As a Christian, I had often thought of going to Israel-Palestine but had never quite been able to overcome the uneasy feeling of visiting a place regarded as ‘holy’ which is also a place of such injustice and violence.
In 1999, that changed when Pax Christi held its international council in Jordan and Jerusalem to offer support and encouragement to its partners in the whole region. To be invited by organisations working on the ground for peace and justice to ‘come and see’ made it…
In a New York court yesterday a compensation claim against the UN was brought on behalf of the victims of the 2010 cholera outbreak in Haiti, the origins of which have been traced back to the organisation. More than 8,000 people have been killed with over 650,000 becoming ill as a result of the on-going outbreak of a disease that was previously only rarely experienced in Haiti despite numerous…
At what point is it that an infant democracy can really say it is growing up?
For the Indian Ocean nation of the Maldives, which held its first multi-party democracy in 2008, uncertainty remains over whether the country is on the cusp of realising some form of political maturity, or is rather facing protracted political instability, potentially violent clashes and continued name calling between…
Being cautious and trying to apply the saying “you are what you eat” today can perhaps be trickier than simply checking the nutritional information about the levels of sugar, fat and vitamins that the food you are buying contains. Indeed, last year about 170 million hectares of genetically modified (GM) crops were…
On 10 September, DSEi invades London. DSEi, or Defence & Security Equipment International, is the world’s largest international arms trade fair, and is held every two years at the London ExCeL Centre.
One of the most touted arguments in favour of arms production is employment. Companies and politicians constantly make the claim that a reduction in arms development means a loss of jobs.
However, that doesn’t have to be the case, and some alternatives to arms trade may…
The City Circle held its weekly public meeting at the Abrar House Friday evening, featuring two experts on the international campaign against arms trading.
In less than two weeks, London will play host to the world’s largest international arms trade fair. The city will welcome 30,000 arms dealers and 1,400 exhibitors or companies to the ExCeL Centre for Defence & Security Equipment International (DSEi), which is held here every two years.
But for many Londoners, and…
According to new report released by researchers at Yale University the United Nations inadvertently caused a deadly cholera outbreak in Haiti in October 2010 and has a legal and moral obligation to remedy this harm. This on-going cholera epidemic has killed more than 8,000 people and infected more than 650,000 in Haiti, a country still struggling with the aftereffects of the 2010 earthquake. Crucially, this conclusion directly contradicts recent statements by the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki…
The month of June is now commonly associated with the Gay Pride movements in many countries worldwide. The first official Lesbian, Gays, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) demonstration took place in New York in 1969, standing up against homophobia and marginalisation; since then LGBT and Gay Pride movements have spread massively with June being the month when most activities and parades take place.
The USA was also the first country to official recognise June as the "Gay &…
On the 25th June more than 35 civilians and members of the police force died in a small town called Lukqun, Xinijang province, China.
It is difficult to get a clear picture of what has just happened in Lukqun: the official Chinese version talks of a terrorist attack by an Uyghur group of dissidents aimed at a local police station which resulted in 24 policeman and civilian deaths; two days after the massacre the official version acknowledged an higher number of deaths among…
China has a long history of slogans and set phrases. During the era of Mao’s Charimanship hundreds of them were coined and printed on coloured posters which were then spread all over the country and in doing so propagating the message and line of action of the leadership. This tradition is still in place today, adapting to the time and context of the 21st century. If in 1966 a common slogan was along the lines of 'Boundlessly loyal to the great leader Chairman Mao, boundlessly loyal to the…
In the last few decades, one of the major phenomena occurring on the global scale has been the rise of China. In 1978, the country opened to the outside world after nearly 30 years of almost non-existent contact with what lay outside its borders. Since then, China has grown incredibly, in economic terms, and in terms of the global political balance of power. In little more than 30 years, China has become the second largest economy of the world, and a major economic partner for most countries…
In 2003 the UK and US invaded Iraq without a UN resolution. This is common knowledge to anyone who was old enough to pay attention to the news at the time and the following years. Many in my generation also attended the anti-war marches that were organised not only in Britain but across the world, although the London march, attracting between one and two million people according to different estimates, was clearly the largest and attracted the most attention.
What may not be as common…
Breda Power’s father Billy spent sixteen years in prison as one of the Birmingham Six (1975-1991), for an IRA bombing of which he was eventually shown to be innocent. Campaigning for his release she spoke frequently on the media and at meetings. When he and the other five walked out of prison, one of her first thoughts was that she never had to speak in public again.
“Twenty years later, here I am, again speaking for justice,” she said to a demonstration of lawyers, NGOs and other…
Ever since Peace News Summer camp 2012 I had been hankering after getting up to visit Faslane Peace camp, in fact to be totally honest I had wanted to visit and support the peace camp since I heard about it many years previously, and had driven past it during the Faslane365 year of actions when we did an action.
Anyway, with the backing of…
