Deadline for the next issue is 31 May 2008

Current editorial
Current Billy

May 2008

News back issues

April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
December 20007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003
July 2003
June 2003
May 2003
April 2003
More back issues

Issue 150: June 2007

• Editorials: Governments North and South
• Eco-Awareness with Larry Speight: Consumption and happiness
• Readings in Nonviolence: Confronting oppression
• Billy King: Rites Again - Walking to the promised land

The Militarisation of Ireland
"The Militarisation of Ireland's foreign and defence policy; A Decade of Betrayal, and the Challenge of Renewal" is the latest report from Afri (24 pages, A4). Covering Shannon, Iraq, Afghanistan, rendition, integration into EU/NATO/PfP military structures, the EU Rapid Reaction Force, EU Battlegroups, the international arms trade, and the challenge of renewal. Available at €3 including postage from: Afri, 134 Phibsborough Road, Dublin 7, ph. 01 - 8827563, e-mail afri@iol.ie, web www.afri.ie

The Local Planet
The green movement needs a magazine which is 'out there', in the shops, dealing with the issues that matter in an informative way without being patronising or condescending - the sort of magazine that you can give to anyone and say 'this is what the green movement is about'. In a slot similar but different to the old Earthwatch magazine, 'The Local Planet' is a quarterly, 64 pages A4 in full colour, retailing at €3.95 or £2.50. The contents are very varied - the Spring issue has Richard Douthwaite on climate change and poverty, and on peak oil; articles on green education, green cars, powerdown, sparrows in Antrim, winter in a passive solar house in Ireland, shopping locally, political coverage, the EU, ethical investments, squirrels and other animals, staying healthy cleaning the house, gardening, fast breeder reactors etc. You may or may not agree with everything but that is what being a political magazine is about - informing and stimulating debate. Look out for The Local Planet in the shops or subscribe directly: €28 in Ireland, £28 UK, €35 worldwide, students (Ireland and UK) €20, by phone to 057 - 9133119 / 9133985 / 9133962, e-mail subscribe@localplanet.ie, via the web at http://www.localplanet.ie or to The Local Planet, Fivealley, Birr, Co Offaly.

Kember at Corrymeela / Programme Coordinator @ Corrymeela
Norman Kember, the British peace activist who worked with Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) in Iraq until taken hostage with other CPT members, will speak at the Corrymeela Centre, Ballycastle, Co Antrim at 3.00 pm on Saturday 16th June. This is part of the Church and Peace conference taking place at Corrymeela (see Nonviolent News 147). Norman Kember is a retired professor of biophysics, a Baptist, and a longstanding member of the Fellowship of Reconciliation; he went to Iraq to show his opposition the the invasion by the US-led coalition and to show his solidarity with the Iraqi people. The Corrymeela Centre in Ballycastle is contactable at 028 - 20762626 The Church and Peace website is at http://www.church-and-peace.org

The Corrymeela Community is looking for a Programme Co-ordinator to be based at Ballycastle, to co-ordinate, develop and run reconciliation programmes there to help meet the vision and purpose of the Corrymeela Community. For an application pack contact: Anne McDonagh, Corrymeela house, 8 Upper Crescent, Belfast BT7 1NT, ph 028 - 90508080, e-mail annemcdonagh@corrymeela.org Closing date is midday on 15th June. Web http://www.corrymeela.org

Quakers look at peace and reconciliation
This year Quakers in Ireland are hosting the Triennial Meeting of the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC - the global body of Friends). This will take place in Dublin in August and around 230 Quakers will travel from all continents to attend. In the previous week, 7th - 11th August, local friends and others in Ulster are organising a four day study tour on 'Peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland'. Participants, from a range of about ten countries, will visit people and groups who work and have worked for reconciliation and the political peace process. For further info about the 'Peace and Reconciliation in Northern Ireland' event only, contact Felicity McCartney at 028 - 90662777.

Mediation Northern Ireland; Development officer, assistant jobs
Mediation Northern Ireland (MNI) is looking for people for two posts i) a Development Officer who will develop strategic partnerships locally and develop, train and support local mediation practitioners; criteria include Group Mediation Skills at OCN Level 3 or equivalent, and ii) a Development Assistant who will provide administrative, logistical and local support to the eight area based projects and to the project team. For info pack contact: Personnel Officer, MNI, 83 University Street, Belfast BT7 1HP, ph 028 - 9043 8614 stating which post you're interested in, alternatively you can download a pack from http://www.mediationnortherniteland.org Closing date is 4pm on 19th June and interviews will be the week beginning 25th June.

End the Occupation! National demonstration, Saturday 9th June
On Saturday 9th June, people around the world will be demonstrating for an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, now 40 years old. The demand is for 'a rights-based solution and end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict' (http://www.badil.org/call-en.htm). In Dublin, the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) is planning, with the help of other groups, to hold a march and demonstration in solidarity with the Palestinian people in support of this demand. Assembly will be outside the Central Bank on Dame Street at 2.00 pm., the route will go past the EU office on Molesworth Street where participants can register their disapproval of the EU's ongoing sanctions against the Palestinian people. The march, which will include street theatre and music, will finish at the GPO in Dame Street. Everyone is welcome. E-mail supportpalestine@ireland.com and the website is at http://www.ipsc.ie or phone 086 8124085 or 085 7216185. There will be coach transport from Belfast; e-mail belfastipsc@yahoo.ie or ph 077 88576932.

At Ease looks for volunteers in the North
At Ease is a free advisory, counselling and information service for members of the British armed forces and their families, all the work is done by volunteers. At Ease is looking for volunteers who will, after induction, give occasional help and support to people in the armed forces in their area; this may include interviewing clients, making hospital or custody visits or observing courts martial etc. You can find out more at http://www,atease.org.uk or phone 0207 247 5164 between 5pm - 7pm on Sundays, e-mail info@atease.org.uk or contact At Ease at Toynbee Hall Site, 28 Commercial Street, London E1 6LS.

Rights and Righteousness: Religious Pluralism and Human Rights
This is a conference organised by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Irish School of Ecumenics Belfast, taking place from 1st - 2nd November 2007, aiming to stimulate productive and new discussions about the relationship between faith and rights. The conference will be of interest to educators, clergy, academics, students and human rights practitioners. The call for short papers is open with a closing date of 15 June 2007 - questions to be explored include: Are rights everywhere and everywhere the same? What role do cultural and religious traditions have in the articulation of rights? Are human rights necessarily secular as some advocates would argue? For details, contact Louise Furber, NIHRC, ph 028 9024 3987, e-mail: louise.furber@nihrc.org org visit either: http://www.nihrc.org or http://www.tcd.ie/ise/news

Media workshop for development education, and others
IDEA, the Irish Development Education Association, is running a A Day for Development Education Practitioners and others to develop Media Skills and Knowledge on Wednesday June 13th 2007 at The Cultivate Centre, Essex Street, Dublin 1 from 10.00 am - 4.15 pm. There is a choice of workshops: Local Radio/Newspapers or EBulletins/Newsletters in the morning, and Images - Codes of Practice or Use of New Technologies in the afternoon. Fee €25 (€20 for IDEA members) including lunch. Book by e-mail to ideaonline@eircom.net and confirm your place by sending cheque to IDEA, 10 Upper Camden Street, Dublin 2. Website http://www.ideaonline.ie

Transcend Summer School
Transcend Peace University, a global online centre for peace studies, has a variety of summer school courses coming up: Conflict Care and Reconciliation, by Prof. S.P. Udayakumar; Gender and Militarism, by Prof. Gal Harmat; Peace Journalism, by Prof. Jake Lynch; Non-violent Tools and Philosophy, by Prof. Jorgen Johansen; Peace Zones, by Prof. Christophe Barbey; Peace and Literature, by Prof. Marisa Antonaya; Dialogue, Negotiation and Mediation, by Prof. S.P. Udayakumar; Non-violent Political Institutions, by Prof. Christophe Barbey. These will start on 9th July and run until 27th August. Applications are received until 2nd July 2007. Each online course costs €150 for participants coming from non-OECD member states, and €300 for residents of OECD member countries. Check it all out at http://www.transcend.org/tpu or e-mail tpu@transcend.org Ph/Fax: +40 264420298, Mobile: +40 724380551, Mailing address: PO 1 Box 331, Cluj Napoca, 134919, Romania

EAPPI: Ecumenical Accompaniers in Palestine and Israel
EAPPI, the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel, is looking for people to work in the West Bank and Israel in 2008; EAPPI provides protection by presence, supports Israeli and Palestinian peace activists and advocates for an end to the occupation. Contracts are mainly for 3 months with an allowance paid. Deadline for applying is 31st August. Application packs available from: http://www.quaker.org.uk/eappi or contact: EAPPI Programme Coordinators, QPSW, 173 Euston Rd, London NW1 2BJ, ph +44 (0)20 7663 1144 or e-mail: eappi@quaker.org.uk There will be three people who will have served with EAPPI from Ireland during 2007.

Amnesty International's 2007 Report
The Amnesty International Report 2007, launched in mid-May, provides a comprehensive global overview of the state of the world's human rights and covers 153 countries, documenting human rights issues of concern to Amnesty International during 2006 and reflects the organisation's activities during the year to promote human rights and to campaign against specific human rights abuses. It is available at http://thereport.amnesty.org/eng/Homepage See also http://www.amnesty.ie and http://www.amnesty.org.uk/ni for Amnesty in the Republic and the North.

24-25 year olds wanted from Belfast, Derry/Londonderry, Dungannon
A research project at the University of Ulster on issues around education and reconciliation in three European regions that have experienced conflict (Basque Country, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland) is looking for 24-25 year olds from the above areas willing to be interviewed; they are particularly interested in talking to people with experiences such as being victims of the Troubles, connections to the security forces, links to ex-combatants, people associated with inter-group relationships or marriages, and individuals from ethnic minorities. Further info from Clare Magill, Project Coordinator, UNESCO Centre, School of Education, University of Ulster, Cromore Road, Coleraine BT52 1SA, phone 028 - 70323287, e-mail c.magill@ulster.ac.uk and web http://www.ulster.ac.uk/unesco

Pax Christi International submission on chemical weapons
The Second Review Conference on the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) takes place from 7th to 18th April 2008 and Pax Christi International (PCI) has made a submission regarding its recommendations and concerns. "The creation of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), responsible for the implementation of the CWC, has been a success. Compared to the Biological and Toxin Weapon Convention (BTWC), where no such organization exists, the OPCW has managed to get more countries to sign and ratify the CWC convention in a much shorter period of time. The OPCW also appears to play a good role in training inspectors and destroying stocks of old chemical weapons. Acknowledging this, Pax Christi International reiterates its plea for agreeing on an adequate verification regime for the BTWC convention, learning from and similar to the experience with the OPCW." However it goes on to outline concerns including about export controls for dual use chemicals. The destruction of stockpiles of chemical weapons is progressing too slowly, the PCI report states.

Concern about new technological advances includes nanomicelles or nanocapsules, which can be used to encapsulate any substance including a poison and deliver it to a targeted location inside the human body, and other developments which need to be looked at in relation to the verification regime. Finally PCI expresses its concern about non-lethal weapons: "Another worrying evolution is the renewed interest for the development and use of non-lethal chemical weapons for military purposes and the development of chemical non-lethal incapacitating agents. The CWC clearly prohibits the development, possession and use of chemical weapons that can cause death, temporary incapacitation or permanent harm. But recent progress in the biochemical and pharmaceutical industry have allowed the identification of various types of new chemicals. Often discarded as purely pharmaceutical by the producing companies, these new chemicals have nevertheless sparked keen interest in military and policing circles for their potential development into non-lethal incapacitating agents. The CWC prohibits their development and use for military purposes, but does not explicitly prohibit their use for law enforcement purposes."

Pax Christi International, Rue du Vieux Marché aux Grains 21, B-1000 Bruxelles, Belgium, ph. +32(0)2.502.55.50 http://www.paxchristi.net

Children in Crossfire's Anniversary Conference
Children in Crossfire is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a 2-day International Conference on Children's Rights and has announced His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, as the keynote speaker for the event. Other speakers including Jane Olson of Human Rights Watch, veteran journalist Fergal Keane and recent Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern. The conference is made up of a variety of workshops that will explore a range of issues relating to Children's Rights from a local and global perspective. Delegates from a wide variety of sectors will get the opportunity to exchange experiences and engage in critical debate. For further information: conference@childrenincrossfire.org and web http://www.childrenincrossfire.org, ph 028 71 269 898. It will take place at the City Hotel and Millennium Forum, Derry on Tuesday 17th and Wednesday 18th July 2007 [Source: CGE E-Bulletin, June 2007, http://www.centreforglobaleducation.com ]

Deadline for July issue; 30th June (there will be no August issue though if material warrants it then there may be an e-mail supplement; the following full issue will be the start of September).