Blog posts

    14 Jul 2016

    Reverend Billy

    A comic preacher from New York responds to the Brexit debate and vote - Earthalujah!

    It sure is strong. Brexit pulls us in. My first response to the vote was to be glad – because we have been fighting for local power for decades here in New York. But Washington is not the same as Brussels. I got my localism confused with the complex struggle of the people the EU left out long ago. And I was (and am) moved by the UK youth who voted three to one to stay in, which has its parallel con-job here in the states. And then from there I exploded into 50 positions. Brexit is a potent…

    14 Jul 2016

    PN staff

    A call from a Center for Citizen Initiatives delegation as it visited Russia

    On June 16, the New York Times reported :

    'More than 50 State Department diplomats have signed an internal memo sharply critical of the Obama administration’s policy in Syria, urging the United States to carry out military strikes against the government of President Bashar al-Assad to stop its persistent violations of a cease-fire…

    14 Jul 2016

    Elizabeth Ingrams

    A thoughtful review of The Truth About Trident: Disarming the Nuclear Argument by Tim Wallis

    The Truth About Trident sets out a blow-by-blow detailed analysis in advance of the forthcoming parliamentary debate about the renewal of Britain’s nuclear weapons’ system known as the ‘main gate’ decision later this year.

    Despite the slightly disingenuous claim of the book that it will act as an objective ‘trial’ of the 30-year-old weapons system, Tim Wallis’s credentials as a leading peace activist reverses this expectation. As he states his intention is that ‘the moral…

    05 Jul 2016

    PN staff

    With the publication of the Chilcot report, watch the trailer for "A Letter to the Prime Minister", made during the aftermath of the invasion of Iraq, and sign up on the website to see the entire feature length film.

    A Letter to the Prime Minister, Jo Wilding's Diary from Iraq - trailer from Julia Guest on Vimeo.

    Jo Wilding’s Eye Witness account of the war and occupation of Iraq between 2002- 2004.

    The…

    30 May 2016

    Chris Bluemel

    Come to protest in the heart of the development of the UK's nuclear weapons system.

    June 2016 will see a month of disarmament action against Trident at AWE Burghfield. Situated a few miles south-west of Reading, this is at the heart of the UK's nuclear weapons system. It is the final assembly line for the UK's nuclear warheads, and they return here for major maintenance work.

    Opposition to Trident…

    26 Jan 2016

    PN staff

    New book marks 20th anniversary of land-mark anti-arms trade action

    Press release
    27 January 2016
    Peace News [1]

    WOMAN WHO DISARMED WARPLANE PUBLISHES MEMOIR
    New book marks 20th anniversary of land-mark anti-arms trade action

    7pm, 29 January 2016, Friends House, London: A woman who disarmed a warplane bound for genocide in South East Asia will be launching her newly published book about the action and subsequent trial at an event in Friends House, London this Friday, the 20th…

    06 Jan 2016

    Wretched of the Earth Bloc

    An important perspective on last November's 'People's March for Climate, Justice and Jobs'

    On Dec. 7th, indigenous activists from across the world kayaked down the river Seine to protest the removal of the protection of indigenous rights as a crucial aspect of the climate treaty being negotiated in Paris. The push back against indigenous rights was led by the U.S., EU, Australia – all states with a rich past and present of colonial exploitation of people and land – who feared that the protection of indigenous rights might create legal liabilities.

    The securing of indigenous…

    02 Dec 2015

    PN staff

    Pictures from 3 demos against UK airstrikes on Syria and further information and actions you can take.

    Selected info & resources

    Stop the War analysis and actions

    Women in Black calls on the UK government to use diplomacy, discussion, economic sanctions and strategies, NOT BOMBS on Syria. Download the leaflet and send to the Prime Minister

    02 Dec 2015

    PN staff

    The Department for Energy and Climate Change was renamed the 'department for extreme climate change' as COP21, the UN climate negotiations, opened in Paris.

    Five Christian climate protestors were arrested in Whitehall on 30 November for protesting against government hypocrisy on climate change, which they called a 'climate whitewash'. The five, from Christian Climate Action, were arrested for criminal damage after writing in whitewash and black paint on the wall of the DECC (department for energy and…

    20 Nov 2015

    PN staff

    After four years of legal struggle, the Metropolitan police finally concede that undercover relationships were an abuse of power and violated women's human rights

    Statement by the eight women:

    In the apology issued today by assistant commissioner Martin Hewitt, the Metropolitan Police finally conceded that 'officers, acting undercover whilst seeking to infiltrate protest groups, entered into long-term intimate sexual relationships with women which were abusive, deceitful, manipulative and wrong' and that 'these relationships were a violation of the women’s human…

    26 Oct 2015

    Michael Randle

    A tribute to Peace News's ground-breaking drama critic 

    Albert Hunt, critic, playwright and educator, and former staff member and drama critic of Peace News, was part of the wave of innovators that transformed the British theatrical scene in the 1960s and 1970s and pioneered an approach to adult education based on the active participation of students in games and creative improvisation.

    Born in Burnley in 1928 to a working-class Pentecostal family, with a radical pacifist tradition, he was a…

    26 Oct 2015

    Cathy Breen

    A father and son escape from the violence and chaos of Iraq and seek refuge in Europe.

     

    24 October 2015

    When I can’t sleep at night I have the bad habit of listening to world news on the radio. This seems to be a family trait that I inherited from my father. The wave of refugees trying to find safety in European countries continues unabated. The numbers are staggering. As someone from the US, I am shamed by our lack of response and indifference, as well as our inability to…

    26 Oct 2015

    Kathy Kelly

    A young Afghan peace activist sets out his hopes for the future.

     

    24 October 2015

    Kabul - Tall, lanky, cheerful and confident, Esmatullah easily engages his young students at the Street Kids School, a project of Kabul’s “Afghan Peace Volunteers,” an anti-war community with a focus on service to the poor. Esmatullah teaches child laborers to read. He feels particularly motivated to teach at the…

    22 Oct 2015

    Milan Rai

    The G8 summit in 2005, praised for 'Making Poverty History', was a cynical sham. How can we prevent the Paris climate talks following the same path?

    The climate negotiations in Paris in December are shaping up to be an orgy of self-congratulation for the great powers, as they trumpet pledges to reduce their carbon emissions. There's a real risk that an inadequate - and non-binding - deal will nevertheless be represented as ʻsolvingʼ the problem of climate change.

    Thereʼs an ominous parallel here with the 'Make Poverty History' campaign…

    08 Oct 2015

    PN staff

    Older feminists gather in London at the end of November.

    REMEMBER THE WOMEN’S LIBERATION MOVEMENT?

    WERE YOU ACTIVE IN THE 1970s, 1960s, 1980s?

    Join the 70s-sisters’ network, and start the Feminist Forum to express our vision in politics.

    For the past five years the 70s-sisters have been meeting in small consciousness raising groups to address the issues that face us in our own lives, in our generation and at this moment in history.

    Now we are also launching the Feminist Forum, a new…