World Council of Churches Peace treatise: “If you want peace, go and talk to your enemy”

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An aticle from the World Council of Churches

The editorial team of Ralf Becker, Rev. Karen Hinrichs, Prof. Dr Heinrich Schäfer, and Dr Theodor Ziegler are presenting “If you want peace, go and talk to your enemy: An Ecumenical Peace Treatise–2026.”

Published as a special volume in the “edition pace” series, the publication is being presented in cooperation with the Ecumenical Peace Network and enhanced by a preface by Dr. Konrad Raiser.

Through the concept of “peace logic,” the book points to ways in which conflicts could be resolved through diplomacy and civil conflict resolution, and wars may be prevented. 


The document aims to provide Christians and humanists with a clear, ethical orientation toward peace. It calls for an unequivocal commitment to military disarmament and for all states to join the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in times of massive rearmament. It notes that churches, in particular, can be a strong, clear voice for peace and contribute to building a culture of peace.

Coeditor Schäfer said that the treatise attempts to offer the perspective of grassroots organizations. “Within the team, we first decided to orient ourselves closely to the prophetic-Jesus tradition, following the example of the prophet Micah and the Sermon on the Mount,” he said. When viewed in the light of their original context, the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount contain clear, practical recommendations even for policymakers on how to prevent violence. “This theology is most in line with grassroots Christian movements, but of course aiming at the entire church. These theological reflections were complemented by a critique of the “myth of redemptive violence” by the American theologian Walter Wink. Finally, we incorporated a political science perspective through Hanne-Margret Birckenbach’s ‘Peace Logic.’ ”

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Question for this article:

What are the most important books about the culture of peace?

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Schäfer described how all of this was repeatedly discussed and expanded upon over the course of about half a year in online plenary sessions as well as among individual plenary members. “In this way, more ideas came to light during the editorial process than initially anticipated, such as the perspective of the churches in East Germany, documents from the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Vatican, and theological input provided by historic peace churches,” he said.

Schäfer also noted that, when it comes to secular ethics, there are various points of connection.

“The program of strengthening grassroots initiatives, cooperating with secular peace actors, and fostering a culture of nonviolence—these strategies are entirely in line with our approach,” he said.

Spiritually speaking, the Sermon on the Mount contains more than just practical recommendations, he noted. “It also establishes prayer as a source of courage and points to the coming Kingdom of God,” he said. “Furthermore, the prophet Micah offers us a magnificent vision of the success of our commitment to peace: the beating of swords into plowshares.”

Schäfer noted that, first, the prophets’ call for justice and peace—as such, but not in its theological rationale—can be directly linked to the demands of secular ethics. “Nuclear armament has been an issue for the peace movement in Germany since the mid-1950s.”

The problem has been exacerbated today by the fact that the chancellor has decreed the purchase of nuclear-capable Tomahawk missiles for Germany, Schäfer notes. “This violates important international treaties, most notably the Two-Plus-Four Treaty, which is fundamental to the right of a united Germany to exist,” he said. “ The peace movement, however, is always at a disadvantage when faced with such decisions made without public or even parliamentary debate.”

“Despite everything, the challenge set forth by the prophets and Jesus—to speak to the enemy rather than threaten him—remains the best guide for those who seek peace,” concluded Schäfer.

Download a free copy of the book

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EDUCATION FOR PEACE, global

Brazil: Restorative Justice program trains educators to foster a culture of peace in municipal schools

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION . .

An article by the Court of Justice of the State of Roraima

Teachers and administrators from the municipal school system completed a Restorative Justice training course on Friday, August 7. The program focused on implementing practices that encourage dialogue, active listening, and a culture of peace within schools.

The methodology employed by Restorative Justice aims to create spaces for dialogue, strengthen bonds, and contribute to conflict prevention and resolution. Valeska Carvalho, head of the Restorative Justice Unit—coordinated by Judge Marcelo de Oliveira of the Court of Justice of Roraima (TJRR)—explained that the goal is to prepare school professionals themselves to share the knowledge gained during the training with others.

“The intention is for them to be prepared to transfer this knowledge to their own environments—their schools. It was a 40-hour course where they learned about the ‘peace-building circles’ methodology, which is the approach we use in schools. This gives schools the autonomy to manage their own projects.”

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(Click here for the original article in Portuguese)

Discussion question

Restorative justice, What does it look like in practice?

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For those who have participated in previous sessions, the impact of the training is directly visible in daily school life. Teacher Conceição Rebouças, from the José David Feitosa Neto Municipal School, participated in a Restorative Justice training program for the third time; she notes that the practices she has learned have contributed to the children’s development.

“We have achieved good results at the school because the children are developing a culture of peace. Whenever we bring the experiences shared here and the guidelines we’ve worked on into the classroom, we notice the school making progress and seeing significant benefits—especially for the children,” she stated. According to the educator, student participation also demonstrates their interest in the activities developed based on the techniques they learned.

“The results are visible. Parents come to praise the work we do, and the children actually ask when we’ll be back in the classroom to apply the techniques learned in the course. So, that is rewarding for us,” she said.

The training also covered topics such as assertive communication, listening, mediation, and conflict resolution. For Adélio Gomes, a teacher at the Senador Darcy Ribeiro Municipal School, the knowledge gained expands the educators’ options for handling common situations in the school environment.

“This is a very comprehensive course that teaches us how to communicate and listen correctly. Often, we listen but interrupt, without waiting for our colleague to finish speaking. We worked on assertive communication, conflict resolution, and how to act as mediators,” he explained.

Spanning 40 hours, the course took place over two weeks and introduced participants to the peace-building circles methodology.

Armed with this new knowledge, teachers and administrators return to their schools with tools they can apply in their daily routines—especially in conflict situations and in building relationships grounded in dialogue and listening.

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DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

California was mostly solar-powered in May — a global first

.. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ..

An article from Canary Media

While the Trump administration is busy pointing out that the sun doesn’t shine at night, solar is breaking records around the world, including in sunny California.

Solar panels produced 51% of California’s electricity in May, the first time the clean energy source surpassed the halfway mark for an entire month. The data counts both large-scale installations and the state’s bounty of rooftop arrays.

(click on image to enlarge it.)

This isn’t just a milestone moment for California; it’s a milestone for the entire world. Think tank Ember says the state is the globe’s first major economy to cross the 50% threshold. (Hungary, at 47% in June 2025, is knocking at the door, though it has a far smaller GDP.)

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Question for this article:

Are we making progress in renewable energy?

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Solar’s rise has helped California cut polluting energy sources out of its power mix. Natural gas is the only fossil fuel that California power plants burn at appreciable levels, and solar is steadily squeezing it out of the system. Case in point: Solar outproduced gas not only during its record month of May but throughout every month in 2026 leading up to it, too.

Solar could not have reached these heights alone. It needed batteries to get here — and California has that crucial energy storage in spades. The California Independent System Operator, which manages most of the state’s grid, now boasts 16 gigawatts of batteries that can shift abundant midday solar production to later in the evening. It’s not uncommon for batteries to meet over one-quarter of the state’s electricity demand for a portion of the night.

All this solar and storage would have been hard to imagine a decade ago. Back then, in its best month — also sunny, mild May — solar accounted for just 17% of electricity. That number is well above the current national average for solar, but a far cry from 51%. CAISO’s battery fleet, meanwhile, was a measly 61 megawatts. So, storage has grown by, uh … 26,129% over the last decade, a number so cartoonishly large that I’m almost hesitant to print it.

Expect California to see more months break the 50% threshold soon. And in the coming years, expect more states and countries to cross the halfway mark, too.

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North America, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Leadership in Africa series – President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah (aka NNN) of Namibia

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article from the Business Day of Nigeria

This column today begins an occasional series to examine governance issues on the continent of Africa.


Netumbo Nandi Ndaitwah, à Windhoek, le 24 novembre 2024. © SIMON MAINA / AFP

Africa is the richest of the seven continents in the world, and the second largest continent by land mass, though you would not guess that fact from looking at the distorted cartography of the globe that is used to put the continent down. Despite Chinua Achebe’s giant literary effort, through ‘Things fall apart’ , to debunk Joseph Conrad’s and Hugh Trevor-Roper’s wholesale labelling of the land as a ‘Dark Continent’, with no history or self-awareness before the advent of the white man, an aura of dark mystery and negative expectation still pervades any discussion about Africa.

A lot of developments on the continent since countries began to achieve independence from colonial rule have encouraged the narrative. Despite the colourful aura of the early generation of leaders such as Kwame Nkrumah, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere and Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, among others, who were inspirational arrowheads of anti-colonial struggles in their countries, things have not played out in a manner to match the optimism of the early days. In many cases the ‘fathers’ themselves have proved to be all too human in their psychological frailties. The attributes required to lead a successful ‘liberation struggle’ have looked somewhat different from what it takes to lead poor, uneducated masses, through the rituals of faulty ‘democracy’, on the path to national growth and rapid development. Many of the countries have descended further into poverty and strife, despite – and sometimes because of, the exertions of their ‘founding fathers’.

A blame game of sorts has ensued. The target has ranged from a purported intrinsic, perhaps genetic, inability of the black race to govern itself, as reflected in the alleged racist trope of the apartheid icon PW Botha, to projection of the responsibility onto the much hated, and much aped, Western world, as depicted eloquently in the classic anti-colonial volume ‘How Europe Underdeveloped Africa’.

Developing the nations of Africa was never going to be a stroll in the park. 1.59 billion people, living in the true geographical centre of the world, with a land mass of 30.37 million square kilometres, covering 20% of Earth’s surface, average among the lowest Human Development Indices in the world, despite flashes of brightness represented by tiny outliers like Seychelles and Mauritius. The continent holds 20% of global reserves of mineral resources and 14% of global total oil reserves.

The owners and inheritors of such a rich continent have no business with poverty. It is an anomaly that the leaders of the 54 nations on the continent are all too aware of. In many cases, they are making determined efforts to change the narrative.

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Questions for this article

Can the women of Africa lead the continent to peace?

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It is interesting, therefore, to take a random spot view, akin to a slice of an image from a patient’s CT scan, of a few places, and see what is going on, and if there is anything new in prospect.

Take Namibia.

Namibia is a sparsely populated African country with a land area of 825,615 square kilometres and a population of only 3 million people or so. It is racially diverse, with 87% of Namibians being black, 6% white, and 7% of mixed race. The official language is English, though Afrikaans, German and some local languages are also spoken. It gained independence from South Africa in 1990 after a struggle led by the South West African Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO), and supported by the international community. It is a country with a troubled history, which includes genocide committed by Germans against the local Herero and Nama people between 1904 and 1907 for resisting their colonial oppression.

Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, whose nickname is NNN, has been in office since 21st March, 2025. She is the fifth President of Namibia, and the first female. She had earlier served as Vice President, and before that as Minister of Women’s Affairs.

Namibia’s Liberation struggle brought it historically into close affinity with Cuba and the Eastern Block of nations, and many SWAPO stalwarts, like the President herself, received their education in Russia during the Cold War.

With a background in gender activism which is focussed on female education, equality and empowerment, and embedded in a traditional value system that is reticent about LGBTQ and abortion issues, NNN has always been an outspoken lady. Namibia is ranked as an upper middle-class country, but the wealth is in the hands of a small minority, predominantly white, and poverty is rife. She tries to draw a fine line between the racial harmony of Namibia and the situation in South Africa.

It is early days to speak of achievements in the office of President, at barely one year old. As Minister of Women’s Affairs, NNN had pushed Equality Laws and the combating of domestic violence. She had been an active voice internationally on Women, Peace and Security. As President she is driving a close relationship with the private sector to boost job creation, and powering a National Youth Fund dedicated to skills training, apprenticeship and support for Small Scale Enterprises led by youths. She has promoted community empowerment through grassroots programmes for after school and general development. She has decided to offer free education targeted at the poor in public universities and technical colleges. There is a vigorous land reform process in the works. National minerals, which with agriculture form the mainstay of the country’s economy, are to undergo local processing instead of being exported raw. Historical disparities leading to glaring inequities are in focus. There is a push to increase housing for the poor and increase investment in deprived regions.

Hifikepunye Pohamba, one of her predecessors as President, won the prestigious Mo Ibrahim Foundation prize for exemplary African leadership, commitment to democracy and peaceful exit from office in 2014.

Those are big shoes to step into. It would be interesting to watch NNN, and developments in Namibia, over the next few years.

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Africa, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Interview with Combatants for Peace

DISARMAMENT AND SECURITY .

The members of the Israeli-Palestinian movement Combatants for Peace fight for peace on behalf of the Palestinians in Israel. Here are excerpts from articles in Pressenza: part one and part two published under a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0)

Combatants for Peace Iris Gur (Israeli) and Mai Shahin (Palestinian) will be attending the Re-Imagine Peace event in Florence; both have been invited to the screening of the film *There is Another Way*. Daniela Bezzi of Pressenza interviewed them:

DB – Let’s start with your personal stories: how did you decide to join Combatants for Peace?

Iris Gur – Throughout my adult life, I worked in education as a teacher and as a school principal. I always saw education not just as a profession, but as the way of life I had chosen for myself. I grew up in a Jewish Israeli Zionist family. My parents arrived in Israel as refugees from Europe after the Second World War, and I grew up on stories of the Holocaust and survival. The only narrative I knew was that we, the Jewish people, had always been persecuted, and that we had no choice but to defend ourselves and our small country. The only thing I knew about Arabs was that they all wanted to destroy us.

My father was a military officer. I grew up on army bases and was very proud of the Israeli army. For most of my life, I had no opportunity to become familiar with either the Palestinian narrative or with Arab friends. I deliberately use the word “Arabs” because, in the environment where I grew up, the term “Palestinians” simply did not exist. Neither did the concept of the occupation.

Today, I can see that there were cracks in my worldview over the years, but I never allowed them to grow. The person who ultimately transformed my perspective was my daughter, Noa. 11 years ago, when she was seventeen, she decided to refuse military conscription. Through her, an entirely new world of values, ideas, and community opened up before me.

Her decision meant four months in military prison for her, and for me was the beginning of a journey of discovery – one that confronted me with the reality of the occupation, apartheid, and above all, the Palestinian people.

My decision to join Combatants for Peace came from the realization that if I truly wanted to help change the reality we are in, it could only be done in full partnership with Palestinians and through nonviolent actions.

Mai Shahin: I didn’t arrive at Combatants for Peace as a single decision. I joined through a long process of living under occupation in the West Bank, where control is not only political, but physical, emotional, and psychological. It shapes movements, breath, relationships, and the ability to imagine a future beyond survival. In that environment, resistance is not abstract. It is daily life. But over time, I began to ask a deeper question: how to resist without losing our own humanity in the process? A question that led me into trauma work, community healing, and nonviolent communication. I began to understand that occupation does not only control land – it enters the nervous system, it fragments trust, it isolates communities, and it produces cycles of grief that, if unprocessed, repeat themselves across generations.

This is where my connection with Combatants for Peace begins. It was the first space I encountered where Palestinians and Israelis were not asked to erase reality to speak. We were rather asked to stay inside reality together, while refusing violence as a response.

What makes Combatants for Peace so powerful is that it is not only a dialogue space. It is a joint movement of resistance. It insists that ending occupation, dismantling systems of domination, and protecting human dignity are not separate from relationship-building: they are part of the same struggle.

Alongside this work, and deeply connected to it, I co-founded Satyam Homeland together with Palestinians, Israelis, and international practitioners. It emerged from the same understanding: that resistance requires spaces where people can learn to remain human even inside the struggle. Satyam Homeland is a community space where Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals come together to engage in trauma and grief work, embodied healing, nonviolent resistance education, dialogue, and storytelling—and from that ground, move into action in the world. It is not separate from Combatants for Peace. It is part of a broader ecosystem of what I do: one holds the political courage of joint resistance, the other holds the communal practices that make sustained nonviolent engagement possible. They speak to each other constantly.

After October 7, this connection became even more visible. As Palestinians witnessed mass killing and destruction in Gaza, and escalating violence, settler attacks, and displacement in the West Bank, the instinct toward separation was immense. Fear and grief were not theoretical – they were lived, immediate, and heavy. And yet within Combatants for Peace, something held. We did not collapse into silence or separation. We turned toward each other – not to soften reality, but to remain capable of facing it. We cried together. We named what was happening. We disagreed. But we stayed.

And then we asked the only question that matters when everything is breaking: What do we do now? A question that we can afford thanks to the several years of building relationships that can survive rupture. This is how to be with Combatants for Peace is not only part of my work – it is the central part of what I do.

This is also why I continue this work from the West Bank, where every act of nonviolent resistance, every meeting, every step of presence carries real risk – and yet also real meaning, faith, responsibility. . . .

(Editor’s note: Two question/responses from part one are omitted here:
1. DB – This year marks the 20th anniversary of Combatants for Peace. What makes this movement so successful among the young people, in your opinion?
2. DB – It is quite extraordinary to see so many Israeli and Palestinian organizations mobilizing in coalition. What is the ingredient in your opinion for this kind of activism, based on cooperation despite the differences?
You can find the omissions here. )

DB – Both of you are often involved in actions of “Protective Presence”. Can you share some moments from your experience?

Iris – Thank you for this question, so important for me at a personal level that I feel tears in my eyes! I am part of a group called “Jordan Valley Activists.” It was established about 17 years ago by activists from Combatants for Peace and has grown into a group in its own right, thanks to the initiative of Israelis who provide accompaniment and a protective presence to Palestinian shepherds and farmers in the Jordan Valley.

We provide physical presence and assistance with food, water, legal support and any other help we can offer to the last remaining communities that are still holding on, in the face of violence by settlers and the Israeli military: demolition orders, threats of displacement, restrictions on grazing, denial of water and livelihoods and so on.

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(For a French version of this article, click here.)

Question related to this article:

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

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I joined this ‘protective presence’ activity in November 2023, when settler and military violence escalated dramatically. The violence was no longer directed only at shepherds in the fields, but also at families in their own homes. As a result, the presence of activists was expanded into 24/7 shifts.

I became closely connected with one specific community called ‘Farsiya al-Razala’, which consists of five families, including children, women, and elderly people. It is one of the last ten shepherd communities remaining in the Jordan Valley, and sadly, their time before being forcibly displaced may also be coming very soon.

Last week, I accompanied two young shepherds who were grazing their flocks in an area called Hammam al-Malih. Until a few months ago, there was a large community there: families, fields, herds, children, and even a regional elementary school. Everything was destroyed by the State of Israel. The people were violently displaced, despite the fact that the land is privately owned by a church. Across the road, alongside the community, there is a military base that has existed for many years.

In recent months, the soldiers have taken upon themselves the task of ensuring that, even after the families were expelled and the place was emptied, shepherds from nearby communities would not return to graze their flocks. In the past, there was also a spring there, that provided drinking water for both people and animals.

On the day I was there, the two young shepherds asked us not to leave them alone, because if we did, the soldiers would come and arrest them. One of them told us about his previous arrest:

“Female soldiers, 18 or 19 years old, were shouting at us and putting plastic restraints tightly around our hands. I asked them: Why? There is room for everyone here. I am only asking to live in peace.” The soldiers shouted at them: “Leave this place.”

He answered: “Where will we go? We have nowhere else to go. This is our home. We have lived here all our lives.” That day, the shepherds were able to finish grazing peacefully.

Yesterday, in the same place, two soldiers arrived and arrested one of those young men. The other managed to escape. One of the soldiers fired his M16 rifle into the air and claimed that he was not afraid of anyone. The Palestinian shepherd was taken, handcuffed, to the military base several kilometers away. A few hours later, he was released, bruised and beaten. This is only one story among hundreds of daily incidents of abuse.

Yousef, a 13-year-old boy with special needs, called me to tell me that his family had received a demolition order for their home in Farsiya. I had no words to answer him. This child and his family have no other home.

Mai – Protective Presence is where everything becomes real. It is standing with communities under immediate pressure. Farmers, shepherds, families, children who are trying to remain on their land and continue ordinary life under extraordinary conditions.

In the West Bank, especially since October 7, the level of violence, uncertainty, and instability has increased. Communities face settler attacks, military incursions, and ongoing displacement pressure every day.

In that context, presence is not symbolic. It is a form of protection, but also a form of witnessing.

It communicates something simple and essential: you are not alone.

Sometimes it prevents violence, sometimes it doesn’t. But it always interrupts isolation and isolation is one of the core tools of oppression. And this is where the connection to CFP becomes tangible, because CFP is not only dialogue, it is joint resistance in action.

And ‘Protective Presence’ is one of its clearest expressions in the field. It is also where the embodied and trauma-aware practices from Satyam Homeland become essential, because staying present in such moments requires inner grounding, not only political conviction.

Both dimensions are always present in our work.

DB –  Last but not least: what can we do in order to contribute to your endeavor?

Iris – There is a lot that can be done. Beyond providing financial support, people can also come to the region and join protective presence activities as international volunteers. This does involve risks: there is a physical risk of violence from settlers, as well as the possibility of being expelled by the Israeli authorities. At the same time, visiting both the West Bank and Israel is safe and can allow people to develop a deeper and more accurate understanding of the reality. There is nothing like seeing things with your own eyes, and there is nothing like experiencing reality directly.

History has shown us that pressure from international communities can influence leaders, change policies, and even transform the course of history. People can take action by reaching out to the media, politicians, artists, public figures; by changing the public discourse; and by demanding an immediate end to violence, abuse, occupation, apartheid, and displacement.

This includes demanding access to water and livelihoods, freedom of movement, and the release of Palestinian prisoners and detainees. It means demanding the release of all human beings from lives shaped by fear and violence. The demand must be for security, freedom, and equal rights for every person living between the river and the sea.

The conversation needs to change: from supporting one side of the conflict against the other, toward understanding that the goal must be a safe and free life for all human beings.

There are 14 million people living between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River: about 7 million Jews and 7 million Palestinians. Neither of them will go anywhere. Our future is shared, whether we like it or not. The question is not whether we will live together, but how. Our children deserve to grow up in freedom, security, and dignity.

Mai – The first responsibility is clarity. Reject antisemitism completely. Reject Islamophobia completely. Reject anti-Palestinian racism completely. Reject any framework that assigns unequal value to human life.

The second responsibility is truth. We cannot build justice based on denial. We must be able to name occupation, displacement, structural inequality, and violence without euphemism.

The third responsibility is support for movements that combine resistance and healing. Because this is what makes long-term transformation possible.

Combatants for Peace holds the political spine of nonviolent resistance and joint struggle. Satyam Homeland holds the embodied, emotional, and communal capacity that allows that resistance to continue without collapse. Together, they represent something rare: a way of staying human inside struggle.

For me, as a Palestinian woman working from the West Bank, this is not theory. It is daily life, shaped by risk, responsibility, grief, and also by deep commitment and trust in the relationships we have built across divides.

That is what keeps this work alive. Because in the end, what we are building is not only political change. It is the possibility that we can remain fully human while refusing systems that deny humanity to others.

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DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, HUMAN RIGHTS, Mideast

Open Letter from Global Jewish Organizations in Support of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions

. . HUMAN RIGHTS . .

An article from the Transcend Media Service

A call for Jewish organizations around the world to publicly endorse the BDS movement and support coordinated nonviolent pressure to end Israeli impunity.

8 Aug 2026 – We, the undersigned Jewish organizations, collectives, and community members around the world, write today out of profound moral urgency.

The Israeli state is accelerating the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians through mass displacement, settler violence, and the destruction of Palestinian communities. In Gaza, Israel is carrying out a genocide that has killed tens of thousands of people, devastated civilian infrastructure, displaced the vast majority of the population, and subjected Palestinians to starvation and collective punishment.

These crimes demand concrete action from us, in whose name they are being committed.

Members of Zidovsky Hlas Solidarity (Jewish Voice of Solidarity) at a protest in Prague.

In the United States, Jewish Voice for Peace has expressed principled support for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), demonstrating that Jewish ethical principles can and must be mobilized in opposition to oppression.

The scale of devastation has reached a point where silence is no longer defensible.

We therefore call upon Jewish organizations around the world to publicly endorse the BDS movement and to support coordinated nonviolent pressure to end Israeli impunity. We also urge governments and international institutions to respond to growing calls from civil society, human rights organizations, and citizens for concrete measures of accountability, including the suspension of the EU–Israel Association Agreement.

We affirm support for:

° Boycott, divestment, and sanctions as legitimate, nonviolent tools for advancing

° 
Palestinian freedom, equality, and human rights;

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Question related to this article:

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

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° Economic, cultural, academic, and institutional pressure on Israel until it ends its

violations of Palestinian rights and complies with international law;

° The right of individuals, organizations, and institutions to advocate for and participate

in BDS without censorship, retaliation, or legal penalty;

° Building broad Jewish support for BDS globally as an expression of solidarity with Palestinians and opposition to Israeli oppression.

This is not a moment for maintaining old divisions and political boundaries while an entire society is being destroyed. We may not agree on every political framework, but we believe the time has come to place our collective moral weight behind meaningful action, publicly support BDS, and demand accountability.

Supporting Organizations

Umbrella Networks

European Jews for Palestine (EJP)
Global Jews for Palestine (GJP)

Organizations

A Different Jewish Voice (Een Ander Joods Geluid) (Netherlands)
AJAB – Antizionist Jewish Alliance (Belgium)
Erev Rav (Netherlands)
Jewish Call for Peace (JCP) (Luxembourg)
Jewish Network for Palestine (United Kingdom)
Jewish Peaceniks (United Kingdom)
Jewish Voice of Solidarity (Židovský hlas solidarity) (Czech Republic)
Jews for Justice for Palestinians (JfJfP) (United Kingdom)
Jøder for Retfærdig Fred (af 5784) / Jews for Just Peace (5784) (Denmark)
Jødiske stemmer for rettferdig fred (Jewish Voices for Just Peace) (Norway)
Judeobolschewiener*innen (Austria)
Jüdische Stimme (Germany)
Junts Associació Catalana de Jueus i Palestins (Catalonia/Spain)
Loud Jew Collective (Melbourne, Australia)
Shoresh EU
The Vilne Bund (Lithuania)

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Comments

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global, HUMAN RIGHTS

The Peace Makers Academy 2026 is accepting applications for an international peace hackathon in Paris

. TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

Special to CPNN from the Peace Makers Academy

At a time when societies across the world face increasing polarization, conflict and uncertainty, the Peace Makers Academy 2026 will bring together 25 young leaders from diverse nationalities for an intensive four-day international experience dedicated to peacebuilding, leadership and collaborative action.

This year’s edition is built around the theme “From Resources to Peace: Science, Innovation and Citizen Action”.

Organized in Paris from 15 to 18 October 2026, the Peace Makers Academy is far more than a training program. Designed as a three-day international Peace Hackathon, the Academy combines experiential learning, intercultural dialogue and project-based collaboration to empower participants to become concrete actors of peace within their communities.

Built around the conviction that peace is a skill that can be learned, practiced and multiplied, the Academy offers participants a comprehensive 360-degree approach to peacebuilding through expert-led workshops, simulations, keynote lectures and collaborative challenges.

Rather than focusing solely on theory, the program encourages participants to design practical and innovative responses to real societal challenges. Throughout the event, interdisciplinary teams will work together to develop initiatives capable of creating measurable local and international impact.

From dialogue to action

One of the Academy’s defining features is its action-oriented methodology.
Instead of limiting discussions to global challenges, participants are invited to co-create practical solutions addressing issues such as social cohesion, inclusion, dialogue, youth engagement and community resilience.

The hackathon serves as a laboratory for innovation where participants move rapidly from identifying challenges to designing impactful initiatives that can be implemented beyond the Academy.

This emphasis on implementation reflects a broader vision of peace—not merely as the absence of conflict, but as the active construction of inclusive, resilient and cooperative societies.

Building an international network for peace

Beyond technical skills, the Academy seeks to create a lasting international community of changemakers.

(Click here for the article in French.)

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Question related to this article:
 
Youth initiatives for a culture of peace, How can we ensure they get the attention and funding they deserve?

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Participants will have the opportunity to establish professional relationships with experts, facilitators and fellow young leaders representing multiple countries and cultures. These connections are intended to continue long after the Academy concludes, encouraging future collaborations and cross-border initiatives.

Final round of applications

The final application round is now open for candidates wishing to join the 2026 cohort.

Young leaders, students, professionals, entrepreneurs and engaged citizens between 18 to 40 years old, with a strong interest in peacebuilding and international cooperation are encouraged to apply. The program will be conducted entirely in English.

Peace Makers Academy 2026
Dates: 15–18 October 2026
Location: Paris, France
Language: English
Participants: 25 selected candidates from diverse nationalities

As the final selection process begins, this is the last opportunity to become part of an international community committed to building peace through collaboration, innovation and leadership.

About JCI and JCI France

The Peace Makers Academy is organized by JCI France, the French national organization of Junior Chamber International (JCI).

Founded in 1915, Junior Chamber International is a global nonprofit organization of active young citizens aged 18 to 40, bringing together more than 160,000 members in over 100 countries and territories. JCI develops leadership through projects that create positive change in communities while advancing active citizenship, entrepreneurship, international cooperation and the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. JCI holds consultative status with the United Nations ECOSOC.

Through the Peace Makers Academy, JCI France contributes to this global mission by providing young leaders with practical peacebuilding skills, fostering intercultural dialogue and empowering participants to transform innovative ideas into tangible actions for more peaceful and inclusive societies.

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Press contact: Eva JOURJON — peace.academy@jcef.asso.fr — +33 6 29 09 87 21

(Editor’s note: On August 15, we spoke by telephone with Eva Jourjon who reassured us that applications are still being considered, despite information on the internet saying that applications are closed.)

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Europe, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

English bulletin of CPNN August 1, 2026

PEACE THROUGH DIALOGUE AND EDUCATION .

This month we feature articles from Asia, Africa and Europe.

In South Asia, there is important movement in India and Pakistan.

Activists from India and Pakistan have launched a virtual conversation that transcends the culture of war that divides the two countries. As described by author and participant Nawal Amjad, the virtual dialogue had enthusiastic participation from young changemakers from both countries. What was originally envisioned as a two-hour event went on almost four hours. They call it “A Conversation that Refused to End.” Having heard about the new events in India, Nawal says she is a “cockroach in Pakistan.”

The new “cockroach” movement in India is described by author Arundhati Roy. As she says, the student-led protests hae convulsed the Indian capital, showing a different future for India, and spreading to other cities. The movement began when Chief Justice of India, Surya Kant, called some unemployed young Indians cockroaches, Abhijeet Dipke, a student living in Boston, posted a comment on Instagram: “What if all cockroaches come together?” Millions responded. And thus was born the Cockroach Janta Party. Arundhati Roy says,, “For the first time in years, it feels wonderful to be Indian. Just when hope seemed lost, they came.”

From Africa, Winner Ogogo describes how young leaders, policymakers, innovators, and development practitioners from across the continent gathered to advance conversations on sustainable development and the aspirations of the African Union’s Agenda 2063. Beyond the formal sessions, the summit fostered collaboration among delegates from across Africa, creating opportunities for cross-border partnerships, cultural exchange, and shared learning. These interactions reflected the spirit of Pan-Africanism envisioned in Agenda 2063 – an Africa driven by its people, where collaboration, innovation, and unity become the foundation for sustainable progress.

CPNN has been followiing the difficult attempts of three African countries, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, to break free from neo-colonial domination. The task is not only military, economic and linguistic, but also cultural. In this regard we published this month the news that the the Burkina Ministry of Culture has suspended all beauty contests pending a review of how they are managed.

The Council of Europe has adopted a Recommendation on Peace Education by, with and for Young People. Dr. Phill Gittins explains the process of consultation by which the recommendation was elaborated. Young people and non-governmental youth representatives contributed to discussion, drafting and revision alongside governmental representatives, experts and Council of Europe colleagues. He discusses how it can be put into practice.

Peace educators from around the world (the International Institute of Peace Education) met in Granada, Spain, from July 19-26, for a rich exchange of experiences, ideas and culture. They welcomed the Peace Manifesto that we have described in previous bulletins and added many useful proposals for its elaboration.

The Granada meeting visited the seven villages of La Taha in the mountains nearby to receive the “Manifest Pueblos por la Paz” that was written and endorsed by the town council. The Manifest is not only a beautiful document, but it also serves as a model for local peace manifestos that we hope will be developed around the world.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY


India and Pakistan: A Conversation that Refused to End

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT


African Youth Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals and AU Agna 2063: From Dialogue to Action

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION


La Alpujarra, Granada, Spain: Manifest Pueblos por la Paz

WOMEN’S EQUALITY


Burkina Faso’s Ministry of Culture suspends all beauty pageants
  

TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY


UNESCO Korean workshop: Translating Peace into Action

EDUCATION FOR PEACE


From Adoption to Action: A New Council of Europe Recommendation on Peace Education by, with and for Young People

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION


Bike for Peace turns 50. In 2026-27 we visit all nine nuclear powers with one appeal, a nuclear-free world by 2045

HUMAN RIGHTS


India: Cockroach Democracy: Unarmed and Dangerous

d-education

United Nations: Strengthening Culture of Peace

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Excerpt from UN Meetings Coverage and Press Releases

The Assembly adopted the draft resolution titled “Follow-up to the A/80/L.77/Rev.1) by a recorded vote of 169 in favour to 2 against (Israel, United States), with no abstentions.

Through that text, the Assembly reiterated that the Programme’s objective is to strengthen the global movement for a culture of peace and called on all concerned to renew their attention towards this end.  In that regard, the Assembly’s President was requested to consider convening a high-level forum during the eightieth session devoted to the Programme’s implementation.

Bangladesh’s representative, who introduced the draft, highlighted his country’s 25-year role in facilitating this initiative and said that the resolution has long served as a platform for reaffirming a shared commitment to peaceful coexistence.  “Investing in a culture of peace is an investment in our survival,” he urged.  

However, while the representative of the United States said that his delegation supports such a culture, he opposed the draft because of its “politicized, controversial and distracting references”.

Action paragraphs of the resolution:

1. Reiterates that the objective of the effective implementation of the Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace is to strengthen further the global movement for a culture of peace, and calls upon all concerned to renew their attention to this objective;

2. Invites Member States to continue to place greater emphasis on and expand their activities promoting a culture of peace at the national, regional and international levels and to ensure that peace and non-violence are fostered at all levels;

3. Invites the entities of the United Nations system, within their existing mandates, to integrate, as appropriate, the eight action areas of the Programme of Action into their programmes of activities, focusing on promoting a culture of peace and non-violence at the national, regional and international levels;

4. Commends the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization for strengthening efforts to mobilize all relevant stakeholders within and outside the United Nations system in support of a culture of peace, and invites the Organization to continue to enhance communication and outreach, including through the culture of peace website;

5. Also commends the practical initiatives and actions by relevant United Nations bodies, including the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) and the University for Peace, as well as their activities in further promoting a culture of peace and non-violence, in particular the promotion of peace education and activities related to specific areas identified in the Programme of Action, and encourages them to continue and further strengthen and expand their efforts;

6. Stresses the importance of addressing the underlying drivers of violence and conflict to promote a culture of peace;

7. Encourages Member States, United Nations entities and other relevant actors to adopt a holistic approach to the cross-cutting dimensions of peace, development, humanitarian action and human rights in order to prevent the recurrence of conflict and violence and build lasting peace;

8. Underlines that early childhood development contributes to the development of more peaceful societies through advancing equality, tolerance, human development and promoting human rights, and calls for investment in early childhood education, including through effective policies and practices, towards promoting a culture of peace;

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Question(s) related to this article:

What is the United Nations doing for a culture of peace?

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9. Encourages Member States, United Nations entities, regional and subregional organizations and relevant actors to
consider instituting mechanisms to involve youth in the promotion of a culture of peace, tolerance and intercultural and interreligious dialogue and develop, as appropriate, an understanding of respect for human dignity, pluralism and diversity, including, as appropriate, through education programmes, that could discourage their participation in acts of terrorism, violent extremism as and when conducive to terrorism, violence, xenophobia and all forms of discrimination;

10. Encourages the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations to increase its activities that focus on peace education and global citizenship education in order to enhance an understanding among young people of values such as peace, tolerance, openness, inclusion and mutual respect, which are essential in developing a culture of peace;

11. Encourages the United Nations peacebuilding architecture to continue to promote peacebuilding and sustaining peace activities, as outlined in its resolutions 72/276, 75/201 and 80/11, and to advance a culture of peace and non-violence in post-conflict peacebuilding efforts at the country level, and recognizes the important role of the Peacebuilding Commission in this regard;

12. Emphasizes the critical importance of an inclusive, resilient and sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and in this regard calls upon States to promote the values of a culture of peace, inter alia, in countering rising inequalities, discrimination, exclusion, hate crimes and violence;

13. Urges the appropriate authorities to provide age-appropriate education in children’s schools that builds a culture of peace and non-violence, including lessons in mutual understanding, respect, tolerance, active and global citizenship and human rights;

14. Encourages the involvement of media, especially the mass media, in promoting a culture of peace and non-violence, with particular regard to children and young people;

15. Commends civil society, non-governmental organizations and young people for their activities in further promoting a culture of peace and non-violence, A/80/L.77/Rev.1 26-08769 7/7 including through their campaign to raise awareness of a culture of peace and the peaceful settlement of disputes;

16. Encourages civil society and non-governmental organizations to further strengthen their efforts to promote a culture of peace, inter alia, by adopting their own programme of activities to complement the initiatives of Member States, the United Nations system and other international and regional organizations, in line with the Declaration and Programme of Action;

17. Invites Member States, all entities of the United Nations system and civil society organizations to accord increasing attention to their observance of the International Day of Peace on 21 September each year as a day of global ceasefire and non-violence, in accordance with its resolution 55/282 of 7 September 2001, and of the International Day of Non-Violence on 2 October, in accordance with its resolution 61/271 of 15 June 2007;

18. Requests the President of the General Assembly to consider convening a high-level forum, as appropriate, and within existing resources, devoted to the implementation of the Programme of Action on the occasion of the anniversary of its adoption, during the eightieth session, and requests the Secretariat to provide the required logistical support for its effective organization within their respective mandates and existing resources;

19. Invites the Secretary-General, within existing resources, in consultation with the Member States and taking into account the observations of civil society organizations, to explore mechanisms and strategies, in particular strategies in the sphere of information and communications technology, for the implementation of the Declaration and Programme of Action and to initiate outreach efforts to increase global awareness of the Programme of Action and its eight areas of action aimed at their implementation, including through public information activities by the Department of Global Communications of the Secretariat;

20. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its eighty-third session a report, within existing resources, on actions taken by Member States, on the basis of information provided by them, and those taken system-wide by all concerned entities of the United Nations to implement the present resolution;

21. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its eighty-first session the item entitled “Culture of peace”.

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FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global, United Nations,

Bike for Peace turns 50. In 2026-27 we visit all nine nuclear powers with one appeal, a nuclear-free world by 2045

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION .

Excerpts from web pages of Bike for Peace: 2026 travels ; and general history

Bike for peace is a Norwegian-based peace organization that works to organize peace rides on bicycles all over the world. We collaborate with various peace organizations, schools and universities to promote and focus on the education of peace, non-violence, conflict resolution and the fight against nuclear weapons.

We open with Round-the-World in September 2026 and an appeal to the UN. The full programme, eight tour segments visiting all nine nuclear powers, runs from August 2026 to the end of December 2027. After that follow Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, Russia, China and Central Asia, Israel and Palestine, the nuclear-armed states of Europe, and finally Peace Boat’s global voyage.

1 SEPTEMBER – 31 OCTOBER 2026

Round-the-World and the UN appeal

Helsinki, New Delhi, Kuala Lumpur, Bali, Brisbane, Suva, Honolulu, Phoenix, Mexico City, Oklahoma City, Atlanta and New York. We hope to meet UN Secretary-General António Guterres in New York in late October.

18-25 NOVEMBER 2026

Egypt, Aswan Forum

Cairo and Aswan. Participation at the 6th Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development.

JANUARY 2027

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia

Islamabad and Riyadh, Jeddah. Meetings with Pakistani peace organisations and the Saudi foreign ministry.

Question related to this article:

How can we be sure to get news about peace demonstrations?

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15-29 MARCH 2027

Russia, lecture tour

Moscow, Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Perm and Yekaterinburg. Track 2 dialogue and lectures at universities.

17 APRIL – 7 MAY 2027

China and Central Asia

Beijing, Xi’an, Lanzhou, Urumqi, Almaty and Astana along the Silk Road.

19-26 MAY 2027

Israel and Palestine
Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Ramallah and Bethlehem. Meetings with peace organisations and academia on both sides.

6-20 JUNE 2027

Europe’s nuclear-armed states

London, Paris, Rome and Berlin. Key disarmament actors and NATO nuclear-sharing states.

24 OCTOBER – 29 NOVEMBER 2027

Peace Boat, global voyage

Lectures on Peace Boat’s 127th Global Voyage. Sharing the campaign and the 2045 Appeal with roughly one thousand fellow travellers from more than seventy countries.

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FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global