Europe

The World without Wars World Coordination Team today remembered the victims of the terrorist attacks of the 11th of March 2004 and denounced all forms of violent action and social injustice in the world with a visit to Atocha Station in Madrid. “We need reconciliation: a reconciliation between all peoples of all cultures and all religions.”

The International Coordination team of World without Wars started its meeting today in Madrid, Spain, bringing together all 12 members of the team coming from 11 countries who speak 8 different mother tongues. “The world is changing and we take strength from this and we hope that what we achieve in these days can also give inspiration and support to all our activists.”

The Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation is a new feather in the cap for Austria, which served as a bridge between East and West under the leadership of Chancellor Bruno Kreisky in the 1970s, and was the venue of some early rounds of the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) between the United States and the now defunct Soviet Union.

After two years of several efforts and failures, finally it has been decided the creation of a new Park of Study and Reflection for the Czech Republic. The place is called Březno and it is located at about 45 minutes from Prague going North-West. In the site there are already buildings for the Center of Studies, Center of Work and for the Workshop.

During the same days in which at the Czech Republic the decision of creating a new Park of Study and Reflection is taken, at the existing one of Mikebuda in Hungry, it has been bought the new Center of Studies. It is located at the land next to the Park and it has already some existing buildings of an old school, which can be re-utilized after reparations.

World without Wars is following the dramatic events of recent days in Libya with deep concern. The victory of non-violent popular protest in Tunisia and Egypt clearly did not serve as a lesson for Gaddafi who responds to demonstrations by hiring mercenaries, firing rockets and shooting protesters from helicopters, blaming “thugs, inmates, foreigners and Islamists”!

This exhibit at the German Historical Museum shows 50 years of history. From 1920 with the appearance of Hitler as the “drummer” announcing the imminent arrival of a saviour to Hitler’s elevation to power in 1933 as the “Fuehrer” to his fiery departure in 1945 and final disappearance with the scattering of his ashes in 1970.

In a moment of global optimism following the non-violent revolution that swept through Tunisia and then Egypt, World without Wars and Violence meets to consider the current global situation and plan its strategy for the coming year. “We have not been this inspired at global events since the fall of the Iron Curtain.”

Rafael de la Rubia, spokesperson for last year’s World March for Peace and Nonviolence talks about Egypt, Tunisia and the implications for the Arab world. Highlighting the essential role of nonviolence de la Rubia pays tribute to the young people who drove the process to its conclusion. “They have given the rest of the world a Master Class in non-violent revolution.”

Thousands of people rallied in cities across the world to demand respect for human rights in the Middle East and North Africa as part of a global day of action organized by Amnesty International.
Activists, trade unionists and students created a sea of red, black and white – the colours of the Egyptian flag – in countries from Switzerland to South Korea.