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Statement by the European Union to the United Nations High-Level Forum on the Culture of Peace

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An e-statement from the United Nations High-Level Forum on the Culture of Peace

Statement on behalf of the European Union and its Member States by Ambassador Hedda Samson, Deputy Head of Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations High-level Forum on the Culture of Peace: Cultivating and nurturing the culture of peace for present and future generations

(Editor’s note: The following statement is a welcome change from the opposition of the European Union when the culture of peace resolution was submitted by UNESCO to the UN General Assembly in 1998.)


EU Spokesperson, Hedda Samson. Frame from minute 44 in the video of the Forum

New York, 2 August 2024

– CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY –

(Editor’s note: By checking the published e-statement against the delivery in the video of the Forum, one can see that it was delivered as written here including five minor additions to the e-statement marked here in boldface and three minor omissions marked in italics.)

Mr President,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The Candidate Countries North Macedonia, Serbia, Albania, the Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia, as well as Andorra, Monaco and San Marino align themselves with this statement.

As we commemorate the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace, the European Union expresses its full support for the Culture of Peace agenda.

This agenda not only reflects our history and core values, but it also guides our actions – within and beyond our borders.

– Concretely, this means that we are deeply committed to the respect for life and dignity of each human being without discrimination or prejudice.

– It means that we are attached to non-violence, the peaceful settlement of conflicts and to democratic participation. North Macedonia, Serbia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

– It also means that we are deeply committed to solidarity and cooperation for development, and to the promotion and respect of human rights as well as equal rights and opportunities for all.

The Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace with its eight pillars remains as valid today as it was in 1999. Even if we have witnessed tremendous change in societies worldwide. Even if we are facing new global challenges.

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Question(s) related to this article:

What is the United Nations doing for a culture of peace?

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As we have gathered at this high-level event, let me convey three messages:

– First, pursuing a Culture of Peace can help us bridge the divides across and within societies worldwide. And it can help to advance the full implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

– Second, we have all committed in the Declaration on a Culture of Peace to support the free flow of information and knowledge, to support the important role of the media, to ensure freedom of the press and freedom of information and communication and protection of civic space (online and offline).

– Third, if we really want to be faithful to this agenda, we need effective multilateralism, founded on values and principles embedded in international law, the UN Charter, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with a strong United Nations at its core. This is the only way to respond collectively and efficiently to global crises, challenges and threats that no one can tackle alone.

Mr President,

In line with the theme of today’s event, the European Union fully agrees that we must cultivate and nurture a Culture of Peace for present and future generations.

As we have said before, the Summit of the Future will be a milestone, but our journey will continue beyond it. If we have a strong and ambitious Pact, we can fully seize the opportunity to pave the way for current and future generations.

The Pact should recommit to the UN Charter and its values, which is crucial in these times of widespread violations. We have all committed, and must again recommit to maintaining international peace and security, taking effective collective measures for the prevention of conflict, for peace operations, and for the suppression of acts of aggression.

There can be no Culture of Peace for present or future generations without respect for human rights, democratic participation and the rule of law. We must do away with all forms of discrimination and prejudice:

– Let us join efforts to achieve gender equality and the full enjoyment of all human rights by all women and girls.

– Let us safeguard the freedom of religion or belief for all. We must strive towards democratic societies, where freedom of opinion and expression prevails, in a spirit of respect, acceptance, tolerance and dialogue, and where we stand united against all forms of racism and extremism.

– Let us foster a Culture of Peace with children and youth through inclusive quality education that promotes acceptance, that empowers them as agents of change, and that safeguards their rights to protection from violence and discrimination.

Mr. President, to succeed in all this, strong partnerships with civil society are vital. That is why it is so important to ensure a safe and enabling environment where civil society can thrive. And that is why we also encourage enhancing the meaningful and effective engagement of civil society throughout the work of the UN System.

To conclude, Mr President, you can count on the EU’s full commitment to contribute to the effective implementation of the UN Culture of Peace agenda.

I thank you.

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2024 United Nations High Level Forum on the Culture of Peace

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An article by CPNN based on the videos of the forum at UN Web TV part 1 and UN Web TV part 2

The United Nations held its annual High Level Forum on the Culture of Peace on August 2.

The following article is based on the videos of the Forum because it seems that the United Nations did not publish a general article about the forum. There is a UN webpage for the Forum, but it contains only the concept note, the program, video excerpts, three photos and a link to the 1999 resolution on a culture of peace.


Scene at beginning of Forum, taken from UN video. (Note that in previous years, the room was filled with representatives of civil society and Member States)

A concept note with background about the culture of peace was published this year prior to the forum by the President of the General assembly saying that it would be dedicated to the theme “Promoting Culture of Peace in the Digital Era.”

The program consisted of a three-hour opening session beginning at 10:00 with four presentations available in the UN journal.

H.E. Mr. Dennis Francis, President of the UN General Assembly began by commemorating the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace, and thanking the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh for its continued stewardship of the High-Level Forum. He quoted Mahatma Gandhi that “there is no way to peace, peace is the way,” and Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammed Yunus that “Peace should be understood in a human way – in a broad social, political way. Peace is threatened by unjust economic, social and political order, absence of democracy, environmental degradation and the absence of human rights.”

Mr. Guy Ryder, Under-Secretary-General for Policy also spoke about the “enduring legacy” of the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace, and he looked forward to the Declaration on Future Generations to be agreed upon at the Summit of the Future.

Mrs. Lily Gray, UNESCO Liaison Office to the UN said that the digital age demands that we update and refine the concept of a culture of peace, and she referred to UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence.

Ms. Andrea Carstensen, Representative of Global Youth Caucus on SDG 16 referred to the Secretary-General’s New Agenda for Peace, and Security Council Resolution 2250 — unanimously adopted in 2015 and reaffirmed in 2018. The resolution acknowledges the traditionally-overlooked role of youth in peacebuilding and conflict resolution and calls for the inclusion of young people in decision-making processes at all levels.

Then followed a plenary session with statements by 31 countries, the European Union and 2 observers, the Holy See and the Sovereign Order of Malta. Their statements are available here.

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Question(s) related to this article:

What is the United Nations doing for a culture of peace?

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As you may see from the list of countries, there were statements posted from eight countries in Latin America, seven from Asia and five from Africa, but no remarks from the United States or from its allies in Japan, Canada or Australia. China did not issue a statement but is represented, along with 17 other countries, by the statement of Venezuela On Behalf of the Group of Friends in Defence of the Charter of the United Nations

The statement by the European Union in favor of the culture of peace is published here separately because it marks a welcome change from their previous opposition to the culture of peace.

Vietnam and the Holy See also published articles on the Internet about their statements.

In the afternoon there was a one-hour panel session from 15:00 until 16:07 that can be seen in the second video listed above.

The panel session was moderated by Melissa Fleming, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications. She introduced remarks by the following four panelists:

Mr. Felipe Paullier, Assistant-Secretay-General for Youth Affairs.

Ms. Naureen Chowdhury Fink from the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism. Her remarks are published here. According to Wikipedia, the NGO was founded in 2017 by a consortium of companies spearheaded by Facebook (now known as Meta), Google/YouTube, Microsoft and Twitter (now known as X). It provides a database of videos and images related to terrorism.

Mr. Francisco Rojas Aravena, rector of the University of Peace. His remarks are published here.

Ms Amanda Dixon from the NGO Heavenly Culture, World Peace and Restoration of Light. Her remarks are published here. She spoke about her organization, saying “Our 94-year-old chairman, a global messenger of peace, established our organization over a decade ago to leave peace as a legacy to future generations.” According to Wikipedia, HWPL was founded in 2013 by Lee Man-hee in South Korea, and is classified as a sect according to eight listed sources.

Comments were then requested from the member states and observers, for which there were two: Costa Rica and the NGO Man Up Campaign.

The floor was given again to the four panelists for their final remarks.

Concluding remarks of the panel session were delivered by the Permanent Representative of Bangladesh, Mr. Muhammad Abdul Muhith. He returned to the opening theme of the Forum, commemorating the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace, and looking forward to the Pact to be agreed upon at the Summit of the Future. He thanked all of the Forum participants with a specific mention of the organization Heavenly Culture, World Peace and Restoration of Light.

A closing session at 16:45 is listed in the UN Journal, but there was no video of this published on the UN Web TV, no account in UN News and no statements published in the UN journal.

This year’s Forum continues a trend that began with the Forum last year. Unlike the first ten Forums from 2012 to 2022, when Anwarul Chowdhury was involved in the planning, there is very little role for the civil society and not much media coverage, not even by UN News.

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Video about Ukraine war by US Presidential Candidate Kennedy

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Text from X video republished on July 12 by Transcend Media Service

(Editor’s note: The following is the text of a video interview with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., independent candidate for President in the United States. It completely contradicts the usual news from the mass media that justifies American involvement in the Ukraine War. We could not find the text anywhere on the Internet, but only a critique of it by the Washington Post.)

You know, Putin every day says, I want to settle the war. Let’s negotiate. And Zelensky said, we’re not going to negotiate. But Zelensky didn’t want to start that way. I don’t want to,  you know, belabor the history, but Russia was invaded three times through Ukraine. The last time Hitler killed one out of every seven Russians. They don’t want to have Ukraine join NATO.

So when the wall came down in the Soviet Union, Europe, Gorbachev destroyed himself politically by doing something that was very, very courageous. He went to Bush and he said, I’m going to allow you to reunify Germany under a NATO army. I’m going to remove 450,000 Soviet troops. But I want your commitment.  After that, you will not move NATO one inch to the east. And we solemnly swore that we wouldn’t do it.

Well, then in 97, Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was the first of the bneocons said, we’re going to move NATO a thousand miles to the east and take 15 countries into it and surround the Soviet Union.  So then we not only move it into 14 new nations, but we unilaterally walk away from our two nuclear weapons treaties with the Russians.  And we put Aegis missile systems in Romania and Poland 12 minutes from Moscow.

When Russians did that to Cuba in 62, we came this close to nuclear war until they removed them. So the Russians don’t want nukes 400 miles from Moscow.

We then overthrow the Ukraine government in 2014, their elected government,  and put in a Western sympathetic government.

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Question related to this article:

Is the media an arm of the culture of war?

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Russia then has to go into Crimea because they have a port, because they’re only warm water port and they know the new government that we just installed is going to invite the US Navy into their port. So Russia then went into Crimea without firing a shot because the people of Crimea are Russian.

Then the new Ukrainian government we installed started killing ethnic Russians in Donbas and Lugansk, and they voted to leave and join Russia.  Putin said, I don’t want them.  Let’s give them protection and give them semi-autonomy and make an agreement to keep NATO out of Ukraine.

That treaty was written by Germany, France, Russia and England, the Minsk accords. And the Ukrainian parliament, which is controlled by ultra-rightists, and that’s a nice way of talking about them, refused to sign it.

Zelensky runs in 2019.   He’s an actor.   Why did he get elected, with 70 % of the vote?   Because he promised to sign the Minsk accords.  He promised peace. He gets in there and he pivots.  Nobody can explain why, but we know why. Because he was threatened with death by ultra-rightists in his government and a withdrawal of support by the United States, by Victoria Nuland, who’s the leading Neocon in the State Department. We told him he could not sign it.

So then the Russians go in. They don’t send a big army. They only send 40,000 people. It’s a nation of 44 million people. They clearly do not intend to conquer Ukraine, but they want us back at the negotiating table.

We won’t allow Zelensky to go back, so he goes to Israel and Turkey and says will you please help me negotiate a treaty. The Russians just want a guarantee that Ukraine won’t join NATO. Zelensky signs a treaty. Putin’s people sign the treaty. And Putin starts withdrawing the Russian troops in good faith.

What happens? Joe Biden sends Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, over to Ukraine in April and forces him to tear up the treaty.

Since then, 450,000 kids have died. Not one of them should have died. For every one Russian that dies, five to eight Ukrainians die. They don’t have any men left! You know, we’re giving them all these weapons, but they don’t have men left. It’s a catastrophe! And we look kind of like the aggressor, that’s the way the rest of the world sees us.

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The Elders: A message from Ernesto Zedillo, Former President of Mexico

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A message from The Elders

Dear friends,

The Elders is an organisation profoundly committed to international law and diplomacy. We believe that the challenges facing humanity, from cruel and protracted conflicts to the climate and nature crisis, pandemics and the threat posed by nuclear weapons, can only be overcome by nations working together.

This is why we believe in a strong multilateral system, underpinned by an unshakeable will to uphold the rule of law, where power is balanced by responsibility and decisions are taken on a long-term and strategic basis.

This is the message we took last month to the headquarters of the United Nations in New York, for a series of public and private meetings with the Secretary-General, the President of the General Assembly, the members of the Security Council and other senior leaders.

The Elders’ delegation – our Chair Mary Robinson, Deputy Chair Ban Ki-moon and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, and myself – emphasised in all our meetings that as the UN approaches its 80th anniversary, it is needed more than ever but is also facing unprecedented threats from a growing trend of unilateralism and impunity.

Ban Ki-moon highlighted the devastating human cost of the failure of leadership at a public debate of the UN Security Council on the plight of children in armed conflict. Speaking alongside the Special Representative of the Secretary-General who presented the annual report of the Secretary-General on the scale of the crisis, Ban Ki-moon deplored the increase in the number of children killed and maimed in conflicts worldwide over the past year, from Gaza and Israel to Ukraine, Sudan to Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Yemen, to name but a few.

He confronted the Security Council with a painful truth: it is patently ineffective, and failing to perform its most fundamental function of upholding peace and security, and protecting innocent lives.  

(Article continued in the column on the right)

Questions related to this article:

Where in the world can we find good leadership today?

(Article continued from the column on the left)

Even when the Council does reach agreement, as it did when passing Resolution 2735 on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on 10 June, significant challenges remain in pressuring the conflict parties to implement the resolution in full. To secure a lasting ceasefire, the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian political prisoners, and the safe and effective distribution of aid throughout Gaza as the resolution requires, all Council members must act in good faith and with persistence, in line with the values of the UN Charter.

The sentiments of Ban Ki-moon’s speech were echoed across all our conversations in New York, including with representatives from China, Russia, Ukraine and Iran, and the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine.

We also raised and discussed specific proposals on how the UN and member states could be more effective. These included: engagement on finding political pathways to resolve specific conflicts, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; strengthening the effectiveness and representation of the Security Council and the role of the General Assembly; using the UN Charter to its fullest; and strengthening the role of women leaders in peace-building.

The current failure of the UN Security Council members with veto power to honour their responsibility not only deepens the misery of innocent civilians but damages unfairly the effectiveness and reputation of the entire UN system.

All Council members, and indeed all UN member states, have a degree of culpability for the current difficulties encountered by the UN organisation but the greatest responsibility lies with the five Permanent Members of the Security Council. For this reason, in our conversation with the President of the General Assembly and a number of ambassadors, we emphasised the need for the General Assembly to be more proactive in advocating the regulation of the veto power to limit its abuse by the P5.

The Security Council, and in particular the veto power, must evolve if the UN system is to prove itself fit for purpose in the 21st century. We were encouraged by some of the innovative reform proposals we heard, and we hope that the Summit of the Future in September will be an opportunity to sow the seeds for lasting, positive change in the years ahead.

With thanks as always for your ongoing support,

Ernesto Zedillo

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In Remembrance of James Lawson, a Force for Good and Champion of Peace

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An article by Ethan Vesely-Flad in Common Dreams (licensed under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called him “the leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence in the world.” To Rep. John Lewis, he was “the architect of the nonviolence movement.” Jesse Jackson simply called him “the Teacher.” We at the Fellowship of Reconciliation are blessed to have counted him among our core team of organizers. It is with reverence that we remember his life and time with us.


James Lawson at work with the Fellowship of Reconciliation in 1960. (Photo credit: FOR archives)

Rev. James M. Lawson, Jr., who died Sunday at age 95, was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, and moved with his family to Massillon, Ohio, shortly after. As part of a deeply Christian family, James began regularly reading the bible and developed a prophetic and liberatory interpretation of the gospels at an early age. In a 2014 interview published by  Fellowship  magazine, Lawson told Diane Lefer, “By the end of my high school years, I came to recognize that that whole business – walk the second mile, turn the other cheek, pray for the enemy, see the enemy as a fellow human being – was a resistance movement. It was not an acquiescent affair or a passive affair. I saw it as a place where my own life grew in strength inwardly, and where I had actually seen people changed because I responded with the other cheek. I went the second mile with them.”

While attending Baldwin-Wallace College, Lawson met A.J. Muste, the Fellowship of Reconciliation’s executive secretary, a renowned pacifist and nonviolent direct action strategist. Deeply inspired, Lawson immediately joined the FOR. Graduating college in 1950, as the Cold War grew, Lawson determined that he would refuse the military draft. Instead of Korea, he was sent to prison, where he served 13 months.

In 1953, Lawson accepted an offer from Hislop College in Nagpur, India, to teach and coach athletics, giving him the opportunity to, like FOR members Howard Thurman and Bayard Rustin had done before him, explore the connections between the Indian self-determination movement and the African-American freedom struggle. Lawson spent the next three years on the subcontinent studying Gandhi’s life and the Satyagraha movement. “I combined the methodological analysis of Gandhi with the teachings of Jesus, who concludes that there are no human beings that you can exclude from the grace of God,” Lawson described to Lefer.

(Article continued in the column on the right)

Questions related to this article:

How can we carry forward the work of the great peace and justice activists who went before us?

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Lawson was completing a graduate degree at the Oberlin School of Theology when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., while visiting the campus, recruited him. King insisted to Lawson that his expertise was needed, not eventually, but immediately! “I mentioned to [King] that while in college I had long wanted to work in the South – especially because of segregation – as a place of work, and that I wanted to do that still,” Lawson told Fellowship magazine editor Richard Deats in 1999. “His response was: ‘Come now! Don’t wait! Don’t put it off too long. We need you NOW!”

When Lawson told A.J. Muste of his decision to move South, Muste quickly offered him a position as FOR’s Southern Field Secretary. Basing himself initially in Nashville, Lawson began working throughout the South, initially with FOR and then the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). He focused especially on recruiting and training a generation of nonviolent direct-action activists. Those young people then launched the sit-ins and Freedom Rides and founded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

In 1965, while representing SCLC on an International FOR delegation to Vietnam, Lawson met Thich Nhat Hanh. This encounter significantly affected Lawson, inspiring him to facilitate a meeting between the Buddhist monk and Dr. King, and ultimately led to King’s dramatic public stance against the U.S. war in Vietnam. Lawson’s profound assessment of U.S. militarism and what he called “plantation capitalism” shaped not only the interweaving of the 1960s civil rights and anti-war struggles but ultimately how our intersectional social movements are shaped today.

In 1974, in Los Angeles, Lawson continued his solidarity with impoverished low-wage workers. He founded Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice to enlist faith communities in this struggle and pushed direct action campaigns for which he was arrested “more [times] than [during] all his work in the South.”

Lawson spent his last decades both working within peace circles while offering critiques that their movements devoted too much of their focus outside U.S. borders. He believed that true change could only come from within. “Only by engaging in domestic issues and molding a domestic coalition for justice can we confront the militarization of our land,” he argued to Lefer in 2014. “We must confront that here – not over there.”

Whether prophetically interpreting the scriptures, challenging America’s original sin with the fierce power of nonviolent direct action, or strategically connecting with other monumental peace leaders, Lawson’s commitment to social justice was relentless and unwavering. We at the Fellowship of Reconciliation are blessed to have worked with and been mentored by him. As we continue to confront the injustices of our times, we know that Lawson’s spirit is walking beside us.

(Editor’s note: You may find a more detailed biography on the website of The Nation, but we have no budget to pay for reproduction.)

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2024 Theme for the International Day of Peace: Cultivating a Culture of Peace

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An article from the United Nations

The 2024 Theme for the International Day of Peace is “Cultivating a Culture of Peace”.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace.

In that declaration, the United Nations’ most inclusive body recognized that peace “not only is the absence of conflict, but also requires a positive, dynamic participatory process where dialogue is encouraged and conflicts are solved in a spirit of mutual understanding and cooperation.”

In a world with rising geopolitical tensions and protracted conflicts, there has never been a better time to remember how the UN General Assembly came together in 1999 to lay out the values needed for a culture of peace. These include: respect for life, human rights and fundamental freedoms; the promotion of non-violence through education, dialogue and cooperation; commitment to peaceful settlement of conflicts; and adherence to freedom, justice, democracy, tolerance, solidarity, cooperation, pluralism, cultural diversity, dialogue and understanding at all levels of society and among nations.

(Click here for the article in French or click here for the article in Spanish.)

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Question(s) related to this article:

What is the United Nations doing for a culture of peace?

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In follow-up resolutions, the General Assembly recognized further the importance of choosing negotiations over confrontation and of working together and not against each other.

The Constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) starts with the notion that “wars begin in the minds of men so it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed”. It is this notion that framed the theme and logo of this year’s observance of the International Day of Peace. The ideas of peace, the culture of peace, need to be cultivated in the minds of children and communities through formal and informal education, across countries and generations.

The International Day of Peace has always been a time to lay down weapons and observe ceasefires. But it now must also be a time for people to see each other’s humanity. Our survival as a global community depends on that.

Background

The International Day of Peace was established in 1981 by the United Nations General Assembly. Two decades later, in 2001, the General Assembly unanimously voted to designate the Day as a period of non-violence and cease-fire.

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USA: Libertarians nominate anti-war candidate for Presidential ballot

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A press survey by CPNN based on various articles as cited

The largest third political party in the United States, the Libertarian Party, has nominated Chase Oliver as their candidate for President. Oliver is openly gay and has announced his opposition to the Israeli war on Gaza, unlike the leading Presidential candidates, Biden and Trump. He has also signaled his support for abortion rights, unlike Trump.


Frame from video of Oliver at Libertarian Convention

Trump attended the Libertarian convention, seeking their nomination, but was rejected. According to CNN, “Oliver called it a “mistake” to have Trump speak. “You are not a libertarian, Donald Trump,” he said. “You’re a war criminal and you deserve to be shamed by everyone in this hall.”

According to Associated Press, “Oliver is an activist from Atlanta who previously ran for the U.S. Senate and U.S. House from Georgia. His campaign website calls for major cuts to the federal budget with an eye toward balancing the budget, the abolition of the death penalty, and the closure of all overseas military bases and ending of military support to Israel and Ukraine.”

In a brief video reposted by Al Jazeera, he says “I will be the only national candidate – RFK won’t, Joe Biden won’t, Donald Trump won’t, but I’m saying right now, end the genocide, ceasefire now and support peace around the world. No more proxy wars. Bring the hostages home! Absolutely. Free the hostages, too.”

(Article continued in the column on the right)

Questions related to this article:

Where in the world can we find good leadership today?

How should elections be organized in a true democracy?

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According to CNN, “Oliver has called for simplifying the pathway to citizenship for immigrants and expanding work visas and has strongly opposed US involvement in foreign wars. He has said he wants to encourage states to “decriminalize” abortion procedures while also promoting alternatives to abortion.”

“I wanted to demonstrate to the delegates and to the voters that we have the drive and energy to push ourselves everywhere to grow our party’s foundation in every state,” Oliver said in an interview with Politico. He said he has made campaign stops in all 50 states and has 500 volunteers.

According to The Guardian, the party, expects to be on the ballot in at least 37 states, and it won 1.2% of the popular vote in the 2020 election.”

According to Politico. “Oliver said his foray into politics came as an anti-war protester in the early 2000s, and that he plans to target young voters angry about the Israel-Hamas war on college campuses, Twitch and TikTok.

“We were looking at who are the most likely populations to be ready to go outside of the two-party system, and we’ve identified young people, and in particular those who are upset with the war going on in Gaza, upset with the immigration crisis, and upset with cost of living,” Oliver said. “Those are the young people that we’re going to target.”

Oliver is 38 years old, less than half the age of Biden and Trump who are 81 and 77, respectively.

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UN General Assembly presses Security Council to give ‘favourable consideration’ to full Palestinian membership

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A news release from the United Nations

The UN General Assembly convened again in New York on Friday (May 10) for an emergency special session on the Gaza crisis and overwhelmingly passed a resolution which upgrades Palestine’s rights at the world body as an Observer State, without offering full membership. It urged the Security Council to give “favourable consideration” to Palestine’s request.

What does the resolution mean?

Here’s a quick recap of what this means: by adopting this resolution the General Assembly will upgrade the rights of the State of Palestine within the world body, but not the right to vote or put forward its candidature to such organs as the Security Council or the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

Granting Palestinian membership requires a recommendation from the Security Council. At the same time, the Assembly determines that the State of Palestine is qualified for such status and recommends that the Security Council “reconsider the matter favourably”.

(Editor’s note: The negative vote of the United States on this resolution and their remarks quoted below suggest that they will continue to veto any resolution for UN membership of Palestine at the Security Council, as they did most recently on April 18).

None of the upgrades in status will take effect until the new session of the Assembly opens on 10 September.

Here are some of the changes in status that Palestine will have a right to later this year:

1. To be seated among Member States in alphabetical order
2. Make statements on behalf of a group
3. Submit proposals and amendments and introduce them
4. Co-sponsor proposals and amendments, including on behalf of a group
5. Propose items to be included in the provisional agenda of the regular or special sessions and the right to request the inclusion of supplementary or additional items in the agenda of regular or special sessions
6. The right of members of the delegation of the State of Palestine to be elected as officers in the plenary and the Main Committees of the General Assembly
7. Full and effective participation in UN conferences and international conferences and meetings convened under the auspices of the General Assembly or, as appropriate, of other UN organs

4:59 PM

Saudi Arabia: Re-establish the truth

Saudi Arabian Ambassador Abdulaziz Alwasil recalled General Assembly resolutions adopted over the years that reaffirmed the rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to self-determination.

“The resolution presented today is fully in line with those resolutions. It seeks to implement the will of the international community and contribute to building true peace in the Middle East based on the two-State solution,” he said.

“It is high time for the international community to re-establish the truth because the world can no longer ignore the suffering of the Palestinian people that has lasted for decades,” he added.

Ambassador Alwasil further noted Israel, the occupying power, has perpetrated “all sorts of crimes” against Palestinian people, scorning international law.

“Israel is convinced that they are above these resolutions and that they enjoy a certain level of immunity…which explains their ongoing hostile and brutal policies,” he said.

He highlighted the dire situation in Rafah, the last refuge for the Palestinian people which was also densely populated by those displaced from elsewhere and called he for a strong international position to put an end to the Israeli practices in Gaza.

Concluding his statement, the Ambassador expressed Saudi Arabia’s commitment to supporting the right of Palestinian people to self-determination and to build their own independent State within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, in line with relevant resolutions. 

4:43 PM

China: Resolution reflects the will of the international community

Ambassador FU Cong of China said that Palestine should have the same status as Israel and that Palestinian people should enjoy the same rights as Israeli people.

“It is the common responsibility of the international community to support and advance the process of Palestinian independent Statehood, and provide strong support for the implementation of the two-State solution and a lasting peace in the Middle East,” he said.

He further noted that on the Palestinian-Israeli issue, the United States repeatedly used its veto “in an unjustified attempt” to obstruct the international community’s efforts to correct the “historical injustice long visited on Palestine”.

“It is not commensurate with the role of a responsible major country,” he said.

He also recalled the overwhelming support for the General Assembly resolution, adopted earlier in the day, reaffirming the right of Palestinian people to self-determination and recommending that the Security Council reconsider favourably its application to join the United Nations.

“China welcomes this historic resolution, which reflects the will of the international community,” Ambassador Fu said.

“We believe that the special modalities adopted within the limits permitted by the UN Charter will enable the international community to listen more adequately to the voice of Palestine and help it to talk and negotiate with Israel on a more equal footing.”

3:04 PM

Assembly President Francis resumed the meeting, with about 72 speakers left to take the floor. The spokesperson for the General Assembly announced earlier in the day that due to the number of remaining speakers, the meeting will likely continue on Monday.

1:07 PM

With the last speaker for the morning having delivered their statement, the President of the General Assembly adjourned the meeting. It will reconvene at 3 PM New York time.

1:00 PM

Switzerland: Ceasefire urgently needed

Swiss Ambassador Pascale Christine Baeriswyl explained that her country’s abstention from the vote was in line with its position at the Security Council last month.

“We felt that in view of the great instability prevailing in the region, this stage was not conducive to improving the situation,” she said.

“Without opposing it, we believe it would be preferable to consider admitting Palestine as a full member of the United Nations at time when such a step would insert itself in the logic of emerging peace,” she added, noting that such admission would have to follow the procedures enshrined in the UN Charter.

She also voiced Switzerland’s firm support to the two-State solution, stating that only a negotiated solution in which two States – Israel and Palestine – live side by side in peace and security can lead to lasting peace.

Ambassador Baeriswyl also voiced deep concern over the catastrophic situation of civilians in the ongoing conflict in Gaza, stating that it could worsen further in the event of a major Israeli military offensive in Rafah.

“Such a prospect is unacceptable, and Switzerland reaffirms its opposition to such an operation,” she said, emphasising the need to ensure protection of humanitarians and respect for international humanitarian and human rights laws.

In conclusion, she called for an immediate ceasefire.

“Safety of civilians must be ensured. All hostages must be released immediately and unconditionally, and safe, rapid and unhindered access for humanitarian aid must be allowed via all crossing points.”

12:10 PM

Firmly committed to two-State solution: UK

Barbara Woodward, Ambassador of the United Kingdom, said that her country remains “firmly committed” to the two-State solution that guarantees security and stability for both the Israeli and the Palestinian people.

“We are abstaining from this resolution because we believe the first step towards achieving this goal is resolving the immediate crisis in Gaza,” she said, emphasising that the fastest way to end the conflict is “to secure a deal which gets the hostages out and allows for a pause in the fighting”.

“We must then work together to turn that pause into a sustainable, permanent ceasefire.”

She added that “setting out the horizon” for a Palestinian State should be one of the vital conditions from moving from a pause in fighting to a sustainable ceasefire.

“Recognising a Palestinian State, including at the UN, should be part of that process,” she said.

Ambassador Woodward also noted that the UK remains deeply concerned about the prospect of a major operation in Rafah and that it will not support such an act, unless there is a “very clear plan” on protecting civilians as well as their access to aid and medical care.

“We have not seen that plan, so in these circumstances, we will not support a major operation in Rafah,” she said.

11:58 AM

France: High time for political solution

French Ambassador Nicolas de Rivière said his country voted in favour of the resolution, noting also the clarifications provided in the text on the right to vote and the right to be elected, which are the prerogatives of Member States alone.

“France recalls that the procedure for admitting a new Member State is defined by the UN Charter, and it must not be circumvented,” he said.

He also noted that France is in favour of the admission of Palestine as a full member of the Organization, which is why it voted in favour at the Security Council last month.

Reiterating his country’s condemnation of the terrorist attacks by Hamas and other groups on 7 October, Ambassador de Rivière stated France’s demand for a ceasefire and release of all hostages.

“The offensive that has started in Rafah risks causing numerous victims and displacing people at a time where nowhere can be deemed safe today in Gaza. There is further risk of disrupting delivery of aid,” he said, expressing his country’s opposition to the military operation.

“All parties must do everything they can to protect civilians and guarantee access for humanitarian aid. It is high time to mobilise for a political solution,” he added.

(continued in right column)

Question(s) related to this article:

What is the United Nations doing for a culture of peace?

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

(continued from left column)

11:46 AM

Statehood must be negotiated: US

Explaining the US’s negative vote, Ambassador Robert Wood said that it did not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood.

“We have been very clear that we support it and seek to advance it meaningfully. Instead, it is an acknowledgement that statehood will come from a process that involves direct negotiations between the parties,” he said.

“There is no other path that guarantees Israel’s security and future as a democratic Jewish State. There is no other path that guarantees Palestinians can live in peace and dignity in a State of their own,” he added.

He further expressed the US commitment to intensifying its engagement with Palestinians and the rest of the Middle East region to advance a political settlement that will create a path to Palestinian statehood and subsequent membership in the UN.

“This resolution does not resolve the concerns about the Palestinian membership application raised in April in the Security Council…and should the  Security Council take up the Palestinian membership application as a result of this resolution, there will be a similar outcome,” he said.

11:24 AM

Draft resolution passed overwhelmingly

The vote is in. It has passed overwhelmingly with 143 countries in favour, nine against and 25 abstaining.

11:22 AM

The Assembly just voted to pass the draft resolution as long as two thirds agree.

11:18 AM

Pakistan: Resolution vote will determine strong support

Ambassador Munir Akram of Pakistan said there will come a day when Israel will be held accountable for the crimes committed against Palestinians, especially in Gaza.

The insults hurled today are “the arrogance of the aggressor” reflecting the impunity of the occupier, he said, explaining his delegation’s position ahead of the vote on the draft resolution.

He also expressed hope that the international community will appropriately respond in that regard.

The Ambassador underscored that the resolution’s adoption will determine the widespread support for Palestine to be accorded full UN membership.

11:05 AM

Russia: A moral duty

The Assembly is now preparing to vote on the draft resolution.

Before that, some countries are exercising their right to make statements before the vote, starting with Russia’s Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia.

He is criticising the US, saying that the resolution is complicated because it is attempting to advance Palestinian membership as far as possible without provoking another veto from Washington on full membership.

He said Palestine deserves nothing less than full membership at the UN. 

“It is the moral duty of everyone,” he said.

“Only full-fledged membership will allow Palestine to stand alongside other members of the Organization and enjoy the rights that this status implies.”

10:55 AM

Israel: Extra benefits for Palestine would appease terrorists

Israel’s Ambassador Gilad Erdan said that after Hitler’s rise to power, the Nazis had sought to annihilate the Jewish people and all those they deemed sub-human, but the forces of good fought to return peace to the world, and the UN was founded to ensure that such tyranny never raised its head again.

“Today, you are doing the opposite…welcoming a terror State into its ranks,” he said. 

“You have opened up the United Nations to modern-day Naziism. It makes me sick.”

The terrorist group Hamas controls Gaza and has taken over areas of the West Bank, he said, holding up a poster showing Hamas’s leader, who he described as “a terrorist diplomat whose stated goal is Jewish genocide”.

“Today, you have a choice between weakness and fighting terror,” he said, adding that the UN is appeasing “murderous dictators” and destroying the UN Charter. “This day will go down in infamy.”

In closing, he held up a mini portable electric document shredder and inserted the cover of the UN Charter.

10:48 AM

Palestinian flag ‘flies high and proud’

Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the observer State of Palestine, recounted the devastating impacts of the ongoing war in Gaza, with over 35,000 Palestinians killed, a further 80,000 injured and over two million displaced.

“No words can capture what such loss and trauma signify for Palestinians, their families, their communities and for our nation as whole,” he said.

He added that the Palestinians in Gaza have been pushed to the “very edge” of the Strip “to the very brink of life” with “bombs and bullets haunting them”.

Mr. Mansour highlighted that despite the attacks and destruction, the flag of Palestine “flies high and proud” in Palestine and across the globe, becoming a “symbol raised by all those who believe in freedom and its just rule”.

‘Lives cannot be restored’

“It is true that we will not disappear, but the lives lost cannot be restored,” he stated.

The Permanent Observer said people have to make a decision: stand by the right of a nation to live in freedom and dignity on its ancestral land, standing with peace and recognising the rights of Palestinians or they can stand on the sidelines of history.

Mr. Mansour said after holding observer status for 50 years, “we wish from all those who invoke the UN Charter to abide by the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination guaranteed by the Charter.”

“A ‘yes’ vote is a vote for Palestinian existence; it is not against any State, but it is against attempts to deprive us of our State,” he added, stating that it would be an investment in peace and empowering the forces of peace.

10:29 AM

Security Council must heed global call for Palestinian statehood: UAE

On behalf of the Arab Group, Mohamed Issa Hamad Mohamed Abushahab, Permanent Representative of the United Arab Emirates to the UN, introduced the draft resolution, saying it recommends that the Security Council reconsider Palestine’s full UN membership application.

“Today marks a defining moment,” he said.

The State of Palestine has demonstrated that it deserves full membership in the international community by acceding to international treaties, adhering to the UN Charter and meeting requirements of statehood. In addition, more than 140 countries now recognise Palestine as a State, he said.

Voting for the resolution amid the ongoing conflict would support the two-State solution to the crisis, he said, adding that the Security Council must respond to the will of the international community.

Vote to take place at 11:00 AM

After delivering his statement, the UAE Ambassador called on the Assembly to vote on the draft at 11:00 AM New York time.

Members agreed to do so and would afterwards resume the debate.

10:17 AM

Middle East on course for ‘full-scale catastrophe’, warns General Assembly President Dennis Francis

Mr. Francis said from the podium of the Assembly Hall that the Israel-Palestine crisis was the original crisis before the world body when it was founded in 1946.

Peace has remained elusive, and today has become an untenable situation that is deteriorating “at an alarming speed”, he told delegates.

This is “bringing countless innocent victims into its deadly fold and pushing the region further to the brink of full-scale catastrophe”.

He urged the international community to not look away from the dire situation that has unfolded since the  7 October terror attacks and the ensuing Israeli devastation of Gaza.

End the scourge of war

“Today, let us remember the legacy from which we hail. We stand proudly upon the shoulders of those who, many decades ago, recognised their ultimate responsibility to forge a peace that will banish the scourge and terror of war,” he urged.

“I therefore call upon the membership to purposely assess the situation before us, with nothing else in mind but a commitment to peace as our utmost ambition,” he said.

He called upon the parties to the conflict, supported by nations with leverage, to urgently come to an agreement on a ceasefire to bring to an end to the suffering of countless people and secure the release of all hostages.

“We must believe in the essential goodness of others,” he said, and “in the understanding that no problem of human relations is insoluble”, calling on them to help bring lasting peace, save lives and end the violence.

10:14 AM

He’s inviting the Assembly to recognise the fact that some members are in arrears with their mandatory contributions. If you don’t pay up, you lose your vote. Those are the rules. But, there are exceptions that have been made, including today. 

10:12 AM

The President of the General Assembly Dennis Francis has just gavelled in the resumed session on the Gaza crisis.

09:55 AM

Aid operations have come to a standstill since the start of the military’s ground operation in Rafah this week, with an estimated 100,000 Palestinians displaced once again in a highly fluid situation, according to humanitarians.

The Assembly is also expected to vote on a draft resolution, co-sponsored by a group of countries, concerning the status of the observer State of Palestine at the United Nations.

Read our explainer on Palestine’s status at the UN here.

The draft resolution follows the veto cast by United States at the Security Council on 18 April, which blocked Palestine’s admission as a full UN Member State. That draft resolution, submitted by non-permanent Council member Algeria, had received 12 votes in favour, with Switzerland and the United Kingdom abstaining.

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“Workers Have Power”: Thousands Rally in NYC for May Day, Call for Solidarity with Palestine

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

A report from Amy Goodman at Democracy Now!

Workers around the world rallied Wednesday to mark May Day, with many calling on the labor movement to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian cause. In New York, Democracy Now! spoke to demonstrators who demanded that U.S. unions apply political pressure for a ceasefire in Gaza and to stop their government’s arms trade with Israel. “Workers do have the power to shape the world,” said Palestinian researcher Riya Al’sanah, who was among thousands gathered at a May Day rally in Manhattan.


Jamil Madbak speaking on the video

Transcript

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org.
We end today’s show on yesterday’s May Day activities in New York. Thousands of students, workers and others rallied in Foley Square in Lower Manhattan to mark May Day.

JAMIL MADBAK: Jamil Madbak. In this current moment, after seven months of Zionist aggression against Gaza, is to underscore that there is a popular movement in support of Palestine, not just the students that are mobilizing, but also organized labor across the United States. That’s really important. After the mass arrests yesterday, we saw faculty at CUNY announce a sickout for today. We saw NYU faculty announce a grade strike. And we’ve seen other actions being taken in support of the students.
We know the United States manufactures bombs that are being dropped on the people in Gaza, the Palestinians, and the Arab population, more broadly. And in that sense, having an organized labor movement that is willing to advocate for the Palestinian struggle, to chip away at the strength of Western imperialism, more broadly, is essential. And for the Palestinians, the inverse is true. Like, it is our mandate to be part of a broader left in this country to help to struggle for worker rights here, understanding that a stronger labor movement means less of an ability to enact this destructive foreign policy.

PROTESTERS: Occupation no more! Occupation no more! Free, free, free Palestine! Free, free, free Palestine!

RIYA AL’SANAH: My name is Riya Al’sanah. I’m a Palestinian researcher, an organizer with the Workers in Palestine initiative. We at Palestinian unions have been organizing and calling for the colleagues in the labor movement and unions internationally to stop arming Israel.

So, since the call in October, on the 16th of October, workers internationally have galvanized and organized in solidarity with the call. We have seen workers in Barcelona port declare that they will not be — they will be stopping arms shipments destined to Israel. Workers in Belgium and transport workers have blocked the supply of weapons to Israel. At the Port of Oakland, we also saw workers here in the U.S. take concrete solidarity and action. Internationally, workers have been organizing in their workplaces and in their unions in solidarity and to heed the call. We see this also with the UAW here in the U.S. and other unions who have been calling for ceasefire and picking up the call from Palestinian workers and Palestinian unions.

(Article continued in the column on the right)

Question related to this article:
 
How can we be sure to get news about peace demonstrations?

(Article continued from the column on the left)

This year, May Day comes at a moment where we Palestinians are subjected to a kind of undescribable onslaught, an undescribable violence. And it’s an important moment in our history to remember that workers do have the power to shape the world. Workers do have the power to influence kind of what happens not only locally, but to influence processes of colonial violence and dispossession on a bigger scale.

The very brave students and faculty on campuses in the U.S. advocating for divestment of Israeli — of military industries is a prime example of the entrenchment of militarism and military industries to all aspects of our lives, including our educational institutions. These campaigns at the moment amplify how the campaign, the call from Palestinian workers to stop arming Israel is a transformative demand for all of us to be involved in on campuses, in our various workplaces, as well.

JULIA THERESE BANNON: As a UAW member and as the president of my local, UAW must use its political power to put teeth into their call for a ceasefire. I am done with the narrative that this is a right-wing attack on free speech. This is the Democratic Party attacking free speech. This is Joe Biden attacking free speech. This is Chuck Schumer attacking a local. These so-called Democrats are the ones threatening our democracy by silencing anyone who speaks against their genocide. UAW must revoke endorsements of these politicians, if they want to make good on their call for a ceasefire.

BHAIRAVI DESAI: I bring you message of solidarity from the 28,000 members of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. We are here to say to Genocide Joe that as long as your bombs are there, we will remain here. How today, on International Workers’ Day, a day that is normally full of pride and celebration, but since October, we cannot have a day that feels like joy or celebration, because the level of death and destruction, it is crushing to our sense of being a human being.

HEALTHCARE WORKER: I stand here before you today as a member of Healthcare Workers for Palestine, New York City. This is a lot closer to them. So, I’m just going to forewarn that I’ll be speaking about the mass graves, that our media has so intentionally neglected. Last weekend —

PROTESTERS: Shame! Shame!

HEALTHCARE WORKER: Last weekend, at least 283 bodies were found in a mass grave in Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis in Gaza. These bodies, our families’ bodies, were found three meters into the ground, covered in waste, headless, skinless, organless, some of them zip-tied, and some of our healthcare workers still in their scrubs.

PROTESTERS: Shame!

HEALTHCARE WORKER: Three days later on Democracy Now!, we find out it wasn’t 283 bodies. It was at least 300. Three days after that, we find out it’s at least 400. And, y’all, we’re tired of playing this game of numbers.

NYU STUDENT: I am speaking to you as a student from the NYU encampment in solidarity with encampments and workers across the globe. To our administrations, we’re not going away. We hold our ground. We say to our administrations, to be suspended for Gaza is the highest honor.

PROTESTERS: Free, free, free Palestine! Free, free, free Palestine!

AMY GOODMAN: Special thanks to Hana Elias, Charina Nadura and Messiah Rhodes. Those voices from the Foley Square rally on May Day.

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Amnesty International: Julian Assange’s five-year imprisonment in the UK is unacceptable

. . HUMAN RIGHTS . .

An article from Amnesty International

Today (April 11) marks five years of Julian Assange being detained in Belmarsh, a high security prison in the UK. As he fights the extradition request from the US authorities, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, said:

“Julian Assange dared to bring to light revelations of alleged war crimes committed by the USA. It is unacceptable that years of his life have been stolen. He remains arbitrarily detained in the UK on politically-motivated charges, brought by the USA for exposing their suspected wrongdoing. The US authorities have failed to conduct a full and transparent investigation into their alleged war crimes. Instead, they have chosen to target Assange for publishing information leaked to him – even if it was of public interest. The ongoing persecution of Assange makes a mockery of the USA’s obligations under international law, and their stated commitment to freedom of expression.


(continued in right column)

(click here for the article in French or click here for the article in Spanish.).)

Question related to this article:

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

Is Internet freedom a basic human right?

(continued from left column)

“If extradited to the USA, Assange will be at risk of serious abuse, including prolonged solitary confinement, which would violate the prohibition on torture or other ill-treatment. Dubious diplomatic assurances made by the USA as to his treatment are not worth the paper they are written on, not least because they are not legally binding and are riddled with loopholes.

Assange is wanted for activities that are fundamental to all journalists and publishers, who often receive sensitive government information from outside sources. Wikileaks published evidence of civilian deaths and of alleged war crimes. The public has a right to know if their government is breaking international law. The US authorities are paving the way to a disastrous precedent for worldwide media freedom if Assange is extradited. The USA must drop all the charges against Assange, which will allow for his prompt release from UK state custody.”

Background

Julian Assange faces prosecution in the USA under the Espionage Act of 1917, a wartime law never intended to target the legitimate work of publishers and journalists. He could face up to 175 years in jail. On the charge of computer misuse, he could receive a maximum of five years.

On 26 March, the UK High Court adjourned  to give the USA an opportunity to file fresh diplomatic assurances. The UK court will reconsider Julian Assange’s permission to appeal his extradition to the USA on 20 May 2024.

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