All articles

Sun

Apr

2023

Veterans Push Back Against Military Recruitment in Schools

Submitted by Gary

Mon

Mar

Liverpool students take on arms companies

Submitted by hannah on Mon, 21/03/2016 - 14:22

by Rachel Melly

Last week two of the world’s largest arms companies gave a talk at the University of Liverpool.

About 50% of Thales’s business is in arms, including mortar systems, rocket systems for helicopters, precision-guided munitions, military vehicles, missiles, and small arms and ammunition. They sells arms to many oppressive regimes, including Bahrain, China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and UAE, and collaborate with Israeli arms company Elbit to develop drones.

Rolls-Royce manufacture 25% of all military jet engines globally, that are used by 160 different armed forces, in 103 different countries. They also manufacture nuclear reactors for Trident submarines. Their arms customers include Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey

Fri

Mar

Scottish Parliament petition: More scrutiny, guidance & consultation on armed forces visits to Scottish schools

Submitted by hannah on Fri, 18/03/2016 - 10:37

27/01/2016

ForcesWatch and Quakers in Scotland have submitted a petition to the Scottish Parliament that calls on the Scottish Government to ensure greater scrutiny, guidance, and consultation with parents/guardians on armed forces visits to schools in Scotland, in order to provide transparency and balance, and in recognition of the unique nature of armed forces careers.

If you get an error message when signing the petition, please email petitions@scottish.parliament.uk with your name and you will be added in.

English translation unavailable for .

Tue

Mar

Campaign launched to reform “disproportionate” military visits to Scottish schools

Submitted by antimili-youth on Tue, 08/03/2016 - 15:13

By Michael Gray, CommonSpace

Forces Watch, a military reform group, and the Quakers faith group have launched a petition to the Scottish Parliament in favour of increased transparency and scrutiny of armed forces visits to schools.

Previous military data revealed a “disproportionate” 1783 visits to 377 Scottish education institutions across a two year period, with at least a third of visits concerning careers advice.

Mon

Mar

Chicago Veterans Launch 'Education Not Militarization' Campaign

Submitted by hannah on Mon, 07/03/2016 - 16:25

The Chicago chapter of Veterans for Peace is rolling out a billboard campaign Monday aimed at sparking a conversation about "the epidemic of militarization" in the city's schools..

The billboard campaign is also meant to "dispel the myth that militarization is about 'leadership' and 'patriotism,'" the group said in a statement.

Messages such as "Veterans Say - Military Out of CPS" and "Veterans Say - Education Not Militarization" will appear in rotating advertising displays of 38 digital billboards across Chicago neighborhoods through May, according to the Chicago VFP. The billboard messages will include the web address NoMilitary.org, which includes more information on the group's "Education Not Militarization" initiative.

According to the group, some 10,000 CPS students receive military training.

Thu

Mar

The All-seeing Eye: The Police Teaching in Schools

Submitted by hannah on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 11:26

By Burgos Online

The article, “El ojo que todo lo ve” or “The All-seeing Eye” by Burgos Online paints a picture, but not for the purpose of artistic beauty, but rather to allow everyone to personally reflect on the times we are living in. The police are educating children, but they are not exactly teaching them about civil and peaceful coexistence based on dialogue and respect.

So what are the police doing in schools with weapons? Is it some sort of LOMCE (Organic Law on the Improvement of the Quality of Education) extracurricular activity?

It must be recognised that the police have run some good school campaigns, particularly those addressing crime prevention (although it is clear that members of the Tortuga Anti-Military Group do not share this opinion). Yet, this picture is disturbing.

Thu

Mar

Young and Desperate? I want you to fight my wars!

Submitted by hannah on Thu, 03/03/2016 - 10:13

“Don’t join the Army.”

“Don’t do what? Don’t leave here? Don’t learn new skills?”

These are the words from the new recruitment advert from the British Army to recruit new members to its ranks. It depicts a conversation between two young people as they discuss their future prospects.

These conversations are not fictional or uncommon in Cameron’s Britain. I myself have talked friends out of joining the armed forces. With unemployment rife despite some improvements, many young people, especially those in working class communities like mine, have an uncertain future.

And with an uncertain future and minimal opportunities for young people comes poverty and desperation. Any prospect of leaving ‘here’ can seem appealing. It is these feelings that the MOD has often preyed on and sought to exploit.

Wed

Feb

Practical guide to video activism

Submitted by antimili-youth on Wed, 24/02/2016 - 18:09

By Taya Govreen-Segal*

Last week I wrote on the practicality of video activism for activists (see the first part of this two-part article series here). Now that you know why one should do video activism, I collected here 10 practical tips for video activism that I learned through my work in Israel Social TV, accompanied by examples. These are not rules set in stone, so if any of the things written here are a set back, you are welcome to disregard them.

*The examples are from a variety of fields of activism, mainly from Palestine-Israel, but all have English subtitles.

Mon

Feb

Conscientious objector speaks of youth militarisation in Thailand

Submitted by hannah on Mon, 22/02/2016 - 11:07

Conscientious objector in Thailand Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal recently did an interview for Green Left Weekly.

In it he talked about youth militarisation in Thailand: 'Schools want students to obey like soldiers,” he said. “They want us to get a fear of the military. So when coups happen, there is little resistance and most are OK with it...Military rule has dominated Thai society, not only now but also for a long time,” Netiwit's declaration read. “They controlled text books to promote nationalism and respect of the army. We know they want to make Thailand a military state.'

Wed

Feb

Interview with Peace Action Wellington

Submitted by antimili-youth on Wed, 17/02/2016 - 15:40

By Semih Sapmaz

Activists from Peace Action Wellington (PAW) organised two days of nonviolent direct actions against the annual Weapons Conference held in New Zealand (NZ) last November. Following their peaceful protests, 27 activists - 26 of whom keep fighting charges - were arrested and taken to court. On 18 February they are standing trial again, defending their right to peaceful demonstration for peace and justice.

Sending our solidarity messages to the activists in Wellington, we reached Valerie Morse from PAW and asked her about their campaign Stop the Weapons Conference as well as many other questions on militarism and the antimilitarist movement in New Zealand.

To begin with, can you tell us about Peace Action Wellington: when it was formed and what was the motivations behind forming it?

Languages

Countering Military Recruitment

WRI's new booklet, Countering Military Recruitment: Learning the lessons of counter-recruitment campaigns internationally, is out now. The booklet includes examples of campaigning against youth militarisation across different countries with the contribution of grassroot activists.

You can order a paperback version here.