The case for unilateral disarmament

In: Peace News, 2020

On 23 January, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved its Doomsday Clock (created in 1947) from two minutes to midnight to 100 seconds to midnight, which is the closest that it has ever been to the prospect of human destruction. This article makes the case for Britain unilaterally dismantling its nuclear weapons programme; firstly, from a legal perspective, and secondly, from a practical perspective.

Available online at:

https://www.peacenews.info/blog/9616/case-unilateral-nuclear-disarmament

Six Months On. Gaza's Great March of Return

In: Amnesty international, 2018

After summarizing the dire economic and social conditions among the 1.9 million Palestinians in Gaza (70 per cent of whom are registered as refugees from other parts of Israeli territory) after years of blockade and damage from military attacks, Amnesty focuses on the destructive Israeli military reaction to the Great March.

See also: Wispelwey, Bram and Yasser Abu Jamel. 'The Great March of Return: Lessons from Gaza on Mass Resistance and Mental Health', HHR: Health and Human Rights Journal, vol. 22 no. 1 (June 2020), pp. 179-86.

The article describes how the blockade and Israeli attacks have undermined mental health in the community.  The authors assess the positive impact on communal mental health created initially by the March of Return resistance movement.  But they argue that this has been offset by the impact of death, disability and trauma many have suffered as a result, and by the longer-term failure to achieve better conditions. The authors then examine what health workers can learn about the 'psychosocial consequences of community organizing’.

Available online at:

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2018/10/gaza-great-march-of-return/#:~:text=According%20to%20local%20Palestinian%20human,shot%20by%20the%20Israeli%20army.

Rita Segato on political feminism: ‘There is no prince

In: TeleSur, 2018

Rita Segato, an Argentine-Brazilian academic and one of the most celebrated Latin American  feminists, comments on the biases still affecting cases of femicide in Latin America due to the hyper machismo culture. She also discusses the need to unite academics working in the field of Communication, journalists and editors in order to promote discourses that encourage women to be seen as political actors rather than merely as victims.

Available online at:

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Rita-Segato-on-Political-Feminism-There-is-No-Prince-20181219-0020.html

Hambach Forest Saved

Feb-Mar 2019

In: Peace News, No 2626-2627, 2019, pp. 11ff

Reports that after years of resistance by German green activists against open cast coal mining, which had already destroyed much of the Hambach forest, the rest of the forest seemed to be safe. A government-appointed 'coal exit commission' recommended in January 2019 that Germany should stop using coal-fired energy by 2038 and that it was 'desirable' to preserve the Hambach forest. A court order requested by the German Friends of the Earth (BUND) had already temporarily halted expansion of the mine, after major protests by the campaign Ende Gelaende, which included occupying coal train tracks

See also: Polden, David, '4,000 Activists Block German Coal Trains for 24 Hours', Peace News, 2624-2625, Dec.2018-Jan.2019, p.5.

Very brief report on Ende Gelaende direct action.

Sex and Power: #MeToo, one year on

In: Economist, 2018, pp. 16-16

Argues that movements sparked by alleged rape accusations could be the most powerful force for equality since women's suffrage' and discusses their impact and challenges in politics and business in the US.

See also more detailed articles on the same issue: ‘#MeToo and politics; Truth and Consequences', pp. 36-37, and 'American business after Weinstein: Behind closed doors', pp. 59-60.

Civil Society Engagement in Disarmament Processes The Case for a Nuclear Weapons Ban

United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), New York, 2016, pp. 76

This publication focuses on the role of the Japanese hibakusha’s (atomic bomb survivors) experience in advocating for a Treaty that could ban nuclear weapons. It also discusses the impact of nuclear weapons on the environment as well as the human body, and offers arguments that delegitimise nuclear violence.

Colombia femicide: new exhibition aims to raise femicide awareness

2017

TRT World journalist, Dimitri O’Donnell interviews Adriana Cely Verdadero, a women’s rights activist, and Ana Guezmes Garcia, a representative of UN Women Colombia, who provide background to the exhibition dedicated to the victims of femicide in Colombia and the gaps the social and political systems need to fill. Published on 16 December 2017 on YouTube.

Available online at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=92&v=op5DDnrqzz0

Indigenous Activists Keep Carbon Below Ground

May-June 2020

In: New Internationalist, 2020, pp. 51ff

Brief account celebrating victory after years of campaigning by Indigenous Climate Action against Teck Resources, the company pressing for permission to build the tar sands Frontier Mine in Canada, which would have produced 3.2 billion barrels of oil over 40 years. Teck withdrew early in 2020, after 12 years of lobbying (indigenousclimateaction.com). The journal also reports very briefly that the Great Australian Bight Alliance, led by Aboriginal elders and local activists has in succession prevented Chevron, BP and (most recently) Equinor to abandon plans to drill for oil in the Bight (fightforthebight.org.au.)

EU-UN Spotlight Initiative to eliminate violence against women and girls

European Commission2019

Fact sheet providing information about Spotlight - a global campaign in joint partnership between the EU and UN - to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls in South East Asia, Latin America, Africa, the Pacific and Caribbean region. The initiative aims to contribute to the achievement of SGD Goal 5 on Gender Equality and SDG Goal 16 on inclusive and peaceful societies. It provides information on the EU’s Gender Action Plan 2016-202 0 and UNFPA (https://www.unfpa.org/) and the surveys conducted to shed light on this form of violence.

Spotlight’s official website can be accessed at http://www.un.org/en/spotlight-initiative/index.shtml

Available online at:

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-18-5904_en.htm

Meet 15 Women Leading the Fight Against Climate Change

In: Time, 2019

This article notes the disproportionate impact on women of climate change in many parts of the world and the recognition of this fact in the UN Paris Agreement, which called for empowerment of women in climate talks. It also points to the prominence of women in the struggle to limit climate change, and selects 15 women from round the world playing varied roles, including Greta Thunberg.

Available online at:

https://time.com/5669038/women-climate-change-leaders/

Our territory, our body, our sprit: indigenous women unite in historic march in Brazil

In: Amazon Frontlines, 2019

As part of the indigenous movement across the Amazon, thousands of indigenous women demonstrated in Brazil’s capital city in August 2019, joining the first Indigenous Women’s March. Carrying banners with the slogan “Territory: our body, our spirit”, women took to the streets to make their voices heard and to denounce the policies of Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, which have set the stage for escalating violations of indigenous rights, racism, violence and the most alarming Amazon deforestation rates in recent memory.

Available online at:

http://www.amazonfrontlines.org/chronicles/indigenous-women-march-brazil/

The Big Story: Myanmar

In: New Internationalist, 2021, pp. 15-36

This very informative supplement on the aftermath of the coup on 1 February 2021 carries several articles on the resistance, the repression by the generals, and assessment of future possibilities inside Myanmar.  It also includes discussion of the scope for international action, a summary of key statistics, a list of relevant organizations and initiatives, and a bibliography.

Defendants in Manresa gang-rape case escape sexual assault convictions

In: El Pais, 2019

Reports that five out of six men involved in a gang rape of a 14-year old girl were convicted of sexual abuse of a minor, rather than the more serious crime of sexual assault; the girl was for part of the time in an 'unconscious state'.  The report also provides an update on the Pamplona case, noting the  the Spanish Supreme Court ruled the men were guilty of rape and raised their prison sentences to 15 years. El Pais records in addition that the commission created after the Pamplona case to revise the legal definition of  sexual violence has reported, and recommended eliminating the lesser charge of  sexual abuse; but the Socialist Party government has not yet acted.

Available online at:

https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/10/31/inenglish/1572525418_791189.html

The Big Story: Black Lives Matter

In: New Internationalist, 2018, pp. 12-25

Originally published: March 2018

Introductory article by Amy Hall summarises the growth of BLM in the USA, discusses its global potential and spread to other countries, and notes the relevance of BLM in the UK.  Jamilah King comments on the US movement, both on its strengths and the divisions within it. Other articles examine how BLM relates to a history of  'a policy of black extermination' in Brazil, and to the struggle by Aboriginal people in Australia.

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