We’re guessing that PN readers divide roughly 50/50 on the Olympics. Half of us are blissfully ignorant of the whole thing. Half of us know varying amounts about what happened. (At a UK level, 90% of the population watched at least 15 minutes of coverage, according to the BBC.)
If you want to take the most positive, Colin Ward-ish perspective, you can cherish the fact that ‘the British nation’ has taken a black man (an immigrant from Somaliland) and a mixed-race woman to its heart, as…
The Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases (CAAB) is a bit of a mouthful! A campaign with the word FOR in the title instead of AGAINST was important and the word ‘ACCOUNTABILITY’ was beginning to be banded about. Add American Bases and in 1992 CAAB was born.
For more than 60 years, a dedicated group of concerned citizens has been keeping an eye on, and working to bring to account, those who keep an eye on us; namely NSA Menwith Hill near Harrogate North Yorkshire. The focus…
Bora, 31 years old, had her arms severely bruised when police battered her plastic arm-lock with hammers; Dr Song, 54 years old, had three teeth broken by police; 75-year-old Father Mun was pushed off a large concrete tetra-pod by a coastal guard resulting in four broken vertebrae.
These are just three recent examples of the human rights abuses perpetrated by the South Korean authorities who are brutally enforcing the…
Peace Campaigners Helen and Sylvia grew up during the Cold War; they have 10 grandchildren, have been arrested countless times, been imprisoned at Holloway, and were the first people to be charged, under new Anti-terror legislation, for invading a U.S military base to free Britain of Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Disarming Grandmothers is a 31 part web series which follows their lives through their trial for terrorism: revealing their relationship with the authorities and the press to…
During our weekly vigil at Faslane, a quiet discussion arose about doing an action at the army recruitment offices in Glasgow to highlight the dishonest propaganda used to persuade young people to to join the army. The offices are on a busy central bus route so we decided to act during the morning rush hour.
We made plans to spray paint the windows, hand out fliers and lock on to delay our arrest. Having never incurred a vandalism charge, I had reservations about what I was about…
Jeju was named an ‘Island of World Peace’ by the South Korean government in 2005. Opponents have raised concerns over the environmental destruction of Jeju, which contains several UNESCO World Heritage sites, and its potential to escalate military tensions in the region.
Gangjeong villagers have been engaged in a five-year struggle, and 94% of Jeju islanders voted against construction of the base.
A popular protest slogan is: ‘Touch not one stone, not one flower’.…
On 10 March, after several days of creative demonstrations, 29 protesters broke into the construction site of a projected naval base on Jeju island, 62 miles south of mainland South Korea. Locals believe that the US navy intends to use the base as part of its anti-China policy.
Two international activists in the 10 March group, Nobel Peace Prize nominee Angie Zelter, and French activist Benjamin Monnet, were deported on 15 March.
The people of Jeju have been resisting…
Architecture for Humanity, a nonprofit design services firm set up in 1999, has launched an Open Architecture Challenge: an invitation to architects and
designers help communities reclaim abandoned, closed and decommissioned military sites anywhere in the world.
More than 130 teams from 45 countries have already entered the competition (entry fee US$50 western professionals; $25 western students; free to developing nations). More than $5,000 is available in prizes. Register by 15…
As PN went to press, Egyptian pacifist Maikel Nabil Sanad was continuing his hunger strike in protest against his imprisonment for criticising the new military regime. 20 January marked his 150th day without food: his kidneys were beginning to fail.
Maikel’s sentence has been reduced from four to two years. He is now on a water-only fast.
As a member of the British Legion, I made no secret of my pacifist convictions and found a sympathetic hearing among many older ex-service personnel.
I come from a military family but I decided to break the mould when I realised the true costs of war, including increasing civilian casualties. Our Legion social club was forced to close recently, one of dozens of failing clubs. These property assets are realising a huge income stream for the work of the British Legion. They need it –…
Hastings Against War (HAW) activists carried out a protest triathlon against the three local branches of General Dynamics, the world’s sixth largest arms company, on 29 September. Activists “swam” (on land, wearing flippers and snorkels), ran and cycled between the three sites, giving out leaflets, before blockading the entrance to General Dynamics’ offices on the Churchfield industrial estate. No arrests were made.
This year’s campaign is expected to raise the most money ever, more than £40m. The furore caused by Fifa’s objection to the England and Wales football teams wearing the emblem on their shirts during games, neither of which was against a former Axis power, set soccer fan Mr Cyboli thinking.
“We’ve seen what sponsorship has done for soccer, the money that has flowed into the game and the amazing talent it has bought – I mean brought. Well, this year we’ve seen designer red poppies…
Pacifist blogger Maikel Nabil Sanad has been on hunger strike in an Egyptian prison since 23 August. Arrested on 28 March on charges of “insulting the military” for publishing an article exposing the role of the military during and after the revolution, he was sentenced to three years in prison on 10 April.
With his hunger strike, Maikel Nabil Sanad demands his release from prison. An appeal hearing has now been brought forward to 4 October, but his friends and supporters fear that he…
On 23 August, Maikel Nabil Sanad, the pacifist blogger sentenced to three years’ imprisonment by the new Egyptian government for “insulting the military” (see PN 2533), began a hunger strike in protest against his sentence. As we went to press, the hunger strike was continuing. On 18 August, similar charges were dropped against Asmaa Mahfouz and Louie Nagati.
