Anti-militarism

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.

PHOTO: Serena Zanzu

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…

In July ForcesWatch launched the Military Out of Schools campaign. Speakers Oskar Castro, a US activist in countering military recruitment, and Ben Griffin, ex-forces and the founder of fledgling Veterans for Peace UK, discussed how young people are militarised and what can be done about it.

US counter-recruitment has developed over the last 10 years to many thousands of individuals and hundreds of organisations. The terms “truth and recruitment” or “alternatives to the military” are…

For the last week of July along with other pink clothing we took a dayglow pink dustpan and brush to help sweep up the militarisation in the north of Sweden and make it NEAT. We went to join the ‘War Starts Here’ peace camp to protest against the development of this into part of an ‘Arctic NATO of the Baltic Countries’. This heightened activity in North Europe is explained by an increased interest in the Arctic and its natural resources and the US…

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.

While trying to illustrate the inter-ethnic hatred that reigned in his native Bosnia in 1993, a deserter who had just arrived in Belgrade told me: 'You know, these Serbs hate Bosnian Muslims just as we hate Albanians.'

The 'we' this deserter used was supposed to mean 'us - normal people', who don't hate each other (except for the Albanians). Though disparaging Albanians was quite common and self-implied in former Yugoslavia, I could do nothing but vigorously confront him, saying I did…

Andreas: When I became a total objector in Germany in the mid-80s, I saw my objection as an act of civil disobedience against militarism, or, more specifically, against the system of military slavery called conscription.

My refusal to serve was aimed towards abolishing conscription and I saw it as a small but important contribution to demilitarise peoples minds. And although I certainly acted out of conscience, I never perceived my conscientious objection as a human rights…