Europe

Since 2008 the vast majority of the Western population dream about saying “no” to the banks, but no one has dared to do so. No one except the Icelanders, who have carried out a peaceful revolution that has managed not only to overthrow a government and draft a new constitution, but also seeks to jail those responsible for the country’s economic debacle.

While Barack Obama justifies the attacks and gives unconditional support to his Israeli equivalent, Netanyahu, Europe debates among numerous crises. Some governments have decided to get through the crisis with war, others have disassociated themselves, and Germany, on the other hand, finds Merkel trying to suspend her government.

Over a year has passed since the end of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence and the Humanist organisation, World without Wars and Violence (WwW), is preparing itself to launch a new global campaign to build on the success of the March as another element in a string of increasingly large actions to take place since its foundation in 1995.

The Libyan uprising continues and UN forces have started bombing to enforce a UN no-fly zone. World without Wars condemns the violence, the hypocrisy of Western governments and their policy of preventative war. “A war is underway and we believe that if it is not stopped immediately it will lead to a massive disaster affecting all the countries of the Mediterranean and beyond.”

Hugo Ghiara, member of the “Mediterranean” team of World without Wars and without Violence and editor of the digital newspaper Globatium, announced a proposal which arose from the meeting of delegates from the humanist organisation WwW in Madrid. Members from 11 countries and using 8 different languages participated in this meeting. The following is Hugo Ghiara’s summary:

Steven Starr from Physicians for Nuclear Responsibility wrote for Pressenza about the events in Japan at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. “If enough brave people sacrifice their health and lives, against all odds they will manage to get the situation under control at Fukushima Daiichi. If not, then large areas of northern Japan could be left uninhabitable for centuries.”

The earthquake in Japan and the subsequent meltdown of nuclear reactors in Japan has caused fears of a nuclear catastrophe of unprecedented scale. With the approach of the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, which non-industry supported investigations report the deaths of up to 950,000 people, World without Wars spokesperson speaks out about the use of nuclear energy.

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.