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We - movements, organizations and activists, Jews and Arabs - write these words out of heavy mourning for the thousands of people killed in recent weeks, and out of terrible anxiety for the safety of the abducted and those who will still be (…)
As the new ‘Rustin’ biopic shows, the great organizer of the 1963 March on Washington was always working to join more people together in the struggle for greater justice and peace.
After going to see the new biopic “Rustin,” now out on Netflix, I left the theater finding the film to be as dramatic as I remembered the man himself. Drama was Bayard’s personal style, but it was also inherent in the focus of the film: Bayard’s (…)
Milan Sekulovic
In my country, there is a saying: "a hornless ram does not fight with a horned one", which is advice to avoid a fight when your opponent has a significant advantage over you. We have something similar in the biblical story of (…)
Martin Luther King Jr. advocated for the desegregation of Native Americans and inspired much of the modern-day movement for Native rights, including water rights and tribal sovereignty
On Monday, January 16, the United States will celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday and pay homage to the civil rights leader who helped move the nation to live up to its potential.
While much has been written about King’s community (…)
Un documentaire sur Guérande dans les années 1970
En 1971, un projet de rocade menace de défigurer les marais salants de Guérande et met en péril l’activité séculaire des paludiers.
Paysans et néoruraux s’unissent alors, donnant naissance à (…)
George Lakey’s memoir is an important book for Friends and for the wide radius of activist groups his life of witness has influenced. It is a testament to the adage that the personal is political, and the political is personal. One can hear 80 (…)
Abstract
This paper discusses the history, organization, networks and political outlook of the state of Israel’s first conscientious objectors (COs) in the 1950s, and the consequences they confronted,individually and as a group. Despite it being (…)
23 May 2022 Last year WRI staff member Andrew Metheven interviewed Michael Randle, who was Chairperson of WRI from 1966 to 1973. The interview explored WRI’s resistance to the Vietnam War, the organisational culture, and the longer term impact of the organisation.
Andrew Metheven: Could you start by describing your role in War Resisters’ International before and when you were Chairperson?
Michael Randle: I got involved in War Resisters’ International when I became a conscientious objector, I think in (…)
Introduction Where is the discussion of the possibilities of nonviolence and nonviolent resistance to be seen in relation to the war on Ukraine and after that started? Almost nowhere. (*1) And yet you had the ludicrous example of a few people asking why Ireland (Republic) was not sending arms to Ukraine, as if anything Ireland could have sent would have made any difference in the military fight between it and Russia. And arms components from Belfast firm Thales are being used on both sides of the war in Ukraine! Most people are simply and totally unaware of the possibilities of nonviolent resistance, or, if they even think of it, dismiss it out of hand, particularly in relation to ‘hard’ situations like an invasion.
But people do not dismiss violent resistance out of hand, even where it fails, dismally or heroically, or would fail – as with Irish military resistance to invasion by a major power. In Ukraine violent resistance has been heroic in the military tradition and certainly successful in slowing the Russian invasion (which was very poorly planned), and even able to push back in some areas, but it has also been also costly in terms of lives lost and homes and infrastructure destroyed as well as massive displacement of people, either as internal or external refugees. The trauma is massive. We don’t know how the war in Ukraine will end but at the moment it is not looking good for avoiding Russian control in eastern and south-eastern Ukraine. Nonviolent resistance needs to be judged by the same measurements as violent. And it needs to be brought out of the shadows to be able to stand in the position it deserves.
I wrote an 8-page paper on “An alternative defence for Ireland: Some considerations and a model of defence without arms for the Irish people” in late 1983 (*2), some years before the fall of Russian communism. Little did I think that almost four decades later I would be writing a piece about the same matter in the context of a war started by still autocratic but crony-capitalist Russia. I also attended and wrote about a WRI-IFOR conference on the less-statist concept of ‘Social defence’ (see definition later) in Bradford in 1990. (*3) However this article has two main geographical points of reference, to two very different situations and locations within Europe, Ukraine and Ireland. I would stress that it is a relatively short exploration of the matter and much further work can be done or referred to.
What is nonviolent civilian resistance and social defence?
Perhaps we need a few definitions at the start. But it also needs clarified that, as always, different people can use the same term differently, or even the same people give a different (…)
As with so many around the world, including thousands of brave Russians protesting against their country’s brutal invasion of neighboring Ukraine, I’m aware of the inadequate resources for defending Ukraine’s independence and wish for democracy. Biden, NATO countries, and others are marshalling economic power, but it seems not to be enough.
As with so many around the world, including thousands of brave Russians protesting against their country’s brutal invasion of neighboring Ukraine, I’m aware of the inadequate resources for defending Ukraine’s independence and wish for democracy. (…)
The three years and two months that Pepe Beunza spent in prison were the starting point of one of the most successful campaigns of civil disobedience in Spain: conscientious objection and insumption to compulsory military service. It was 1971. Thirty years later, the Spanish Government finally gave its arm to twist eliminating the milli. We talked to Pepe Beunza.
How did you become interested in nonviolence and conscientious objection?
I lived in Valencia and studied agricultural engineering. I had always liked nature, had been a Boy Scout and had gone a long way up the mountain. She was also a person (…)
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