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.

USA: A call to resist immigrant concentration camps

TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY .

An article from Courage to Resist

Courage to Resist believes that all military personnel have a moral and legal obligation to refuse to comply with any order that involves collaboration with [the following] immigrant concentration camps.

Actual concentration camps are in the process of development at military bases across the Southern United States. Potential locations have been identified by military or Pentagon personnel as:

Tornillo Port of Entry, Texas – capacity 360 teenagers CURRENTLY ACTIVE

Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas – capacity 45,000
Fort Bliss, Texas

Dyess Air Force Base, Texas

Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas – capacity 20,000
Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Air Station, California – capacity 47,000

Navy Outlying Field Wolf and Silverhill, Alabama – capacity 25,000
Yuma Marine Corps Air Station, Arizona

Concord Naval Weapons Station, California – capacity 47,000 CANCELLED [see below]

This isn’t the first time in US history that facilities are being constructed and used to imprison large numbers of a persecuted minority in a relatively small area with inadequate facilities (the definition of a concentration camp). Previous examples of this are now infamous, such as the so-called Japanese internment camps. We’re now on the brink of adding a new chapter to this dark history.

Military officials, in response to pressured deadlines from the White House, have stated that these camps can begin to be operational by mid-August. Estimates are that capacity for another 10,000 people can be added each month. The White House’s stated timeline of 45 days out from June 27th has local base commanders scrambling and caught unaware.

In addition to providing the land, military personnel will construct the camps while private agencies will manage the operations. While this simplified explanation of operations seeks to minimize the military’s role, it omits the endless capacities in which the armed forces will surely be facilitating the functioning of these camps such as with water, electricity, sewage, trash, and all of the other services to go allow with sustaining tens of thousands of immigrant detainees.

Additional operational problems include the difficulty of housing persons in restricted access bases who legally need access to immigration and civil-liberties lawyers, secure areas to discuss their cases, as well as access for advocates, relatives, news media and political activists. Another issue is the lack of state licensing requirements, such as health and building codes, which military locations enable the government to avoid.

As of July 10th, two weeks after the Pentagon confirmed that it was indeed working with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to construct these camps, there was still no Memorandum of Understanding with either DHS or Health and Human Services (HHS) nor could any timeline be stated for one. A memorandum would clearly delineate the roles and responsibilities of all parties. To move forward with construction plans without one, nor any clear legal guidance, certainly leads military personnel into dangerous waters for themselves.

The military is strictly prohibited from domestic policing as stated in the constitution yet military personnel are being drafted into doing just that with this rising domestic enforcement of immigration policy. Just because Trump/Sessions Co. declares a war on immigrants, doesn’t make it an actual war. Being quite clearly an illegal order, the question is who will refuse to aid and abet?

The Trump administration’s reckless leadership is currently putting military personnel in danger of running afoul of the law. While military personnel at all levels have a responsibility to refuse to participate in facilitating these camps, commanders in particular are at a particularly high risk in complying with these orders due to the precedent of the Nuremberg prosecution of those who aided and abetted Nazi leadership.

(Article continued in the right column)

Questions related to this article:

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

(Article continued from the left column)

Already the construction of one camp has been abandoned due to people’s refusal to look the other way. The proposed use of the Concord Naval Weapons Station experienced significant resistance and outcry from the community and local officials who opposed the plan once it was exposed via a leaked Navy memo recently published. DHS soon thereafter announced they would no longer build a concentration camp at this location. To follow that up, on July 10th the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Department announced it is cancelling its contract with ICE which facilitated the local county jails holding ICE-detained persons for a lucrative fee.

These human rights victories have been happening in other communities as well including Sacramento County just last month.

Since the news coverage of the camp plans was broken, there has been heated debate within military communities as individuals seek to understand and define their reactions to this new era we find ourselves in. Meanwhile more than thirty lawmakers are pushing forward different amendments which would bar National Guard or other reserve components from enforcing immigration laws, and restrict the Pentagon from housing immigrants on military bases. Alabama Rep. Byrne recently stated “Housing anyone in tents on the Gulf Coast during the heat of summer and the heart of hurricane season would be inhumane and a major mistake. I am committed to working with our local officials to fight back against this misguided idea.”

There are discussions and calls right now for counties to cease partnering with ICE, for communities surrounding military bases to refuse to work on the bases which will hold tens of thousands of people for the “crime” of seeking refuge.

Share this article and discuss with others these facts as you ask yourself, what will I do? Now is the time to make a decision. The White House has requested that the first of these large scale camps be ready by mid-August. We are in the midst of a pivotal moment in history, one way or another.

Sources:

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

North America, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

9th International Conference on Human Rights Education

…. HUMAN RIGHTS ….

An article from the Global Campaign for Peace Education

The international conferences on human rights education (ICHRE) will take place in Australia at Western Sydney University November 26, 2018 – November 29, 2018.

The ICHRE are a series of dialogues on human rights education as a means of promoting democracy, the rule of law, justice, and intercultural and social harmony. Since its beginnings in Sydney, Australia, in 2010, conferences have been held  in South Africa, Poland, Taiwan, USA, Holland, Chile and Canada.

The 9th ICHRE will coincide with the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 25th anniversary of the education-oriented Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. Much work has been done to improve knowledge and education about these principles of human rights globally. But there is still much work to do to embed these principles into everyday thinking where they can underpin civil society.

The 9th ICHRE will cover the range of human rights education (HRE) issues such as national and international curricula, pedagogy and best practices, including in the context of discrimination faced by the First Nations, women, persons with disabilities, the LGBTIQ communities and those of refugee and minority cultural and religious backgrounds. Contemporary challenges to HRE and how to effectively address them will be considered.

(Article continued in the right column)

Question related to this article:

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

(Article continued from the left column)

Underpinning the Conference deliberations will be the cross-cutting theme of how HRE can develop and strengthen civil society.

Why attend?

The Conference is an opportunity to:

– learn about the latest research, practices and trends in HRE;

– participate in thought-provoking and practical paper and workshop presentations;

– strengthen practical skills through HRE workshops;
share information and experiences on HRE;

– engage with a grassroots movement which is dedicated to improving HRE; and

– foster contacts and networks and explore partnerships and collaboration.

Who will attend?

The Conference is expected to be attended by some 400 Australia and international HRE experts, practitioners, decision makers and thought leaders from government, civil society, academia and the private sector. For more information on the 9th ICHRE, including on registration and proposals for paper and workshop presentations, see www.ichre2018.com.au.

East Asia, HUMAN RIGHTS

BDS Victory: Irish Senate Approves Bill Boycotting Israeli Settlement Goods

. .DISARMAMENT & SECURITY. ,

An article from Telesur TV

Ireland becomes the first country to ban trade with Israel’s illegal settlements.

The Ireland senate approved the Occupied Territories Bill, which bans all trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, Wednesday. The Irish government opposed the legislation, but 25 independent and opposition lawmakers secured its approval.

Ireland is on its way to becoming the first country to prohibit “the import and sales of goods, services and natural resources originating in illegal settlements in occupied territories.” 

The Israeli Foreign Ministry responded to the decision saying that “the Irish Senate has given its hand to an aggressive, dangerous and radical populist anti-Israel boycott initiative that undermines prospects for a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians.”

(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?

(article continued from left column)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also protested, saying the bill “is to support the BDS movement and harm the State of Israel.”

The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement is a Palestinian-led international campaign launched in 2005 to push for the end of Israel’s over-50-year-long military occupation of Palestine, the end of the apartheid regime, and for the recognition of the right to return of the over five million Palestinian refugees.  

Despite attempts to discredit the BDS movement, Israel’s lethal response against protesters who participated in the Great March of Return, which began on March 30, has given the international campaign more relevance and victories.
 
The bill was introduced by Frances Black, a well-known singer and member of the Seanad, the upper house in Ireland’s Parliament. 

There is international consensus on the illegality of these settlements. Earlier this year the United Nations Human Rights Council published a report  on the role businesses play in Israel’s violations of international humanitarian law, “contributing to Israel’s confiscation of land, facilitate the transfer of its population into the Occupied Palestinian Territory and… the exploitation of Palestine’s natural resources.”

(Thank you to the Transcend Media Service for bringing this to our attention.)

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, Europe, Mideast,

An unprecedented upsurge of movements for women’s rights: UN Women annual report 2017-2018

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

Foreward to Annual Report by UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka

In 2017 we saw an unprecedented upsurge of movements for women’s rights, equality, safety and justice. The tireless work of activists has been central to this global drive, and women all over the world continue to demonstrate the power of many voices speaking as one. Together, we are calling for opportunity and accountability, drawing momentum from grass-roots networks and forging coalitions that stretch right up to the leaders of governments, businesses and civic institutions.


UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka visited a camp for people displaced by conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Despite the terrors of war and sexual violence, women leaders are forging ahead to make new, better lives for themselves and other women in the camp.

There is a profound hunger for change in women’s lives, and a growing recognition that when women band together they can achieve it—whether online through social media or offline through more traditional mobilization. They are confronting, challenging and condemning the practices that have normalized gender inequality, poverty, sexual miscon- duct, exclusion and discrimination across every area of life.

As our Annual Report shows, UN Women is supporting women politicians, electoral officials, voters, lawmakers, civil society activists and many others to claim their equal right to lead and be heard. The report highlights the experiences of a multitude of formidable women, from individuals like Alice Wahome, Kenyan parliamentarian, to the combined success story of the 14,000 Nepalese women who won an unprecedented 41 per cent of local government seats in 2017.

We salute these women leaders in formal positions as well as all those who have bravely spoken out against sexual harassment and violence through the #MeToo movement, and others. We commend the women who spoke out in the International Criminal Court against those who used rape as a weapon of war. We celebrate activists who campaigned for equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people.

We recognize those who advocated for legal reform in countries such as Tunisia, to end a provision that allowed rapists to escape persecution if they married their victims. We acknowledge those who have taken to the streets in India to condemn the murder and rape of young children, turning protests into broader-based movements that engage entire communities. We honour the indigenous leaders who have stood up for their custodial rights to land and traditional practices, and the human rights defenders who have even lost their lives for their cause.

(continued in right column)

Question for this article

Does the UN advance equality for women?

(continued from left column)

Through our report we celebrate individuals we have supported, whose life experiences represent hundreds of thousands of others like them, and whose achievements are accelerating progress towards gender equality. Small business owner Olga Macz of Guatemala told us about the increased income, independence and mobility that came with learning professional production and marketing skills.

Training also brought her increased understanding and assertion of her rights. In Egypt, more than 17,000 women from the poorest and most marginalized rural areas now have their first access to community-based village savings and loan associations, building not just savings and busi- ness opportunities but confidence and increased autonomy.

The time is now to end all forms of gender inequality. The culture of gender-based poverty, abuse and exploitation has to end with a new generation of equality that lasts for all women and girls, no matter where they live, or how they live. We must leave no one behind.

UN Women has a special relationship with the women’s movement; we arose from that activism. Civil society has had a historically crucial role in leading global action on gender equality by promoting reform, highlighting the complexities of the challenges facing women, influencing policies, participating in monitoring, and upholding ac- countability. We are working to create stronger support for women’s political activism and a broader space for women’s civil society voices so that our efforts combine to benefit those who truly need change most.

At the same time, we also need a movement of male feminists, and young men and boys who value and respect women and girls. Today’s activism needs to alter the way we listen to women and the way we look at them, recog- nizing the power of stereotypes to influence how we value people. Activists and leaders in the HeForShe movementin 2017 found tangible and scaleable solutions for inequal- ities, like the 3,500 child marriages annulled in Malawi by local chiefs, or the practical accountability actions taken in Iceland to make sure that companies put the equal pay law into practice.

At the 2018 UN Commission on the Status of Women, youth captured the urgency of the moment. They highlighted the importance of being present and participating fully in all the issues that affect their lives. They emphasized working in an intergenerational context so that they can learn from those who have been around for much longer and contrib- ute to giving us direction for the future.

The time is now to hold ourselves and our leaders accountable for progress, for all women.

global, United Nations, WOMEN'S EQUALITY,

ICC judges order outreach to victims of war crimes in Palestine

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article by Ali Abunimah in The Electronic Intifada

Judges in The Hague have ordered the International Criminal Court to reach out to victims of war crimes in Palestine. It is a sign the court may be inching towards ending Israeli impunity.

On Friday, the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber 1 ordered court administrators to establish “a system of public information and outreach activities for the benefit of the victims and affected communities in the situation in Palestine.”


Relatives mourn over the body of Amir al-Nimra, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on 14 July along with his friend Louay Kuhail. Both boys were 14 years old.Mohammed ZaanounActiveStills

The Pre-Trial Chamber is a panel of judges that supervises how the ICC prosecutor’s office carries out its investigative and prosecutorial activities. It has the responsibility to guarantee the rights of suspects, victims and witnesses during investigations by the prosecutor.

The court will also create a page on its website “especially directed to the victims in the situation in Palestine.”

The decision facilitates the gathering of evidence that could be used in indictments or trials of suspected war criminals.

Death threats

The order instructs the court’s public information and victims participation sections to “take a central role in the initial phase of approaching victims, nongovernmental organizations and intermediaries.”

Anticipating the dangers victims may face coming forward, the judges say that court officials “may consult with the Victims and Witnesses Unit regarding protection issues.”

Nongovernmental organizations, particularly the Palestinian human rights groups Al-Haq, Al Mezan and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, have played a key role in collecting evidence of Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity that they have handed over to the ICC prosecutor.

In September, the groups turned over dossiers detailing crimes of persecution, apartheid, the extensive theft, destruction and pillage of Palestinian property and evidence of the “wilful killing and murder” of hundreds of Palestinians since 2014 in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Previously, they gave the prosecutor evidence related to crimes committed by senior Israeli civilian and military officials during Israel’s 2014 attack on Gaza that left more than 2,200 Palestinians dead.

While doing this work, human rights defenders have faced death threats and harassment  likely perpetrated by Israel  or its surrogates.

Those death threats have been investigated  by authorities in the Netherlands, where the ICC is based.

In a joint statement, Al-Haq, Al Mezan and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights express hope that the Pre-Trial Chamber’s order “would be implemented in an effective manner.”

Worry in Israel

The decision to reach out to victims is causing worry in Israel, as a discussion on Israeli public television channel Kan indicates . . . .

In the discussion, translated and subtitled by activist Ronnie Barkan, a commentator calls the judges’ decision “outrageous” and “a dramatic statement advancing towards an investigation of Israel and Israelis.”

(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?

Israel/Palestine, is the situation like South Africa?

How can war crimes be documented, stopped, punished and prevented?

(continued from left column)

Israel is refusing to comment  officially, but Alan Baker, a former senior Israeli diplomat, called the Pre-Trial Chamber’s decision “quite crazy” and claimed that the ICC was “openly turning itself into a Palestinian propaganda engine, similar to the [United Nations] Human Rights Council.”

Foot dragging

Yet the Pre-Trial Chamber’s decision does not by itself indicate that the ICC prosecutor’s office, headed by Fatou Bensouda, is about to issue indictments against Israeli war crimes suspects.

The Palestinian human rights groups note in their statement that the Pre-Trial Chamber’s order to reach out to victims was not taken by, or at the request of, the chief prosecutor.

The situation in Palestine has been under preliminary examination  by the prosecutor’s office since 2015.

A preliminary examination is the first step in the process to determine whether to open a formal investigation, which can then lead to indictments and trials.

But while a preliminary examination is carried out whenever a referral is made, it is open-ended and can continue for years, at the chief prosecutor’s discretion.

However in April, Bensouda issued an unprecedented warning  that Israeli leaders could ultimately face trial for the killings of unarmed Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during the Great March of Return  protests that began at the end of March.

The chief prosecutor’s warning was surprising given her foot-dragging on the preliminary investigation and her demonstrated reluctance in another case to hold Israel to account.

Late last year, Bensouda reaffirmed  there was a “reasonable basis to believe” that the Israeli military committed “war crimes” when it attacked an activist flotilla to Gaza in 2010.

But she claimed that there was “no potential case” of “sufficient gravity” under the court’s founding Rome Statute to proceed with a formal investigation.

Her insistence that the court did not need to act in the case of an extraordinary military attack on civilian vessels in international waters flew in the face of scathing criticism from the Pre-Trial Chamber.

In 2015, the ICC judges had ordered Bensouda to re-examine an earlier decision not to proceed with an investigation into the flotilla case.

In December, the law firm for the victims of the Mavi Marmara attack told The Electronic Intifada that it was “lamentable that the prosecutor has been considering only the question of whether to open an investigation for over four years now.”

The lawyers, who said they would once again appeal, added that Bensouda’s office “could have by now in actual fact investigated the case, instead of avoiding its responsibility to strive to end impunity for international crimes.”

The Pre-Trial Chamber’s decision to reach out to victims in Palestine now shows that even if Bensouda continues to drag her feet, the judges at least understand the urgent need for justice and the importance of hearing testimony from Palestinian victims.

In the meantime, Israel continues to create new victims.

On Sunday, Palestinians buried  Amir al-Nimra and Louay Kuhail, two friends who were playing on the roof of the unfinished al-Katiba building in Gaza City when they were killed in an Israeli airstrike  the previous day.

Al Mezan reported  that the boys were both 14 years old.

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

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, Mideast

Israel/Palestine, is the situation like South Africa?

We have previously reprinted remarks by Nobel Peace Laureate and Bishop Desmond Tutu comparing the Israeli occupation of Palestine to the South African Apartheid regime prior to the election of Nelson Mandela as President.

Now, we reprint an analysis of the “Jewish Nation-State Law” which may be considered as the official establishment of Israeli Apartheid.

The Israeli parliament passed the “Jewish Nation-State Law” in the early hours of Thursday morning [July 19, 2018], defining Israel as the exclusive nation-state of the Jewish people and demoting the official status of Arabic.

Almost immediately, Palestinian politicians and rights groups began speaking of the legislation in the starkest of terms. PLO Secretary General Saeb Erekat said the law “turns a ‘de-facto’ Apartheid regime into a ‘de-jure’ reality for all of historic Palestine.

Hassan Jabareen, head of the Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, said the law “features key elements of apartheid” and that by passing it, Israel has “made discrimination a constitutional value and has professed its commitment to favoring Jewish supremacy as the bedrock of its institutions.”

According to Adalah attorney Fady Khoury, the legislation entrenches the identity of the State of Israel as a state for the Jewish people, turning them into the sovereign while excluding the Palestinian population from the same definition of sovereignty.

“The law itself does not mention the word democracy even once,” Khoury explained. “Psychologically, it will have a huge impact on Israelis when they are called to determine what it or isn’t democratic.”

+972 Magazine spoke with Khoury to better understand the apartheid comparison, and why the law is so problematic in general.

[The following interview has been edited for length and flow.]

People are calling this the ‘apartheid law.’ Why?

“Apartheid in South Africa was a process. It was a system that took years to develop and was built on the work of academics and theologians who had to create justifications for white supremacy. It was system of hierarchy, in which there is one group with all the power and another without any power.

“In Israel, the new law explicitly defines the Jewish people as the only group with the only right to self-determination, while negating the rights of the indigenous people. This creates a system of hierarchy and supremacy. We do not live in a time in which explicit calls for supremacy are legitimate as they were in South Africa, but we are reaching the same result through different language.

“The analogy between Israel and South Africa is not only about separate communities or roads, it is about a state of mind. It is about the idea of ranking different groups. It is the idea of a regime of supremacy that serves the interests of one group, even if it comes at the expense of the most basic rights of another. We don’t have to keep looking for policies that resemble Jim Crow — that mindset exists not only in the periphery of Israeli politics but also in the mainstream.”

The original wording of the bill included a clause that allowed for communities to be segregated along religious or ‘national’ lines. What does the final version say about segregation?

“The previous version of the bill included a clause that allowed the state to authorize new communities based on religion or nationality. It was based on the principle of ‘separate but equal,’ which was couched in the idea that doing so would be good for everybody — Jews or Palestinians. The language was changed since it was too close to the kind of blatant segregation we have seen in the U.S. They rewrote the clause so that the state would ‘promote Jewish settlement.’ This creates a whole different kind of paradigm for segregation, one of “separate but unequal.”

“Think about it this way: imagine if the United States passed legislation that promoted ‘white settlement’ — we would cringe. But after 70 years of a Jewish and democratic state, the idea of Jewish settlement has become so mundane that it does not seem problematic. In that sense, the change is cosmetic. But what the right wants to achieve is the same: Judaizing the country while incentivizing building communities for Jewish citizens only.”

What are the potential effects this law could have on the legal system?

“This is a law that will determine the state’s constitutional identity. Up until now, it was the role of the Supreme Court to interpret what the phrase ‘Jewish and democratic’ really meant. Now we have a law that grants the state’s Jewish identity constitutional status.”

“[The law] will be foundational. It becomes a source of interpretation of the laws and the legal system. The ramifications are not going to be limited to a few areas: they are going to affect the legal system at the root, especially if the right continues to appoint conservative justices to the Supreme Court, which will use this new constitutional norm to interpret the law.”

Is the new law an acceleration of a process that has been taking place here recently, or does it enshrine a discriminatory regime that has always existed here?

“I think we are seeing an escalation that did not begin with the new Basic Law, but rather is a result of the contradiction between the fundamental identities of the state as Jewish and democratic. What we are seeing now is Jewish identity encroaching more and more on the social and political life of Israel’s citizens, while the ‘democratic’ identity of the state is experiencing a regression.”

Here are the CPNN articles on this subject:

World Court Condemns Israeli Apartheid

‘Watershed Moment’: Anti-Apartheid Conference on Palestine Kicks Off in South Africa

Israel: Democracy in Danger

American Anthropological Association Endorses Academic Boycott of Israeli ‘Apartheid Regime’

Elders warn of consequences of “one-state reality” in Israel and Palestine

Amnesty International : Israel’s Apartheid Against Palestinians

The Elders: Israel’s designation of Palestinian NGOs as “terrorist” undermines core democratic principles

It’s Apartheid, Say Israeli Ambassadors to South Africa

Ceasefire can’t hide scale of destruction in Gaza, UN warns, as rights experts call for ICC probe

Amnesty International: Pattern of Israeli attacks on residential homes in Gaza must be investigated as war crimes

Outraged at apartheid Israel’s crimes against Palestinians? Here are 5 things you can do.

Amnesty International : End brutal repression of Palestinians protesting forced displacement in occupied East Jerusalem

Israel and Palestine : An update on the BDS movement

Human Rights Watch : Abusive Israeli Policies Constitute Crimes of Apartheid, Persecution

New ICC ruling ‘opens the door’ for justice in occupied Palestine – Independent UN expert

The B’tselem Report on Israeli Apartheid

Israeli annexation of parts of the Palestinian West Bank would break international law – UN experts call on the international community to ensure accountability

Opposition to Israel’s proposed annexation of occupied Palestinian territory

ICC judges order outreach to victims of war crimes in Palestine

14th Annual Israeli Apartheid Weeks of actions

US: ​United Methodist Kairos Response Welcomes Pension Fund Exclusion and Divestment of Israeli Banks

Sanctions against Israel: Round up from 2014

Anti-Apartheid Archbishop Tutu Calls Presbyterians to Back Divestment From Israeli Occupation

Presbyterian General Assembly Votes 310-303 to Divest from Israeli Occupation

The Elders support Palestinian move to sign international treaties

Liberia Follows South Africa’s Lead Toward A Peaceful Society

Justice South African Style

d-tolerance

Flotilla bringing needed medical supplies to Gaza

TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY .

A news release from Right to a Just Future for Palestine

In the past 15 weeks, more than 130 Palestinians in Gaza have been executed by Israeli snipers, more than 4,000 have been wounded and 15,000 injured with tear gas. At least 43 people have had their legs amputated due to the types of bullets the Israeli Occupation Forces are using and hundreds more will have long-term debilitating injuries from these bullets. The medical system in Gaza is overwhelmed and urgently needs medical supplies.


(Click on image to enlarge)

TAlthough the Freedom Flotilla Coalition continues to see our mission’s goal as political solidarity rather than charity or aid, the need for medical supplies in Gaza is too urgent to ignore. As a result, our Right to a Just Future for Palestine flotilla that is on its way to Gaza will carry as many medical supplies as our four boats can safely hold. These are medical supplies that have been specifically requested by Palestinian medical authorities in Gaza – all of them are in short supply due to the blockade.

(Article continued in the right column)

Question for this article

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

(Article continued from the left column)

We demand that the Israeli government does not interfere with our boats as they approach, dock and unload in Gaza, in order to deliver the  medical  supplies  directly to hospitals in Gaza City, less than one 1.6 km from the Gaza City harbour. Whatever happens to our boats, we hold the Israeli government accountable for the safe reception of these life-saving supplies by Palestinian medical authorities in Gaza.

As an occupying state that has placed a land, air and sea blockade on Gaza, international law mandates that Israel must allow medical supplies into Gaza. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition and its worldwide allies, including those in Israel, will keep the international community and governments informed of any delays in delivering these critical medical supplies to Gaza.

People anywhere who wish to contribute to towards the cost of these medical supplies can make donations through any one of our campaigns, designating your donation “Medical supplies for Gaza.” We will use your donations to purchase medical supplies close to our last port of call, Palermo (please do not send us medical supplies though as we do not have the capacity to move additional items to our departure point). Together, we can help end the illegal blockade of Gaza.

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

Mideast, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

The UNESCO Chair and the UTPL promote the training of peace managers for Peru, Colombia and Ecuador

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from La Conversación (translation by CPNN)

Through the intervention and support of the UNESCO Chair of Culture and Education for Peace at UTPL, on June 27, 2018 an agreement was signed between the Private Technical University of Loja (UTPL) and UNESCO Quito that will allow the strengthening of education programs so that the future managers of the peace can act from a sensitive perspective to fight against conflict and violence.


130 students and teachers from institutions of higher education and networks for peace, from Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, met in Loja with the aim of strengthening the skills of young leaders on issues related to the construction of environments without violence.

From June 27 to 29, 2018, the First Training Program for Culture of Peace Managers was held in Loja, organized by the Private Technical University of Loja (UTPL), the UNESCO Chair of Culture and Education for Peace – UTPL and UNESCO Quito.

The event was developed through lectures and workshops on topics of peace through environmental education, ethics in higher education, nonviolence and culture related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

(Articles continued in right column)

(Click here for the original article in Spanish)

Questions for this article:

Where is peace education taking place?

(continued from left column)

Santiago Pérez, professor of the UTPL and coordinator of the International Youth Network for Peace, mentioned that this program is an innovative initiative in Latin America, as it is the first time that three countries seek to join together to promote the construction of a culture of peace, and that, thanks to the endorsement of UNESCO Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia and Venezuela and the support of several public and private entities in Ecuador, the quality of the conferences and workshops provided was assured.

Formation of the International Youth Network for Peace

As a result of this program, the UTPL, together with the Colombian and Peruvian universities present, participated in the signing of the commitment for the constitution of the International Youth Network for Peace.

Thanks to this network, young peace managers will be part of programs that will allow them to develop social and productive skills to participate actively in the resolution of conflicts and urban violence. They will study methodologies such as TINI (Land of children and young people for Good Living) of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Ecuador and UNESCO and the models managed by the Futuro Latinoamericano Foundation and the Foundation of the Americas.

Perez affirms that once the training should prepare the young people to be transformers of their communities.

The event for the agreement was attended by José Barbosa Corbacho, rector of the UTPL; Saadia Sánchez, director and representative of the UNESCO office in Quito; and, Mónica Reinoso, vice minister of Educational Management.

Each year, the International Youth Network for Peace will make available a specific number of places for young people interested in becoming peace managers in the three countries.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

Peru: Law to promote the culture of peace and non-violence in basic education

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from Andina: The Peruvian News Agency (translation by CPNN)

The government has promulgated Law No. 30810, which will incorporate the principle of the culture of peace and nonviolence into Law 28044, the General Law of Education for the Peruvian educational system. The law is published today in the official newspaper El Peruano.


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(Click here for the original article in Spanish)

Questions for this article:

Where is peace education taking place?

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This principle of culture of peace as described in the mentioned law seeks to promote values ​​and attitudes that reject all types of violence, as well as promote the incorporation into the Peruvian educational system of the teaching of the culture of peace.

For this, the following text is inserted into article 8 of Law 28044, the General Education Law: “I) The culture of peace and nonviolence, which promotes values ​​and attitudes that reject all types of violence and discrimination, affirms life, individual freedom, freedom of thought, solidarity, equality between men and women and in general those rights referred to in Chapter I of the Political Constitution of Peru “.

The new law, previously approved by the Congress of the Republic, was promulgated by the President of the Republic, Martín Vizcarra, and by the Prime Minister, César Villanueva.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

Peace Boat: Building a Culture of Peace around the World

Peace Boat has sailed on voyages around the world since 1983 under the slogan “Building a Culture of Peace around the World.”

Here are some excerpts from their website.

Peace Boat is a Japan-based international non-governmental and non-profit organization that works to promote peace, human rights, equal and sustainable development and respect for the environment.

Peace Boat seeks to create awareness and action based on effecting positive social and political change in the world. We pursue this through the organization of global educational programmes, responsible travel, cooperative projects and advocacy activities. These activities are carried out on a partnership basis with other civil society organizations and communities in Japan, Northeast Asia, and around the world.

Peace Boat carries out its main activities through a chartered passenger ship that travels the world on peace voyages. The ship creates a neutral, mobile space and enables people to engage across borders in dialogue and mutual cooperation at sea, and in the ports that we visit. Activities based in Japan and Northeast Asia are carried out from our eight Peace Centers in Japan.

Please explore our website to learn more about our voyages, activities and projects. You can also download a web version of our introductory pamphlet “Across Borders” here in English, Spanish or French. Other pamphlets and brochures can also be viewed as a PDF on our issuu.com page here.

A variety of videos of Peace Boat's activities can also be viewed here.

Principles

Travel for Peace and Sustainability

Peace Boat believes that travel in itself can be a tool for positive social and political change, and seeks to create and implement best practices in responsible travel and what we call travel for peace and sustainability. Socio-political considerations rather than commercial interests largely determine our choice of destinations. Our partnerships with local organizations and travel agencies reflect our effort to utilize tourism in a progressive and educational form so as to contribute to global sustainability and peace.

Peace Boat's use of the ship as a vehicle for our activities has allowed the development of a unique range of tools for our work.

  • Forums on board: the ship as a neutral and mobile meeting space
  • Using the ship's media appeal
  • The power of people to people contact
  • Bringing back the world's reality: beyond conventional media
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