International issues

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.”

I was working in Libya as a technician at the ship-shore radio station, Tripoli, when Muammar Gaddafi led the bloodless coup in 1969. I was on the overnight shift when the new regime, headed by the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), abolished the monarchy and proclaimed the new Libyan Arab Republic – thus launching Mr Gaddafi onto the grand stage.

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”!

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.”

*The second-last tranch of entrants into the School of Silo took place at the 20 Parks of Study and Reflection, 4 December, 2010. It was a simple procedure. People came and went. There were group discussions and parties were held. The collective conscious life of a relative few was substantially augmented to the betterment of the general human condition.*

The discovery of a new planet and the denied appointment by the UN of someone responsible for relations with ‘aliens’ leads us to reflect on the moment in which humanity finds itself as a whole. What will mankind do at this historical crossroads? Will we continue in our prehistory or will we launch ourselves like a shooting star towards other worlds?

The annual announcements of Nobel Prizes started in Sweden today with the first prize for Medicine being awarded to the British Scientist, Robert Edwards, for his pioneering work in in-vitro fertilisation. An estimated 4 million children have resulted from his work. A Vatican official denounced the award as, *“completely out of order”*.