Editorial

3 February 2008Comment

The theme of this issue - and of Peace News in general - is “the power of nonviolence”.

As this issue goes to press, Peter Gelderloos, the author of How Nonviolence Protects The State (partially reviewed in PN2487-8), begins a UK speaking tour devoted to denigrating the power of nonviolence (tour details on p16).

Peace News welcomes debate, and therefore we welcome Peter Gelderloos to the UK, despite our profound disagreements with him on strategy and principle.…

3 December 2007Comment

You may or may not have noticed that since 10 June - for over five months - the people of Belgium have struggled on without a government.

Well, we say “struggled on”. The political deadlock in the country has been a factor in declining “consumer confidence” apparently (does this mean people are spending less on things they don't need, and borrowing less money that they can't pay back?), but otherwise the people of Belgium have managed to keep breathing, eating, feeding themselves…

3 November 2007Comment

A great deal of ink is being spilled across Britain over “gun and knife crime”. As Kate MacIntosh, vice-chair of Scientists for Global Responsibility and former chair of Architects for Peace, points out in her lucid essay in this issue, anti-social behaviour is in part a response to the built environment, and the degree to which communities are permitted self-government and participatory democracy in the formation and use of the built environment.

This is about sensitive…

3 September 2007Comment

The Camp for Climate Action at Heathrow has been hailed, rightly, as one of the most important protests of our time.

Climate change is not simply one of the greatest threats facing future generations of humanity, it is one of the greatest threats facing the people of the Global South, whose homes and livelihoods are being destroyed today - as a consequence of the power and greed of Western corporations and states, and the apathy and irresponsibility of Western consumers.

3 June 2007Comment

Congratulations!

After fighting their case through almost every court in the land, the B52 Two are not guilty and they richly deserve it!

Falklands, Palestine, Darfur

In this issue, we see that in all these cases, there have been real diplomatic alternatives available, which had a genuine prospect for radically reducing conflict and violence. And in all of these cases, those with power have avoided peace. They have crushed negotiations by force (Britain in the Falklands), they have…

3 May 2007Comment

May Day is workers' day

The struggle for the eight-hour day which began in the 19th century (and which goes on, even now) involved strikes and demonstrations throughout the world, and a coordinated day of action on 1 May 1886. In a related demonstration three days later, in the Haymarket in Chicago, a bomb was thrown at the police, killing eight. The anarchist organisers of the demonstration and the speakers were then arrested and prosecuted for the murders, on the grounds that the bomb…

3 April 2007Comment

Yes, we are facing daunting threats (as Noam Chomsky points out in his interview). At the same time, on an international scale there are social movements of a size and sophistication which have never been seen before, and in Britain there is a tangible restlessness and dissatisfaction with things as they are, and enormous opportunities for education and organising towards radical social change.

One part of making a better, stronger movement (along the lines sketched out in the last…

3 March 2007Comment

In equal measures: hope and despair

This March marks the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq and the start of the long-term military and economic occupation.

Tens of thousands of civilians and more than 3,000 coalition soldiers have been killed; thousands more have been horrifically wounded. Over the past four years people have lost their homes, their livelihoods, their families and their minds. Iraqi society is in ruins and the occupiers' political stability is on a…

3 May 2006Comment

On the night of 25-26 April 1986, unknown to most of the world, scientists were busy testing Chernobyl's reactor No 4 to determine whether its coolant pumps would keep running in the event of a loss of power. Within minutes of beginning the test, a power surge caused a chain reaction which lead to a massive explosion and meltdown of the reactor's core. Two days later Tass, the then-Soviet state news agency, acknowledged there had been an “incident”.

Given the political climate at…

3 March 2006Comment

"We do not expect justice, not from this court, nor any other. We don't believe in your laws, your sentences, your jails. So why claim a right that means nothing to us? This contradiction bothers us, of course." Aubonne Support Group

The recent case of the Aubonne Bridge Two - the trial of Swiss police officers who cut two activists' climbing ropes during a blockade of the Evian G8 and caused incredible injuries - ended, perhaps unsurprisingly, in the acquittal of the police officers involved.

In the run-up to the trial, in a statement published by their support group, they acknowledged the contradictions in initiating a case against the police, calling it “reformist”, but went on to explain why, in this instance…

3 February 2006Comment

As the government opened the public phase of its energy review at the end of January, ministers were busy warning that “doing nothing is not an option”. They are right (for once!), although there are fears that the doom-mongering may also be an attempt to soften us up for a new generation of nuclear power stations, posed as a solution for meeting Britain's future energy needs.

However, in a comprehensive research study published earlier in the month, the Tyndall Centre for Climate…

3 December 2005Comment

In October, the US marked the return of the remains of the 2,000th soldier killed in Iraq (a further 16,000 are reported wounded). Later in the month, and during November, campaigners marked the deaths of the Lancet-estimated 100,000 Iraqis; and at the end of November the British forces bodycount reached 98.

Almost three years after the invasion of Iraq began, homes and infrastructure continue to be damaged and vital services such as basic healthcare remain woefully…

3 November 2005Comment

The issue of repressive legislation is becoming a regular feature in PN's editorial and comment section. However, we make no apology for banging on about it, when current and proposed measures have such a profound impact, not just on how protest is viewed and policed, but also on how the wider public - and we ourselves - perceive our identity, power and actions in opposition to the inherent violence of government and corporations.

Real concerns

October saw the government…

3 October 2005Comment

Obscured by the sheer number of stories of personal and community tragedy and the recriminations against the Bush administration and federal agencies, there is an important story of grassroots organising, human solidarity and direct action in response to the hurricanes which battered the US Gulf states in recent weeks.

While law enforcement agencies and the military concentrated on wielding their hardware against their own citizens, small groups of ordinary people were gathering and…

3 September 2005Comment

Having worked as Editorial Assistant at Peace News for a year now, I've witnessed the hard work and dedication that goes into every issue. I've also observed the quiet way in which one or two ideas for stories will transform into a whole paper full of news. With Ippy taking a well deserved break this month, I fretted over where I would find stories to fill the pages of PN. Like others, I had underestimated the peace movement. Every week, groups of concerned citizens are taking…