Last week the people’s initiative against arms exports presented itself at a press conference and officially started collecting signatures.
The voting rate is:
“Within one year, the Senate and the citizenship create a legal basis that prohibits the transport and handling of armaments via the Port of Hamburg and take all necessary and permissible steps to implement this ban immediately.”
On March 20, 2021, the popular initiative begins with the collection of at least 10,000 signatures within six months.
“After around two years of work, we are now well prepared to start collecting the signatures. We will announce the initiative to the Senate on Friday under the name “People’s initiative against the transport and handling of armaments via the port of Hamburg”. We are confident that we will be able to obtain the necessary signatures despite the difficult conditions under the coronavirus measures. We are sure that the majority of the people in Hamburg are against arms transports and for peace, ”explained Monika Koops, AK Frieden ver.di.( Translator’s comment: ver.di=Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft : German Unified Service Sector Union)
“After 70 years of sleep, we want to finally bring the Hamburg constitution, in which the Hanseatic city defines itself as a mediator of peace, to life. More than three containers of ammunition and armaments are transported through the port of Hamburg every day. Every weapon and every bullet endangers human life. We now want to stop this business with death, ”added Axel Richter, sculptor.
Martin Dolzer, musician and journalist, said: “We are united by the insight that a human life is only possible in peace. As a broad alliance of various peace organizations, trade union and university political activists, groups from the social and climate movement, migrant organizations, people from religious backgrounds and artists, we want our initiative to set an example for peace and contribute to peace orientation and the majority will of the population is finally implemented at the state level.
Sign now: https://ziviler-hafen.de/
Translation by Lulith V, from the voluntary Pressenza translation team. We are looking for volunteers!
