It is estimated that nearly half million people walked from Perugio to Assisi on 12 October on the traditional peace march which first took place in 1961. Participants were united in their emphasis of article 11 of the Italian constitution - which repudiates war as a means for solving international conflicts.
Tens of thousands of coaches and private vehicles reached the area by the early morning, having travelled from distant places such as Sicily and Venice. The national media did…
Between 2 and 15 August, citizens from Sweden, Finland, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, the United States and Britain joined together in taking action against nuclear weapons at Faslane and Coulport - the nuclear submarine and warhead sites (respectively) in western Scotland.
More than 40 people were arrested over the two-week international disarmament camp, most for obstructing access to the bases and for “criminal” damage to security fences and military buildings.
Some brave…
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…
On 22 April, between 600 and 700 anti-nuclear protesters converged on Faslane Naval Base - home to Britain's Trident nuclear submarine fleet -for the “Really Big Blockade”. A series of blockades kept the two (North and South) gates of the base closed for eight and five hours respectively.
Affinity groups came from all over Europe and beyond to participate in the day of action, highlighting western hypocrisy over the deployment of weapons of mass destruction. Many had prepared for…
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…The demonstrations of 15 February are a milestone for peace. Never before have so many people taken to the streets to protest against war. Hundreds of cities, across five continents, were swallowed up by a tidal wave of people opposing the bombing of Iraq. More than ten million marched for peace in 603 cities around the world.
In Rome, Madrid, London, and Barcelona the number of demonstrators reached the millions. With 2.5 million pouring into the streets of Rome, two million in…
“The US military have taken a right hammering this year.” So said one activist, commenting on the plethora of ploughshares type actions that have taken place so far during 2003.
At the end of January, Mary Kelly damaged a US military plane at Shannon airport, Ireland using a hatchet. It has been suggested that the value of the damage could be in the region of half a million euro. These planes were used to transport troops, weapons, ammunition and explosives to Kuwait and Qatar in…
In October, the Kansai Antiwar Joint Action Group, a Japanese peace movement network, passed a “Resolution Against Aggressive War on Iraq by the Bush Government of US and Against Participation in the War by the Koizumi Government of Japan” and took to the streets of Osaka to show their opposition to proposed military action against Iraq.
They are specifically opposing the deployment of Japanese naval fleets in the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea, which they believe would be used to…
Hundreds of thousands of people have marched in peaceful demonstrations around the globe in the past few weeks, joining the growing protest against the US's impending war on Iraq.
More than 300,000 people took to the streets in the United States on 26 October in a day of national protest bolstered by simultaneous demonstrations in many other countries.
Thousands of people took part in 150 different protests in Britain on 31 October and an estimated 400,000 people from…
As Peace News went to press more than 60,000 demonstrators were in Tel Aviv taking part in largest peace rally since the second intifada began 19 months ago, demanding that Israel withdraw from the Palestinian territories
IDF tanks at the Bab Al-Zqaq crossroads between Betlehem and Beit Jala PHOTO: SARAH IRVING
The rally, organised by an umbrella group of peace groups, took place on the same day that around 150 members of the Arab-Jewish group Taayush…
As states increasingly contravene or discard international treaties in the name of the war against terror, the task that Trident Ploughshares (TP) 2000 set itself in 1998 seems more challenging, but at the same time increasingly more necessary.
Through attempts at the practical disarmament of Britain's Trident nuclear submarines, and subsequent appearances in British courts, TP aims to challenge to the legality of Trident, and so ensure that the British government respects the body…
In July, activists gathered in Duluth, USA, with the message “F-16s Kill,” in a nonviolent response to the Air National Guard 148th Fighter Wing's F-16 Fighting Falcon, which was on display all weekend at a shopping centre.
Four activists “died”, splattered with fake blood, while the sound of exploding bombs was broadcast from a car stereo. Margaret “Mali” Lorenz, Laurie Hatcher, Johnna Bossuot, and Donna Howard, remained on the ground in front of the jet for several minutes before…
For three days in May in a US courtroom, 26 citizens attempted to break through government deceit to speak the truth: that the US Army School of the Americas – renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Co-operation (WHISC) – is the sinister source of horrendous violence.
It is a place where Latin American soldiers are trained in the murderous techniques of counterinsurgency. Graduates of the school have participated time and again in documented torture, massacre, and…
