resistance

Sign the petition

Call of action for Avaaz network to end conscription in Finland and in support of freedom for conscientious objectors.

Finland is one of the last remaining countries in Europe that still has conscription. Finnish society and national culture are very militaristic and conscription is upheld primarily because of militaristic values and traditions. Even the armed forces admit they don't need all the conscripts and the size of reserve forces was cut by about 1/3, from 350 000 to 230 000 active reserve troops [Ministry of Defence, Finnish Army].

by Jerome R. Stockfisch / Tampa Tribune

TAMPA — Counter-recruiting. Demands that the university break ties with the military. A mass die-in.

It may not be the 1960s, but Students for a Democratic Society is dusting off the old playbook to launch an anti-war, anti-U.S. military campaign at the University of South Florida.

SDS, perhaps the largest and most influential radical student organization of the 1960s, is springing back to life in the wake of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. SDSers from USF have scheduled a news conference today to demand that the university sever memorandums of understanding it has entered into with U.S. Central Command based at  MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, and U.S. Southern Command based in Miami.

The first ever international week of action for military-free education and research was held between 25-31 October 2014. This follows on from a day of action last year. Antimilitarists across the world took action to raise awareness, and challenge, the role the military has in education and research in educational institutions. This role gives them access to young people - to lay the groundwork for recruitment later in life, and to promote military values.

Different groups used the week of action in different ways. Some challenged military presence in schools through direct action, some publicly debated the presence of the military in education, others showed films, wrote articles, and campaigned on social media.