In 1991, during the first Gulf War, I joined an ad hoc demonstration to protest at president Bush's visit to the Andover, Massachusetts, Raytheon plant. Bush choppered in for a photo op of himself congratulating the workers for making the Patriot missile, while secular and religious activists did their best to rain on his bellicose parade.
This was my first demonstration at Raytheon, but hardly my first protest. I participated in long campaigns against the Trident submarine, made by…
On 5 June 2003 a small group ofactivists managed to successfully blockade BAe Systems(BAeS) offices in North Edinburgh for three hours. The company refused to press charges and the police were extremely pleasant, although they stopped short of passing out tea and biscuits. A local news reporter showed up and stated that his editor would only run the story if there were arrests. There emerged an ironic situation where a peaceful protest against a developer and promoter of violent products can…
The South African “arms deal” has been described as “the betrayal of the struggle against apartheid” and as “the litmus test of South Africa's commitment to democracy and good governance”. The scandal has become the millstone around President Thabo Mbeki's presidency.
An opinion survey conducted last year by South Africa's leading pollster found that 62% of ANC voters want the arms deal cancelled, 19% want it cut and only 12% support it. On no other issue, including Aids, was the…
South Asia remains one of the most volatile regions of the world. Continued arms sales and weapons transfers only exacerbate both ongoing and potential conflicts in the area.
However, significant declines in the overall volume and profits of the global defence industry have increased domestic pressure on national governments to expand their market-share and continue arms sales to regions in conflict. Since1985, the overall total of global purchases of major weapons systems has…
“Migrant workers from different nationalities in Korea stand united against the US war against Iraq. We join in solidarity with other peace--and freedom--loving people in Korea and the rest of the world, and with millions of our fellow migrants and compatriots in our homelands and overseas, in saying NO! to this unjust war.”. So read the text on a leaflet ETU-MB (Equal Trade Union Migrant's Branch, a part of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions/KCTU) members distributed during the anti-…
For decades nobody has been concerned about the conscientious objection issue, even though thousands of members of the Jehovah's Witness community have been imprisoned for their refusal to serve.
After I revealed my conscientious objection, I was met with positive and supportive gestures from my friends.
But when I was imprisoned for 17 days because of my conscientious objection I finally had the opportunity to meet people that “have to live their life as offenders because…
Typical Western concerns about China have focused - in recent years at least - on the issue of Tibet. And while the Tibet issue remains a challenging problem, not least for the nonviolent political movement led by the Dalai Lama, it may not be the most pressing thing on the agenda of local Chinese activists.
The emergence of a Chinese NGO-based environmental movement, the continuing activities of “pro-democracy” campaigners, a number of recent unauthorised anti-war demonstrations,…
Despite being one of the world's most dynamic economic and political regions, North-East Asian security remains surprisingly dominated by the past. Half a century after the uneasy conclusions to massive conflicts that ripped apart China,Korea, and Japan, real peace in the region remains elusive.
Nearly 100,000 US soldiers are based in Japan and South Korea, with those in Korea on trigger-ready alert for war with the North. The region contains the world's second-most well funded…
The lyrics were recognisably Korean, but then the song became understandable as the chorus burst forth in punk staccato: “Fucking USA”.
It was the title refrain from a hitherto obscure Korean singer, Yoon Min Suk,that has struck a cord recently with young Korean music fans. The Koreanhigh school students, many clad in Usd esigner labels, reveled to the beat. KwonHyuk Hwan, 17, was particularly forthcoming: “I hate fucking Bush. US must get out of Korea.” Kim Myung Su, 16, said: “…
After introducing the TokyoProgressive website at the International Green Forum (Japan) that was held over two years ago, I was asked by a member of the German IndyMedia collective why Japan had no IndyMedia of its own.
In fact, I could only suggest that she speak with representatives of some of the Internet service providers here which actually host good progressive websites,of which there are actually many. In fact, one such provider is a member of the internationally known…
On 15 December 2002, 3,000 migrant workers and their supporters met to reclaim the streets of central Hong Kong, to protest against another discriminatory government proposal: a targeted flat tax of HK$500 per month (aboutUS$65), aimed at the wages of Hong Kong's Foreign Domestic Helpers(FDHs). That this gathering took place on a Sunday was an important factor--for many of the protesters, this was the one day's holiday they are given per week by their employers.
There was a charged…
I was born and raised in Pyong Yang, now the capital city of North Korea. At that time, the early 1930s, the Korean people were under Japanese rule, which brought us great suffering and pain. It created a deep sense of hostility and enmity towards the Japanese. The cooperation between Korea and Japan, as co-hosts of the soccer World Cup, shows that there is always hope of reconciliation between former enemies.
Soon after our liberation from Japanese occupation at the end of the…
In July 2000, Taiwan was the first Asian country to recognise conscientious objection - and to introduce alternative service for those not fit for military service.
Since the introduction of alternative service, some potential conscripts have ended up with a recommendation for alternative service after their physical examination. The main reasoning behind alternative service in Taiwan is not conscientious objection, but to make use of those young men who are not fit for military…
Since 1991, the democratically oriented public in Russia had advocated for the legal regulation of an alternative civil service as a substitute for military service by conscription. All such attempts met with active resistance by the military lobby. However, in the winter of 2002 the Russian government submitted an Alternative Service (ACS) bill to the Duma; drafted in the ministry of defence, the bill had a number of discriminatory provisions.
Alternative service is not necessarily…
Trident Ploughshares activists, in the face of the failure of the British government to fulfil its promises to get rid of its nuclear weapons, undertake that responsibility themselves, by peaceful and nonviolent and accountable direct action. In the four years of the campaign there have been 1803 arrests, 398 trials, 1711 days have been spent in jail (not counting time in police cells) and fines totalling £56,490 have been imposed, though rarely paid.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF…For some time now the US government has threatened to expand the “war against terrorism” - suggesting that more “rogue states” will face war. On the US defined “axis of evil”, Iraq is the primary target, with a war being threatened since May 2002.
Activists from a variety of German peace groups wanted to organise against this war - a war which we believe is in breach of human rights and international law - and in autumn 2002 we came together to develop forms of resistance to the war…
The Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) started in 1990 and rose to international prominence in 1995 when it applied to attend the Zimbabwe International Book Fair which had as its theme that year “Human Rights and Justice”. The government banned the group's appearance and, at the opening of the fair, President Mugabe, uttered the first in a long line of vitriolic attacks on gays and lesbians which include the famous epithet, gays are “worse than dogs and pigs”. GALZ stood its ground and…
“So how was Pakistan?” Friends eager to know more about my recent work in the Islamic Republic have had to wait patiently as I search my vocabulary for the appropriate words. My silence surprises me as well. Usually words do not escape me but this rare moment finds me struggling to do my experience justice.
Shall I take this brief exchange to explain that not all Pakistani women wear burqas (as some Americans believe) that cover their entire face? Shall I seize this opportunity to…
“You can take as much time as you'd like, Michael. We've got the place reserved until 6pm,” whispered one of the organisers of Focus on South Asia, the peace conference recently held in Lahore, Pakistan for delegates from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives and Bhutan.
He was referring to my opening speech as part of the welcoming ceremony on the first day of the peace conference. I had been asked earlier that day to speak to the participants and now it appeared…
San Diego County in California is home to not only one of the largest military installations in the world, but also the second-largest Iraqi population in the US. In autumn 2002, the San Diego Coalition for Peace and Justice began an outreach campaign to high school students to encourage them to question the US government's planned attack on Iraq.
Why the focus on high school students? The Vietnam War taught the Pentagon that conscription had limited effectiveness and could seriously…
