DOCSLIB.ORG

Maine Peace Action Committee Newsletter, April 2011

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Maine Peace Action Committee Newsletter, April 2011 The University of Maine DigitalCommons@UMaine General University of Maine Publications University of Maine Publications Spring 2011 Maine Peace Action Committee Newsletter, April 2011 Maine Peace Action Committee Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/univ_publications Part of the Higher Education Commons, and the History Commons Repository Citation Maine Peace Action Committee, "Maine Peace Action Committee Newsletter, April 2011" (2011). General University of Maine Publications. 325. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/univ_publications/325 This Newsletter is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. It has been accepted for inclusion in General University of Maine Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UMaine. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Maine Peace Action Committee STATEMENT OF PURPOSE he Maine Peace Action Committee If we direct our energy and other resources imperialism and proposing alternatives to these (MPAC) was founded in 1974 with a into weapons systems, there is little left for policies. Tspecial focus on ending the war in creative solutions to problems such as the world We find we can act effectively if we focus on a Indochina. MPAC has been concerned with our food and fuel shortages which threaten our limited number of specific issues and campaigns. society’s violent and militaristic nature, which is survival. We need projects which can: manifested in a lack of humane and progressive We have seen human needs are neglected by values and a tendency towards solving problems 1. unite people within our group an existing government, and when that govern- via destructive means. 2. provide opportunities for action resulting in ment represses groups attempting to meet those measurable achievement Our general orientation takes the double focus needs, violent upheaval has resulted. Our govern- of analyzing and opposing militarism, or the ment’s military economic support for such repres- 3. link our efforts with national campaigns; and efforts to use nuclear weapons and other military sive regimes has embroiled us in armed conflicts 4. demonstrate the dynamics of militarism and means to solve human problems, and imperialism, which have escalated to full scale war and could imperialism. or the efforts by powerful nations to use economic mean inevitable global destruction. For our activities to be successful, we need to and military means to impose their will upon less We support efforts to deal with each of these educate ourselves about issues, analyze the powerful peoples. contributing factors, investigate alternative solu- problems since we see them as resulting and Our nation’s pursuit of these policies under- tions, decide strategy for implementing alterna- contributing to an economic and political system mines its ability to deal with the needs of its own tives, and share our understanding with the over which most of us have little control. citizens and places us in greater danger of war. community to enlist their support. Our tax dollars are used to develop first strike We in MPAC believe that while none of these MPAC believes that people united and work- capable weapons and to support repressive efforts by itself can bring about a completely just ing together can redefine our values and change regimes abroad. Consequently, there are fewer society, together we can work toward more our approach to problems so that we shall be able dollars available for needed human services both comprehensive solutions. We feel that we can to live in a free and creative society; indeed, such here and abroad. best contribute by challenging militarism and efforts are imperative if we are to survive. Table of Contents Vol. 36, No. 2 • Spring 2011 Statement of Purpose . 1 Community Interconnection . Daniel White . .2 Peacebuilding Challenges . Doug Allen . .3 Tribal Conflict in Libya . .Joshua Trombly . .7 The Ethical, Political and Economic Consequences of Derivatives Trading or How The Bankers Are Ruining The World . .Alexander Achmatowicz . .8 How social spending pays us back . .Anna Sweeney . .10 H.O.P.E. Festival (poster) . .11 Page 2 MPAC Newsletter COMMUNITY INTERCONNECTION ll life is interconnected. Think about it. billions who live in poverty, the constant fighting school and usually if we can repeat it back to the Think about how all living things depend of wars for control of markets, and the destruc- teacher we get an A. It is up to us to ask questions Aupon one another. An ecosystem is made tion of the natural environment. about what our purpose really is in life and what up of parts that give and take. We breathe in Interestingly, the documentary The makes us most happy. Talk about these things oxygen from trees and breathe out carbon dioxide Corporation makes the claim that if corporations with other people. These types of conversations for the trees. This is the constant exchange of are viewed as people (which incidentally they are the most meaningful to me. I believe that the energy inherent in life. The rule applies to now are under law) then they possess the charac- best life is one that is based on a foundation of communities as well. Why do humans form ter traits of a confirmed psychopath: callous morality. More than one wise tradition in the communities? Because we need one another. Our unconcern for the feelings of others, incapacity to world says that the way to find the highest happi- ancestors realized that living in groups was vital maintain enduring relationships, reckless disre- ness for yourself is to truly wish others to be well. for survival. People support one another in gard for the safety of others, deceitfulness: I have found that trying to relate to others as groups. Living in groups allows us to satisfy friends has made me feel more at ease and has needs such as eating, shelter, belonging, and led me to great new friendships. I think that understanding ourselves. We are not separate friendship is infinitely more important than from the community. We are the community. consumption. I would rather have friends What benefits the community benefits us, and than any amount of money in the world. what hurts the community hurts us. The fact that it feels good being positive I believe that the reason why people cause and friendly to the world is not a surprise. suffering is because of their ignorance of the Remember, there is a flow of energy between interrelatedness of life. The corporate-rich in everything. What we give is what we receive. charge of most of the wealth and resources on It makes complete sense that what is good for Earth use an ideology that says humans are by the community is good for us. It also feels nature competitive, individualistic, and profit good to realize connection to the community. most from consumption and acquisition of The community is not an abstraction sepa- material wealth and power. They argue that rate from us; it is not us vs. society. Rather, since there are limited material resources on community is the real condition of intercon- the planet, we must live according to a competi- repeated lying and conning of others for profit, nected individuals. That’s why community must tive system of economics in order to ensure that incapacity to experience guilt, and failure to be ‘realized’; realization is becoming aware of all the material and social resources are used to conform to social norms with respect to lawful what already is, and the truth of our condition is the most efficient and optimal degree. This and behaviors. Should anyone want these we are interconnected individuals living in other limited reasoning defends the fact that psychopaths in charge of our society? community. there is a massive imbalance of wealth between Learning to see ourselves as connected to each I believe that negative feelings come from feel- the rich and poor. Furthermore, the rich are in a other and the earth will be the end of war, ing disconnected, separate, and misunderstood by position to further their power by influencing poverty, and environmental abuse. In our system others, and these are symptoms that come from government policy i.e. corporate deregulation, we have been raised to believe certain things not living as a community. I think our socio- lower taxes for the rich, and wars to protect about ourselves and the world we live in. The economic system feeds off of these feelings. I resource and trade markets. underlying values of this system do not think the system stems from this illusion of sepa- The view that humans are inherently selfishly adequately represent what it means to be human. rateness. When we feel disconnected, it is competitive and the best life is one of material To me the best things about being human are painful. These feelings are fuel for a consumerist wealth and consumption is simply not true. friendship, cooperation, good-willed competition society. The truth is that we don’t really need to Humans can indeed be competitive, and being so (playing games), creation, and self-determina- consume a lot or acquire very much. What I can have useful productive results. However, tion. Corporations don’t like these values because think we need is connection to each other, to the cooperation can have the same productive impli- they impinge upon their profits. Friendship isn’t community and earth. We can’t do this alone. By cations, and many contend that a socially cooper- worth anything to a corporation, and neither is nature it is a group process. I think that as more ative and inclusive attitude towards life is more the opportunity for us to freely choose who we people realize connection to the community the conducive to a higher wellbeing than a selfishly are, who we want to be, and what we wish to more powerful will be the effort to end injustices.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • English Edition of Mayors for Peace News Flash
    January 2021 / No.133 Check our website and follow us on SNS: Mayors for Peace Member Cities Website http://www.mayorsforpeace.org/english/index.html 8,002 cities Facebook in 165 countries and regions https://www.facebook.com/mayorsforpeace Twitter (as of January 1, 2021) https://twitter.com/Mayors4Peace Help us achieve 10,000 member cities! “Like” and share our Facebook and Twitter posts to help spread awareness of our mission. Table of Contents ➢ Mayors for Peace membership passes 8,000! ➢ Release of the 2020 Vision Executive Report ➢ Selection Results: Children’s Art Competition “Peaceful Towns” 2020 ➢ Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons has entered into force ➢ Report by Executive Advisor ➢ Member city recruitment model cases ➢ Regional chapter activities ➢ Mayors for Peace Member Cities - 8,002 cities in 165 countries/regions ➢ Request to promote various measures based on the Mayors for Peace Action Plan ➢ Call for input: examples of initiatives to foster peace-seeking spirit ➢ Peace news from Hiroshima (provided by the Hiroshima Peace Media Center of the CHUGOKU SHIMBUN) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mayors for Peace membership passes 8,000! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On January 1, we welcomed 28 new member cities, leading us to surpass 8,000 member cities. We truly appreciate our Lead Cities and member cities for their long-term support. The following are our recent initiatives for expanding membership and messages from related organizations and bodies that work with us. Recent initiatives for expanding membership ⚫ Recruitment by the President President Matsui (Mayor of Hiroshima) asks ambassadors and representatives attending the Peace Memorial Ceremony, held annually on August 6 in Hiroshima, to invite municipalities in their countries to join Mayors for Peace.
    [Show full text]
  • Visible Witness: a Testimony for Radical Peace Action
    University of Central Florida STARS PRISM: Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements 1-1-1961 Visible witness: A testimony for radical peace action Wilmer J. Young Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/prism University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Book is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in PRISM: Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Recommended Citation Young, Wilmer J., "Visible witness: A testimony for radical peace action" (1961). PRISM: Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements. 314. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/prism/314 A Tesbony for Radical Peace Action Wilmer J. Young Pamphlet 118 - 35 a!nt!3 VISIBLE WITNESS A Testimony for Radical Peace Action By Wilmer J. Young PENDLE HXU PAMPHLET 118 About the Author / WILMER YOUNG, born in the Comenative Quaker community in Iowa, attended the oId Scattergood Boarding School, Westtown School and Bav- crford College. He was a teacher for 22 years, beginning with four yertrs at Friends Boarding School at Bmesville, Ohio, and ending with twelve years at Wwesttown School in Pennsylvania, where he was Dean of Boys and taught mathematics. In 1936, Wilmer Young, his wife, Mildred Binns Young, and their three children began a stay of nine- teen years in the South, working fmt in Mississippi and then for fifteen years, under the care of the American Friends Service Committee, in South Carolina, Their work in both states was witb white and Negro sharecroppets and tenant farmers.
    [Show full text]
  • Educating for Peace and Justice in America's Nuclear
    EDUCATING FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE IN AMERICA’S NUCLEAR AGE IAN HARRIS AND CHARLES F. HOWLETT Abstract The emergence of peace education as embodied in the context of peace studies, which emerged during the post-World War II ideological struggle between capitalism and Communism, the nuclear arms race pitting the United States against the former Soviet Union, the Vietnam War, and the civil rights movement in America, met with considerable criticism. There were many within and outside the academic community who argued that peace studies had very little to offer in terms of “real scholarship” and were primarily politically motivated. Some went so far as to insist that this new area of study lacked focus and discipline given the complexities associated with war and peace. It also became fashionable to attack those teaching and studying peace issues as anarchists, communists, and pacifists. They were ridiculed as subversives for challenging the hegemony of the U.S. military establishment. Over time all that would change as the early years of experimentation resulted in programs more rigorous in academic content and serious in focus. Although there are many who still question the viability of peace education/peace studies among schoolchildren and undergraduates, the historical record of the last fifty years or so provides a far different picture. It presents a progression of peace education/peace studies in our society today from an antidote to the science of war to a comprehensive examination of the causes of violence and related strategies for peace. The evolution of peace education in the United States since the 1950s is characterized by four developments: (1) disarmament schemes of international law in reaction to the horrors of World War II; (2) the civil rights movement and opposition to the Vietnam War; (3) response to President Reagan’s ramping up the arms race in the 1980s; and (4) a holistic form of peace and justice studies marked by efforts on peer mediation, conflict resolution, and environmental awareness.
    [Show full text]
  • The Way Lokarri and Gesto Por La Paz Changed Society
    ICIP WORKING PAPERS: 2012/1 The analysis of the framing processes of the Basque peace movement: The way Lokarri and Gesto por la Paz changed society Egoitz Gago Anton The analysis of the framing processes of the Basque peace movement: The way Lokarri and Gesto por la Paz changed society Egoitz Gago Anton Doctor in Peace Studies, University of Bradford, United Kingdom. Institut Català Internacional per la Pau Barcelona, January 2012 Institut Català Internacional per la Pau Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes 658, baixos · 08010 Barcelona T. +34 93 554 42 70 | F. +34 93 554 42 80 [email protected] | http://www.icip.cat Editors Javier Alcalde and Rafael Grasa Editorial Board Pablo Aguiar, Laia Balcells, Alfons Barceló, Gema Collantes-Celador, Caterina Garcia, Abel Escribà, Tica Font, Antoni Pigrau, Xavier Pons, Alejandro Pozo, Mònica Sabata, Jaume Saura, Josep Maria Terricabras and Léonie Van Tongeren Graphic Design Fundació Tam-Tam Typesseting and printing Ātona, S.L. / gama, sl ISSN 2013-5793 (online edition) 2013-5785 (paper edition) DL B-17.175-2012 T h e a u T h o r Egoitz Gago holds a political science degree by the University of the Basque Country and a doctoral degree in peace studies by the Depart- ment of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford, United Kingdom. This paper is based on his PhD research thesis, which took him to have extensive knowledge about the Basque peace movement against polit- ical violence. Currently he is involved in the study of social collectives affected by violence, specially the way collective action against vio- lence is developed in different environments, like Europe and Latin America.
    [Show full text]
  • C00018202.Pdf
    :.- ........-.._ .. -···- ......•· .•·. -~ .... • SITUATION INFORMA TlON REPOR 'I' • ... The vanguard of thousands of y~ung activiets who are expected to converge upon San Diego (or protest demonstrations at this summer's • Republican ConventiC)n has begun drifting into the city's already crowded "hippie.land" along tth! ocean froat. "- Reportedly, there is open hosdlity towards the new arrivals from the citizens of San Diego. including the cop1munity of street people who reside there permanently. They fear the activists will not conduct peaceful demonstrations, thereby creating problems for them. Prop­ erty owners have been organizing protest rallies and collecting peti­ tions urging the city council to overrule efforts by the city manager's office to set up "crash pads" in pub.fic recreation areas with sleeping accommodations and sanitary facilities for the hippie visitors. Assist­ - ant City Manager JohJt Lockwood announced that· a dollar -a-night "crash pad" would be opened this month and continue to OP.erate through the convention at the Santa Clara Point'Recreation Center in Mission Bay. This center is three miles north of the San Diego Sports Arena where the republicans will convene. The Mission B~ach town council, respondin.g to protests from local civic groups, urged the San Diego city council to override Mr. Lockwood's decision. Other neighboring seashore communit"ies !ear the Santa Clara Point Project might lead to the a·ctivists setting up campsites in recreational ar£'as all along San Diego County's 70 miles of beaches. The San Qiego city council has not yet taken action on the petitions signed by 800 are.a citizens.
    [Show full text]
  • February 25, 2021 Dear President Biden, We, the Undersigned
    February 25, 2021 Dear President Biden, We, the undersigned organizations, thank you for your critical Yemen policy resets in recent weeks, including ending U.S. support and weapons sales for offensive operations in the Saudi/UAE led war in Yemen, the lifting of the Foreign Terrorist Organization designation on the Houthis, and your commitment to diplomacy. We write to urge you to now do everything in your power to press USAID to reverse its suspension of tens of millions of dollars in congressionally appropriated assistance to ​ Yemen. Prior to the onset of COVID-19, these cuts would have had dire consequences for Yemenis already suffering through the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. Now, with the UN recording COVID cases in Yemeni communities, this aid suspension threatens to exacerbate the virus’s toll in a country where millions are already immunocompromised from years of war and near-starvation. After nearly six years of brutal warfare, Yemenis are especially vulnerable to coronavirus. As many as 80% of Yemenis, the proportion in need of humanitarian assistance and protection, are currently living with immune systems weakened by hunger and the spread of cholera and other diseases. If infected, they will have access to only half the country’s health care facilities – the other 50% having been destroyed or closed because of the conflict. The Saudi and UAE coalition’s de facto blockades of Yemen’s Red Sea ports and the ongoing closure of Sana’a airport have impeded the flow of humanitarian and commercial food, fuel, and medicine, which has pushed the prices of essential goods out of reach for millions of Yemenis.
    [Show full text]
  • A Sheffield Hallam University Thesis
    The Sheffield peace movement 1934-1940. STEVENSON, David Anthony Available from the Sheffield Hallam University Research Archive (SHURA) at: http://shura.shu.ac.uk/3916/ A Sheffield Hallam University thesis This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Please visit http://shura.shu.ac.uk/3916/ and http://shura.shu.ac.uk/information.html for further details about copyright and re-use permissions. REFERENCE ProQuest Number: 10701051 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10701051 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 The Sheffield Peace Movement 1934 -1940 David Anthony Stevenson A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Sheffield Hallam University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy January 2001 Abstract: The object of the thesis was to build a portrait of a local peace movement in order to contrast and compare it with existing descriptions of the peace movement written from a national perspective.
    [Show full text]
  • British Columbia Peace Council
    British Columbia Peace Council, 1949 - 199 4 An inventory of their fond s in the Library of the University of British Columbia Special Collections and University Archives divisio n prepared by: Terri Thompson typed by: Therese Chouinard December 1994 ii Table of Contents Historical information iii Scope/contents Inventory OFFICE FILES, 1960's - 1980's 1 LOG BOOKS 6 OFFICE FILES, 1980 - 6 MINUTES 13 EPHEMERA 13 POSTERS 14 111 Historical information The British Columbia Peace Council, established in 1949, was affiliated with the Canadia n Peace Congress and through the Congress had strong ties to the World Peace Council . Their mandate was to actively support the movement for universal peace and security . B.C. Peace council activities included letter writing campaingns, public awareness rallies , delegations to Victoria and the presentation of briefs to the Legislative Assembly of B .C. Owing to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, its activitie s decreased and the Council was disbanded in 1994 . Scope/contents The fonds consists of office files, log books, minutes, posters, and buttons deposited from their office. The office files consisted mainly of correspondence and printed material an d are divided into two groups : files from 1960 to ca. 1980 and files from ca. 1980 to 1994. The files are arranged in alphabetical order according to subject headins . Some of the correspondence include the Canadian Prece Congress, World Peace Council, and the Pacific National Exhibition. The original order was kept even though some headings have bee n repeated by the organization (e.g .
    [Show full text]
  • Resources for Nuclear Abolition Activism
    Local/National/International Resources for Nuclear Abolition Activism Local Resources American Friends Service Committee Peace & Economic Security Program https://www.afsc.org/program/peace-economic-security-program AFSC’s Peace & Economic Security Program (PES) works with a broad array of partners in its education and organizing for peace, justice, and security. The program serves as the anchor for AFSC’s nuclear disarmament education and organizing. Council for a Livable World https://livableworld.org/ The Council for a Livable World promotes policies to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons and to minimize the risk of war through lobbying and by helping elect and support Members of Congress who share our goals. Future of Life Institute https://futureoflife.org/ To catalyze and support research and initiatives for safeguarding life and developing optimistic visions of the fu- ture, including positive ways for humanity to steer its own course considering new technologies and challenges. Started by antinuclear activist MIT Prof. Max Tegmark and others. Global Zero https://www.globalzero.org/ Global Zero is an international movement for the elimination of nuclear weapons. Global Zero is challenging the 20th century idea of basing national security on the threat of mass destruction—and together we are making real progress on the road to global zero. IPPNW: International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War http://www.ippnw.org/ IPPNW is a non-partisan federation of national medical groups in 64 countries, representing tens of thousands of doctors, medical students, other health workers, and concerned citizens who share the common goal of creating a more peaceful and secure world freed from the threat of nuclear annihilation.
    [Show full text]
  • Peace Education: Experience and Storytelling As Living Education
    Peace & Conflict Review Volume 11, Issue 1 ISSN: 1659-3995 Peace Education: Experience and Storytelling as Living Education Kevin Kester Abstract Peace Education is a living, dynamic organism, and as much as life itself is education, education must be living. This necessitates the transformation of anesthetized and oppressive classrooms into dynamic, participatory spaces of sharing and creating knowledge. Storytelling and experience, thus, is considered herein as substantial teaching methodology for education for peace, whereby listening to and vocalizing the lived experiences of those in subjugated roles within society counters the hegemony of dominant groups and ‘conscientizes’ minds. As education is a form of intervention in this world, able to both reinforce the status quo and unmask dominant ideologies, Peace Education as articulated herein is informed by the educational praxes of Paulo Freire, Augusto Boal, and Betty Reardon. A specific story of a colleague’s experience with the A-Bomb in Hiroshima 1945 is shared as an example of subjective reflective teaching and learning. The article ends with a classroom activity for educators using creative writing and storytelling with participants for envisioning a better future. It has become appallingly clear that our technology has surpassed our humanity. --Albert Einstein Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men [and women] that the defenses of peace must be constructed. --Preamble to the UNESCO Constitution STORYTELLING TO REMEMBER Teachers College lives up to its reputation. As we sit in the chilled room on the 4th floor of the Mitsui Seimei Building, it’s raining outside. Other towering complexes surround us and the sound of subway trains passes through the windows.
    [Show full text]
  • C00018196.Pdf
    _Ill ,J ~illl ,:; I<, I ' I IIi 1,111 II lllllillllllllll! IIIIIIJWlL.JJLIIIILL!...1..1 ~......u.llu:.;.iJI,'--1 -'1---"---- L_..........c----------- ,. • ;..t; ..... , -.. ·~· ... SITUATION INFORMATION.. REPORT .. The Peoples "Coalition :Cor .. Peace. and Justice held a Midwest regio~al conference in South Bend. Indiana on January 7-·8. Those in· attendance dedded that four delegates from the .Midwest region woutd be part of the delegation being se'flt. to the Stockholm-Paris Peace ConferJ!nc;e scheduled for February 11.":'~3 at Paris.. Two known mem­ bers of this group are John Gilman, a Communist Party, USA leader· from Wisconsin and. Mareca Neagu, a CPUSA leader from Indiana. The ·delegation. is· scheduled to depart from Montreal, Canada, on · February 9 and 10 via Aeroflot. This airline will also pt'ovide trans­ portation for delegates to China and the Soviet Union subsequent to the Peace Confer~nce. .F:~x· j(/ ;·e1·}'( ;( ;,: .:.:.,.,,. rL CALENDAR OF TENTATIVELY SCHEDULED. ·ACTIVITIES - Asterisked items are either reported. for' the first time, or con- tain additions or changes to previously reported.activities. :C:lZ January-8 February, Washington, D. C. The Jewish Community Council of Greater Washington. D. C. is planning to conduct.leaCleting activities .at the Soviet Art Festival which will be held at the Corcoran Art Gallery on the above dates. .. • ... .. , ... t~ ., l/ .", , , """' t ...... ) :fi··.J /.·, .,,., .,./1 f. ?:'-(' •' ~."'- · ~13-16 January. Kansas City. Missouri A nationwide interreligious movement. called the "Ecumenical Witness 11 is "\nd.er the sponsorship of lZS Prot_estant, Eastern Orthodox,· Roman Catholic and 'Jewish lead~rs .. Members of this group are con­ cerned with the motal issuei in· the Indochina War and have gathered in front of the White House to pray for peace.
    [Show full text]
  • Peace Events of the 20Th and 21St Centuries*
    Peace Events of the 20th and 21st Centuries* The 20th century witnessed the most destructive wars in human history. Perhaps as many as twenty- five million people died and countless others were wounded; millions more suffered from famine, plague, dislocation, devastation and all the other hardships war can bring. Yet the 20th century also saw the most concerted efforts ever attempted to limit and even prevent war, to constrain arms proliferation, to advance peaceful means of resolving conflicts, to protect human rights, to prosecute war crimes, to prevent genocide, and to promote peace. Listed below in chronological order are some of the more important measures undertaken during the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century in the ongoing worldwide struggle to achieve these goals. Included in the listing are such disparate events as efforts to create global and regional international bodies and other mechanisms for the peaceful resolution of disputes and conflicts; major armistices which sought not only to end wars but also promote lasting peace; treaties and other agreements meant to halt or control the spread and use of weapons, especially weapons of mass destruction; establishment of international standards to promote human rights and discourage crimes and other atrocities against nationalities, civilians, prisoners and combatants; and other significant events intended in one way or another to promote peace or oppose war. Treaties proposed more to end specific conflicts than propose a systemic and lasting peace are generally not included. Many of the treaties and other documents for which links are provided are available from more than one source.
    [Show full text]