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.

Pan-African Youth Network for the Culture of Peace: General Assembly

. TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

An article by Jerry Bibang, special to CPNN

The Pan-African Youth Network for the Culture of Peace (PAYNCOP) organized an ordinary general assembly from April 10 to 11, 2021. The conference took place by video.

This meeting, which brought together nearly forty participants from different African countries, enabled PAYNCOP to renew its Board of Directors, the executive body of the network.

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

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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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Composed of ten people, the new team is made up of a president, Romilson de BE Silveira, from Sao-tomé, a vice-president, Yannick AGBOKA Koffi, from Togo, a Permanent Secretary, Jerry Bibang, Gabonese, and 9 regional coordinators plus a representative of the diaspora.

Opening the work of this meeting, Eric Volibi, Unesco Representative in Gabon, encouraged young people to engage in the promotion of the culture of peace, and he invited them to plan future activities in partnership with Unesco. These include the Luanda Biennale, scheduled for September 2021, and the Young Weavers for Peace project which concerns Gabon, Cameroon and Chad.

In addition to the renewal of the management team, the participants also looked at various points, including the assessment of activities, challenges and difficulties before identifying prospects for the smooth running of the organization.

Regarding the review of activities, the Central Africa, North Africa and West Africa regions presented their work which was appreciated by the participants.

Among the challenges and difficulties, we note the need for legal recognition of the various national coordinations in order to give PAYNCOP an official status of international organization and the economic empowerment of the organization, which essentially involves two main means: contributions from member coordinations and mobilization of funding from partners.

Africa, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

International Statement of Solidarity with Decolonial Academics and Activists in France

. TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

A statement reprinted by Juan Cole, along with many other journals, including Al Jazeera

We write to express our solidarity with the scholars, activists, and other knowledge producers who are targeted by the February 2021 statements by Frédérique Vidal, France’s Minister of Higher Education, Research, and Innovation. In them she denounced “Islamo-gauchisme” (Islamo-leftism) and its “gangrene” effect on France, and called for an inquiry into France’s national research organization, the CNRS, and the university. The specific kinds of knowledge in question analyze and critique colonialism and racism, and support decolonial, anti-racist, and anti-Islamophobia projects within the academy and on the streets. Vidal’s statements show the discomfort these challenges are causing the State, and hence the desire to repress them rather than engage them.


Video of the debate

The State’s intentions are found in the language it uses. The relatively new term “Islamo-gauchisme” reflects a much older convergence of right-wing, colonial and racist ideologies working in opposition to anti-colonial, anti-Islamophobia and anti-racism struggles.

Vidal claims that anti-colonial, decolonial and postcolonial critique, anti-racist, anti-Islamophobia, intersectionality, and decolonial feminist and queer analyses are foreign imports from the US academy.

She ignores that decolonial theory actually developed in Abya Yala (Latin America), postcolonial theory in India, and that women and queers in anti-colonial and anti-racism struggles have always thought about many relations of power together. Vidal also forgets that both postcolonial and decolonial theory are indebted to the prior work of French-speaking scholars of color such as Frantz Fanon, Aimé Césaire, and others.

This false narrative and these acts of repression effectively remove France from a vibrant and urgent global discussion. They put faculty of color and allies producing critical scholarship on colonialism, Islamophobia, anti-Black racism, etc. – already few and marginalized – at even greater risk.

The attack on progressive and radical scholars and activists seeks at all costs to preserve “French exceptionalism” and a whitewashed image of the Republic scrubbed clean of inconvenient truths. These include the fact that France remains a colonial power (in, for example, Réunion, Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Iles des Saintes, la Désirade, Mayotte, New Caledonia, etc), and a neocolonial one in terms of its economic, political, and military relations to former colonies.

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

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Question related to this article:
 
Are we making progress against racism?

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This colonial mentality is manifest in France’s structures of governance, especially with regard to both citizens and immigrants of color, as reflected in a barrage of laws such as: the law against wearing the veil; immigration laws; the Islamophobic law against “separatism” which has already shut down the CCIF (Collective against Islamophobia in France) and threatens all forms of autonomy; the proposed “global security” bill institutionalizing mass surveillance, including by drone, and restricting publicization of police brutality; the (now-repealed) law that mandated that colonialism be taught in only one State-sanctioned manner; rights-abusive and discriminatory counterterrorism laws; and others. These measures seek to forcibly “integrate” suspect populations into subordinate roles in French society.

It is precisely the critique of this colonial history and present, and its manifestations in State racisms including Islamophobia, that the State wishes to censor and make invisible.

Elements of the White Left, including feminists without an anticolonial, anti-Islamophobia or antiracism analysis, have also been complicit in rendering colonial and racial oppression invisible, and providing ideological rationalizations for State racisms. This, too, speaks to the incoherence of the term, “Islamo-leftism.”

The repression in France is not isolated. In Brazil, Turkey, Hungary, Poland, the US, India and other places we see the rise of neoliberal, right-wing, and authoritarian governmental suppression of critical scholarship and social movements.

But wherever we find repression we also find forms of resistance networked into global chains of solidarity.

Vidal’s statement and the planned inquiry have appeared in the context of an explosion of energy in both the academy and on the streets to address colonial, racial, and economic injustice. For example, the demonstrations in defense of Adama Traoré in France and other anti-racist protests globally after the murder of George Floyd represent the kind of commitment and courage that Vidal and others are worried about. Repressive laws and inquiries will not stop this scholarship nor the movements.

As international scholars and activists, we pledge solidarity with our counterparts in France. We commit ourselves to monitoring the situation carefully, to publicizing cases globally, to inviting those facing repression and censorship to speak in our countries, to co-authoring essays with them and helping them get their work translated, to co-mentoring students and junior colleagues, and to engaging in other forms of collaboration that they desire.

Authors:

Paola Bacchetta (Professor, University of California, Berkeley)
Azeezah Kanji (Legal Academic and Journalist, Toronto)
David Palumbo-Liu (Professor, Stanford University)

Earliest Signatories

1. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, University Professor, Columbia University, USA

2. Gina Dent, Associate Professor, Feminist Studies, History of Consciousness, and Legal Studies. University of California, Santa Cruz

3. Angela Y Davis, Distinguished Professor Emerita, University of California, Santa Cruz

4. Robin DG Kelley, Distinguished Professor and Gary B. Nash Endowed Chair in U.S. History, UCLA, USA

As of April 14, there were 556 signatures along with their institutional affiliations. The full list of signatures is available here.

Europe, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

Annual Report of Amnesty International : COVID-19 hits those shackled by oppression hardest thanks to decades of inequalities, neglect and abuse

… . HUMAN RIGHTS … .

Annual report of Amnesty International

The global pandemic has exposed the terrible legacy of deliberately divisive and destructive policies that have perpetuated inequality, discrimination and oppression and paved the way for the devastation wrought by COVID-19, Amnesty International said in its annual report published today.

Amnesty International Report 2020/21: The State of the World’s Human Rights covers 149 countries and delivers a comprehensive analysis of human rights trends globally in 2020. In it, the organization describes those already most marginalized, including women and refugees, as bearing the devastating brunt of the pandemic, as a result of decades of discriminatory policy decisions by world leaders. Read the full report here.

Health workers, migrant workers, and those in the informal sector – many at the frontlines of the pandemic – have also been betrayed by neglected health systems and patchy economic and social support. The response to the global pandemic has been further undermined by leaders who have ruthlessly exploited the crisis and weaponized COVID-19 to launch fresh attacks on human rights, the organization says.

“COVID-19 has brutally exposed and deepened inequality both within and between countries, and highlighted the staggering disregard our leaders have for our shared humanity.  Decades of divisive policies, misguided austerity measures, and choices by leaders not to invest in crumbling public infrastructure, have left too many easy prey to this virus,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s new Secretary General.

“We face a world in disarray. At this point in the pandemic, even the most deluded leaders would struggle to deny that our social, economic and political systems are broken.” 

Pandemic has amplified decades of inequalities and erosion of public services

Amnesty’s report shows how existing inequalities as a result of decades of toxic leadership have left ethnic minorities, refugees, older persons, and women disproportionately negatively affected by the pandemic.

COVID-19 worsened the already precarious situation of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in many countries, trapping some in squalid camps, cutting off vital supplies, or precipitating border controls that left many stranded. For example, Uganda, the largest refugee-hosting country in Africa with 1.4 million refugees, immediately closed its borders at the start of the pandemic and did not make an exception for refugees and asylum seekers trying to enter the country. As a result, over 10,000 people were stranded along its border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The report highlights a marked increase in gender-based and domestic violence with many women and LGBTI persons facing increased barriers to protection and support due to restrictions on freedom of movement; lack of confidential mechanisms for victims to report violence while isolated with their abusers, and reduced capacity or suspension of services.

Those on the frontlines of the pandemic – health workers, and those in the informal sector – suffered as a result of wilfully neglected health systems and pitiful social protection measures. In Bangladesh, many working in the informal sector have been left without an income or social protections due to lockdowns and curfews. In Nicaragua, over the course of two weeks in early June, at least 16 health workers were dismissed after expressing concerns about lack of PPE and the state response to the pandemic. 

“We are reaping the results of years of calculated neglect at the hands of our leaders. In 2020, under the unique strain of a pandemic, health systems have been put to the ultimate test and people have been left in financial freefall. The heroes of 2020 were the health workers on the frontlines saving lives and those bunched together at the very bottom of the income scale, who worked to feed families, and keep our essential services going.  Cruelly, those who gave the most, were protected the least,” said Agnès Callamard.

Virulent strain of leaders weaponize the pandemic to further assault human rights

The report also paints a dismal picture of the failures of global leaders whose handling of the pandemic has been marked by opportunism and total contempt for human rights.

“We’ve seen a spectrum of responses from our leaders; from the mediocre to mendacious, selfish to the fraudulent. Some have tried to normalise the overbearing emergency measures they’ve ushered in to combat COVID-19, whilst a particularly virulent strain of leader has gone a step further.  They have seen this as an opportunity to entrench their own power. Instead of supporting and protecting people, they have simply weaponized the pandemic to wreak havoc on people’s rights. said Agnès Callamard.

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(Click here for a Spanish version of this article or here for a French version.)

Question(s) related to this article:

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

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Authorities passing legislation criminalizing commentary related to the pandemic has been a presiding pattern. In Hungary for example, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government amended the country’s Criminal Code, introducing prison sentences of up to five years for “spreading false information” about COVID-19 for example.

Across the Gulf states in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates authorities used the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext to continue suppressing the right to freedom of expression, including by prosecuting individuals, who posted comments on social media about government responses to the pandemic, for spreading “false news”.

Other leaders have used excessive force. In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte said he had ordered police to shoot “dead” people who protest or may cause “trouble” during quarantine measures. In Nigeria, brutal policing has resulted in security forces killing people for protesting in the streets, demanding their rights and calling for accountability. Under President Bolsonaro, police violence in Brazil escalated during the COVID-19 pandemic. At least 3,181 people were killed by the police across the country between January and June – an average of 17 deaths per day.

Some leaders have gone a step further, using the distraction of the pandemic to clamp down on criticism – and critics – unrelated to the virus, and perpetrate other human rights violations while the gaze of the world’s media was elsewhere. For example, in India, Narendra Modi, further cracked down on civil society activists, including through counter-terrorism raids on their homes and premises.

Meanwhile under President Xi Jinping, the Chinese government continued its persecution of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang unabated and a sweeping national security law was ushered through in Hong Kong to legitimize politically motivated repression.

“International institutions such as the International Criminal Court and UN human rights mechanisms are there to hold states and individual perpetrators to account. Sadly, 2020 shows that they have been wrestled into political deadlock by leaders seeking to exploit and undermine collective responses to human rights violations,” said Agnès Callamard.

National self-interest has trumped international cooperation in COVID response

World leaders have also wreaked havoc on the international stage, hampering collective recovery efforts by blocking or undermining international cooperation.

These include:

Leaders of rich countries, such as former President Trump, circumventing global cooperation efforts by buying up most of the world’s supply of vaccines, leaving little to none for other countries. These rich countries also have failed to push pharmaceutical companies to share their knowledge and technology to expand the supply of global COVID-19 vaccines.

Xi Jinping’s government censoring and persecuting health workers and journalists in China who attempted to raise the alarm about the virus early on, supressing crucial information.

The G2O offering to suspend debt payments from the poorest countries, but demanding that the money be repaid with interest later.

“The pandemic has cast a harsh light on the world’s inability to cooperate effectively in times of dire global need,” said Agnès Callamard. 

“The only way out of this mess is through international cooperation.  States must ensure vaccines are quickly available to everyone, everywhere, and free at the point of use. Pharmaceutical companies must share their knowledge and technology so no one is left behind.  G20 members and international financial institutions must provide debt relief for the poorest 77 countries to respond and recover from pandemic.”

Failed by their governments, protest movements the world over have stood up

Regressive policies have inspired many people to join long-standing struggles as seen by the Black Lives Matter protests in the United States, the #End SARS protests in Nigeria, and new and creative forms of protest such as virtual climate strikes.

The report details many important victories that human rights activists helped to secure in 2020, particularly across gender-based violence.

These include new legislation to counter violence against women and girls in Kuwait, South Korea, and Sudan, and the decriminalization of abortion in Argentina, Northern Ireland, and South Korea.

“Leadership in 2020 came not from power, privilege, or profiteers. It came from the countless people marching to demand change. We saw an outpouring of support for #End SARS, Black Lives Matter, as well as public protests against repression and inequality in places across the world including in Poland, Hong Kong, Iraq and Chile. Often risking their own safety, it was the leadership of ordinary people and human rights defenders the world over that urged us on. These are the people at the frontier of the struggle for a better, safer and more equal world,” said Agnès Callamard. 

“We are at a crossroads. We must release the shackles that degrade human dignity. We must reset and reboot to build a world grounded in equality, human rights, and humanity. We must learn from the pandemic, and come together to work boldly and creatively so everyone is on an equal footing.”

global, HUMAN RIGHTS

Interview with Chas Freeman on US-China policy

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

Excerpts from an interview conducted by Sam Kolitch and published in the Brown Political Review

Ambassador Chas Freeman is a retired career diplomat who served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs from 1993-1994, Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1989-1992 during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 1986-1989 during the Cuban troop withdrawal from Angola and the U.S. mediation of Namibian independence from South Africa, Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires in the American embassies at Bangkok from 1984-1986 and at Beijing from 1981-1984, and Director for Chinese Affairs at the U.S. Department of State from 1979-1981. In 1972, he was the primary American interpreter for President Nixon’s trailblazing visit to China.


Image Credit: The Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs

Ambassador Freeman is the author of America’s Continuing Misadventures in the Middle East, Interesting Times: China, America, and the Shifting Balance of Prestige, America’s Misadventures in the Middle East, The Diplomat’s Dictionary, Arts of Power: Statecraft and Diplomacy, and Cooking Western in China. He has also published in prestigious academic journals such as Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and The Harvard International Review. Prior to becoming a Visiting Scholar at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Ambassador Freeman served as President of the Middle East Policy Council and Co-Chair of the United States China Policy Foundation. He speaks Chinese fluently, Spanish and French at the professional level, and Arabic conversationally, in addition to several other languages. Ambassador Freeman studied at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and he earned a JD from the Harvard Law School and an AB magna cum laude from Yale University. . . .

SK: Before we discuss China, how do you define “good diplomacy”? 

CF: The basis of diplomacy is empathy. It is the ability to understand how and why someone else sees things in order to persuade them of your position. Good diplomacy is all about persuading others to redefine their interests in order to conform with yours. It is also about forming relationships with people so that you can make them want to cooperate with you—not oppose you. This allows you to draw on people at a moment of crisis to gain access or to be heard. Diplomacy is also negotiation. It is about trying to ensure that bad things that could happen don’t happen. Very often, diplomats don’t get credit for what didn’t happen. But a lot of things don’t happen because skillful diplomats have prevented them from happening. So good diplomacy is complex and requires a lot of skill. 

SK: What is the root cause of the United States’ desire to confront China? 

CF: I think the rudimentary driver of the United States’ confrontation with China is psychology, not strategy. We became the world’s largest economy sometime in the 1870s. That’s 150 years ago. Now we’ve either already been eclipsed, or we’re about to be eclipsed, by China. So we’re afraid of not being number one and we’ve decided that we will hamstring the rise of China. No one on the American side has described where this confrontation is supposed to take us—it’s just an end in itself. Also, we have exercised military primacy in the Asia-Pacific region since 1945. Now, we confront the return of China to wealth and power in the region. And our position in the Asia-Pacific is precarious. What does that mean? It means that we object to things like China’s anti-access and area denial weapon system (A2/AD), otherwise known as defense. The Chinese now can stop us from running through their defenses. So this is a threat: we’re not all-powerful anymore. We are in danger of losing primacy. 

But there’s not much evidence of China wanting to replace us. They are displacing us in some spheres because they’re big and growing and successful. Do they want to take on our global dominion and hegemony role? No, but we assert that they do. We posit that China thinks and behaves like us: “We had Manifest Destiny and it took us across the Pacific to the Philippines. Therefore, China must have a Monroe Doctrine and Manifest Destiny in mind.” This is wrong. Things don’t work like that. So I would argue that we have inhaled our own propaganda, and we are living in the appropriately stoned state that that produces. If we have sound policies, we can out-compete anyone. But we’re not looking at sound policies; we’re looking at pulling down our competitor. 

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Question for this article:

Is there a growing danger of war between US and China?

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SK: Isn’t the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) indicative of China’s desire to expand its influence, if not “replace” our hegemonic role on the global stage?

CF: The initial impulse of the Belt and Road Initiative was that China had a surplus capacity in steel, cement, aluminum, and construction capability—and it extended these resources abroad. Then China looked at what it was doing and said, “Actually, it would be really good if Lisbon was connected to Vladivostok efficiently, and Arkhangelsk was connected to Colombo. Maybe we could throw in Mombasa, too. This would create a huge interconnected area in which trade and investment could flow smoothly.” So, actually, a major part of the BRI is an agreement on tariffs, customs barrier treatment, transit, and bonded storage. It is the construction of roads, railroads, airports, ports, industrial parks, fiber optic cables, et cetera, over this huge area. 

And the Chinese assumption—not aspiration, but assumption—is that as the largest and most dynamic society in that area, they will be the preeminent force in it. But this is an economic strategy, it’s not a military one. So the problem we have conceptually is that the only way we, the United States, know how to think about international affairs is in military terms. Our foreign policy is very militarized and is driven by military considerations. 

SK: China has rejected the U.S. State Department’s characterization of its treatment of Uighurs in the Xinjiang region as “genocide.” Do you agree with this characterization?

CF: I think what is happening to the Uighurs is awful—no doubt about it. We do not, however, know exactly what’s happening to them. There are terms like genocide being thrown around, which may not fit the case. But I think it is entirely appropriate that we express the view that the treatment of the Uighurs is appalling. What are we going to do about it? It is a complicated situation. I hate to keep coming back to American hypocrisy, but why does the Muslim world not line up with us on the Uighur situation? Because when was the last time we said anything about the Palestinians, Kashmiris, or Chechens? There are Muslims being oppressed all over the world, and we don’t say anything. So selective outrage isn’t very effective.

SK: China continues to defend its crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong. How will this impact U.S. foreign policy toward China? 

CF: What I expect will happen, now that ‘one country’ has been established, is that politics in Hong Kong will evolve to address some of the domestic problems in Hong Kong that have been neglected—housing, education, and social welfare, for example. So I don’t think there’s an easy answer to the Hong Kong issue, but I think that people who have written off the idea of any kind of democracy are wrong. Hong Kong’s democracy will not be focused on secession from China; it will be focused on problems inside Hong Kong. And it may or may not be effective. 

We need to get real about these problems. If we really care about the Uighur and Hong Kong situations from a humanitarian point of view, we need to try to find a way to chip away at them—not just condemn them. Condemning things doesn’t do anything but make people angry and less receptive to your arguments. These issues ought to be addressed seriously. 

SK: How does China view Taiwan’s continued push for independence?  

CF: The Chinese government sees Taiwan as a continuation of a foreign sphere of influence on Chinese territory. They see it as a continuation of warlordism, which means local independence from central control. The Chinese see an independent Taiwan as a challenge to their legitimacy. 

SK: With that in mind, do you think that we are heading toward a military confrontation with China in the Taiwan Strait? 

CF: There is no framework for keeping the peace in the Taiwan area anymore. And I think it’s pretty clear that we’re heading into a war. We seem to be heading toward a bloody rendezvous with Chinese nationalism—and I don’t think that’s too smart. We’re talking about contesting the territory of a nuclear power. Does anybody think about that? There is an underlying assumption, probably born from the thirty years since the end of the Cold War, that we’re invulnerable and omnipotent. I don’t have any problem with the use of force. But I do have a problem with the foolish use of force by picking fights you’re going to lose. Let’s pick a fight, but let’s make sure it’s one that we can win. So I think that instead of trying to bring China down, which we won’t be able to do, we should be trying to leverage its growing prosperity to increase our own prosperity.

SK: How do we do that—leverage China’s prosperity to further our own interests? 

CF: China has the world’s best technology for building infrastructure. We have infrastructure that is falling apart. Maybe their technology can be licensed. Maybe bonds could be issued against tolls on repaired roads or traffic on revamped rail lines. Maybe ports could be rebuilt. There’ve been a whole series of international meetings in recent years about the problem of American infrastructure—our ports can’t handle traffic and they’re not being modernized. I think, actually, our country needs to come to a point where we rediscover what made us great in the beginning: an openness to foreigners, foreign ideas, and best practices from abroad so that we can apply them at home. We should not be approaching the world with the attitude that we have all the answers.  

We should be cooperating with China on broad, planet-wide international problems like climate change, nuclear nonproliferation, environmental remediation, and so forth. We should be cooperating in order to bring a peaceful end to the confrontations with North Korea, Iran, and others. Lastly, we should not be pushing Russia and China together, which is what we are doing. The one maxim of diplomacy is “divide your enemies”—and we are doing the opposite. 

(Thank you to The Transnational Foundation for Peace & Future Research for calling out attention to this article.)

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, East Asia, North America,

Biden’s Announcement That Trump Got Military Spending Just Right Is Dead Wrong

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article by David Swanson

President Joe Biden is proposing a level of Pentagon spending so close to that of Trump’s last year in office that Bloomberg  calls it a 0.4% reduction adjusting for inflation while Politico  calls it a 1.5% increase and “effectively an inflation-adjusted budget boost.” I call it a disgusting violation of the will of the public spent in the hypocritical name of a grand battle against autocracies by so-called democracies, driven in reality by the influence of war profiteers and contempt for the fate of the planet and the people on it.


The U.S. public, according to polling, would reduce military spending if it had something resembling a democracy.

Just five weapons dealers poured  $60 million into U.S. election campaign bribery in 2020. These companies now sell more weapons abroad than to the U.S. government, with the U.S. State Department acting as a marketing firm, and with U.S. weapons and/or U.S. military training and/or U.S. government funding going to the militaries of 96%  of the most oppressive governments on earth.

U.S. military spending is $1.25 trillion  per year across numerous departments. Even just taking the $700 billion and change that goes to the Pentagon and stands in for the full amount in media coverage, U.S. military spending has been climbing for years, including during the Trump years, and is the equivalent  of many of the world’s top military spenders combined, most of which are U.S. allies, NATO members, and U.S. weapons customers.

Still using that artificially reduced figure, China is at 37% of it, Russia at 8.9%, and Iran is spending 1.3%. These are, of course, comparisons of absolute amounts.  Per capita  comparisons are extreme as well. The United States, every year, takes $2,170 from every man, woman, and child for wars and war preparations, while Russia takes $439, China $189, and Iran $114.

“Takes” is the right word. President Eisenhower once admitted it out loud, saying, “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”

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Question for this article:

Does military spending lead to economic decline and collapse?

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When a mere $30 billion could end  starvation on earth, there is no question that militarism kills first and foremost through the diversion of funds from where they are needed, while of course risking  nuclear apocalypse and driving  environmental collapse,  justifying  secrecy,  fueling  bigotry, and degrading  culture.

The madness of militarism is not new, but it is always newly happening in an environmentally riskier world in more desperate need of a redirection of resources, and is happening now in the midst of a pandemic. Meanwhile President Biden proposes to pay for things he wants to spend money on with slight corporate taxes over 15 years, as if no other expenses will come up between now and 2036.

A bill in both houses of Congress called the ICBM Act would move funding from intercontinental ballistic missiles to vaccines. Dozens of Congress Members say they favor moving funding from militarism to human and environmental needs. Yet, not a single one has made a public commitment to voting against any bill that fails to reduce military spending, and not a single one has introduced a war powers resolution to end a single war, now that Trump’s veto cannot be relied on to render such an action harmless.

It is a real shame that President Biden is not a member of the Democratic Party whose 2020 Platform reads: “Democrats believe the measure of our security is not how much we spend on defense, but how we spend our defense dollars and in what proportion to other tools in our foreign policy toolbox and other urgent domestic investments. We believe we can and must ensure our security while restoring stability, predictability, and fiscal discipline in defense spending. We spend 13 times more on the military than we do on diplomacy. We spend five times more in Afghanistan each year than we do on global public health and preventing the next pandemic. We can maintain a strong defense and protect our safety and security for less.”

It’s just bad luck that President Biden does not subscribe to the religion professed by the Pope who remarked  last Sunday: “The pandemic is still spreading, while the social and economic crisis remains severe, especially for the poor. Nonetheless – and this is scandalous – armed conflicts have not ended and military arsenals are being strengthened.”

According to Bloomberg, the U.S. military arsenal is being strengthened in a proper progressive manner: “The $715 billion Pentagon ‘topline’ is likely to be presented as a compromise to Democrats pressing for cuts in defense spending, as some of the money would be slated for the Pentagon’s environmental initiatives.”

With friends like the Pentagon, the environment has no need of enemies, real or imagined.

According to Politico, wildly out-of-control military spending that Biden believes Donald Trump got just about exactly right is actually a demonstration of restraint because “Pentagon budgeteers” have been hoping for more. Let us weep for them in our own private ways.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, North America

Past Virtual Events in April

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Here are events and application deadlines in April that were previously listed on the CPNN page for upcoming virtual events. Where possible links are provided to recordings of the events. Unless otherwise noted the events are in English.

April 7, 7:00-8:30 pm Eastern Standard Time
China, U.S. and the Risk of Nuclear War

This webinar, sponsored by the Committee for a SANE U.S.-China Policy and Western Massachusetts Back from the Brink, will examine the dangers of a nuclear war erupting between the U.S. and China, and consider strategies for preventing this. The webinar is open to the public and registration is free.
— To register, click here

April 7, 2021, 1:00-2:30 PM Eastern Standard Time
Sustaining Peace Forum: Peace is Always Local

Sponsored by the Network for Education and Research on Peace and Sustainability along with a number of co-cponsors
— We will explore local-led peace efforts to show that they are at the center, not the periphery, of effective peace building. The panelists will also call for radical changes in how international actors understand and engage these key stakeholders. This dialogue aims to make the case that we can no longer operate under the paradigm in which local actors are “invited to the table.” In fact, local actors are already creating the most important “tables”, in meaningful and powerful ways. This event will include prominent scholar-practitioners who each focus their inquiry on different and complementary aspects of local-led peace efforts.
— Registration

Thursday 8th of April 16:00 Central European Time
Dialogue about “The World after Corona with Jan Øberg”

Watch the lecture now available online with this link. After you watch the lecture join the zoom discussion with the link you get after registering for the event below. Prepare to share your questions to Jan over chat during the zoom event.
— The course is sponsored and organized by The Necessary teacher training College and the students attending the programme. Learn more about us on our website www.dns-tvind.dk
— Zoom registration

April 14, 10-11:30 AM Eastern Standard Time
The role of apology, repentance, and forgiveness in societal transformation

Join the Mary Hoch Center for Reconciliation and Religions for Peace for a panel discussion and learning exchange among experts, including Dr. Eileen Borris, on the role of apology, repentance, and forgiveness in social change movements and transitional justice processes. During this event you will have the opportunity to listen to agents of change from around the world who have been involved in and/or studied political apologies and social repentance efforts. Through this event we hope to learn from global experiences to inform current efforts towards racial justice, transformation, and healing in the United States.
— Register here

April 14, 2021 09:00 AM in Guatemala
How transparent is gender equality funding in Guatemala and where do we go from here?

The Gender Financing Project has mapped national and international funding for gender equality in Guatemala. Our research examines how such information could be made more transparent and useful and offers some recommendations for improved co-ordination and allocation of gender equality funding in Guatemala.
— Join our webinar to learn how the Guatemalan government and international donors are funding gender equality in Guatemala, and where key stakeholders can work together to improve the transparency of this funding.
— We welcome comments and questions from the audience, which can be submitted in advance or during the event via social media and our interactive chat.
— This webinar will have simultaneous interpretation in English and Spanish.
— YouTube recording

Apr 14, 2021 12:30 PM Central European Time
Online Workshop: Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) for 2030 framework and the Berlin Conference: Time to act – Now or Never

Summarizes the learnings from the series of online workshops and highlights the focus areas of the new framework ESD for 2030, as well as its roadmap on the way forward, from UNESCO World Conference on ESD in Berlin, Germany and beyond. The previous sessions addressed the following questions:
* how can ESD learning continue in digital or remote formats?
* how can ESD equip young people with knowledge, skills, values and attitudes to be resilient under challenging situations?
* what are the interlinkages between the health of the planet and people?
* what is the role of ESD for climate action?’ and
* how can ESD promote alternative lifestyles/livelihoods in response to consumerism?
— Zoom registration

April 14, 2021 08:00 PM in Eastern Standard Time (US and Canada)
Asia-Pacific Working Group Webinar: Biden & China – The First 100 Days. Confrontations, Competitions, and Anti-Asian

Our expert panel will assess President Biden’s first 100 days in office, which have been marked by escalating military, economic and diplomatic tensions with China and what this has meant for Asian-Americans.Featured Speakers:
— Christine Hong, Professor, University of California, author of “A Violent Peace: Race, U.S. Militarism, and Cultures of Democratization in Cold War Asia and the Pacific”
— Joseph Gerson, President, Campaign for Peace, Disarmament & Common Security, author of “Empire and the Bomb: How the U.S. Uses Nuclear Weapons to Dominate the World”
— Jake Werner, Boston University, Global Development Policy Center and Co-Founder Critical China Scholars
— Video recording

April 15, 2021 07:00 PM in Eastern Standard Time (US and Canada)
A Tax Day Like No Other: Pressing for our budget priorities amid pandemic, economic and climate crises and new Cold Wars

Organized by: Massachusetts Peace Action, Massachusetts Alliance of HUD Tenants, Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security, New England War Tax Resistance, American Friends Service Committee – Northeast Region, Maine Peace Action, Peace Action New York State (list in formation)
— For more information: info@masspeaceaction.org, 617-354-2169
— https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMrc-qrrjMsEtSzPJ328CaAEu4EczzRg0Qp”>Zoom registration

April 15, 12-1 pm Pacific Standard Time (California)
Nonviolence Skills Practice Hour- April Session

The Metta Center for Nonviolence is teaming up with Meta Peace Team for a monthly one-hour nonviolence skills practice sessions in 2021 with skills ranging across the spectrum of nonviolent intervention and personal nonviolent development.
— Meta Peace Team has trained and placed violence de-escalation peace teams locally, nationally, and internationally for over 25 years, and teaches these skills to anyone interested: They’re just as important in our own day-to-day lives! Their mission is to build a just and sustainable world through active nonviolence.
— The session will begin with a short inspirational reading, a skill review, and then participants will have a chance to practice together.
— You must register ahead of time and be available with video on Zoom for the sessions. (See below)
— This project is part of the Third Harmony Project and the Meta Peace Team “hub” project.
— Register here

Saturday, April 17, 2021 • 2:00 PM Central European Time
Threats of War: Britain’s New Global Role – Conference of Stop the War Coalition

Host Contact Info: office@stopwar.org.uk
— Our government is desperate for Britain to play a global military role. Despite the pandemic, economic crisis and crumbling services, they boosted defence spending in 2020 by the biggest margin in years. They are refusing to withdraw support for the Saudi-led war on Yemen war and are keen to be partner No. 1 in the US push for a new cold war on China.
— Make sure you join us at this conference to discuss what is driving this new round of provocations and how they can be stopped.
— YouTube recording

April 18, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (US and Canada)
International Day of Action in Solidarity with Venezuela

In 2015, the World Peace Council called for declaring April 19 the GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE PEOPLE OF VENEZUELA. The date symbolizes the Day of the Declaration of Independence of Venezuela in 1810, which constitutes the beginning of the struggle for independence from Spanish colonialism. Every year, members and friends of the WPC hold solidarity events with the people of Venezuela, and organize protests against the imperialist aggression in dozens of countries, declaring their militant solidarity with the people of Venezuela, for their right to self-determination and independence.
— Zoom Webinar moderated by Bahman Azad, Executive Secretary, U.S. Peace Council
— Bilingual (English and Spanish)
— CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

April 21, 2021 04:00 PM in Kathmandu
How transparent is gender equality funding in Nepal and where do we go from here?

The Gender Financing Project has mapped national and international funding for gender equality in Nepal. Our research examines how such information could be made more transparent and useful and offers some recommendations for improved co-ordination and allocation of gender equality funding in Nepal.
— Join our webinar to learn how the Nepali government and international donors are funding gender equality in Nepal, and where key stakeholders can work together to improve the transparency of this funding.
— We welcome comments and questions from the audience, which can be submitted in advance or during the event via social media and our interactive chat.
— YouTube recording

Fri, April 23, 2021, 2:15 AM – 3:30 AM Central European Time
Women Peacemakers

sponsored by the Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice
— how international peacebuilding organizations can better partner with local women peacebuilders to address the closing spaces and increased insecurity women are currently facing when working to end cycles of violence.
— During this Kroc School signature event, you’ll hear more about these efforts, plus:
— Real stories about what it’s like being a woman peacebuilder in the Covid era
— Insights about the challenges and opportunities of being on the front lines and in the back rooms of shaping more peaceful societies
Ideas for how we can bring more equity, justice, and compassion to our communities.
— Click here to register

Saturday, 24 Apr 2021, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm (Central European Time)
Youth Summit Against NATO

The future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) depends on young people. NATO Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg, said that ”young people have the greatest stake in NATO’s future” during the NATO 2030 Youth Summit held in November last year. The new agenda of the transatlantic alliance called “NATO 2030” seeks to indoctrinate younger generations into the false narrative of militarized security that the alliance has promoted for decades. The first Youth Summit Against NATO will gather young leaders from the peace movement to share their thoughts about resisting NATO and the implications this nuclear-armed alliance will have for their future.
–> Speakers:
Angelo Cardona, International Peace Bureau, Advisory Board World Beyond War (Colombia).
Dirk Hoogenkamp, NVMP-Artsen voor Vrede, European student representative to the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) (Netherlands).
Lucy Tiller, Youth and Student, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (UK)
Lucas Wirl, Co-Chair, No to War-No to NATO (Germany).
Vanessa Lanteigne, National Coordinator, Canadian Voice of Women for Peace (Canada).
— Facebook recording

Mardi 27 avril de 19h à 20h30 (Central European Time) – en Français
Georges Corm: éclairage sur la situation au Proche-Orient

Nous avons le plaisir de vous annoncer que Georges Corm a accepté de participer à une visioconférence à la demande du Mouvement de la Paix. Son éclairage sur la situation au Proche-Orient est toujours intéressant, surtout dans le contexte actuel de désinformation, et notamment en ce qui concerne la Syrie. Cela fait déjà quelque temps qu’il n’a pas participé à des conférences en France.
— Si vous avez des questions à lui poser, merci de nous les envoyer en retour d’e-mail et nous les lui transmettrons avant cette conférence, pour la bonne tenue de cette dernière.
— Georges Corm est ancien ministre, économiste, historien, professeur à l’Institut de sciences politiques de l’Université Saint Joseph à Beyrouth. Auteur de nombreux ouvrages sur l’histoire du Liban et du Proche-Orient, dont en particulier :
“Le Proche-Orient, éclaté (1956–2012)” / Ed. Gallimard/Histoire, 2007
“Orient-Occident, la fracture imaginaire” / Ed. La Découverte, 2002 et 2004
— YouTube recording

Thursday, April 29, 2021 • 7:00 PM • Eastern Daylight Time (US & Canada)
Militarism & Climate Change: Disaster in Progress

Join us on April 29 for a webinar on the intersections between climate justice and anti-war movements.
A just transition requires not only a transition from fossil fuels to renewables, but also demilitarization. Bloated defence and border security budgets not only fund violence and destruction, but absorb resources needed to fund a just transition, build a green economy, secure economic and racial justice, and end poverty.
Addressing the climate crisis is at odds with Canada’s current plans to increase military expenditures astronomically, and sign contracts for the purchase of 88 new bomber jets and Canada’s first fleet of unmanned armed drones. Not to mention Canada’s growing role as a major global arms dealer and weapons manufacturer.
— Host Contact Info: canada@worldbeyondwar.org
— YouTube Recording

Jeudi 29 Avril 2021, 09:00 Greenwich Mean Time
Repenser la place des Femmes et des Jeunes en Afrique Post Covid 19

L’Institut Mandela(IM), le Laboratoire de Recherches et d’Actions Diplomatiques (LaRAD), et l’Ecole Doctorale Gouvernance de l’Afrique et du Moyen-Orient (GAMO) de l’Université MOHAMMED V de Rabat, vous invitent à la prochaine Vidéoconférence Panafricaine. Discours d’ouverture de Son Excellence Madame Jamila EL MOSSALI, Ministre de la Solidarité, du Développement social, de l’Égalité et de la Famille du Royaume du Maroc.
— lien Zoom

April 29, 2021, two sessions 5:30 PM in New Zealand and 5:15 Central European Time
Time for global No-First-Use policies

A webinar exploring No-First-Use (NFU) policies, their contribution to nuclear risk-reduction and disarmament, and new possibilities for their adoption by additional nuclear armed and allied states. The webinar is hosted by the Geneva Centre for Security Policy and cosponsored by Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, Peace Depot Japan, People for Nuclear Disarmament, PragueVision Institute for Sustainable Security and the World Future Council.
— The first session will focus primarily on NFU in the Asia/Pacific region. Chair: Alyn Ware (New Zealand). Global Coordinator, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament.
— The second session will focus on NFU in North America and Europe. Chair: Marc Finaud, (France/Switzerland), Head of Arms Proliferation at Geneva Centre for Security Policy
— YouTube recording of first session

global, Uncategorized

Yellen pledges U.S. international cooperation, calls for global minimum tax

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by David Lawder from Reuters (Reprinted by permission)

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Monday that she is working with G20 countries to agree on a global corporate minimum tax rate and pledged that restoring U.S. multilateral leadership would strengthen the global economy and advance U.S. interests.


Reuters File Photo : U.S. Treasury Secretary-designate Janet Yellen in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., December 1, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo

In a speech ahead of her first International Monetary Fund and World Bank Spring Meetings as Treasury chief, Yellen signaled stronger U.S. engagement on issues from climate change to human rights to tax base erosion.

A global minimum tax proposed by the Biden administration could help to end a “thirty-year race to the bottom on corporate tax rates,” Yellen told an online event hosted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

The proposal is a key pillar of President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure spending plan, which calls for an increase in the U.S. corporate tax rate to 28% while eliminating some deductions associated with overseas profits.

Without a global minimum, the United States would again have higher rates than a number of other major economies, tax experts say, while the U.S. proposal could help jump-start negotiations for a tax deal among major economies.

World Bank President David Malpass said finance leaders from the Group of 20 major economies on Wednesday would discuss global tax issues, including for digital services, adding that international attitudes were shifting away from continual tax reductions.

“Taxes matter to development, and it’s important that the world get it right,” Malpass told CNBC television.

Separately, a group of Democratic senators unveiled a legislative proposal to roll back parts of former President Donald Trump’s 2017 U.S. tax cuts.

(Article continued on the right column)

Question for this article:

Opposing tax havens and global exploitation: part of the culture of peace?

(Article continued from the left column)

NEW ATTITUDE

Yellen also said she would use the IMF and World Bank meetings this week to advance discussions on climate change, improve vaccine access for poor countries and push countries to do more to support a strong global recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

“We will fare better if we work together and support each other,” Yellen said.

Her more cooperative approach marks a sharp contrast to the ‘America First’ approach of her Trump administration predecessor, Steven Mnuchin. She has backed a $650 billion increase in IMF monetary reserves that Mnuchin opposed last year, and said she will work with international institutions and partners on carbon emission reduction targets.

Mnuchin had routinely opposed any climate change references in G20 and other communiques issued from large multilateral gatherings.

Yellen also has dropped here a key Mnuchin demand from international tax negotiations – a provision that would allow large U.S. technology companies to opt out of any new rules on taxation of digital services.

PRESSURE ON TAX HAVENS

The new Treasury chief said it was important to “end the pressures of tax competition” and make sure governments “have stable tax systems that raise sufficient revenues in essential public goods and respond to crises, and that all citizens fairly share the burden of financing government.”

Separately, a U.S. Treasury official told reporters that it was important to have the world’s major economies on board with a global minimum tax to make it effective, but did not say how many countries were needed for this.

The official said the United States would use its own tax legislation to prevent companies from shifting profits or residency to tax haven countries and would encourage other major economies to do the same.

The Biden plan proposes a 21% minimum corporate tax rate, coupled with eliminating exemptions on income from countries that do not enact a minimum tax. The administration says the plan will discourage the shifting of jobs and profits overseas.

Yellen said in her remarks that while advanced economies had successfully supported their economies through the COVID-19 pandemic, it was too early to declare victory, and more support was needed for low income countries to gain access to vaccines.

global, North America, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT,

Angola: Luanda Biennial Strengthens Culture of Peace

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article from the Angola Press Agency

Angola has reiterated the 2nd Luanda Biennial’s commitment to strengthening of the climate of peace in Africa.

This was expressed by Secretary of State for International Cooperation and Angolan Communities, Domingos Vieira Lopes, on Tuesday.

Focus on a culture of peace is also aimed at creating conditions to attract more foreign private investment to the continent, said the Angolan diplomat.

(Continued in right column)

Question related to this article:

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

(Continued from left column)

Speaking  at the opening of the seminar on “The role of Angolan diplomacy in promoting a culture of peace”. Domingos Vieira Lopes defended the need to intensify investment and industrialisation in the continent to enhance the main export products.

However,  he appealed for the support and participation of the member states of the African Union in the Pan-African Forum,  in order to deepen knowledge about continental reality.

The diplomat said the online seminar served to reflect on the experience acquired through the peace and reconciliation process in Angola, after 19 years.

The meeting also aimed at sharing ideas on the best way to contribute to the preservation of peace.

As for the ongoing preparations for the 2nd edition of the Luanda Biennial, scheduled for next September, the Itinerant Ambassador and coordinator of the National Management Committee for the Biennial in the Angolan capital, Diekumpuna Sita José, said that the concept of a culture of peace has to do with change.

He added that the fundamental objective of African leaders is to achieve long lasting conciliation.

Africa, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Pope, in Easter message, slams weapons spending in time of pandemic

TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY .

An article by By Philip Pullella in Reuters (reprinted by permission)

Pope Francis urged countries in his Easter message on Sunday to quicken distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, particularly to the world’s poor, and called armed conflict and military spending during a pandemic “scandalous”.

Coronavirus has meant this has been the second year in a row that Easter papal services have been attended by small gatherings at a secondary altar of St. Peter’s Basilica, instead of by crowds in the church or in the square outside.

After saying Mass, Francis read his “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) message, in which he traditionally reviews world problems and appeals for peace.

“The pandemic is still spreading, while the social and economic crisis remains severe, especially for the poor. Nonetheless – and this is scandalous – armed conflicts have not ended and military arsenals are being strengthened,” he said.

Francis, who would normally have given the address to up to 100,000 people in St. Peter’s Square, spoke to fewer than 200 in the church while the message was broadcast to tens of millions around the world.

The square was empty except for a few police officers enforcing a strict three-day national lockdown.

(Article continued in right column.)

Question for this article

Religion: a barrier or a way to peace?, What makes it one or the other?

(Article continued from left column.)

The pope asked God to comfort the sick, those who have lost a loved one, and the unemployed, urging authorities to give families in greatest need a “decent sustenance”.

He praised medical workers, sympathised with young people unable to attend school, and said everyone was called to combat the pandemic.

“I urge the entire international community, in a spirit of global responsibility, to commit to overcoming delays in the distribution of vaccines and to facilitate their distribution, especially in the poorest countries,” he said.

Francis, who has often called for disarmament and a total ban on the possession of nuclear weapons, said: “There are still too many wars and too much violence in the world! May the Lord, who is our peace, help us to overcome the mindset of war.”

‘INSTRUMENTS OF DEATH’

Noting that it was International Awareness Day against anti-personnel landmines, he called such weapons “insidious and horrible devices … how much better our world would be without these instruments of death!”

In mentioning conflict areas, he singled out for praise “the young people of Myanmar committed to supporting democracy and making their voices heard peacefully”. More than 550 protesters have been killed since a Feb. 1 military coup in Myanmar, which the pope visited in 2017.

Francis called for peace in several conflict areas in Africa, including the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia and the Cabo Delgado province of Mozambique. He said the crisis in Yemen has been “met with a deafening and scandalous silence”.

He appealed to Israelis and Palestinians to “rediscover the power of dialogue” to reach a two-state solution where both can live side by side in peace and prosperity.

Francis said he realised many Christians were still persecuted and called for all restrictions on freedom of worship and religion worldwide to be lifted.

global, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

Germany: Collateral Crucifixion – Pressuring for Julian Assange’s Release!

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article by Sabine Bock from Pressenza

The artist duo Captain Borderline has created on the theme of “Collateral Crucifixion” a huge, artistic mural on a complete house facade directly in front of the SPD headquarters, the Willy Brandt House, in Stresemannstr. 15 in Berlin Kreuzberg. In conversation with the two artists, they explained to us the reason for creating the revolutionary, crucifix-like work of art.


(Click on image to enlarge)

For almost 10 years, Julian Assange has been in captivity for exposing horrific, inhumane war crimes in an oil war that violated international law and for making his knowledge available to a broad public. The UN Special Investigator on Torture, Nils Melzer, has been the only neutral body to conduct serious research regarding these incidents.

He concludes that Julian Assange has become the victim of a huge show trial whose sole purpose is to show the media worldwide the limits of investigative journalism. The real issue in this legal case against Assange, then, is freedom of the press. Journalists and whistleblowers are being made to believe, through this witch hunt, that they will suffer the same fate should they report on the illegal machinations of the American or Western establishment and governments. How else can it be that powerful men like George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld can invade a country like Iraq for no reason, bomb it, and be responsible for the deaths of almost a million people with impunity, while a man like Assange, who merely publicizes these illegal machinations of the warmongers as a journalist and publisher, ends up in a maximum security prison for it. The responsible politicians, Bush and consorts, on the other hand, can enjoy their stolen wealth in their castles unmolested. That is why we demand the immediate release of Julian Assange from the British prison and to respect the freedom of the press.

(continued in right column)

Questions for this article:

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

Julian Assange, Is he a hero for the culture of peace?

Free flow of information, How is it important for a culture of peace?


(continued from left column)

To help bring to light the truth behind the construct of lies of which Julian Assange has been a victim for many years, the artist duo Captain Borderline created and completed this revolutionary crucifix-like artwork with Julian Assange as the crucified of the media world on the complete house wall directly in front of the Willy Brandt House in Berlin Kreuzberg during the Holy Week before Easter.

Note

With the purchase of an art screenprint you support the non-profit art and culture association “Colorrevolution” e.V. in financing a huge (20m*10m), media-created mural of “Captain Borderline” with this motif directly in front of the Willy-Brandt-Haus in Berlin. https://assange.colorrevolution.de/

[Editor’s note: The artists of Captain Borderline are A. Signl, B. Shanti and Dabtar, as shown here: augsburger-skandal-zeitung.blogspot.com/2013/08/wer-hat-sich-das-alles-ausgedacht.html

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Europe, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION