Franco Perna
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…
Answering an appeal from Palestine/Israel to help pick olives, I joined a group of friends from Switzerland for a couple of weeks (28 Oct - 10 Nov 2002) under the auspices of the YMCA and ATG (Alternative Tourism Group, Beit Sahour/Bethlehem).
Jerusalem, November 2002. Israeli Women in Black protest against the occupation PHOTO: FRANCO PERNAEntering Israel in Tel Aviv took a long time, but without major difficulties. We reached Bethlehem after a couple of hours, including a stop…
An article in the Quaker weekly, The Friend, led me to travel to South Africa with the prime motivation to volunteer and become acquainted with post-Apartheid peace-related initiatives in general, and with the work of the Quaker Peace Centre (QPC) in particular. An email exchange and phone call were enough to book a cheap one-month ticket. In retrospect, I wished I had gone for longer.
On arrival I found a friendly welcome, a pleasant climate and easy going people all around. During…
