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: United National Anti-War Coalition (UNAC) conference

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from Popular Resistance

We just returned from the weekend-long United National Anti-War Coalition (UNAC) conference in Richmond, VA. This is the fourth UNAC conference since its founding in 2010 to create a vibrant and active anti-war movement in the United States that opposes all wars. The theme this year was stopping the wars at home and abroad in recognition that we can’t end one without ending the others, that they have common roots and that it will take a large, broad-based and diverse movement of movements to succeed.


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Speakers at the conference ranged from people who are fighting for domestic issues – such as a $15/hour minimum wage and an end to racist police brutality and ICE raids – to people who traveled from or represented countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Korea, the Philippines, the Congo, Iran, Syria, Colombia and Venezuela, which are some of the many countries under attack by US imperialism. At the end of the conference, participants marched to an area of Richmond called Shockoe Bottom, which is an African cemetery close to a site that was a central hub for the slave trade, to rally with activists with the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice and Equality who are fighting to protect the land from gentrification and preserve it as a park.

The War at Home

The “US Way of War” – a brutal form of war that requires the total destruction of populations, targets the most vulnerable and wipes out their access to basic necessities such as food and water – has raged since settlers first stepped foot on the land that is now the United States and brutalized the Indigenous Peoples in order to take their lands and resources to build wealth for the colonizers and their home countries using the slave labor of Africans and indentured servants. The US Way of War continues in the same form today on both domestic and foreign land.

There are daily reminders of the war at home, which overwhelmingly targets people of color, immigrants, Muslims, LGBTQ people, the poor and workers. Over 1,000 civilians are killed by police, security personnel or vigilantes every year in the US. Black young men are nine times more likely to be victims than any other group, but, as in the case of Philando Castile, few of the killers are held accountable. Despite clear evidence that Castile was murdered by Officer Jeromino Yanez in front of his girlfriend and her 4-year-old daughter during a traffic stop, Yanez was acquitted this week. Within hours of the verdict, thousands of local residents marched against the injustice and some shut down a major highway.

Black Lives Matter Chicago and other community groups filed a lawsuit this week asking for federal oversight of their police. They accuse the mayor of trying to cut a backroom deal with the Department of Justice to water down oversight of the police after a DoJ investigation “found widespread constitutional violations by the Chicago Police Department.” And recently, though Take Em Down NoLa was successful, after years of efforts, at removing several confederate statues in New Orleans, structural racism is still rampant in the school and law enforcement systems. Ashana Bigard explains, a DoJ investigation found “98.6 percent of all children arrested by the New Orleans Police Department for ‘serious offenses’ were black.”

Ralph Poynter, the widower of the great attorney-activist Lynne Stewart, spoke at the UNAC conference about the many political prisoners who have been jailed in the US for decades. He described the organizing efforts to release Stewart and the public sympathy that she was given, in part, for being a white woman. There are many people who deserve equal organizing efforts, such as Major Tillery who, after 33 years, is appealing his murder conviction. Indeed, many from the black freedom struggle of decades past remain imprisoned. Let us not forget them.

And the Trump administration is ramping up deportations. This week, ICE Director Thomas Homan asked Congress “for more than a billion dollars to expand ICE’s capacity to detain and deport undocumented immigrants.” Homan also indicated that he would increase deportations, saying “‘no population of persons’ in the country illegally is safe from deportation.” In this interview, Ingrid Latorre describes how the Sanctuary Movement is working to protect immigrants.

Juneteenth is a Time to End the War at Home

Juneteenth, the day in 1865 when black slaves in Texas learned they were freed – two and one-half years after the Emancipation Proclamation, is a little known holiday that is being celebrated this year through efforts to end racial disparities on many fronts of struggle. A coalition of organizations is working to raise awareness of the injustice of cash bail in the US. They raised over a million dollars and are using that to bail out black fathers and “black LGBTQ and gender-nonconforming people, who are overrepresented in jails and prisons and are likely to experience abuse while incarcerated.”

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Question related to this article:

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

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Other groups are organizing in cities across the country to “Take Back the Land” and call for reparations after centuries of oppression. They write:

“We are a people who have been enslaved and dispossessed as a result of the oppressive, exploitative, extractive system of colonialism and white supremacy. In this system, our labor and its products have been forcefully taken from us for generations, for the accumulation of wealth by others. This extraction of wealth – from our labor, and from the land – formed the financial basis of the modern globalized world economy and has led to compounded exploitation and social alienation of Black people to this day.”

Jessicah Pierre explains that despite more than 150 years of ‘freedom’, black people still have a long way to go. A report called “The Ever Growing Gap” found that if we continue on the current path, “black families would have to work another 228 years to amass the amount of wealth white families already hold today.”

Wealth inequality is growing globally. Paul Bucheit explains that the five richest men in the world have almost the same wealth as the bottom 50% of the world’s population, which means each one of them has the wealth of 750 million people. Bucheit also explains that they didn’t earn it, they effectively stole it. More and more, we view the US as a kleptocracy. One idea to recapture that lost wealth and share it more equally is a Citizen’s Wealth Fund . Stewart Lansley writes that they “operate like a giant community-owned unit trust, giving all citizens an equal stake in a part of the economy.”

Ending the Wars Abroad

It would be impossible to discuss all of the wars abroad in this one newsletter (our Memorial Day newsletter discusses war further), but it is important that people in the US understand how the US Way of War is being waged around the world and its domestic impacts. Much of that was discussed at the UNAC conference, which you can watch here. Here are a few items that we suggest checking out.

This week on Clearing the FOG, we spoke with FBI whistleblower Coleen Rowley and journalist Max Blumenthal about “Russiagate” and the way it is being used to trick progressives into supporting conflict with Russia. We also recommend watching Oliver Stone’s series of interviews with Vladimir Putin, even though the government and even Rolling Stone urge you not to watch these excellent interviews. Abby Martin of The Empire Files traveled to Venezuela to witness the protests firsthand and the violence being perpetrated by the right wing opposition that is funded by the US. And as President Trump sheds more of his responsibilities as Commander in Chief and hands them to generals such as Masterson and Mattis, who wants to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan, it is important to read this excellent analysis, “Afghanistan: From Soviet Occupation to American ‘Liberation“, by Nauman Sadiq.

At present, more than 130 countries are negotiating a treaty at the United Nations that would prohibit all nuclear weapons. The US, which holds the largest nuclear arsenal, is not participating but North Korea is. Diana Johnstone writes that the dangerous belief at the Pentagon is that in a nuclear war, the US “would prevail.”Will the rest of the world be able to prevent a nuclear war? A positive sign was the “Woman Ban the Bomb” marches that took place in more than 170 cities worldwide.

It’s up to us as people to organize a peace movement in our communities. People’s Organization for Progress in Newark, New Jersey and their allies are one example of what we can be doing. They are proposing monthly actions that educate the public about the connection between the wars at home and abroad.

Kevin Zeese spoke at the opening plenary of the UNAC conference about Moral Injury that is done to an individual and to a people who engage in war. He closes with this thought:

“If we do not awaken the US government and change course from a destructive military power to an exceptional humanitarian culture aiding billions who suffer – a heavy price will be paid. We should expect it.

Our job is to turn moral injury into moral outrage and transform the United States into an exceptional humanitarian nation that is a member of the community of nations that lifts people up, rather than creates chaos and insecurity around the world.”

There are opportunities right now to organize for peace in your community no matter what issue you work on. Let’s understand that the wars at home cannot end if we do not also end the wars abroad. As we build this movement of movements, let’s remember this fact and include the abolition of war and the creation of a peace economy in our list of demands.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, North America

UN Conference Concludes First Reading of Draft Legally Binding Instrument to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from the United Nations

President Presents Revised Preamble, Noting Proposed Addition of New Paragraphs

Delegations considering an instrument that would prohibit nuclear weapons concluded their first-read through of the entire draft this morning [June 21], before proceeding to informal discussions in the afternoon.

prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination, resumed its consideration of Articles 11 to 21 (document A/CONF.229/2017/CRP.1).

 Having begun the discussion yesterday afternoon, delegates continued to present their positions, making amendments and suggesting revisions to language in the draft.

Ecuador’s representative, noting the “legal confusion” contained in the draft instrument under consideration, emphasized that the negotiations currently under way and the outcome instrument were not intended merely to complement prior agreements.  “We came here to negotiate a separate instrument, even though it is still related to the wider architecture of disarmament.”

Indonesia’s representative reiterated a sentiment expressed yesterday about Article 11, concerning “amendments”, underlining the need to clarify who exactly could make changes to the final instrument.  On another note, he said that although it was the sovereign right of each State party to withdraw from any instrument, provisions must be put in place to ensure that was done in the “most proper way”.  Any withdrawal must be taken very seriously, he added.

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Question related to this article:

Can we abolish all nuclear weapons?

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Fiji’s representative echoed statements made by several other Pacific delegations throughout discussions in pointing out that nuclear testing had unfortunately come to define the region.  Expressing “utmost faith” that the draft instrument would be a “game-changer”, not only for the Pacific but also the entire world, he voiced support for Article 17, which states that the articles are not subject to reservations.  Such a clause would make the instrument most effective, he said.

Conference President Elayne Whyte Gómez (Costa Rica) presented a revised version of the preamble to the draft instrument, noting that a total of three dozen new paragraphs had been proposed.  She said that, in trying to address all suggestions, she had incorporated proposals that could take the preamble towards consensus, adding that she had also tried to consolidate proposals that would ensure strict avoidance of repetitions in the text.  The preamble must be as short as possible in order to be similar to that of related legal instruments.

Highlighting some of the most significant changes, she said that she had tried, in paragraph 2, to incorporate the risk posed by nuclear weapons to people, health and humanity’s very survival.  Paragraph 3 had been expanded to incorporate the disproportionate impact of nuclear-weapon activities on indigenous peoples.  A paragraph on relationships with other instruments had also been consolidated by the addition of a reference to the pillars of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.  Also added to the last paragraph of the draft preamble — as suggested by several delegations — were references to the role of civil society and academia in furthering the principles of humanity.

Also speaking today were representatives of Mexico, Venezuela, Singapore, Thailand, Nigeria, Philippines, Peru, Guatemala, Malaysia, Argentina and Brazil.

Others addressing the meeting were speakers representing the following entities:  the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Pace University, the International Disarmament Institute and the Centre for International Security and Policy Studies (Kazakhstan).

The Conference will reconvene in open session at a date and time to be announced.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, global, United Nations,

Banning landmines taught us how to bring about real change in the world, now we’re sharing these lessons to ban nuclear weapons

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An email from Mines Action Canada

Our humanitarian disarmament partners in the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) are currently working hard at the United Nations conference to negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination.

In a process inspired by the Ottawa Process banning landmines, states with support from civil society and international organizations are negotiating a treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons from 15 June to 7 July 2017.

After 20 years of work on the Ottawa Treaty and other efforts to address the humanitarian impact of indiscriminate weapons, we have learned a lot and have considerable experience we are sharing with our colleagues. In that spirit Mines Action Canada has drafted three documents for states to review during their negotiations.

First, we submitted a new Working Paper to the negotiating conference. Our paper on The Disproportionate Impact of Nuclear Weapons Detonations on Indigenous Communities is available on the United Nations website. It follows on some themes from our Working Paper submitted with ICAN to the March session of negotiations.

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Question related to this article:

Can we abolish all nuclear weapons?

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Second, we have a new Frequently Asked Questions document about victim assistance in the draft treaty text. This FAQ aims to help states and civil society ensure that the provisions regarding assistance to affected persons in the final treaty support existing norms around victim assistance.

Third, we co-published a paper on sustainable development and the draft text of the treatywith the International Disarmament Institute at Pace University. Our work has shown that indiscriminate weapons are lethal barriers to development.

We are pleased to offer these papers for free but please consider supporting Mines Action Canada work to ensure that we can continue to promote humanitarian disarmament in Canada and internationally.

Over the next three days, MAC staff will be attending the negotiations and speaking at a briefing event on positive obligations in the treaty on Wednesday June 21, 2017 to further outline lessons learned from previous disarmament treaties. For more on the negotiations please visit ICAN's website at www.nuclearban.org, follow @MinesActionCan on Twitter plus the hashtag #nuclearban on social media.

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

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, global

Eliminating sexual violence in conflict through the International Criminal Court

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from the Coalition for the International Criminal Court

19 June marks the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict. It is the second time this International Day is celebrated, and this year’s theme “Preventing Sexual Violence Crimes through Justice and Deterrence” commemorates the advances that have been made through international justice, not in the least through the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC), to eradicate these heinous crimes.


The documentary “The Uncondemned” profiles the Rwandan women, lawyers and activists who helped bring about the first prosecution of rape as a war crime © The Uncondemned

SGBV: A conflict strategy

Conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is a widespread weapon of war—seen in conflicts in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Darfur and Syria, to name but a few. It is used to terrorize, to degrade, to punish communities and to ethnically “cleanse.” Women and girls are predominantly the victims; but men and boys are also targeted and suffer. Survivors are often marginalized and stigmatized, with little hope of seeing their attackers brought to justice.

“Sexual violence is a threat to every individual’s right to a life of dignity, and to humanity’s collective peace and security. … Let us therefore use this day to rededicate ourselves, on behalf of every survivor, to ending sexual violence in conflict and providing peace and justice for all.” — UN Secretary-General, António Guterres

The Rome Statute: Prosecuting the perpetrators

Encouragingly, the past four years have seen much more visibility for SGBV on the international justice, peace and security agendas since the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2106 in June 2013, which recognizes the centrality of ending impunity for the prevention of SGBV in conflict and encourages states to strengthen accountability at the national level.

Adopted in 1998, the Rome Statute was one of the first international treaties to extensively address conflict-related SGBV as crimes against humanity, war crimes and, in some instances, genocide. From the beginning of her term in office, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has been proactive in addressing the gender-justice gap and made the investigation and prosecution of sexual and gender-based crimes a priority as witnessed by her Policy Paper on Sexual and Gender-Based Crimes, the first ever such document for an international court or tribunal.

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Question related to this article:

Protecting women and girls against violence, Is progress being made?

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“The message to perpetrators and would-be perpetrators must be clear: sexual violence and gender-based crimes in conflict will neither be tolerated nor ignored at the ICC. We will spare no effort to bring accountability for these crimes and in so doing, contribute to deterring the commission of such heinous crimes in the future. As a matter of policy, the Office will systematically include relevant charges in its cases on the basis of evidence of criminality.” – ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda

The Rome Statute also contributes to accountability and redress for SGBV through its catalytic effect at the national level. This means that if a state ratifies the Statute and incorporates its far-reaching SGBV provisions into domestic legislation, these crimes can be prosecuted by national courts. By supporting the universality of the Rome Statute and the incorporation of Rome Statute crimes into domestic law, states and civil society can help ensure that the perpetrators of such crimes are held accountable. Many have argued the potential for such a shift in domestic legal culture to promote gender equality more broadly by strengthening women’s rights and increasing their access to justice.

The ICC: Inclusive gender justice

Another example of the Court’s catalytic effect is the vastly under-reported and misunderstood SGBV against men and boys in conflict. It is very difficult to even just talk about SGBV related issues in any culture, an issue that is exacerbated when such violence targets men and boys. The ICC’s Rome Statute, which is explicitly gender-neutral in its description of what constitutes sexual violence, is seen by many as a potential leader is bringing this conversation home to the domestic level.

While there are encouraging signs that conflict-related SGBV is finally getting the attention it so badly deserves, civil society will continue its efforts to ensure the eradication of sexual violence in conflict remains at the top of the international agenda. Commitments made at the UN and elsewhere need to turn into action and accountability. States need to provide greater support to stakeholders in addressing the root causes of gendered violence, strengthen efforts for redress for victim-survivors and ensure that women and gender perspectives are always part of prevention and peace processes.

And the ICC is doing its part. The Court handed down its first conviction for rape as a war crime and as a crime against humanity in March 2016 – against former Congolese rebel militia leader Jean-Pierre Bemba. By developing international jurisprudence on SGBV, the ICC is showing that sexual violence can no longer be treated as a collateral crime; helping destigmatize victims; and working to deter the future commission of such heinous acts.

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

global, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Uganda has benefited from peace journalism

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article by Gloria Laker Aciro for D+C /E+Z D+C Development and Cooperation

Uganda has a history of conflict and violence. In particular, the strife caused by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in northern Uganda from 1995 to 2004 made peace efforts necessary. At the time, a strong foundation for peace journalism was laid. Its principles are of lasting relevance in view of unrest in border regions and the refugee population which is growing due to civil war in neighbouring countries.


Peace journalists from Uganda and South Sudan

After years of failed military interventions and series of futile peace talks, the Ugandan army opted for peace journalism in order to try to reach out to LRA insurgents. In 1998, the first peace radio was established in Gulu, a town in northern Uganda. It was called Radio Freedom. The army used it to communicate not only with displaced people, but even the rebels, inspiring hope among child soldiers that demobilisation might be possible.

After the media highlighted atrocities collectively, international attention turned to the LRA conflict. Donor agencies started to consider radio programming and professional media work as a way to promote peace and later to reduce tensions in the post-conflict situation.

Important principles of peace journalism are to avoid hate speech and involve voices from all sides of a conflict. Balance, fairness and factual accuracy matter very much. The idea is to convey an understanding of a conflict’s reasons, history and possible non-violent solutions rather than to fan the flames. Attention must be paid not only to acts of violence, which are easy to report, but also to longer term developments in society, which are harder to cover.

Effective peace reporting does more than merely report events. It puts them in context, by engaging communities. Various approaches matter, including social media, local discussions and drama performances. They all serve to enhance the news reporting, talk shows and public service announcements.

Successful approaches

From 1999 to 2002, Britain’s Department for International Development (DFID) fully backed the use of persuasive radio programmes to urge rebels to abandon fighting. DFID funded the establishment of Mega FM radio in Gulu. The station went on air in August 2002, covering parts of Uganda as well as of southern Sudan and eastern DR Congo. It broadcasts general information on conflict and development as well as specific items geared to conflict resolution and promoting the peace process in the region.

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Question(s) related to this article:

African journalism and the Culture of Peace, A model for the rest of the world?

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In a surprising innovation, Ogena Lacambel, the host of Mega FM’s flagship programme Dwog Paco (which means “come back home” in Luo), invited former child soldiers to share their stories on radio. They were assured free passage. Today, Mega FM still has several peace-building programmes including Kabake (“community dialogue”) and Teyat (“stakeholders’ debate”). Open dialogue and call-ins with community members and rebel LRA soldiers have contributed to several abducted children returning home.

Over 22,000 child soldiers and commanders responded to the appeal and abandoned the rebellion, significantly weakening the LRA. In short, the LRA conflict could only be ended after the intervention of peace journalism.

Today, the LRA has retreated into the Central African Republic. The Ugandan army is still using the come-back-home radio format, as Innocent Aloyo, host of Mega FM’s Kabake programme, reports. The host is flown into the CAR to interview child soldiers there.

Since the LRA was defeated in Uganda, local community radio stations have been reaching out to the public through peace reporting with a focus on development. The next crucial step is for media houses to adopt in-house policies and guidelines. Many radio hosts in rural areas are not aware of what peace journalism requires, and even some who are aware have proven unable to handle people who call in by phone to incite hatred.

International agencies that promote media development such as Internews and DW Akademie have trained hundreds of local journalists in peace reporting. The impact of trainees on the peace process has been assessed. A number of community radios were set up with a commitment to peace journalism and are still active today.

Today, the sensitive issue in Uganda is reporting about refugees. Even though the country hosts thousands of refugees, the matter is under-reported. The point of view of the refugees is rarely included. When Chris Obore, a well-known journalist, highlighted the plight of a Burundian refugee girl, his reporting changed the girl’s life for the better.

Peace journalism must give marginalised people a voice. Moreover, these efforts must transcend national borders. Since refugees from South Sudan, the DRC and other countries live in Uganda, conflicts spread to the border region.

It therefore makes sense for Ugandan and South Sudanese journalists to cooperate on covering refugee issues. Speak FM, a small community radio in Gulu, is doing just that. Station manager Jane Angom says that “exiled South Sudanese journalists contribute important information about the refugee community in northern Uganda, which our radio otherwise would not be able to access”. Language matters, after all.

In 2005, the media were a key player in the Juba peace talks that led to the signing of a cessation of violence and hostilities agreement (CPA) in South Sudan. Traditional leaders who were active in the peace and reconciliation efforts point out that peace journalism as a tool was “useful in mobilising people and reaching out to rebels”.

Africa, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

UN: New films on Global Goals spotlight women’s journeys of resilience

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article from UN Women

On 12 June, the Leave No One Behind Coalition, together with UN Women launched four new films that show how the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—a set of 17 global goals unanimously adopted by governments worldwide—can truly transform the lives of women and girls.

The films show that notwithstanding the barriers, women and girls are finding ways to forge ahead.


Eunice and Josephine

Trapped in the informal sector, Eunice and Josephine had to leave their jobs working in the flower industry in Kenya because the chemicals used were making them ill. In the film, which focuses on economic empowerment, we witness their struggle to find work and feed their families.

Juddy’s story

Juddy talks about overcoming her disability to become an entrepreneur. She is now a leader in her community, teaching other women how they can empower themselves and overcome poverty. Her story shows what is possible when we tackle inequalities

Josephine and Cecilia

Josephine and Cecilia, made difficult decisions to flee their homes to avoid Female Genital Mutilation and early forced marriage. Their story shows the importance of education and tackling harmful practices. Josephine, who is now studying for a degree in law, is a role model for other girls in the community

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Question for this article

Does the UN advance equality for women?

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Tracy

Tracy grew up in one of the poorest areas of Nairobi, but is a talented clarinet player. Tracy joined an orchestra, which provided her with a scholarship and opened new doors for her, showing how quality education and opportunity can transform lives.

* * *

The SDGs can be achieved if policies are implemented to unlock the potential of women and girls. The films are intended to raise awareness and spark dialogues in the lead-up to the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in July 2017, in New York. Governments and the international development community will come together to review SDG progress.

The Leave No One Behind Coalition is urging governments to put the women and girls who are furthest behind first, to make sure that they have the same life chances as everyone else.

The 2030 Agenda and the SDGs present a roadmap for achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment over the next 13 years. The 17 “Global Goals” that are deeply interconnected, have the potential to end poverty, tackle climate change and other pressing challenges, and once and for all, close the gender gap in homes, schools, the economy and politics.

At the heart of the Global Goals is a commitment to ensure that ‘no one is left behind’. Too often, it is women and girls who are left furthest behind, with fewer opportunities to escape poverty, violence or restrictive cultural practices. Conversely, without empowering women and girls, the Global Goals cannot be achieved.

United Nations, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Jewish, Christian, Muslim Leaders Feast Together for Interfaith Ramadan Break-Fast in Istanbul

TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

Excerpt from an article in Breaking Israel News

Last Thursday [June 8], a delegation of rabbis joined Adnan Oktar, a prominent Turkish Muslim cleric, at the Çırağan Palace Ballroom in Istanbul for his traditional iftar feast ending a day of fasting during Ramadan. More than 750 people from different religions and nationalities, including Jewish and Christian clergy and lay leaders, joined Oktar for the annual event hosted by Oktar’s organization, the Movement for the Culture of Peace and Reconciliation.



(Click here to enlarge image and caption)

The guest list included a number of illustrious attendees, several of them Israeli: the chief rabbi of the city of Shoham, Rabbi David Stav; retired Chief Justice of the Supreme Rabbinical Court of Israel Rabbi Abraham Sherman; Anglican priest Todd William Kissam from Maryland; and Co-Chairman of the Muslim–Jewish Friendship Organization in France, Imam Mohamed Azizi.

Read more at https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/89564/israeli-delegation-joins-iftar-feast-istanbul-prominent-pro-israel-muslim-cleric/#KOeX07EqCGTAQ8gJ.97

Question related to this article:
Mideast, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

Theme of 2017 SIGNIS World Congress: Media for a Culture of Peace: Promoting Stories of Hope.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

Excerpt from the program of the SIGNIS World Congress 2017

Dear participants in the SIGNIS World Congress 2017,

It is my pleasure to bid you welcome to our World Congress, a unique opportunity to share and celebrate, to renew our thinking and learn from the experiences and insights of fellow communicators from all corners of the globe. The theme of the Congress is Media for a Culture of Peace: Promoting Stories of Hope.

By coming together, renewing old friendships and forming new ones across so many different languages and cultures, we are sending a first and most eloquent message of hope. Because the Congress is, first and foremost, about encountering friends, old and new, face to face. In cementing friendships, nothing beats a smile, a handshake, an embrace. We will have plenty of opportunities to celebrate those encounters. The Congress is also a time to learn from others and to contribute our experience. There will be plenary sessions and workshops covering a wide variety of areas of the rapidly changing world of communications. We are challenged to respond positively and creatively to those changes, and the Congress provides a truly global, culturally diverse environment, ideally suited to promote the required responses.

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Question for this article:

Do the arts create a basis for a culture of peace?, What is, or should be, their role in our movement?

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I look forward to a Congress where there is an active dialogue across generations as well as cultures. New situations require new approaches, a capacity for thinking “outside the box” which is the trademark of the younger generation, and I hope that they will contribute their energy and dynamism.

For SIGNIS, the Congress is the time to chart the course for the future, in continuity with a long, fruitful history of almost 90 years of service, but also with imagination and inventiveness, as our times demand. I want to thank you for participating and contributing to our exchange of ideas and experiences, an essential factor in our planning. I know the effort, financial and otherwise, that many of you had to make to be here. I want to express our deepest gratitude to you all for that.

I certainly hope that the experience of this Congress will change us all in a most positive way, so that when we go back to our daily work as communicators, its memory will translate into feelings of renewal, dynamism and, most of all, inspired commitment.

May God bless you all and bless SIGNIS.

Gustavo Andújar, President of SIGNIS

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, global

Spike in Colombian violence underlines ongoing need for peacebuilding, prayer

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article from the Mennonite World Review

Partners of Mennonite Central Committee in Colombia continue to walk with people affected by more than 50 years of violence as new armed conflict emerges even after a peace accord.
Violence among armed groups is escalating as FARC-EP guerrillas demobilize, threatening Mennonite Brethren churches in the Chocó region.


Members of a Colombian Mennonite Brethren Conference visit a rural community in the San Juan region shortly after the community experienced significant flooding. The community is stuck in the middle of violence between the Gaitanista Self Defence Forces of Colombia, a paramilitary group that occupies the area, and a guerrilla group vying for power. — Brendah Ndagire/MCC

The country’s largest rebel group, FARC-EP — the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia — signed a peace accord with the government last year. But “there is still a long journey toward peace,” said Amy Eanes, an advocacy support specialist for MCC in Colombia.

Some armed groups are becoming more active, hoping to assert dominance and claim territory once occupied by the FARC-EP.

This is especially true in rural areas of the Chocó region, where MCC partners with the Mennonite Brethren Conference, whose members are working and praying for peace.

Living in fear

A member of one of the churches, Maria Camila, whose real name isn’t being used to protect her identity, says another guerrilla group is fighting the Gaitanista Self Defence Forces of Colombia, a paramilitary group that normally occupies the area, and it’s very dangerous there now.

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Question related to this article:

What is happening in Colombia, Is peace possible?

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Armed conflict between the two groups broke out in February, months after the peace accord was signed by the FARC-EP. In one part of the town, the guerrilla group threatened to shoot civilians if they didn’t open their doors because the guerrilla fighters believed members of the paramilitary group were hiding there.

“Even though you know that God says that wars will come and in the midst of all these things God will protect you, it was something so terrible — to feel the shootout, to hear the sounds,” she said. “I just said, ‘Lord, have mercy on us and watch over us,’ but we thought this was going to be the end.”

Camila has never felt so unsafe. “We aren’t free to walk around at night. We all live shut in our houses,” she said. “All of us in the community are frightened. That’s why we’re living like this.”

She has little faith the peace accord will make a difference in her community or other rural areas in Colombia.

“In reality, the hope we have is from God,” she said.

Teaching peace

MCC continues to support partners in Colombia that work on peacebuilding initiatives and assist some of the most vulnerable families, particularly those displaced by violence. The conflict has resulted in 7 million internally displaced people.

In April, MCC embarked on a three-year peace-education project with the Mennonite Brethren Regional Council of Chocó to promote an understanding of a culture of peace and how to encourage peacebuilding among youth and young adults.

One of MCC’s partners, the Church Coordination for Psychosocial Action, supports churches and organizations, enabling them to provide trauma awareness and healing, build resilience and contribute to peacebuilding and reconciliation in Colombia.

MCC works with a number of Mennonite churches and organizations in Colombia who have been actors for peace for many years.

“The churches are figuring out what this post-accord period will look like for them, and I think it’s important to walk alongside these partners,” Eanes said.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, Latin America

Peace Brigades International is recruiting field volunteers for Kenya

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An email from Peace Brigades International (PBI)

As you know, volunteers are the heart of PBI’s work. Canadians in the field act as our witnesses, voices, and peacekeepers. They deter violence against human rights defenders, advocate with our diplomats and government, and show the world that Canadians like you and I are watching and prepared to act when defenders are in danger.

The power of an international presence is profound. In the words of former PBI volunteer, Hans-Ulrich Krause: “There are two privileges attached to a foreign passport in a conflict area. You can use it to board the next flight out of trouble. Or you can use it as a tool to help protect human rights.”

Today, the situation for human rights defenders in Kenya is more alarming than ever. Our projects in KENYA is one of newest, but already many local defenders have told us just how desperate their needs for international protection are. And with your support and solidarity, we can respond.

One way is to volunteer! PBI is now recruiting new field volunteers for Kenya for placement in 2018. Information about the Kenyan recruitment campaign can be found here

Application deadline has been extended to: Friday 30th June 2017.

In Kenya, most attacks against human rights defenders continue to go unpunished. Click here to read the powerful story of Rahma Wako.

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Question for this article:

Can peace be guaranteed through nonviolent means?

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But the Kenyan project also creates great and original tools such as a toolkit for Women Human rights defenders.

Don’t let them stand alone. Please help us safeguard the lives of more human rights defenders with a gift today.

P.S. If you’re wondering what the day-to-day of a PBI volunteer looks like, watch the powerful video below by Sophia Kerridge, a volunteer in Colombia.

Sophia Kerridge has been a PBI volunteer in Colombia for a year. In this short video she explains what the team of volunteers do, her experience, and the situation for HRDs.

To become a PBI field volunteer is an incredible opportunity to provide protective physical and political accompaniment to at-risk defenders. You will help to deter violence, and you will create space for them to continue their critical work toward peace, justice and human rights.

Volunteers receive specialized training, return flights, room and board, medical insurance, and small monthly stipends. If you are selected for training, please contact PBI-Canada to discuss how we can support you!

Did you know that a $50 donation to one of our projects can enable a human rights defender to receive a PBI security training workshop? This knowledge saves lives. The Kenyan Project is in need of support.

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

Africa, HUMAN RIGHTS