The meaning of peace?

'Peace Mission 2007' - sounds good eh? But this mission seems a very long way from the kind of peace-making that many of us recognise. Rather, it is the just-concluded joint military exercises of the SCO. The initials here stand not for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, but the Shanghai Cooperation Council, the security alliance forged in 2001 by Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Read here an interesting account both of the Mission and of SCO and its growing role in challenging the US spheres of influence around the globe. And a New Statesman piece focussing on the summit they are just beginning

Another bit of heavy-duty military-based "peace building". This time in the form of a massive commitment (30 billion US dollars) by the Univted States to continue providing military aid to Israel. According to a BBC report
[US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns] called the aid package an "investment in peace", saying "peace cannot be made without strength".
"Needless to say, given Israel's predicament, living in a region that is very violent and unstable, its military edge is of interest to our country, and we've committed to that," he said.
The money must be used to purchase military equipment from the US defence industry, although Israel will also be permitted to use 26.3% to buy equipment from local companies.


To be honest, this really sounds more like an investment in the US weapons industry than an investment in peace. Now what would $30 bn buy in non-military peacebuilding capacity? If only someone with access to that sort of money asked themselves the same question.

A loss for South Africa

I was sorry to read in the press today that Quaker politician Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge has been sacked from her post as deputy Health Minister for South Africa (see Independent article). Apparently there was some mix up about her attendance at a conference on Aids in Madrid. But many people are particularly distressed about her departure as she had been a well-placed critic of President Thabo Mbeki's ostrich-like approach to Aids, which is having such a devastating effect on southern Africa. I hope she will find some other outlet for her obvious political and moral contribution - read an interview with her here, for instance.

DESO - reasons to be cheerful?

In an earlier entry, I expressed scepticism about the planned closure of the Defence Export Services Organisation, DESO. The fact that the arms industry is so upset about it (Fury as DESO is scrapped - Telegraph) is perhaps an encouraging indication that, although the government will continue to promote arms exports (along with other exports through its "UK Trade and Investment" agency), they won't be given the massive helping hand that has been so disproportionate over DESO's 40 years of operation. I note that CAAT will be having a celebratory party, and quite right too, but I hope they will also keep a close eye on what happens next.
Some useful links:
UK's DESO Done In
Faith and peace groups wecome DESO closure
Export department closure leaves defence firms out in the cold

Of missiles and Menwith

The decision, noted in an earlier entry, of the UK government to give the go-ahead for the US to use Menwith Hill as a component in its missile defence system is generating a growing amount of disquiet and concern. The system as a whole is damaging international relations, is costly and doesn't seem to work very well. But more than that, in spite of the UK parliament's own defence committee criticising the government for the way in which it mishandled the earlier decision on Fylingdales, the current ministerial team seems to have learned from that only that it may be simpler (for them) to avoid consulting parliament at all. Now 20 or so MPs have signed a letter criticising this decision, and comment has come from CND (as well as a useful briefing from them) and BASIC , amongst others.

The latter commented:
'The decision in December 2002 to accede to a US upgrade at Fylingdales set a poor precedent in terms of process, transparency and accountability. The Defence Committee "strongly regretted the way in which the issue had been handled by the Government". This latest announcement is a further escalation in Britain's missile defence commitment without public debate or parliamentary scrutiny.'

MPs may be enjoying a recess from parliamentary duties, but perhaps this will give them more time to deal with correspondence from constituents on the matter. Can't find a pen and paper? Why not contact yours via WriteToThem.org.uk

One small step...

As David comes to the end of his epic cycle ride, I received an email today reminding me of the extraordinary walk for peace being undertaken by Canadian Jean Béliveau, who set of from his home in Canada on 18^th August 2000. He passed through the UK not so long ago, and I was sorry not to have a chance to meet him. The latest news is that he is walking through Iran. His purpose? … is to walk around the planet to promote "Peace and non-violence to the profit of the children of the world" and aims to complete the entire walk within 12 years.

Another venture just reaching its conclusion is the Footprints for Peace interfaith walk from Dublin to London, which has stopped at Faslane, Menwith Hill and Aldermaston - amongst many other places - along the way. A number of Friends have met with and joined the walkers for different stages of their journey. This group says that … "Through our actions we create the opportunity for multi cultural interfaith prayer and ceremony to deepen our spiritual, cultural and environmental awareness and understanding that All Life is Sacred. To empower, raise awareness and inspire individuals and community. Creating peaceful change through action."

Walking and making journeys in this way seems to be both an outward and an inward act – I recall many years ago hearing about Satish Kumar's long Ghandi-inspired peace walks in the early 1960s, and he is certainly one who sees such initiatives in this way. It seems to be about making oneself vulnerable and open to being in contact both with the earth but also a wide range of people in many different circumstances. An antidote to sitting on air-conditioned high-speed trains with head phones plugged in as I was just last week, and perhaps a simple reminder of our need for one another, our common humanity.

Give an inch or two

Interesting report in The Guardian today, on the expected cost of widening the M6 motorway - could be up to £1,000 per inch, with the total likely to be double the UK's annual aid budget to Africa. David's cycle ride from the toe to the tip of the UK meanwhile (and what a good read his blog is!!) was set to raise just over £2,000 by the time he started his trip, towards high efficiency heating for Friends House. Perhaps the M6 widening project could be shortened by two inches to help him double that? And couple of miles could fund a lot of peace education projects around the country. I'd be willing to sit in a traffic jam for that.

Summer Gathering thoughts…

Just back yesterday evening from a very interesting and varied week based at Stirling University for the Quaker summer gathering.

The theme, Faith into Action, was explored in a linear fashion as the week progressed, beginning with sessions on waiting and discernment, through preparation and planning to action and then nurturing and sustaining our witness. There were gems in many of the contributions from the platform, but also in the numerous conversations and encounters with people in the course of the week. Recordings and transcripts of the presentations are being made available on the gathering's website here.

In the middle of the week I joined two coach loads of Quakers to Faslane, where we had a Quaker Meeting for Worship, met with a group of visiting Japanese peace activists - some being survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs – and then witnessed a tremendously moving act of nonviolent action by some of them at the gates of the nuclear weapons base.









Origami paper cranes being tied to the fence at Faslane...

... and laid in the entrance to the accompaniment of Japanese singing

Meanwhile, back in the wider world, I’ve been deeply disappointed to learn of the decision by Defence Secretary Des Browne to allow the US to use Menwith Hill for its Missile Defence system. I had understood that the government was at least intending to consult Parliament about this. Can it be a coincidence that the announcement came just as parliament went into its long summer recess (back in early October)? The earlier decision about Fylingdales came just around a Christmas recess – there seems to be a pattern emerging. There has been some rejoicing about the planned closure of DESO, the Defence Export Services Agency, though the cynic in me is inclined to think that this may be more about public relations than a real change in policy and practice. I’ve not had a chance to read much about this yet, so perhaps I will have the pleasure of being proved wrong on this one.

The NFPB display during the 'fair' at the gathering

And what about the weather…!? In Stirling, the marquee we used for our sessions kept us protected from some very heavy showers and strong wind. News from elsewhere in England was worrying, with flooding widespread. Many assume that this is a clear evidence of climate change. Whether or not that’s right, the theme of treading lightly on the world (in terms of size of ecological footprints) was woven through the gathering, as was that of community. I am reminded of the wording on some of our NFPB resources … “We must re-learn the ability to live together in harmony in this fragile and endangered world.”

Faith into action

I'll be joining other Quakers from around the land next week for their Summer Gathering, this year at Stirling University. I've popped into a couple of the earlier SGs but never yet participated in a full event. I'll be facilitating a workshop on Speaking our Peace on Sunday, visiting Faslane and exhibiting our wares at a market-place type event on Wednesday maybe doing another mini-workshop on Thursday. And lots of meeting, talking and being with others throughout the week, all around the broad theme of "faith into action". And maybe I'll find a computer somewhere to share thoughts on this blog while I'm there.

Pedalling for the planet

David Gee, from Quaker Peace & Social Witness, is spending his summer do a Lands End to John o Groats cycle ride, all in aid of a CHP boiler at Friends House, which is apparently extremely energy efficient. He's been having a wet time of it so far, not yet a week into the trip, but is keeping a highly readable blog along the way and no doubt would still welcome sponsorship. Follow David's progress at: sorebottom.blogspot.com

Parliament and Trident

"On Thursday 14 June the Scottish Parliament voted by an overwhelming majority to call on the UK Government not to go ahead with its plan to renew Trident.", reports Scottish CND. Further details of the debate are also available from the Acronym Institute as part of their interesting new coverage of parliamentary activities in relation to disarmament etc. If this vote was significant, you'd hardly know from the very meagre coverage in the mainstream press. With new deputy Labour Party leader, Harriet Harman, having suggested a review of the decision to replace Trident was in order, perhaps there may be some scope for change in the Westminster as well as the opposition from Hollyrood.

What!?

Apparently,

"prospects in the Middle East [are] much healthier than they were five years ago."

Who says so? Looking at news headlines over the past month, you'd be hard pushed to find many people who would agree. But, it all depends on your perspective. The sentence above is quoted from a news item about the booming UK arms export business.

And just in case you thought enough was enough, (best year in almost a decade apparently, at $10 billion in 2006 and second only the US) we read that ...

"Britain [is] looking to Asia to grow its export footprint".

Not the kind of impression that many of us would like to see our country making in the world, I feel.

Murder in the cathedral

An interesting piece on the Ekklesia website following up the problem of the computer game and Manchester Cathedral. Ekklesia's Simon Barrow urges a different approach to the legal one currently being pursued by the cathedral and also makes the observation that many Anglican churches already have plenty of military flags etc. ... "so they cannot claim that being associated with war and violence is entirely alien – though arguably it should be." I heard very similar sentiments from the mouth of a 16 year old boy last week and tended to share his sense of mild puzzlement at the mixed messages. No doubt Quakers are just as good at conveying confusion at times... But we should try to be consistent.

Mind boggling

With the publication yesterday of this year's SIPRI yearbook comes a press item reporting that global military expenditure has reached 1.2 trillion US dollars. Not sure what that looks like, but it's apparently 3.5% more than the previous year's. Two ironic responses to the press item ...
"If only we can get that number up to 1.5 trillion, the world might be safe again!", followed by "1.2 trillion could buy alotta solar panels.".
That last sentence summing up the futility of throwing resources and ingenuity at something so destructive when the could be used to such good effect elsewhere. The mind boggles!

David Gee at QPSW has done a helpful job at sifting through some of the facts and figures - read it here.

Whose ethics?

I was intrigued to hear mention on the news ofglobal arms-trader BAE systems wanting to set up an ethics committee. I could nominate a few people to serve on that, but the company might find that, actually, nearly all their activies are unethical. I suspect they are more interested in the rather more limited sphere of ethics, those that relate to business-transactions rather than the actual goods being traded - shame really! Campaign Against Arms Trade's briefing on them - BAE: a company out of control might be of interest here...

Also mildly encouraging is the Church of England's decision to raise its voice about the use of Manchester Cathedral as a back drop of a Sony computer game that depicts animated violence. But again, some might wish to take this a lot further. Isn't human life sacred wherever it is, and having its destruction as a form of entertainment sickening regardless of the visual context in which it is supposed to be happening?

The important thing in both these cases is to take encouragement that the kind of concerns we have are shared by many others. Raising them in public can often be dispiriting, but occasionally it just seems to catch the media's attention and some shift in what is and what isn't ethically acceptable (Or at least a discussion about it) can happen.

The new 'the other'?

I can't be alone in my sense of alarm and dismay at the US / Russia big-power posturing that has suddenly come to the fore, after a very welcome long break. This was where I came into peace work, with growing East-West tensions in the early 1980s. But at the same time, those of us who have been trying to persuade the UK government that support for the US missile defence system was unhelpful have been saying for a long time that a shield is more often than not accompanied by a sword. This is obviously what some people in Russia feel, whether or not there is any foundation to their fears. What is clear is that Russia has been wounded over the last 15 or so years, and now wishes to assert itself again on the World stage. An ever expanding US sphere of influence pushes all the wrong buttons in that context. And UK adherence to the US policy agenda (including the request earlier this year to host some of their missile defence interceptors) does nothing to promote the possibility that the US is mistaken in its conviction that this military policy is dangerously provocative.

21 years ago, Mary Lou Leavitt gave a talk to Northern Friends Peace Board on the spiritual challenge of SDI/ 'Star Wars' , as the earlier envisaged missile defence programme was nicknamed. We published this as a booklet from which I quote...

"In answer to the proud vision of SDI - that impermeable shield for the good guys at the expense of the bad guys (or the third world guys who don't count) - Friends have a vision of a world where all are equally valued: a world where I am as valuable as the most powerful, most wise, most expert person I can name; a world where all others - the least of these my brothers and sisters - are as valuable as I; a world where, together, we can learn to trust the Seed of the Spirit in one another. In place of a process which trusts technology and mistrusts humanity, we must learn and live out a process that builds trust between people and their institutions."

The splendid OpenDemocracy website has this week published a series of articles arising from the Nobel Women's Initiative, in the latest of which Ann Carr concludes:

"I believe that honest dialogue, no matter how difficult, is the cement that holds societies together. By hearing one another we create new possibilities. We share, we learn, we realise that the creation of a shared society, where we can all belong, is possible. ... There comes a time when people lose their fear and things are never the same again. That is the moment when the foundations of a brighter future have been secured - and the real work can begin."

I don't imagine the G8 summit will produce a lot of reasons for optimism, but there are enough people now who do know that another way is not only possible, but also necessary and effective in building lasting peace. It may not be present at big summits, but its implementation by small groups and individuals throughout the world can make a difference. Let us hope.

The new 'we'

Just back from British Quakers annual conference / gathering and buzzing in my mind is a quote from Tariq Ramadam, who I had the pleasure of hearing speak earlier this year. He talks about a 'new "we"' ... thus: (From Manifesto for a new "WE")

Our societies are awaiting the emergence of a new “We”. A “We” that would bring together men and women, citizens of all religion-and those without religion-who would undertake together to resolve the contradictions of their society: the right to work, to housing, to respect, against racism and all forms of discrimination, all offenses against human dignity.

Lots more good stuff in his writings, and I think a fitting note on which to mark the 1st anniversary of this blog.

Glimmers of hope

A few things to be less pessimistic about... (perhaps)

- The latest IPCC report ... according to the BBC: (Climate change 'can be tackled') The growth in greenhouse gas emissions can be curbed at reasonable cost, experts at a major UN climate change conference in Bangkok have agreed. Boosting renewable energy, reducing deforestation and improving energy efficiency can all help, they said.

- The election results: The BNP have been a lot less successful in the local elections than they had hoped and many had feard (although they seem to have done worryingly well - percentage-wise) in North Wales (see Guardian report) , which states: "A coordinated effort by the main parties to minimise the electoral threat from the party seemed to have paid off after the BNP was forced to concede "a mixed result"."

- Change of mindset: Paul Rogers, on OpenDemocracy, speculates that the change of Prime Minister (presumably Gordon Brown) opens up the opportunity for a change of thinking at the heart of power on foreign and security policy - we shall see.

- Reith Lectures: Jeffrey Sachs, in the latest Reith Lecture, "Economic Solidarity for a Crowded Planet".... "Let us resolve to honor our commitments in the fight against poverty, hunger, and disease. Our commitments are small compared with our vast wealth, and the benefits will be vast. We have the power to save millions of lives each year, to help slow a burgeoning population growth in the poorest countries, and to reduce, if not end, the conflicts and wars caused by extreme poverty, which threaten peace everywhere. This, truly, is the work of our generation. "

Mind shift?

One of the arguments used by anti-Trident replacement camaigners over the past several months has been that nuclear weapons are irrelevant in considering the real threats to security on this planet. I was interested today, therefore, to hear that none other than the UK goverment has initiated a debate at the UN on the security implications of climate change. Paul Rogers and others have been raising these concerns for many years, and todays debate coincides with the publication of a book (Beyond Terror: The Truth About the Real Threats to Our World- Oxford Research Group) written by him with Chris Abbott and John Sloboda - from their publicity material:
"This important book shows why this approach has been such a failure, and how it distracts us from other, much greater, threats:
* Climate change
* Competition over resources
* Marginalisation of the majority world
* Global militarisation"

And in The Guardian John Gittings helpfully (I think) makes the connection between these issues, the tensions with Iran and US plans to site Missile Defence infrastructure in Central Europe. And on the same day, AC Grayling reflects on Hilary Benn's appeal to desist from using the terms 'War on Terror' - again focussing on the deeper causes of resentment and insecurity; this seems to back up this thinking. The fact that these different issues are so interlinked could be seen as a problem - how do you tackle one without dealing with the other? Alternatively, it could be the best reason yet for the massive change of thinking that many are seeking. Janet Bloomfield will be remembered in future editions of the new book from ORG, I gather (as one closely linked with the publication project), and a fitting memorial to her would for strenuous energies to be expended to promote this agenda in whatever ways possible.

Tackling racism, building peace

I've today added to the NFPB website some resources arising from our conference in Bolton on 10th March...

• Notes from Ian McHugh's presentation on the theme
  
  
• Pointers for further information and action

Hoping these are useful.

More about Janet

Back from a week away, I was pleased to see a number of web-based tributes to Janet Bloomfield.

• A website recently set up in her memory
• Comments and memories on the Abolition 2000 website
• A tribute on the Oxford Research Group website

Continuing to hold her family and friends in the light, particularly in the lead up to her funeral on Thursday this week.