PN staff
The National Alternative Remembrance Ceremony, organised by the Peace Pledge Union and friends, was held in Tavistock Square, Central London, on 12 November. Over 200 participants observed two minutes’ silence and laid white poppy wreaths in memory of all victims of war. There were three speeches, focused on Palestine.
Richard Kuper of Jews for Justice for Palestinians said: ‘Yesterday saw one of the biggest demonstrations in the United Kingdom against the conflict in the Middle East…
Don’t Extradite Assange (DEA) is still recruiting people for a mass protest at 9am at the high court in Central London on ‘Day X’, when Julian Assange faces his last chance in a British court to stop his extradition to the US for exposing US war crimes. He could face up to 175 years in prison.
Meanwhile, on 8 November, 16 Democratic and Republican members of the US congress wrote to US president Joe Biden asking him to withdraw the US extradition request against Assange.
The…
An anarchist group was refused permission to have a stall at this year’s Anarchist Bookfair in London (ABiL) not because of the Anarchist Communist Group’s stand on trans issues, which the ABiL thinks is now okay, but because the ACG has not expelled members who hold views that the ABiL thinks are unacceptable.
The ‘Anarchist Bookfair in London’ was created after the implosion of the London Anarchist Bookfair in 2017 due to conflicts over trans issues (see…
Hundreds of British lawyers have signed two Open Letters to the government (on 26 October and 9 November) detailing Israeli war crimes – and calling for a ceasefire, an end to the Israeli siege of Gaza and a halt to British arms exports to Israel.
The first Open Letter was signed by over 250 lawyers including a former head of the Criminal Bar Association and a former counsel general for Wales. The follow-up was signed by 830 lawyers, including 60 KCs.
The lawyers said that…
The UK public overwhelmingly supports an immediate ceasefire in Israel-Palestine.
Indeed, in a 19 October 2023 YouGov poll 58% said that there should 'definitely' be an immediate ceasefire in Israel and Palestine, with a further 18% saying that there 'probably should' be such a ceasefire.
Though the UK government continues to offer…
The Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes are currently at the centre of the fight over artificial intelligence (AI), where US-based writers and actors are trying to stop their work from being replaced by AI systems.
Here at PN, we’re wondering about our own resistance to the new digital overlords.
You may be surprised to hear that AI played a big role at the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) conference that was taking place in Gothenburg, Sweden, as we…
‘Before reading this book, I knew and greatly admired Dave Dellinger. Or so I thought. After reading his remarkable story, my admiration changed to something more like awe. There can be few people in the world who have crafted their lives into something truly inspiring. This autobiography introduces us to one of them, with the simplicity and integrity that characterizes everything Dave has done.’ –Noam Chomsky, praising Dellinger’s autobiography, From Yale to Jail: The Life Story of a…
Introducing ‘Declaration of War’ in his 1970 book Revolutionary Nonviolence, Dave Dellinger commented that two years in a maximum security prison during the Second World War had changed his mind about violence against property (while leaving him still firmly opposed to violence against people).
Dellinger wrote: ‘In a society which exalts property rights above human rights, it is sometimes necessary to damage or destroy property, both because property has no intrinsic value…
More than 30 organisations across Europe have called for a week of action leading up to 10 December, International Human Rights Day, pressing for protection for all those who refuse military service in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.
The #ObjectWarCampaign coalition, which includes Connection eV (International Support of Conscientious Objectors and Deserters), the European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (EBCO) and War Resisters International, is urging the European Union to open its…
On 20 September, the prosecution failed to appear in court in Kyiv to begin its case against Ukrainian pacifist Yurii Sheliazhenko.
Yurii, executive secretary of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, has been told he will be charged with ‘justifying Russian aggression’. His flat was raided on 3 August and he has been given a night-time curfew (10pm – 6am) until 11 October (though he is allowed to leave for an air raid shelter if there is an attack, or for medical assistance).
Yurii…
On 30 August, the remaining PN staff gave our wonderful outgoing admin worker, Claire Poyner, a surprise leaving do, presenting her with a bouquet of flowers (16 stems for 16 years) and buying her one of her favourite meals (Thai green curry) at a restaurant around the corner. Claire will still be in the office occasionally as part of her Network for Peace work (she’s also resigned from Christian CND recently).
According to organisers Pace e Bene, the US Campaign Nonviolence Action Days 2023 involve 4,915 activities between 21 September – 2 October, ‘our BIGGEST year yet.... and a reflection of 10 years of relentless outreach, collaboration, and persistence’.
This year’s Campaign Nonviolence events include: a nonviolent vigil at an arms fair in Washington, DC; the 11 Days of Global Unity Summit; a nationwide Fast For Peace; a DIY solar installation action; a primary school peace walk; a Sing…
In August, Bristol CND and XR Peace Bristol organised their fourth four-day Peace Gathering in the Peace Glade in Castle Park, Bristol, with over 20 talks, workshops and discussions – and die-ins to mark the atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945.
Included in the Gathering was part of an International Fast to Commemorate Hiroshima-Nagasaki.
Fasters in Bristol included Matthias Engelke from Germany (a Lutheran pastor who has vowed…
Don’t Extradite Assange (DEA) is recruiting people for a mass protest at 9am at the high court in Central London on ‘Day X’, when Julian Assange faces his last chance in a British court to stop his extradition to the US for exposing US war crimes. He could face up to 175 years in prison.
The mobilisation for Day X has included a virtual rally in the metaverse on 26 August, addressed by avatars of Assange and Jeremy Corbyn among others, and a ‘Big Bike Ride for Assange’ on 23 September…
