All posts by CPNN Coordinator

About CPNN Coordinator

Dr David Adams is the coordinator of the Culture of Peace News Network. He retired in 2001 from UNESCO where he was the Director of the Unit for the International Year for the Culture of Peace, proclaimed for the Year 2000 by the United Nations General Assembly.

Final declaration of NADA (Regional Democratic Women’s Coalition in the Middle East and North Africa) congress

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from Women Defend Rojava

The first congress of the Regional Democratic Women’s Coalition in the Middle East and North Africa (NADA) took place in Suleymaniya [Iraq] on May 15th, 16th, and 17th, 2025. Around 200 women from 19 different countries participated, including representatives from Kurdistan, Afghanistan, Palestine, Iran, and others.

This congress was a strategic event for women and society in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as an important step toward building a global women’s confederation. Below is the final declaration of the congress.

“We are currently undergoing a period of significant transformation, marked by dramatic changes in all areas and unfolding amid intense developments at both the regional and international levels. While unjust policies and practices have deepened the devastating impact of these transformations on women, they have also opened up new and significant opportunities.

In this context, the NADA Alliance held its first post-foundation congress on May 15–17, 2025, in the city of Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, under the slogan ‘Towards a Democratic Society Based on Women’s Revolution.’ The congress brought together hundreds of women activists, organizations, and institutions from across the Middle East and North Africa (including Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Mauritania, Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, Turkey, Iran, Syria, and Afghanistan). The participation of women from Arab, Kurdish, Syriac, Assyrian, Armenian, Amazigh, Persian, Afghan, and Yazidi (Êzidî) communities represented the unity of women across the region’s immense cultural diversity.

The congress sessions focused on core theoretical issues related to the exclusion and injustice faced by women in the Middle East. The third world war currently unfolding in the region was described as a silent genocide against women: massacres, forced displacement, abduction, and the use of women as tools of war, as seen in the atrocities committed against Yazidi women in Shengal in 2014, or in the ongoing devastation in Palestine over the past year and a half. Similar atrocities are taking place in Sudan and Yemen. These brutal wars are not only the product of democracy-deprived nation-states, but also the result of global capitalism’s alliance with local political-religious powers. These dynamics, compounded by patriarchal laws, constitutional frameworks, and regressive social values, have further marginalized women.

The congress also addressed the historical legacy of women’s resistance and their struggle to uphold this legacy amid today’s crises. Women have never stepped back; on the contrary, they have forged a powerful connection between the matriarchal culture of the past and the goals of contemporary struggle. The women’s revolutions in Rojava, Sudan, Yemen, and Tunisia, as well as the “Jin, Jiyan, Azadî” (Woman, Life, Freedom) uprising in Iran and Eastern Kurdistan (Rojhilat), are vivid examples of this continuity. The congress emphasized that a society based on women’s freedom must be built upon a shared life rooted in equality between men and women.

Participants thoroughly evaluated the current state of the women’s struggle, the challenges it faces, and the opportunities that lie ahead. The discussions emphasized the importance of seizing available resources and historical openings to strengthen efforts toward building peace and establishing a democratic society rooted in the women’s revolution. It was also stressed that regional alliances among women must be reinforced, and the need for collective resistance against patriarchal and anti-woman neoliberal coalitions was highlighted. The congress further underlined that women must have access to legal, constitutional, and security-based protection and defense mechanisms, particularly in times of war and conflict.

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Questions related to this article:

Do women have a special role to play in the peace movement?

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The congress emphasized that in response to the political dynamics of the third world war, it is essential to develop a unified political struggle led by women and to build global women’s networks that can carry forward the universal legacy of women. The NADA Alliance was highlighted as a driving force in continuing the passionate women’s revolution under the slogan “Jin, Jiyan, Azadî”.

On the third day of the congress, participants reviewed the past activities of the NADA Alliance, defined its strategic objectives, and established seven specialized committees to implement the alliance’s projects.

Participants reached a consensus on the following points:

– To strengthen the NADA Alliance as a comprehensive women’s platform grounded in human rights, embracing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Istanbul Convention, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, and relevant regional protocols.

– To adopt the Rojava and North and East Syria Women’s Revolution Document and the Charter of the Global Democratic Women’s Confederation as core references of the NADA Alliance, thereby reinforcing international solidarity among women.

– To enhance women’s organization and resistance for a society based on freedom, a life shared in equality between women and men, democracy, and social justice.

– To struggle for a democratic society and peace built on individual freedom, free from extremism, and from ethnic, religious, or sectarian divisions.

– To support Abdullah Öcalan’s Call for Peace and Democratic Society, which centers on women’s freedom.

– To demand the release of women prisoners held in the jails of occupying forces and authoritarian regimes.

– To stand in solidarity with the resistance of Yazidi women and offer support for their struggle.

– To provide both national and international support to women’s resistance in the face of war, occupation, genocide, displacement, demographic engineering, and sexual violence occurring across the Middle East and North Africa, particularly in Palestine, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.

– To establish networks among women’s organizations, promote the sharing of ideas, visions, and experiences, and address women’s issues as a transnational human cause.

– To ensure women’s active participation in political decision-making processes and to strengthen their intellectual and social capacities.

– To expand the work of the NADA Alliance through its local committees in each country and to reinforce joint actions on both local and regional levels.

– To build a women-centered, independent media that amplifies women’s issues and counters the male-dominated media narrative that degrades women.

Long live the free women’s struggle in the Middle East and North Africa!

Long live the women’s revolution! (Woman, Life, Freedom – Jin, Jiyan, Azadî)

Regional Democratic Women’s Alliance (NADA Alliance)”

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Mideast, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Mexico: UNAM cannot remain neutral in the face of escalating violence and the resurgence of authoritarian views: Rector Lomelí Vanegas

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from UNAM: National Autonomous University of Mexico

In presenting the “Culture of Peace: A University Seedbed” strategy, UNAM Rector Leonardo Lomelí Vanegas affirmed that this institution cannot remain neutral in the face of the growing escalation of violence, the resurgence of authoritarian views, religious extremism, nationalism, and xenophobia.

“Our mission is to foster critical thinking, generate alternatives, and sow hope. Peace must emerge both in the classroom and in families and communities, fostered in all daily practices and manifested in words that engage in dialogue rather than confrontation,” he asserted after signing the Agreement creating the University Program for a Culture of Peace and the Eradication of Violence.


Video of the conference

Accompanied by the Secretary of Public Education of the Government of Mexico, Mario Delgado Carrillo, and the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Lomelí Vanegas stated that today the University is taking a firm step with this strategy that aims to fundamentally change the frameworks of interaction and the processes through which we make decisions and promote a culture of peace, understood as justice, inclusion, mutual respect, sustainability, and cooperation.

“Violence is a culturally learned behavior, and as such, it can be eradicated. Peace is not its passive opposite, but part of the same process: it is chosen and practiced with awareness and commitment.” It also demands far-reaching cultural changes, political will, and the active involvement of public and private institutions and civil society,” he stated.

The rector explained that the University Program is structured around strategic axes such as training and teaching, applied research, university advocacy, strengthening protocols and encouraging community mediation in situations of violence; the promotion of peace through words, art, and cooperation; and the creation of networks with national and international actors working to build lasting peace.

The actions will be concrete, measurable, and have a direct impact: courses for new students, a specific assessment by campus, and a cross-cutting subject on Culture of Peace and Mediation starting next year, he added in the Auditorium on the ground floor of the Rector’s Building.

He also emphasized that peace in the future depends on what we are capable of imagining, building, and defending collectively today. UNAM has the strength, the capabilities, and the duty to become a hotbed of peace within and outside our borders. “Let us make it a space where justice, equality, solidarity, and plurality flourish even more. May this university initiative inspire us to make peace a concrete experience: not an unattainable horizon, but a way of educating through care and inhabiting, together, a dignified present.”

The rector expressed his concern about the situation prevailing in cities across the United States, particularly in Los Angeles, California, where migrant detentions have sparked protests. He indicated that it is very important that the actions taken by nations to regulate migratory flows be respectful of human rights and adhere to the international legal framework and that of each country.

He emphasized UNAM’s solidarity with migrants who are going through difficult times, condemned violence, regardless of its source, and indicated that the National University joins the President of the Republic’s call for peace and against any provocation.

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(Click here for the original version in Spanish.)

Question for this article:

Where is peace education taking place?

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Promoting values


​​In his speech, Mario Delgado celebrated the National University’s promotion of a culture of peace, which will necessarily be present in education. The new Mexican school project promotes respect for life, human dignity, equality, non-violence, the promotion of dialogue, and the pursuit of peaceful agreements in the classroom, the school environment, and the community.

In addition, it disseminates values ​​such as tolerance, respect for others, gender equality, non-discrimination, respect for diversity, the environment, and women.

In a video message, the Secretary of the Interior, Rosa Icela Rodríguez Velázquez, congratulated UNAM for the program, which will provide its community with the values ​​necessary to foster a culture of peace and proper conflict mediation.

“If we all contribute our grain of sand to the transformation of our beloved nation, we will achieve a better Mexico for our children, youth, and our next generations. Mexico is not condemned to war, but to peace,” she stated.

Likewise, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Juan Ramón de la Fuente, also in a video message, considered UNAM’s great success in promoting the program at this time, given that we are experiencing a critical global situation with 120 armed conflicts affecting more than 300 million people.

The global challenge, he noted, is enormous, and women’s participation in building and maintaining peace is fundamental, as there is compelling evidence that women are more effective at building and maintaining peace over time.

Nobel Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú Tum commented that education is the only alternative for building and guaranteeing a culture of peace. Therefore, she praised UNAM’s strategy to promote this culture, which includes the scientific community and the talent of our youth, so that they can grow in a plural, diverse world that is also challenging for human dignity.

“In UNAM’s history, education is fundamental to contributing to a humanity that yearns for peace as a common good, and above all, that emphasizes the need to create a leadership perspective capable of facilitating dialogue, mediation, and support,” she emphasized.

The director of the Norwegian Center for Conflict Resolution, Dag Nylander, emphasized his pride in participating in the National University’s initiative, which will serve to strengthen ties between his country and Mexico in the areas of peaceful conflict and dispute resolution and the facilitation of peace agreements.

He referred to the relevance of the strategy at a time when the world is experiencing one of the most conflict-ridden periods since the Cold War, and when it is necessary to strengthen the United Nations system and reinforce multilateralism. “We are fully committed to supporting initiatives that increase the chances of success of conflict resolution efforts and believe that interregional collaboration is key.”

UNAM’s Special Projects Coordinator, Néstor Martínez Cristo, presented the project: “Culture of Peace, a University Seedbed” which seeks to institutionalize the culture of peace and turn it into a cross-cutting axis in the university’s development policies.

It aspires to sow the seeds of a culture of peace among younger university students. The challenge is to build critical and empathetic citizenship. It also seeks to redefine the enormous work carried out daily at UNAM to prevent and address various forms of violence.

Also present at the presentation were the current president of the UNAM Governing Board, Elena Centeno García; the president of the Board of Trustees, Mario Luis Fuentes Alcalá; the former rectors of UNAM, José Sarukhán Kermez, José Narro Robles, and Enrique Graue Wiechers; as well as the head of the Office of the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Roberto de León Huerta; and the UNESCO representative in Mexico, Andrés Morales. among other personalities from civil society organizations, universities and institutions working to promote a culture of peace.

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EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

Global March to Gaza

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION .

An article published June 12 in Sharing.org Reprinted according to  Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 2.0

Meeting in Cairo, Egypt, over 30 countries are coming together for a historic international march  in solidarity with Gaza.

In a first-of-its-kind step, a coalition of unions, solidarity movements, and international human rights organizations from over 32 countries has announced the launch of the “Global March to Gaza” — a plan to enter the Gaza Strip on foot in response to the catastrophic humanitarian conditions endured by its population under an Israeli siege that has lasted nearly 20 months.

The march aims to directly stop the genocide against the Palestinian people, facilitate the immediate entry of humanitarian aid, and demand an end to the siege on Gaza.

Participants are from Western countries, not just from Arab or Muslim communities, with more than 10,000 people having expressed interest in joining. Task forces have been formed geographically to ensure effective logistics and multilingual media communication.

The march follows an Israeli plan to delegate aid entry to a private company, which the UN has rejected, arguing it would worsen displacement, restrict aid access, and tie humanitarian aid to political and military agendas.

Key objectives of the march

Around 3,000 aid trucks loaded with food, medicine, and fuel have been waiting for months at Rafah. The march’s primary goal is to break the inhumane blockade imposed since 7 October 2023.

According to the organizers, other goals include:

1. Stop the genocide

Collective, practical action to halt ongoing Israeli crimes, especially the use of starvation as a weapon and the systematic killing of children.

2. Immediate humanitarian aid access

Demand for direct and urgent entry of food, medical supplies, and essentials through the Rafah Crossing, where thousands of trucks have been stuck at the border.

3. End the siege

Call for the unconditional opening of a stable humanitarian corridor and removal of restrictions preventing access to food, clean water, fuel, and medicine.

4. Mobilize international opinion

Unite civil societies across countries to expose war crimes, pressure governments, and engage global media in supporting justice and Palestinian human rights.

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Question related to this article:
 
How can we best express solidarity with the people of Gaza?

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Video copied from twitter account of March to Gaza

5. Accountability for war crimes

Call for legal and ethical accountability for all parties contributing to or complicit in violations against the Palestinian people.

Solidarity as a principle

German lawyer Melanie Schweizer explained that this peaceful initiative also sends symbolic messages of international solidarity, aiming to:

° Represent civil societies of the participating countries.

° Involve unions, rights organizations, medical and humanitarian sectors, and individuals from all backgrounds to amplify the voice of global civil society.

° Emphasize the nonviolent and voluntary nature of the march — no government backing, and participants self-fund their journey.

March route and logistics

Because participants come from various countries, the plan is to converge in Cairo starting 12 June, then travel to Arish and proceed on foot to Gaza via Rafah Crossing.

Eduard Camacho, from the Catalan union IAC, confirmed that each person will cover their own expenses with minimal logistical support. The route involves:

1. Coordinating local start points and liaising with ground activities.

2. Dividing participants into national groups, each organizing in its own language and culture.

3. Reaching Cairo, traveling to Arish, and marching by foot to Rafah.

4. Engaging embassies and Egyptian authorities, formally requesting cooperation.

5. Staging a sit-in at Rafah Crossing to demand its opening and aid delivery.

More information: https://marchtogaza.net

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Mideast, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

United States: No Kings, No War, on Pride Day

. HUMAN RIGHTS .

Received at CPNN by email from the Campaign for Peace, Disarmamen and Common Security

Friends,

I am writing to everyone on the CPDCS e-list, except those who feel personally vulnerable to unconscionable ICE detentions, to join one of the 1,800 No Kings protests across the country this Saturday.



Map of planned NoKings events

If you had doubts about Trump/MAGA tyrannical ambitions and the threat to democracy, think about Trump’s illegal and totally mobilization of National Guard troops,  the dispatch of Marines to repress protests in Los Angeles, the threat to arrest Governor Newsom or Trump’s stupid birthday gift to himself – his massively expensive and wasteful military parade.

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Questions related to this article:

The struggle for human rights, is it gathering force in the USA?

(Article continued from the left column)

All this to press his white supremacist mass deportation campaign and to distract media tension from the pathetic Trump-Musk competition for who can be more corrupt and disgusting.

Mass Peace Action, on whose board I serve, has created an excellent announcement with information about how to access and join any one of the 1,800 protests, close to 100 are in Massachusetts alone.

Mass Peace Action – No Kings

This is a critical moment that requires compromises and a united front unity to resist tyranny.

Join Us!

Joseph Gerson
For CPDCS

Find an Event Near You

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DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, HUMAN RIGHTS

Mediation injects new impetus of peace into a turbulent world

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION . .

An editorial from the Global Times

On May 30, the signing ceremony of the Convention on the Establishment of the International Organization for Mediation (IOMed) was held in Hong Kong. Senior representatives from 85 countries and nearly 20 international organizations gathered in the city, and 33 countries signed the convention on the scene and became founding member states.


Photo: www.fmprc.gov.cn

As the world’s first intergovernmental organization dedicated to resolving international disputes through mediation, the IOMed provides a new platform for mediating disputes between countries, disputes over investment between the state and the people of other countries, and international commercial disputes.

The establishment of the IOMed is a historic breakthrough in the international dispute settlement mechanism. For a long time, settlement of international dispute has mainly relied on judicial adjudication and arbitration mechanisms, both of which have certain limitations. Mediation is based on respecting the wills of the parties, and explores win-win solutions through the assistance of a neutral third party, with the final decision made by the disputing parties. Hong Kong’s judicial practice shows that the settlement rate of court mediation cases is about 50 percent, which fully proves the unique value of mediation in resolving complex contradictions. This approach, which contains the wisdom of “harmonious coexistence,” has opened up a new path for dealing with international disputes with large cultural differences and high political sensitivity.

At present, the world is undergoing rapid change of a century, and various contradictions are intertwined. Using a “Cold War” confrontational mindset to deal with various global and regional issues has clearly deviated from the needs of the times and the development trend of the rule of law. In the existing international judicial system, developing countries often face difficulties such as lack of voice, insufficient applicability of rules, and high costs. However, some major countries are accustomed to handling international disputes through unilateral sanctions, often bypassing existing international rules and mechanisms and acting on their own. This not only fails to solve problems, but also gives rise to more contradictions.

(Editorial continued in right column)

Question related to this article:

How can we develop the institutional framework for a culture of peace?

Mediation as a tool for nonviolence and culture of peace

Does China promote a culture of peace?

(Editorial continued from left column)

The international community has never been so eager to resolve disputes peacefully. From the historic reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran in Beijing to the signing of the Beijing Declaration on ending the division by various Palestinian factions, countries have seen the great potential and possibility of resolving differences through dialogue. The birth of the IOMed is timely, and its establishment is an important step in promoting the development of the international order to a more just and reasonable direction.

The IOMed advocates for the peaceful and amicable settlement of international disputes, aiming to build more harmonious international relations and embody an inclusive and pluralistic culture of the rule of law. Against the backdrop of profound adjustments in the global order, the IOMed provides the international community with a public good of global rule of law that is peaceful, just, trustworthy, and efficient.

At the level of international law, the IOMed represents an innovative response to the United Nations (UN) Charter’s principle of peaceful dispute settlement. It breaks through the traditional methods of handling disputes – whether between countries, between countries and investors, or between equal commercial entities – offering the greater flexibility, convenience, lower costs and more effective implementation. At the same time, it complements and enhances existing international dispute settlement mechanisms such as litigation and arbitration, helping to build a more comprehensive and diversified system for resolving international disputes.

Through consultations among the negotiating parties, Hong Kong was agreed to be the headquarters of the IOMed – a strong recognition by the international community of the culture of the rule of law under “one country, two systems.” The return of Hong Kong itself is a successful example of dispute settlement, and its prosperity and stability stand as a testament to the vitality of “one country, two systems.”

With the advantages of both common law and civil law traditions, a mature legal environment, and extensive experience in “super mediation”, Hong Kong – an international metropolis backed by the motherland and connected to the world — offers an ideal environment for the development of the IOMed. This “rising star of international rule of law,” the IOMed, will surely shine in tandem with the “pearl of the orient,” creating a future of shared brilliance.

As the world reaches the crossroads of history, what countries are calling for is not an arena of power, but a dialogue platform that transcends the zero-sum mentality of “you win, I lose” and promotes the friendly settlement of disputes. This is the mission of the IOMed. It carries not only the practical need to resolve disputes, but also the civilized pursuit of eliminating conflicts through dialogue and resolving disputes through consultation. The healthy growth of this seedling of peace requires the care and support of the international community. We welcome more countries to join hands to nurture it.

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DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, East Asia, global,

Paris: Peace Concert – Saint-Sulpice Church

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An announcement from Mouvement de la Paix

In furtherance of our commitment to peace, the Mouvement de la Paix is organizing a Peace Concert on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, at 8:45 p.m., at Saint-Sulpice Church in Paris. Led by conductor Hugues Reiner, with the participation of the Hugues Reiner Choir and the Choir of 400, the concert will bring together works filled with emotion and meaning: Dvořák’s New World Symphony and the “Donkey” Mass.

(Article continued in right column)

(Click here for the French version of this article)

 

Question related to this article:

What place does music have in the peace movement?

(Article continued from left column)

Anne-Cécile Laurent, soprano; Yana Boukoff, mezzo; Joachim Bresson, tenor; Richard-Alexandre Ritelmann, baritone

Choir of 400, Paris, International Hugues Reiner Choir & Orchestra

Conductor/ Hugues Reiner

The concert is sponsored by the Nihon Hidankyo organization, Japan, Nobel Peace Prize winner, 2024, and will be addressed by Mr. David Adams (2025 Peace Manifesto).

This concert is an act of cultural resistance, an affirmation of the link between art, humanism, and peace. The funds raised will help support the actions of the Mouvement de la Paix. Reservation: €20 by clicking here
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EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Europe

Gaza Floatilla Ship Madleen Begins Voyage to Gaza

. TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

An article by Ann Wright in Peace and Planet News

The Gaza Flotilla sailboat Madleen set off from Catania, Sicily, Italy on June 1, 2025 for a 7-day voyage to Gaza  to break the 40-year illegal Israeli naval blockade of Gaza and now to stop the 600 day genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. The ship and her 12-person crew and participants departed at 4 pm Central European Summer Time following four very successful community events in Catania, each event having several hundred members of the local community attending.


Climate activist Greta Thunberg and Thiago Avila from the Freedom Flotilla Steering Committee meet with journalists in Catania, Italy.

The Madleen is named after Gaza’s first and only fisherwoman in 2014. The ship is a symbol of the unyielding spirit of Palestinian resilience and the growing global resistance to Israel’s use of collective punishment and deliberate starvation policies.

Her launch comes just one month after Israeli drones bombed Conscience, another Freedom Flotilla aid ship, underscoring both the urgency and the danger of this mission to break the siege on Gaza.

The Conscience had been in international waters off the European country of Malta as the flotilla coalition was ready to board around 35 participants onto the ship. The bombing occurred hours following the flight of an Israeli military C-130 Hercules aircraft around Malta.

In the afternoon of May 1, only hours before the Israeli military bombed the Conscience, the small Pacific island of Palau, which is dependent on U.S. funding through the Compact of Free Association, cancelled  the flag and certification of the Conscience, no doubt following pressure from the U.S. government.

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Question related to this article:
 
How can we best express solidarity with the people of Gaza?

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Madleen is carrying urgently needed supplies for the people of Gaza, including baby formula, flour, rice, diapers, women’s sanitary products, water desalination kits, medical supplies, crutches, and children’s prosthetics.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition  emphasizes that this is a peaceful act of civil resistance. All volunteers and crew aboard Madleen are trained in nonviolence. They are sailing unarmed, united by the shared belief that Palestinians deserve the same rights, freedom, and dignity as all people.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition calls on:

Governments to guarantee safe passage for Madleen and all humanitarian vessels;

Media outlets to report on this mission with accuracy and integrity;

People of conscience everywhere to reject silence and take action for Gaza.

Those onboard the Madleen are:

Mark Van Rennes (crew) The Netherlands

2. Reva Seifert Viard (crew) France

3. Pascal Maurieras (crew) France

4. Sergio Toribio (crew) Spain

5. Thiago Ávila (Freedom Flotilla Steering Committee) (Brazil)

6. Yasemin Acar (Freedom Flotilla Steering Committee) (Germany)

7. Rima Hassan (European Parliamentarian) France

8. Greta Thunberg (climate activist) Sweden

9. Yanis M’Hamdi (journalist) France

10. Suayb Ordu (engineer) Turkey

11. Omar Fayad (Al Jazeera reporter) France

12. Baptiste Andre (Doctor) France

Donate to the Freedom Flotilla here

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Mideast, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

The Sarajevo Declaration of the Gaza Tribunal (28 May 2025)

DISARMAMENT AND SECURITY .

An article by Richard Falk from the Transcend Media Service

The Sarajevo Declaration of the Gaza Tribunal, a consensus document prepared in conjunction with participants in the first of two Public Sessions of the Gaza Tribunal, was released on 28 May 2025. The second session of the tribunal is scheduled for late October. The proceedings in Sarajevo consisted of survivor testimony from Gaza, invited expert speakers, a round-table on media complicity, and the reports of three chambers tasked with documenting evidence and consequences of alleged genocide and crimes associated with forcible application of the Settler Colonial Project to Gaza following 7 Oct, as well as the failure of the UN, growing public protests, and of leading governments to bring the genocide to an end in accordance with international law and hold the perpetrators accountable.

The Sarajevo Declaration is a comprehensive text intended to convey the orientation, broad scope of the goals of civil society solidarity activation and reflecting the diversity of concerns among members of the Gaza Tribunal community. Sarajevo was our chosen site to express symbolic solidarity with an earlier genocide at Srebrenica that occurred 30 years ago. Encourage wide sharing of the Sarajevo Declaration. It is my honor to serve as president of the GTP in concert with dedicated scholars, witnesses, and activists from around the world, including the inspiring participation of our Palestinian sisters and brothers.

The Sarajevo Declaration of the Gaza Tribunal

28 May We, the members of the Gaza Tribunal, having gathered in Sarajevo from 25 to 29 May 2025, declare our collective moral outrage at the continuing genocide in Palestine, our solidarity with the people of Palestine, and our commitment to working with partners across global civil society to end the genocide and to ensure accountability for perpetrators and enablers, redress for victims and survivors, the building of a more just international order, and a free Palestine.

We condemn the Israeli regime, its perpetration of genocide, and its decades-long policies and practices of settler colonialism, ethno-supremacism, apartheid, racial segregation, persecution, unlawful settlements, the denial of the right to return, collective punishment, mass detention, torture and cruel and inhuman treatment and punishment, extrajudicial executions, systematic sexual violence, demolitions, forced displacement and expulsions, ethnic purges and forced demographic change, forced starvation, the systematic denial of all economic and social rights, and extermination.

We are horrified by the Israeli regime’s systematic devastation of Palestinian lives, lands, and livelihoods, including its intentional destruction of all sources and systems for food, water, healthcare, education, housing, culture, as well as mosques, churches, aid facilities, and refugee shelters, and its targeting of medical personnel, journalists, aid workers, and United Nations staff, and its direct targeting of civilians, including children and older persons, women and men,  girls and boys, persons with disabilities and those with medical conditions.

We demand an immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces and an end to the genocide, to all Israeli military action, to forced displacement and expulsions, to settlement activities, to the siege of Gaza and restrictions on movement in the West Bank. We call for the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners, including the thousands of Palestinian women, men and children held in abusive Israeli detention facilities. We insist on the immediate resumption of massive humanitarian aid to all of Gaza without restriction or interference, including food, water, shelter, medical supplies and equipment, sanitary equipment, rescue equipment, and construction materials and equipment. We call as well for a complete withdrawal of all Israeli forces from all Lebanese and Syrian territory.

We call for an end of the smearing of UNRWA and other humanitarian workers, for the free and unhindered access of UNRWA and all other United Nations and humanitarian organizations in all areas of Gaza and the West Bank, for full compensation by the Israeli regime for damage caused to UN and humanitarian facilities, alongside full compensation and reparations to the Palestinian people, and for full accountability for the harassment, abduction, torture, and murder of UNRWA and other humanitarian workers and their families.

We call on all governments and on regional and international organizations to end the historic scandal of inaction that has characterized the past nineteen months, to urgently respond with all means at their disposal to end the Israeli assault and siege, to uphold international law, to hold perpetrators to account, and to provide immediate relief and protection to the people of Palestine.

We denounce the continued complicity of governments in the perpetration of Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Palestine, and the shameful role of many media corporations in covering up the genocide, dehumanizing Palestinians, and in the dissemination of propaganda fueling anti-Palestinian racism, war crimes, and genocide.

We equally denounce the wave of persecution and crackdowns on human rights defenders, peace activists, students, academics, workers, professionals, and others, perpetrated by Western governments, police agencies, the private sector, and educational institutions. We honor those who, despite this persecution, have had the courage and moral convictions to stand up and speak out against these historic horrors, and we insist on the full protection of the human rights of free expression, opinion, assembly, and association, as well as the right to defend human rights without harassment, retaliation, or persecution.

We reject the unjust tactic of smearing as “antisemites” or “supporters of terrorism” all those who dare to speak up and act to defend the rights of the Palestinian people and to condemn the injustices and atrocities of the Israeli regime and its perpetration of apartheid and genocide, or those who criticize the ideology of political Zionism. We stand in solidarity with all those who have been smeared or punished in this way.

We are convinced that the struggle against all forms of racism, bigotry, and discrimination necessarily includes the equal rejection of Islamophobia, anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian racism, and antisemitism. It also includes an acknowledgment of the horrific effects that Zionism, apartheid, and settler-colonialism have had and continue to have on the Palestinian people. We commit to fighting all such scourges.

We also reject the destructive ideology of political Zionism, as the official state ideology of the Israeli regime, of the forces that colonized Palestine and established the Israeli state on its ruins, and of pro-Israel organizations and proxies today. We insist, in the words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, and that there are no exceptions to this rule. We call for decolonization across the land, an end to the ethno-supremacist order, and the replacement of political Zionism with a dispensation founded on equal human rights for Christians, Muslims, Jews, and others.

(article continued in right column)

Question related to this article:

How can war crimes be documented, stopped, punished and prevented?

How can a culture of peace be established in the Middle East?

(article continued from left column)

We are inspired by the courageous resistance and resilience of the Palestinian people in the face of over a century of persecution, and by the growing movement of millions standing in solidarity with them around the world, including the principled advocacy and nonviolent action of thousands of Jewish activists who have rejected the Israeli regime and its ethnonationalist ideology, and have declared that the Israeli regime neither represents them nor acts in their name.

We recognize the right of the Palestinian people to resist foreign occupation, colonial domination, apartheid, subjugation by a racist regime, and aggression, including through the use of armed struggle, in accordance with and as recognized in international law and as affirmed by the United Nations General Assembly.

We recall that the Palestinian right to self-determination is jus cogens and erga omnes (a universal rule not subject to exception and binding on all states) and is non-negotiable and axiomatic. We recognize that this right includes political, economic, social, and cultural self-determination, the right to return and full compensation for all harms suffered in a century of persecution, to permanent sovereignty over natural resources, and to non-aggression and non-intervention. We respect Palestinian aspirations and full Palestinian agency and leadership over all decisions affecting their lives, and we stand in solidarity with them.

We are gravely concerned at the direction of international relations, international politics, and international institutions, and by attacks on those international institutions that have challenged genocide and apartheid in Palestine. We believe that the normative foundations of the global order, grounded in human rights, the self-determination of peoples, peace, and the international rule of law, are being sacrificed at the altar of ruthless political realism and obsequious deference to power, with the people of Palestine left undefended and vulnerable on the front lines. We insist that another world is possible and intend to fight to bring it about.

We fear that the nascent and flawed international normative order, built up since the Second World War, with human rights at its center, is at risk of collapse as a result of the sustained attack waged on the system by the Israeli regime’s Western allies in their quest to buttress Israeli impunity. We pledge to oppose this attack and to work to protect and advance the project of building a world in which human rights are governed by the rule of law, beginning with the struggle for Palestinian freedom. And we believe that the weaknesses and inequities hard-wired into the international system from the start, including the geopolitical right of exception codified in the United Nations Security Council veto, the disempowerment of the General Assembly, and the structural obstacles that mitigate against the enforceability of International Court of Justice (ICJ) decisions, must be reformed and rectified.

We demand immediate action to isolate, contain, and hold accountable the Israeli regime through universal boycott, divestment, sanctions, a military embargo, suspension from International organizations, and the prosecution of its perpetrators, and we commit ourselves to this cause. We equally demand individual criminal accountability for all Israeli political and military leaders, soldiers, and settlers implicated in war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, or gross violations of human rights, as well as accountability for all persons and organizational actors guilty of complicity in the regime’s crimes, including external proxies of the Israeli regime, government officials, corporations, arms manufacturers, energy companies, technology firms, and financial institutions.

We applaud the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for its ongoing historic genocide case against the Israeli regime and for its landmark advisory opinion findings on the illegality of the Israeli occupation, of the apartheid wall, and of the Israeli practice of apartheid and racial segregation, and its findings that the rights of the Palestinian people are not dependent upon or subject to negotiation with their oppressor and that all states are obliged to abstain from treaty, economic, trade, investment, or diplomatic relations with Israel’s occupation regime. We celebrate the principled action of South Africa in bringing to the ICJ the historic genocide case against the Israeli regime.

We call on all states to ensure the implementation of all provisional measures adopted by the ICJ in the genocide case against Israel, to fully respect the findings of the ICJ in its advisory opinion of July 2024, to comply with all elements of the United Nations General Assembly resolution of 13 September 2024 (A/ES-10/L.31/Rev.1), ending all arms trade with and implementing sanctions on the Israeli regime, and to support accountability for all Israeli perpetrators.  We urge civil society organizations and social movements around the world to initiate and strengthen campaigns to support the ICJ’s decisions and opinions on Palestine, and to press their own governments to abide by them.

We similarly applaud the International Criminal Court for (albeit belatedly) issuing arrest warrants for two senior Israeli regime leaders and call on the ICC to both expedite action on these cases and to issue further warrants for other Israeli perpetrators, both civilian and military.  We call on all ICC State Parties to urgently act on their obligations to arrest these perpetrators and hand them over for trial, and we demand that the United States lift all ICC sanctions and cease all obstruction of justice.

We express our gratitude and admiration to the independent special procedures of the United Nations Human Rights Council for their expert contributions and for their strong and principled voices in holding the Israeli regime to account and defending the human rights of the Palestinian people. They have shown themselves to be the conscience of the organization, and we call on the United Nations and all member states to defend and support these mandate holders without fail. We applaud, as well, the principled action of those United Nations agencies that have acted to defend the rights of the Palestinian people and to provide aid and relief to the survivors of genocide in Palestine in the face of unprecedented risks and obstacles, foremost among them, UNRWA.

We believe that the world is approaching a dangerous precipice, the front edge of which is in Palestine. Dangerous forces in both the public and private spheres are pushing us toward the abyss. The events of the past nineteen months, and our own deliberations, have convinced us that both key international organizations and most countries of the world, whether acting individually or collectively, have failed in defending the human rights of the Palestinian people and in responding to the Israeli regime’s genocide in Palestine.

We are convinced that the challenge of justice now falls to people of conscience everywhere, to civil society and to social movements, to all of us. As such, our work in the coming months will be dedicated to meeting this challenge. Palestinian lives are at stake. The international moral and legal order is at stake. We must not fail. We will not relent.

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DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, global, Mideast,

Fasting for Gaza’s Children

. . HUMAN RIGHTS . .

An article by Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate, in the Transcend Media Service

Salam


I have recently finished a 40-day fast and prayer for the children of
Gaza and

Other parts of the world where children

Are being massacred by gov polices of cruelty militarism and war.


The Israeli gov and its criminal Israeli

Defence force carry out genocidal mass

Murder of Palestinian unarmed civilians

In their Zionist policies of ethnic

Cleansing of Palestinian land.  This

Is aided by their friends in USA uk  and

Europe with money arms weapons and

Political support.   Starvation of little

Children and denying them water food

Medical care and their very lives is evil and war crimes and against international laws.
It was in deep sorrow for the suffering of

People of Palestine that I undertook this fast.

Question related to this article:

How can war crimes be documented, stopped, punished and prevented?

How can a culture of peace be established in the Middle East?


I also prayed that I would not allow

Seeing such Israeli cruelty ’harden my

Heart’ and I would not be bitter against

The perpetrators of such violence but

Would deepen my love for all and

Increase my acts of forgiveness nonviolent resistance and justice and peace.

I took liquids, no solids for 40 days.

I was tired and thought of Palestinians

In Gaza trying to protect their children

From bombs and famine.

To the people of Gaza and occupied West Bank I am very sorry for this

Death and destruction perpetrated on

Your people.
thank you for your example of Sahmoud.

Thank you for your resilience against

Evil and your courage in proclaiming

Human dignity and decency for

Palestinians and the human family.

Salam aleikum.

Mairead Corrigan Maguire

Nobel peace laureate

Your Irish friend who loves you

‘Stay gentle’
27 May 2025

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HUMAN RIGHTS, Mideast

300 Participants from 60 Countries Attend Annual Forum of China and Globalization

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

Excerpts from an article from the Center for China and Globalization

The 11th Annual China and Globalization Forum, jointly convened by the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) and the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), and co-organised by the Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies (ACCWS) and the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF), concluded successfully in Beijing after a three-day agenda from May 22 to 24.


Video of conference

The forum brought together over 300 participants from nearly 60 countries across five continents, including former policy-makers, ambassadors, policy experts, scholars, international organisation representatives, and media professionals.

The opening session took place on the morning of May 22 at the Grand Millennium Beijing and was moderated by Mabel Lu Miao, Co-founder and Secretary General of CCG. . . .

Following the opening, the first roundtable session titled “Renewing Global Governance and Multilateralism in Uncertain Times” was co-chaired by Henry Huiyao Wang and Mabel Lu Miao. . . .

In the afternoon, the forum continued with three thematic roundtables. The first, titled “US-China Trade War Narratives in an Era of Great Power Competition,” was held in partnership with the Asia Society. The session was co-chaired by:

– Henry Huiyao Wang

– Jing QIAN, Co-founder and Managing Director, Center for China Analysis (CCA) at Asia Society Policy Institute . . .

The second roundtable in the afternoon, themed “Reshaping Frameworks for Global Governance: The Role of China and the Global South,” was held in partnership with the Doha Forum. The session was chaired by Mabel Lu Miao and featured special remarks from Henry Huiyao Wang and Maha Al Kuwari, General Manager, Doha Forum. . . .

(article continued in right column)

Question for this article:

Does China promote a culture of peace?

(Article continued from the left column)

The last roundtable of the day was themed “Maintaining International Regulatory Cooperation in A Multipolar World.” Held in partnership with the Centre on Regulation in Europe (CERRE), the session was chaired by Zach Meyers, CERRE Director of Research. . . .

On May 23, the Ambassadors’ Roundtable focused on the theme “Multilateralism in a Multipolar World” and was co-chaired by Henry Huiyao Wang, James Chau, and Tammy Tam, Editor-in-Chief, South China Morning Post. . . .

This was followed by a policy dialogue roundtable themed “EU-China at 50: The State of the Bilateral Relationship in a Changing World.” It was co-organised with the European Policy Centre (EPC) and chaired by Henry Huiyao Wang and Declan Kelleher. . . .

The afternoon was dedicated to the Middle East Forum, held in partnership with the Amersi Foundation, which comprised two sessions:

Panel 1: The Emerging New Middle East Order – moderated by Henry Huiyao Wang and Mohamed Amersi, Founder and Chairman, The Amersi Foundation

Panel 2: Key Challenges – covering three topics: Iran nuclear talks, the Israel-Palestine conflict, and state fragility.

The sessions were moderated by Henry Huiyao Wang, Mabel Lu Miao, Zoon Ahmed, Research Fellow, CCG, and Mohamed Amersi, Founder and Chairman, The Amersi Foundation. . . .

In parallel, a closed-door roundtable under the EU-China Think Tank Exchanges project was held, moderated by SHEN Wei, Qiushi Distinguished Chair Professor at Zhejiang University and Nonresident Senior Fellow at CCG, and Victor de Decker, Research Fellow for the Europe Program at the Egmont Institute. . . .

On May 24, CCG and the Alliance of Global Talent Organizations (AGTO) arranged a field visit for over 30 international participants from nearly 20 countries.

Participants visited the CCG Beijing Academy, Beijing’s sub-centre in Tongzhou, including the “Two Zones” [National Integrated Demonstration Zone for Greater Openness in the Services Sector and the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone] exhibition hall, and AGTO Beijing Office.

The group also visited historical landmarks in the Grand Canal Cultural Tourism Zone and the Han Meilin Art Museum. These activities provided international guests with insights into Beijing’s cultural heritage and openness, while also exploring opportunities for future cooperation.

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East Asia, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT