Tag Archives: english bulletin

English bulletin March 1, 2025

LIGHT IN A TIME OF DARKNESS

It has been difficult to find good news this year.

Last month it was the fate of Gaza and the fate of Humanity.

This month it is the devastation being wrought by Trump and Musk.

But there are signs of a fightback, light in this time of darkness.

Bernie Sanders, the only declared socialist in the American Senate, is attracting big crowds in his “National Tour to Fight Oligarchy.” This comes even as he targets districts where the Republican Party, the party of Trump, is in the majority. “”Today in America we are rapidly moving toward an oligarchic form of society where a handful of multibillionaires not only have extraordinary wealth, but unprecedented economic, media, and political power. Brothers and sisters, that is not the democracy that men and women fought and died to defend.”

“Trumpism will not be defeated by politicians inside the D.C. Beltway,” he says. “It will only be defeated by millions of Americans in Iowa, in Vermont, in Nebraska, in every state in this country, who come together in a strong grassroots movement and say no to oligarchy, no to authoritarianism, no to kleptocracy, no to massive cuts to programs that low-income and working Americans desperately need, no to huge tax breaks for the wealthiest people in this country.”

The political force with the greatest potential to oppose Trumpism is the trade union movement. In recent years the labor movement has witnessed a resurgence in organizing, and 2024 was no different. Tens of thousands of workers fought for pay raises, increased job protections and union representation. Workers across the United States also linked their domestic struggles with Israel’s assault on Palestine, demanding an arms embargo and an end to the genocide in Gaza.

Organized labor is currently preparing to fight back. Just a week into 2025 the SEIU announced that it was rejoining the AFL-CIO to help fight Trump’s anti-worker agenda. The two unions have been unaligned for almost 20 years. A first sign of the fightback came on February 22 when the President of the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employees union, told workers not to obey Elon Musk’s demand for federal workers to justify their jobs or resign.

Despite Trump’s victory, enthusiasm for unions remains high. A recent Gallup poll found that support for unions is at 70 percent — just one point under their highest rating ever.

The American Peace Movement, although reduced in size, continues its struggle for nuclear disarmament and world peace.

Codepink urges us to sign the Peace Clock Manifesto: “We must stop giving our blessing and consent to endless steps to “control” arms that lead to ever more danger as illustrated by the aging Doomsday clock. Instead, we must demand their abolition, and the transition to a nuclear free world at peace unthreatened by catastrophic annihilation and the ultimate climate change; a nuclear winter.”

World Beyond War urges us to demand the closure of American military bases: “The thousands of military bases, both foreign and domestic, around the world are a critical piece of the war machine that must be dismantled. Closing bases is a necessary step to shift the global security paradigm towards a demilitarized approach that centers common security — no one is safe until all are safe.”

Michael Klare, a veteran peace activist known for his strategic advice, proposes that we support those policy statements by Trump and his cronies that align with a peace agenda. These statements include calls for agreements to reduce nuclear arms, cutting defense spending and shutting US foreign military bases. He reminds us that the old foreign policy establishment of the United States that has risked World War III by their bellicose policies is gone forever, and a new policy elite is emerging. Their agenda is full of contradictions, but their primary goal is to enrich Trump and his cronies, which may, in some cases, lead them to reverse certain militaristic policies.

In publishing Trump’s statements for nuclear arms reduction in CPNN, we asked if it is possible to take his words seriously, “Or are they just part of a game he is playing with the world, much like Charlie Chaplin’s portrayal of Hitler playing with a toy balloon of the world. Let us hope they can be taken seriously in this case.”

In any case, as argued in this month’s blog for the Transition to a Culture of Peace, we cannot sit still but must act more vigorously than ever for peace and justice.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY

Remarks by Michael Klare on strategy for the peace movement

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

China’s Renewable Energy Boom: A Record-Breaking Shift or Still Chained to Coal?

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Global Day of Action to Close Bases

WOMEN’S EQUALITY

Women, Peace and Security: Mongolia, a Feminist-oriented Foreign Policy

TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

Australia: Symbols, messages of peace mark interfaith gathering

EDUCATION FOR PEACE

Wilmington, Delaware: Visionary Peace Youth Art Exhibition

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION

The Labor Movement Won Big Victories in 2024. Now It Must Fend Off Trump

HUMAN RIGHTS

Thousands in Midwestern GOP Districts Attend Sanders’ First Stops on Tour to Fight Oligarchy

March 1, 2025Uncategorizedenglish bulletinCPNN Coordinator

English bulletin February 1, 2025

THE FATE OF GAZA AND HUMANITY

Will the recent ceasefire agreement for Gaza lead to peace? Here are some perspectives from some people whom we especially respect at CPNN.

CODEPINK celebrates the news of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza. As reported, as of January 15 only the first stage of the ceasefire agreement has been accepted by both Israel and Hamas. We hope all stages are also accepted as soon as possible to ensure a permanent ceasefire and the ability for Palestinians to rebuild with freedom from Israeli attacks.

If there is to be peace, CODEPINK lists 8 addition steps that are necessary. These include an end to all US military “aid” to Israel, the right of return for all Palestinians barred from their homeland and a free Palestine from the river to the sea.

Michael Moore urges us to go to the cinema to see FROM GROUND ZERO: STORIES FROM GAZA that shows us what the people of Gaza are facing every single day. He reminds us that art has always been a powerful weapon of the oppressed. “There is no better means of cultivating understanding and empathy than through art. And for me, there’s no better outlet to convey truth and inspire resistance than the art of the moving image.”

Rivera Sun reminds us that the pro-Palestinian movement has achieved an extensive number of strategic objectives in the longer effort to halt the genocide through nonviolent action. The International Court of Justice found that BDS – Boycott, Divest, Sanction – is not only legal, it’s obligatory. Boycotts in Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria, Iran, Iraq, parts of Turkey, and other regional nations have led to a 48.2% drop in profits for US-brands like KFC, Pizza Hut, Baskin Robbins, Costa Coffee, and Krispy Kreme. BDS also forced Pret a Manger to drop plans to open 40 stores in Israel.

The Elders warn Gaza ceasefire and recovery at risk if UNRWA is not protected. After fifteen months of war and at least 46,000 Palestinians killed, the massive surge in humanitarian relief and the restoration of essential services that are so urgently needed now rely on UNRWA as the indispensable agency in Gaza. 

Richard Falk believes that Israel will probably not end the conflict until it has annexed the West Bank coupled with a declaration of Israel’s victory over the Palestinians, signified by the formal establishment of Greater Israel as an exclusivist Jewish state from ‘the river to the sea.’ He warns that “even if the ceasefire is more or less maintained in its first phase, Israel seems unlikely to remain within the ceasefire framework once the six weeks of phase one is completed, which means that the latter two latter phases of ending the campaign and IDF withdrawal phases of the ceasefire will never happen. In this event, it is all but certain that Israel would then resume the full fury of its genocidal campaign.”

Falk says that In the background of his response is the growing evidence that Israel allowed the October 7 attack to happen because it wanted to initiate massive violence against the Palestinians with the justification of acting in a retaliatory mode that would excuse the death and expulsion of large number of Palestinians, a lethal process more or less repeating the expulsions of an estimated 750.000 Palestinians in 1948, what is known to Palestinians as the nakba or catastrophe.

He explains that the Israel government received several extremely reliable warnings preceding the October 7 attack, including from US intelligence sources. In addition, Israel possessed advanced surveillance capabilities throughout Gaza to monitor Hamas resistance moves. These technical capabilities were reportedly reinforced by informers making the supposed ‘surprise’ nature of the attack hardly possible to believe.

Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate, has nominated Palestinian activist Mazin Qumsiyeh for the Nobel Peace Prize. Mazin, left a brilliant career as a scientist in the United States to return to Palestine where he works for peace. We often quote him in CPNN.

Mazin Qumsiyeh tells us the following about the significance of the current situation. “Locally, Israeli apartheid forces are now doing in our parts of the West Bank what they did to Gaza. Ethnic cleansing, destruction of property, and massive violations of human rights ranging from right to move right to worship, right to simple dignified life. People here are scared that this is merely the beginning of accelerated genocide and ethnic cleansing as perpetrated in Gaza.

“We have repeatedly warned of the consequences of Western collusion with genocide and ecocide. The fate of Gaza will be the fate of humanity if not enough people wake up in time to the global reality of simply unsustainability of “might makes right” colonial policies. . . .

“An alliance of neocolonial powers [is] reinvigorated and working towards the same goals: making the rich richer, the poor poorer, and wrecking the global environment while unleashing militarism and wars in unprecedented cruelly like we see in Palestine (genocide and ecocide). Our species is at a pivotal moment in history never experienced before. We are then many, they are the few. If more of the many mobilize quickly we may still have a chance to save ourselves and our planet. . . .”

HUMAN RIGHTS

The Elders warn Gaza ceasefire and recovery at risk if UNRWA is not protected

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The International Institute for Peace through Tourism: A personal memoire

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

For Nobel Peace Prize: Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh, Bethlehem, Palestine

WOMEN’S EQUALITY

Essaouira: The “Warriors of Peace” nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize 2025

TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

China, Japan reach 10 agreements on people-to-people, cultural exchanges

EDUCATION FOR PEACE

Colombia: PazRock, an initiative of the Ministry of Cultures for the culture of peace through music

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION

Burkina Faso: Living together: Traditional and religious leaders speak to their communities

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY

CODEPINK Celebrates the Announced Ceasefire in Gaza

February 1, 2025d-human rightsenglish bulletinCPNN Coordinator

English bulletin January 1, 2025

PEACE ADVANCES IN AFRICA, LATIN AMERICA

While Europe and North America, exhaust themselves with the culture of war, Africa and Latin America continue to advance toward a culture of peace.

Last month, the bulletin described the leadership from the heads of state in Brazil, Colombia and Mexico.

This month, we have published articles advancing the culture of peace at at regional and local levels in Colombia (2), Mexico (2), Ecuador and Chile.

The anthropologist and peace activist Angela Lederach describes the process of “slow peace” in the Colombian territory of Montes de María. She draws three conclusions: first, slow peace is a multigenerational process; second, slow peace centers social-environmental relations; and finally, slow peace demands a shift from technical projects to social movements.

The city government of Cúcuta in Colombia has carried out workshops for youth on historical memory and culture of peace. The workshops, using Hip Hop culture as an educational and transformative tool, contributed to the process of reparation and reconciliation of the victims of the armed conflict.

The National Union of Education Workers and the National Commission for Human Rights of Mexico held a “Peaceful School Coexistence” Drawing Contest as part of the campaign “Arm yourself with courage for a Culture of Peace!”, which promotes respectful and reflective relationships in schools. The winning paintings are presented in the CPNN article.

Also in Mexico, the state government of Jalisco, through the Secretariat of Planning and Citizen Participation, has began the training process in Culture of Peace for the reconstruction of the social fabric, in order to promote communities of care in the municipalities of the State.

In Ecuador, the project “Promoting a culture of Peace and Democracy through the strengthening of Indigenous Justice” has achieved great successes, as more than a thousand people from indigenous organizations have been trained in Indigenous Justice, Gender and New Masculinities and Community Communication, with a high participation of women.

In Chile, the Universidad San Sebastián has launched the innovative Collaborative Project of Vinculación con el Medio Transforming conflicts . Its objective is to strengthen the virtues and skills necessary to resolve disputes peacefully in the school community. Through this initiative, law students actively participate in mediation workshops at Colegio Providencia, promoting a culture of peace that transcends the classroom.

In Africa, the culture of peace is being promoted at the continental, regional and national levels.

The African Union has held its third edition of the youth, peace and security in Africa dialogue Bujumbura, Burundi. Over 1,200 participants, including policymakers, young leaders, and representatives of international institutions are attending and reflecting on effective ways to promote peace education in Africa.

The final report of the 2023 Biennale of Luanda, “Pan-African Forum for the Culture of Peace”, has just been published. The Biennale is a joint initiative of the Government of the Republic of Angola, UNESCO and the African Union that aims to promote conflict resolution and prevention of violence, encouraging cultural exchange and intergenerational dialogue in Africa. The next edition is scheduled for next year.

In Cameroon, students from over 20 countries on the continent, gathered at the Pan African University Institute of Governance, Humanities and Social Sciences,, the African Union’s premiere institution of higher learning, for a strategic discussion on how to promote a culture of peace on the continent. Besides masterclasses and panel discussions with experts from UN agencies, development partners, diplomatic corps, government, and academia, the young scholars also shared experiences of what peace means to them.

The Sougourounoma Initiative for Education, Peace and Health, based in Burkina Faso, has organized the second edition of the International Youth Forum on the Culture of Peace. The meeting, under the theme “Youth, Religion, Mediation and Climate Change in the Sahel and West Africa”, brings together young people from Benin, Mali, Niger, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. It allows participants to discuss issues related to peace, including the link between peace and climate change, conflict analysis and interreligious dialogue.

More than 300 young people from across Niger gathered in Maradi recently to explore the part they can play in building peaceful communities, as published by the Bahá’í World News Service. A young participant explained, “The conference helped us understand that we cannot be mere observers of harmful social forces affecting our neighborhoods and villages—we must be active participants in building peace.”

In Abidjan, the Caucus of Women of Côte d’Ivoire for Peace planned a meeting for peace with an expected attendance of more than 5,000 women, including women from the institutions of the Republic, elected officials, women from public and private administration and women economic operators around the theme of peace”.

Last month we concluded: “while leaders from Europe and North America continue to aggravate global warming and threaten World War III, Lula, Petro and Sheinbaum give us hope and vision to help us overcome these crises, which, as Petro says, threaten the extinction of humanity.

This month we can conclude that their hope and vision is shared at the local and regional levels throughout Africa and Latin America.

“Let us listen to them and take action with them!”

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Slow Peace: Three Lessons from Grassroots Peacebuilders in Colombia

HUMAN RIGHTS

Activists Occupy Canadian Parliament Building to Protest Gaza War & Arming of Israel

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Personal Souvenirs of Federico Mayor

WOMEN’S EQUALITY

Women of Côte d’Ivoire commit to the Culture of Peace: more than 5,000 women expected at the Palais des Sports on December 21

TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

2nd International Youth Forum on the Culture of Peace: Religion, Mediation and Climate Change in the Sahel

EDUCATION FOR PEACE

Chile: Transforming conflicts: USS promotes a culture of peace

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION

Colombia: Cúcuta Mayor’s Office Successfully Concludes Workshops on Historical Memory and Culture of Peace

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY

Third edition of dialogue on youth, peace, security in Africa opens in Bujumbura, Burundi

January 1, 2025globalenglish bulletin, globalCPNN Coordinator

English bulletin December 1, 2024

. A TALE OF TWO SUMMITS .

Two global summits were held in November, with two completely different results. One was held in a country of the global south seeking independence from northern domination. The other was hosted by a country profiting from the sales of oil and was dominated by the interest of the US and Europe.

The meeting of the G20 was held in Brazil, and its President Lula da Silva, played a major role in its conclusions.

In his speech at the closing of the summit, Lula paid tribute to the accomplishments of the developing countries as they have occupied the leadership of the G20 over the past four years and he hoped from more as he passed the leadership to South Africa.

Here are some excerpts from his speech:

“We launched a Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty and began an unprecedented debate on taxing the super-rich.

“We put climate change on the agendas of Finance Ministries and central banks and approved the first multilateral document on the bioeconomy.

“We issued a Call to Action for reforms that make global governance more effective and representative. . .

“We have a responsibility to do better.

“It is with this hope that I pass the gavel of the G20 presidency to President Ramaphosa.

“This is not an ordinary handover of the presidency — it is the concrete expression of the historical, economic, social, and cultural ties that unite Latin America and Africa. . . .

“I remember the words of another great South African, Nelson Mandela, who said: it is easy to demolish and destroy; the heroes are those who build.

“Let us continue building a just world and a sustainable planet.”

The rich countries wanted the summit to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but Lula, as host of the summit, did not allow this. Instead, the summit statement simply says: “The G20 condemns the war in Ukraine and its impacts on the global economy and supply chains.” In the words of one expert, “Brazilian diplomacy always tries to build bridges.”

Lula was not the only Latin American president to show progressive leadership at the summit.

The newly-elected president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, criticized the rise in global military spending and advocated for increased investment in reforestation programs. She argued that allocating just 1% of global military spending to reforestation programs could significantly impact poverty, migration, and climate change mitigation. ““I come on behalf of a generous, supportive and wise people to call on the great nations to build and not to destroy. To forge peace, fraternity and equality. . . The proposal is to stop sowing wars and instead sow peace and sow life.”

And the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, criticized the North for failing to address the poverty and hunger of the Global South. “The only effective policy to stop the exodus of people from the south to the north is for the south to be more prosperous, to not be hungry. . . Every blow to a migrant abroad is simply the recognition of the inability of the rich North to end hunger in humanity.”

Petro demanded the rejection of the practice of food security based on countries that export food to the rest of the world based on an intensive use of oil and coal. It fails to relieve hunger and it contributes to global warming that threatens the extinction of humanity.

Instead, he demanded a restructuring of international finances to promote food sovereignty, which consists of being able to produce enough food in countries where there is hunger. That requires a carbon-free agriculture based on the peasantry and the small farmer.

Petro, Sheinbaum and Lula met with Gabriel Boric, the president of Chile and the four presidents agreed on the importance of working together as the Latin-American progressive governments and spoke of the importance of maintaining such relationships.

In contrast to the positive aspects of the G20 summit, the conclusions of the United Nations climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, were considered to be a complete failure according to organizations concerned with the future of our planet. The article by Common Dreams quotes the following organizations in this regard:

Center for International Environmental Law
Oil Change International
Indigenous Environmental Network
Climate Home New
Carbon Market Watch
Friends of the Earth International
Friends of the Earth Ireland
Climate Action Network Europe
Oxfam International
Union of Concerned Scientists
Center for Biological Diversity

In conclusion, while leaders from Europe and North America continue to aggravate global warming and threaten World War III, Lula, Petro and Sheinbaum give us hope and vision to help us overcome these crises, which, as Petro says, threaten the extinction of humanity. Let us listen to them and take action with them!

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Brazil: President Lula’s Speech At The Closing Session Of The G20 Summit And Handover Of The Presidency To South Africa

HUMAN RIGHTS

Companies Profiting from the Gaza Genocide

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

After Ending in Overtime, COP29 Called ‘Big F U to Climate Justice’

WOMEN’S EQUALITY

Rwanda: Positive masculinity as a weapon of peace

TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

Ontario youth advance a culture of peace

EDUCATION FOR PEACE

Yucatán: UADY will host the first Nobel Peace Summit Center for Education

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION

Videoconference November 14 for a Culture of Peace Revolution

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY

The Real Nobel Peace Prize: Join the World, not the U.S. Empire

December 1, 2024d-democraticenglish bulletinCPNN Coordinator

English bulletin November 1, 2024

. PRIZE WINNERS CALL FOR PEACE .

We begin with this year’s Nobel Prize for Peace. As veteran peace activist Joseph Gerson observes, “the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Nihon Hidankyo is long overdue and could not come at a more important time. . . the U.S. has used its nuclear arsenal in the same way that an armed robber uses his gun when pointed at his victim’s head. Whether or not the trigger is pulled, the gun has been used. Tragically, this is playbook with which the Russian government has been working from with its Ukraine-war nuclear threats.”

The leader of Nihon Hidankyo, Mimaki, echoed these concerns: “It has been said that because of nuclear weapons, the world maintains peace. But nuclear weapons can be used by terrorists. For example, if Russia uses them against Ukraine, Israel against Gaza, it won’t end there. Politicians should know these things.” Mimaki added, “I am not sure I will be alive next year. Please abolish nuclear weapons while we are alive. That is the wish of 114,000 hibakusha.” Nihon Hidankyo represents he hibakusha who are the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Mimaki did not stop there with his remarks. He addressed the genocide of Israel against the Palestinians. ““In Gaza, bleeding children are being held [by their parents]. It’s like in Japan 80 years ago.” He said he had believed “the people working so hard in Gaza” would be awarded the Peace Prize, referring to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which was also nominated for the Nobel prize.

The winners of two other prizes this month addressed the Israeli genocide and called for peace.

Han Kang, the first Korean to win the Nobel Prize in literature, declined to hold a press conference to celebrate the prize that she was awarded last month. She cited the global tragedies of the Ukraine-Russia war and the Israel-Palestine conflict. ‘With the war intensifying and people being carried out dead every day, how can we have a celebration or a press conference?’

And Arundhati Roy, in accepting the prestigious Pinter Prize awarded by English PEN for literature, dedicated her remarks to the“televised genocide in Gaza and now Lebanon in defence of a colonial occupation and an Apartheid state”

“Describing the fatalities of over 42000 lives including women and children, Roy stated the US and Europe have prepared the ground for another situation to assuage their collective guilt for their early years of indifference towards one genocide—the Nazi extermination of millions of European Jews.

“Hostilities could end right this minute. Israeli hostages could be freed, and Palestinian prisoners could be released. The negotiations with Hamas and the other Palestinian stakeholders that must inevitably follow the war could instead take place now and prevent the suffering of millions of people. . .

“The war that has now begun will be terrible. But it will eventually dismantle Israeli Apartheid. The whole world will be far safer for everyone – including for Jewish people – and far more just. It will be like pulling an arrow from our wounded heart,” the award winning author said, underscoring that the war could stop today if the US government withdrew its support of Israel.

The PEN Prize awardee concluded her speech expressing her conviction that From the river to the sea Palestine will be Free.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY

Nihon Hidankyo’s Nobel Peace Prize Win Could Not Have Come at a More Important Moment

HUMAN RIGHTS

‘Keep Your Eye On Calendar, Palestine Will Be Free’: Arundhati Roy’s PEN Pinter Prize Speech

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

16th BRICS Summit adopts Kazan Declaration

WOMEN’S EQUALITY

UN Women Leaders Network to convene a diverse group of women leaders worldwide to advance women’s rights and leadership

TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

From Paris to Caracas, thousands march in support of Gaza around the world, one year after October 7

EDUCATION FOR PEACE

Mexico: Libraries, key to building a peace-building citizenship

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION

Colombia: The functions of the Congressional Peace Commission are strengthened

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Han Kang declines press conference, refuses to celebrate Nobel prize while people die in wars

November 1, 2024d-disarmamentenglish bulletinCPNN Coordinator

English bulletin October 1, 2024

. INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE-2024 .

Expressed in Russian or Ukrainian, English or French, Japanese or Hindi, Arab or Spanish, Italian or Portuguese, the message is the same. The people of the world want peace! For the International day of Peace, more than 800 events in these languages may be found on the Internet, and we have published excerpts from them in the pages of CPNN last week. This year the official United Nations slogan is “Cultivating a Culture of Peace.”

The greatest number, 391 or almost half of the actions, càme from Western Europe. Expressed mostly in French and organized for the most part by the Mouvement de la Paix and militant trade unions, there were rallies bearing the rainbow flag of peace in over half of the more than 100 departments of France. Expressed mostly in Italian, there were events for the International Day of Peace in 44 cities and towns of Italy, led by the annual peace march of Assisi that drew marchers from many other cities. In Belgium, 189 cities and towns hung the rainbow banner of peace from their public buildings. In Portugal, dozens of towns and schools hung white cloth in their windows to express their desire for peace. Spain and the United Kingdom also saw many actions. “If you want peace, prepare peace” was a frequent slogan.

In North America, there were 151 actions for the day of peace in 44 of the 50 states of the United States, with the most in California and Florida. City-wide celebrations took place in cities such as San Francisco, Chicago and Boston. In San Francisco the slogan was “You are a pathway to peace. Everyone is a pathway to peace.” School, universities and churches organized a great variety of actions to celebrate the day. While in Canada, there were events in 6 of the 10 provinces as well as an official declaration by the Prime Minister: “This week, as the UN General Assembly begins in New York City, let’s recommit ourselves to working together to build a better, safer, and more peaceful world.”

Despite the devastation of the war and the fact that it is illegal to mention it in Russia, there were 32 celebrations published on the Internet from Ukraine and 30 from Russia. While calling for peace, many of the actions emphasized support for their side of the war. In Moscow, where people have been sent to prison because they called for peace, many brought flowers and paper doves to put on the sculpture named “We demand peace!”. In the Ukraine, there were celebrations calling for peace that took place in air raid shelters during bombardments. As usual where it was possible, in many libraries and schools, children made paper doves and released colored balloons to mark the day. Perhaps most ironic was the article from Moldova where a school celebration was criticized for flying the rainbow flag of peace, because the rainbow flag can also be interpreted as support for homosexual rights.

There were 23 actions in 13 Arab and Middle Eastern countries, mostly reported in Arabic. Some of them emphasized the role of women for peace. The Syrian Women’s Council in Manbij Canton organized a dialogue seminar on the International Day of Peace, stressing the necessity of resolving the Syrian crisis and establishing peace there. In Aden, Yemen, An event was held with the participation of elite female cadres and members of the Women’s Solidarity Network, with discussions about the status of women and the importance of reflecting their priorities and needs in the Beijing Report.

In Asia and Pacific, there were 64 events in 14 countries, with the most published in Japanese and Hindi. In Japan, The organization “Wa Project TAISHI,” mobilized calligraphy clubs and 27 calligraphers from 49 schools nationwide to dedicate calliography messages of peace to Gokoku shrines around the country. At a conference in Mumbai sponsored by the International Institute for Peace through Tourism, Ajay Prakash its new president, spoke eloquently on the power of Tourism to connect people across all boundaries of race, religion or nationality. In Nanjing, China, Chinese and foreign young people from 11 countries gathered to sing songs of peace and sow purple gold grass seeds which symbolize peace. One student said: “It is very meaningful to sow these seeds with my own hands. I hope that when the Purple Grass flowers bloom in March next year, people can see these flowers and remember the history behind them.”

In Latin America and the Caribbean there were 59 actions in 19 countries, led by Argentina with 17 and Mexico with 16. In Nueva Leon, Mexico, The Nobel Peace Prize Laureates World Summit was timed to coincide with the International Day of Peace. 18 Nobel Peace Prize winners participated, as well as 1,200 young people from more than 70 universities across the country. vIn Mexico, the actions were especially emotions in the face of the violence that is tearing the country apart. The demonstration in Culiacán called on people not to normalize or accept the conditions of violence and fear that persist in the city, which have left more than 60 murders and more than 70 forced disappearances. In Colombia, events were dedicated to reconciliation and consolidation of the Peace Accords.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, there were 43 actions in 26 countries for the International Day of Peace. The official remarks of the African Union recognized the important role of the Biennale of Luanda. , the Pan-African Forum for the Culture of Peace. This year there was considerable participation by the military in African countries. In Nigeria, it was organized by the Security and Civil Defence Corps. In Ghana, it was organized by the Ghana Armed Forces at Airforce Base Takoradi. In Niger, it was organized by the by the High Authority for the Consolidation of Peace. In Gabon, the celebration took place in the stadium of the national gendarmerie. In Burkhina Faso the Ministry of Justice called for a return to endogenous values for the construction of peace and tolerance.

Among the many virtual events for the International Day of Peace, we may mention the following:
Dancing for Peace
Medicine for the Culture of War
Conference: Resisting the USA’s Military Empire
Songs for World Peace
Unite4Peace Worldwide Broadcast

The total number of actions this year was 834. This is greater than last year’s 942 if one adds the 153 new Montessori schools counted last year but no longer available on the Internet this year.

GLOBAL

What has happened this year: International Day of Peace

UNITED STATES AND CANADA

United States and Canada: International Day of Peace

EUROPE

Europe: International Day of Peace

ASIA AND PACIFIC

Asia and Pacific: International Day of Peace

EX-SOVIET COUNTRIES

Ex-Soviet Countries: International Day of Peace

ARAB STATES AND MIDDLE EAST

Arab States And Middle East: International Day of Peace

LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN

Latin America and Caribbean: International Day of Peace

AFRICA

Africa: International Day of Peace

October 2, 2024globalenglish bulletin, globalCPNN Coordinator

English bulletin September 1, 2024

CULTURE OF PEACE IN THE NEWS

The culture of peace has been headlined in several recent news reports.

The first was in June when the United Nations announced that the theme of this year’s International Day of Peace is “cultivating a culture of peace.” The announcement began “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.” The Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted in 1999, not only defines the culture of peace in terms of eight principal characteristics, but also provides programmatic proposals for their achievement.

The second came on August 2 when the UN General Assembly held its annual High-Level Forum on the Culture of Peace. Here, too, there were many references to the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace, for which this is the 25th anniversary.

A high-point of the forum was the presentation by the European Union, which said that it “expresses its full support for the Culture of Peace agenda. . . The Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace with its eight pillars remains as valid today as it was in 1999. . . the European Union fully agrees that we must cultivate and nurture a Culture of Peace for present and future generations. . . . 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.”

The third came on August 11, when the President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach said the following in his speech addressing the athletes at the Closing Ceremony:

“During all this time, you lived peacefully together under one roof in the Olympic Village. You embraced each other. You respected each other, even if your countries are divided by war and conflict. You created a culture of peace. . . . We know that the Olympic Games cannot create peace. But the Olympic Games can create a culture of peace that inspires the world. This is why I call on everyone who shares this Olympic spirit: let us live this culture of peace every single day.”

The culture of peace will continue to be in the news throughout the month of September as the International Day of Peace is celebrated around the world. An example comes from San Francisco, where a major, day-long celebration is planned by Pathways to Peace to be held in the central plaza and broadcast internationally.

The culture of peace is not mentioned specifically, but in fact the recent statements of the great expert on conflict resolution, John Paul Lederach, indicate that the only way to avoid a civil war in the United States, with its momentous consequences, is to carry out the following actions which are essential to a culture of peace:

“1. We need to reach beyond our isolated bubbles and open conversations with the perceived enemies in our communities.

2. We have to rehumanize our adversaries; We must have the courage to confront dehumanizing language and behavior, especialy when it comes from within our closest circles.

3. We need to stick with it. We can’t just pull away when difficult issues emerge.”

The explicit high-level references to the culture of peace, as well the urgency for culture of peace actions at this moment of history, make it seem more likely that the answer is positive for the question posed at the end of last month’s bulletin:

“Twenty four years ago there was a powerful pressure for peace in the 75 million people who signed the Manifesto 2000 during the International Year for the Culture of Peace. Has the time come when we need a new manifesto, like the Manifesto 2025 proposed in our most recent blog?”

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION

The Olympic Games and the Culture of Peace

HUMAN RIGHTS

Rev. Al Sharpton: Jesse Jackson Helped Reshape Democratic Party & Paved Way for Kamala Harris

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Major Power Milestone’: US Green Groups Cheer Wind, Solar Overtaking Coal

WOMEN’S EQUALITY

UN Women: Interview with Hawa Yokie on youth-led innovation in Sierra Leone

TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

Youth Summit on Peace and Sustainable Future Wraps Up Successful Week in Montpellier, France

EDUCATION FOR PEACE

Uruguay: The book Culture of Peace

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY

Hiroshima Peace Declaration 2024

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

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

September 1, 2024d-information, d-united nationsenglish bulletinCPNN Coordinator

English bulletin August 1, 2024

MORE VOICES OF REASON AND HOPE

In this world that seems more troubled every day, on the battlefield, in the political arena and by global warming, we cannot have too many voices of reason and hope. The bulletin of May mentioned some of these. This month we add more voices.

Fifty winners of the Nobel Prize have issued an open letter calling for a truce during the Olympic Games in the wars being waged around the world, with mention of the Ukraine, Gaza and Yemen. “We are asking His Holiness Pope Francis, His Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, His Holiness the Dalai Lama XIV, and Muslim and Jewish leaders to use their moral authority to appeal to all citizens of the world and to their governments.”

Fifty organizations and individuals from Israel’s left and pro-peace camp sponsored a rally that drew thousands of Israelis to Tel Aviv with the message “It’s time to reach a deal. To stop the war. To make peace.” “Our mutual goal here is many different organizations and movement is to build together a peace camp in Israel,” said Alon-Lee Green, co-director of Standing Together, one of the groups that organized the conference.

The International Court of Justice has made a ruling with regard to the Israeli occupation of Palestine that is called “historic” by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Amnesty concludes that ““The international community, and in particular Israel’s allies, must now take unequivocal action to ensure Israel ends its unlawful occupation, starting with the immediate halting of the expansion of Israeli settlements and reversing the annexation of Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and dismantling its brutal system of apartheid against Palestinians.”

With regard to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the organization World Beyond War urges the United Nations General Assembly to use its Resolution 377 (Uniting For Peace) that allows them to act when the Security Council fails. “The General Assembly should NOT escalate the war or deploy armed troops. It should convene an emergency session and use “Uniting For Peace” to impose an arms embargo and targeted sanctions on the Israeli government, suspend the Israeli government from the United Nations, and send to Palestine unarmed peacekeepers (who have repeatedly shown their superiority to armed peacekeepers).

In fact, it is clear that the UN Security Council has failed its mission of preserving peace. In that regard, The Elders, a group founded by Nelson Mandela, has urged the UN to undertake a profound reform. “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.”

The Summit of the Future is addressed in an article by Jeffrey Sachs, who heads up one of its planning networks. “The Summit of the Future is an invitation to intensive global brainstorming on how to make our deeply interconnected world fit for sustainable development in the 21st century. It is a great challenge that should be welcomed and joined by people all over the world. A great debate will open in September and then continue for years to come.”

With regard to sustainable development, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has addressed the urgent need to protect billions around the world exposed to crippling effects of extreme heat. The appeal comes against the backdrop of record temperatures and deadly heatwaves – from the United States to Africa’s Sahel and Europe to the Middle East – that have killed several hundred people this summer. During the Hajj, for instance, scorching heat claimed over 1,300 pilgrim lives.

While UN reform is necessary, it is also necessary to develop the consciousness and actions that build pressure for peace from below. A leading role is played by the Campaign Nonviolence that will include thousands of actions for peace to take place from Sept 21 to Oct 2, 2024, (Int’l Day of Peace to Int’l Day of Nonviolence). Last year, people held over 5,000 actions, events, and marches across the USA and in 20 countries. Over 60,000 people participated in these events. “The Campaign Nonviolence Action Days are designed to bring together the many issues, movements, and efforts working to end violence and build a world that works for all of us.” In preparation for Campaign Nonviolence Action Days, they propose hundreds of training opportunities offered by dozens of partner organizations.

Twenty four years ago there was a powerful pressure for peace in the 75 million people who signed the Manifesto 2000 during the International Year for the Culture of Peace. Has the time come when we need a new manifesto, like the Manifesto 2025 proposed in our most recent blog?

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY

Restore the Olympic peace: Over 50 Nobel laureates have written an open letter calling for a global ceasefire for the duration of the Paris Olympics

HUMAN RIGHTS

World Court Condemns Israeli Apartheid

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The Summit of the Future

WOMEN’S EQUALITY

First Pan-African Conference on Girls’ and Women’s Education in Africa

TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

UNAOC Hosts Capacity-Building Workshop for the 7th edition of its Young Peacebuilders programme in Cáceres, Spain

EDUCATION FOR PEACE

Campaign Nonviolence Action Days 2024 – Calls-To-Action

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION

US Labor Unions Call on Biden Administration to Immediately Halt All Military Aid to Israel

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

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

August 1, 2024d-disarmament, d-sustainableenglish bulletinCPNN Coordinator

English bulletin July 1, 2024

GLOBAL OUTCRY AGAINST GAZA GENOCIDE

The global outcry against the Gaza genocide, that began last November, continues to develop around the world.

As we reported last month, the youth of the world are taking the lead at their universities. This month, we publish photos from university mobilizations in 36 countries. The motivation of the participants is expressed in a valedictorian speech given at the University of Toledo, Ohio: ““We are the generation that must address these issues at home. We must ask why we have sent around 320 billion dollars in foreign aid to a state convicted of war crimes, countless violations of international law and who are on trial for genocide while Americans are dying due to lack of access to health care” A similar statement from a young Arab-American activist was published last month by CPNN: “In their dedication to speaking out for the protection of human life, their commitment to non-violence, and their courage to act regardless of legal reprimand, thousands across the globe have found hope and regained a battle cry against the Palestinian genocide that continues to unfold. Through attending the George Washington University encampment, I have seen firsthand the nature of these spaces of protest — their spirit, their power, and their peace.”

The global scope of the mobilization is shown by the tour conducted by Palestinian Mazin Qumsiyeh and his wife Jessie to Australia and New Zealand last month. They held 212 events, including speaking at lectures, workshops, rallies, informal gatherings, radio interviews, and media appearances. They reached a total of 22,000 individuals and collected more than 3,400 emails to add to their contacts. Furthermore, they initiated over 20 potential joint projects.

Of special importance are the mobilizations for peace within Israel itself. “Standing Together brought together hundreds of people at a rally in Haifa on December 16 and another 1,000 people at a rally in Tel Aviv on December 28. In January, we held our first anti-war march, in which a coalition of more than 30 peace movements and organizations mobilized thousands of people. The latest and largest demonstrations to date occurred in early May, featuring Palestinian and Jewish speakers and thousands of people marching in Tel Aviv under the slogan “Stop the war, bring back the hostages.”

In May, in response to far-right attempts to block aid convoys heading to Gaza; “Standing Together announced the formation of the Humanitarian Guard, an initiative to bring together peace activists from across Israel to act as a physical barrier between extremist settlers and the trucks, document what was happening, and force the police to intervene. . To date, more than 900 people have signed up to volunteer for this initiative. Every day, dozens of people flock from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to the checkpoint.”

As we have reported previously, women are at the forefront of the mobilizations for peace between Israel and Palestine. And indeed, last month, Nava Hefetz, a female rabbi and activist for peace and human rights, and Ghadir Hani, a Palestinian Israeli, were both in Jerusalem to organize “humanitarian guards.” And Reem Alhajajra, co-founder of Women of the Sun, a Palestinian association campaigns alongside Women Wage Peace on the Israeli side for justice and peace.

As CPNN published in March, 31 Israeli human rights organizations issued a joint statement, including the following: “We call for the immediate release of all hostages and an end to the bombardment of civilians in Israel and in Gaza. Humanitarian aid must be allowed to reach civilian populations, medical facilities and places of refuge must not be harmed, and vital resources such as water and electricity must not be cut off. The killing of additional civilians will not bring back those who were lost. Indiscriminate destruction and a siege harming innocents will not bring relief, justice, or calm.”

Based in the United States, the American Friends Service Committee, has published “6 ways you can support Palestinians in Gaza.” These are:

1) Contact your member of Congress and call for an immediate cease-fire.
2) Help bring attention to what’s happening in Gaza.
3) Learn more about Gaza and lift up Palestinian voices.
4) Hold corporations accountable for their role in violating the rights of Palestinians in Gaza.
5) Join us in working to dismantle Israeli apartheid.
6) Make a gift. 

At the same time as these developments in the global consciousness of activists continue to develop, the efforts of national and international authorities to stop the genocide also continue.

After previous attempts were blocked by the American veto, on June 10, the UN Security Council finally adopted a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. Israel rejected it, saying “Israel will not engage in meaningless and endless negotiations which can be exploited by Hamas as a means to stall for time.”

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has recommended arrest warrants against two top Israeli officials, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three prominent Hamas leaders. Richard Falk, former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Palestine, called it “the first truly historic move since (the court’s) establishment in 2002.”

The UN General Assembly convened on 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.

Of special importance is the growing opposition to the genocide in the United States, because, as argued by the prestigious Center for Constitutional Rights, the Biden administration, far from a neutral spectator, is actively supporting the genocide through military, economic and diplomatic assistance. They filed suit in the US court system to stop the complicity, and although the judge rejected it on technical grounds as “outside the court’s limited jurisdiction,” in his ruling he urged Biden and his administration officials to scrutinize “the results of their unflagging support” for the Israeli government’s assault on Gaza. In his ruling he stated that testimony shows that the ongoing military siege in Gaza is intended to eradicate a whole people and therefore plausibly falls within the international prohibition against genocide.”

According to the most recent American polls, a majority of Democrats (56%) and a slight plurality of Independents (36%) say they believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. This poses a serious threat to Biden’s election campaign.

One is reminded of the movement against the war in Vietnam in the 1960’s, that initially developed on college campuses, and later was taken up by the rest of the country in the United States and around the world. Although Vietnam suffered enormously, the movement was able to force a halt in the escalation of the war, and eventually Vietnam was able to expel the invaders and to survive.

TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

Gaza protests at universities around the world

HUMAN RIGHTS

Bringing the Palestinian Message to Australia and New Zealand

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

News from the Culture of Peace Foundation in Nigeria

WOMEN’S EQUALITY

These Israeli and Palestinian women who do not want to decide between Israel and Palestine

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY

Advances by the anti-war left in Israel: Interview with Uri Weltmann

EDUCATION FOR PEACE

Mexico: UAA inaugurates the CONEICC 2024 Meeting “Communicating for a culture of peace”

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION

Speech by Alba Barusell i Ortuño, President of Mayors for Peace European Chapter

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

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

July 1, 2024d-disarmamentenglish bulletinCPNN Coordinator

English bulletin June 1, 2024

. MOBILIZING FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE AROUND THE WORLD

Last September we described more than 942 events to mark the International Day of Peace that took place in 93 countries. And in March we carried photos of mobilizations for International Women’s Day that took place in 68 countries in all regions of the world.

Mass mobilizations for peace and justice continued during the past two months.

Workers took to the streets around the world to celebrate May Day, and we carried photos from events in 11 countries of Europe, 10 countries of Asia/Pacific, 6 countries of Africa and the Middle East and 12 countries of the Americas. In addition to the traditional demands of wage increases and job security amid soaring food and oil prices, many of them demanded action against the Israeli genocide in Gaza, and others protested the new fascist regimes in Italy and Argentina. A transcript of the rally in New York with its demands for peace in Gaza has been published by Amy Goodman.

University students occupied their campuses to protest the Israeli genocide. The latest counts of university encampments list 17 countries including India, Mexico, Japan, as well as the UK, Australia, France and, of course, the United States where encampments are listed in at least 24 colleges and universities.

Michael Moore compares the students’ actions to those that made possible women’s suffrage, trade union rights, civil rights and protests against the American war in Vietnam. The Global Campaign for Peace Education published an eloquent description by an encampment participant explaining how they are guided by the UN definition of a culture of peace.

Youth participated in a global strike marking Earth Day to demand “climate justice now”. In Sweden, Greta Thunberg joined hundreds of other demonstrators for a march in Stockholm; in Kenya, participants demanded that their government join the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty; and in the U.S., youth activists held more than 200 Earth Day protests directed at pressing President Joe Biden to declare a climate emergency. Mobilizations took place around the world, not only in Sweden, US and Kenya, but also in Bangladesh, UK, Ireland and Spain. An interview with Earth Day founder Denis Hayes says the young climate activists carry on the spirit of his generation.

Mobilizations like this are necessary if our world is to survive the economic and political storms that are gathering on the horizon of history. But they are not enough. As described in this month’s blog, they need to be guided by a vision of a new world of peace and justice. Recent bulletins describe voices of reason and hope and culture of peace as a vision for the future. But will the activists for peace and justice be guided by them?

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION

May 1, workers’ day, around the world