North America

Steven Starr from Physicians for Social Responsibility writes about the dangers of creating so much radioactive waste in the world’s 440 nuclear reactors, the ongoing situation in Fukushima and the legacy of the radioactive exclusion zone around Chernobyl. “It is time to admit that nuclear power is neither a “safe” nor “clean” method to produce energy.”

A caravan of Mexican anti-violence protesters arrived in the United States over the weekend. Mexican poet, Javier Sicilia, led the traveling protest, which began last week south of Mexico City and ended in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday. Sicilia demanded the United States end the Merida Initiative, which provides training and support for the Mexican army in its “war on drugs.”

Newly released government data shows the Obama administration approved $200 million in military sales to Bahrain last year just months before the Gulf nation launched a violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. Part of the military sales involved the sale of rifles, shotguns and assault weapons. There have been a number of developments in Bahrain.

We present a short amazing video of a conference recently held by Julia Bacha regarding the stories that can change the so called “confirmation bias” (or previous believes) that we all have, and help us open our minds and have a new cognitive resonance or comprehension of a fact that usually we tend to look with some prejudice. Such is the case of non-violence in Palestine.

The Caravan for Peace has demanded the U.S. government to suspend the Plan Merida and admit that its drug policy has a devastating effect on Latin America.
Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, the caravan organizer, said that the USA should admit its responsibility for the violence in Mexico, during a rally in El Paso, Texas, United States, at the end of the caravan protest campaign.

In Wisconsin, more than a thousand Wisconsin workers marched today through Madison Monday to protest Gov. Scott Walker’s “budget repair” bill that slashes collective bargaining rights and funding for education, health care and seniors’ programs. Eight people were arrested.
Pilar Schiavo is participating with National Nurses United.

Palestinian and Israeli Nonviolent resistance to the Israeli occupation

The author Maxime Kaufman-Lacusta visited Montreal on May 16th to launch her new book “Refusing to be Enemies”. Kaufman-Lacusta is optimistic regarding the future of Palestinian nonviolence movement. The book is about diverse strategies used by different organizations to struggle against the occupation.

By Randy Rydell*

The world is filled with many serious problems that must be addressed — poverty; racism; illiteracy; contagious diseases; terrorism; injustice; to name only a few.

So why should we bother to focus on nuclear weapons? And why specifically should anybody approach this subject in a Middle East context?

In a landmark step towards lifting more than 370 million indigenous peoples in 90 countries accounting for 15 per cent of the world’s poor out of extreme poverty, 4 UN entities have launched a new initiative to be known as the UN Indigenous Peoples’ Partnership (UNIPP).
It will promote and protect the rights of indigenous peoples, aspiring to strengthen their institutions.

A proposed international conference regarding a nuclear weapons-free Middle East, tentatively scheduled for year 2012, may be in jeopardy amid the growing political turmoil sweeping across the Arab world – and Israel’s fears of negative fallout on its own security.

By Thalif Deen
Nuclear Abolition News | IPS |