the person that he is and the type of legislation that he stands for. You can call it politics. We call it supporting the human race and morals.”

Seattle guard Jordin Canada added that this “is bigger than basketball. We’re more than athletes. To have someone in our league that doesn’t represent or support African Americans, who are 80% of our league, is disheartening, honestly, and sickening.”

Former Dream player Layshia Clarendon, who has written and spoken out about Loeffler’s comments, was also heavily involved in the planning of the WNBA players’ campaign.

“It’s important for us to support voting and the overall campaign to flip the Senate,” said Clarendon, who now plays for the New York Liberty. “We want people in office who support the same values and morals as we do. Rev. Warnock is pro criminal justice reform, for LGBT+ rights, and pro choice/reproductive rights. Those are the kind of people we want representing us, because that’s what our league stands for.”

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, North America

Colombia: Details of the Non-Violence Secretariat to be created by the Mayor’s Office of Medellín

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION . .

An article from San Andres (translation by CPNN)

The mayor of Medellín will present this Monday [August 3] to the municipal council the functions of the planned Secretariat of Non-violence, dedicated to guiding the construction of territorial peace in the Antioquia capital.

According to the founding document on its functions, the new agency, whose creation must be approved by the Council, will define and implement strategies for the prevention of violence and victimizing acts that affect the lives and environments of the inhabitants of the city.


The social manager of Medellín, Diana Osorio talks about the need to create the Secretariat of Non-Violence

Likewise, this new Secretariat, which replaces the initial idea of ​​a Peace Management, would be in charge of the “promotion of restorative justice and comprehensive security that allows the transformation of conflicts and the protection of life as a fundamental value.”

The entity would be made up of the Undersecretary of Restorative Justice and the Undersecretary of Construction of territorial peace. Its creation was planned from the office of the Medellín Social Manager, Diana Osorio.

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

Question related to this article:
 
How can culture of peace be developed at the municipal level?

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The Secretariat’s functions

The Secretariat of Non-Violence will have at least 14 main functions, among them, to accompany the design, formulation, implementation and evaluation of the Municipal public policy of Peace, reconciliation and coexistence, in accordance with the guidelines of the National Public Policy.

It must also implement policies, plans, programs and projects for training and generating a Culture of Nonviolence at the central and decentralized level, as well as leading research, social innovation and knowledge management programs and projects that contribute to the prevention of violence and the transformation of conflicts in the city.

It will also be a function of the agency to implement a model of care, assistance, accompaniment, protection and monitoring of the victims and re-incorporated ex-combatants to guarantee their rights, non-stigmatization and any reparations that may be necessary to promote peaceful coexistence.

It must also provide care and support for the reintegration of the prison population and adolescents in the criminal responsibility system, as well as the population at risk for the prevention of violence.

It will be in charge of coordinating, with entities such as the National Center of Historical Memory, the Casa de la Memoria Museum and civil society organizations, specific actions for the dignity of victims and the construction of collective memory in the territories of the Municipality of Medellín.

The Secretariat should also strengthen the processes and scenarios of conflict transformation and reconciliation, favoring the formation of networks of social and community organizations for citizen reconciliation.

And it must consolidate a process of articulation with the System of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Guarantee of Non-Repetition created after the peace agreements with the FARC. This system includes the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), the Commission for the Clarification of Truth, and the Unit for the Search of Persons reported as Disappeared.
 

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Latin America