July 2005

The collection marks the 100th anniversary of Dag Hammarskjölds birthday on July 29, 1905. Vicky Rossi, TFF Peace Antenna, July 29, 2005World problems need world order reformsVicky Rossi interviews Mr James Ranney who is chair of the Philadelphia Chapter of Citizens for Global Solutions. Interview about federalism, a world constitution, the EU, nuclear abolition, a UN People’s Assembly, and more – with references to Dag Hammarskjöld and Albert Einstein. The interview marks the 100th anniversary of Dag Hammarskjölds birthday on July 29, 1905. Richard Falk and Andrew Strauss (TFF 1997)For a Global Peoples’ AssemblyWe need a popularly elected Global Peoples’ Assembly, which would provide the world’s citizens for the first time with a forum to express their planetary aspirations and grievances outside the traditional nation-state context. Richard Falk (TFF 2002)The UN system: Prospects for UN Renewal“For the next fifty years the challenge will be to incorporate non-state actors. The UN...

with references to Dag Hammarskjöld and Albert Einstein. The interview marks the 100th anniversary of Hammarskjölds birthday on July 29, 1905 TFF’s Vicky Rossi interviews Mr James Ranney who is chair of the Philadelphia Chapter of Citizens for Global Solutions. It is organizing a four-day Global Constitution Forum to be held in Philadelphia on 14-17 September 2006 (with a preliminary, preparatory session in September 2005). Participants at this conference will focus on issues surrounding the creation of a Constitution for Earth. Given the current controversy surrounding ratification of the European Constitution, I thought it would be a timely opportunity to request an interview with Mr Ranney.* Vicky Rossi: There is currently a great deal of controversy in the European Union with regards the proposed European Constitution. What similarities and differences do you see between what is being proposed by the EU and the concepts underlying the idea of a global constitution?...

Denna PressInfo finns också på engelska och danska – svenska versionen är lätt förkortad. Allt fler talar om bojkott av amerikanska produkter. Särskilt i Tyskland och Frankrike förefaller många vara mycket mindre intresserade av att köpa amerikanska produkter efter USA:s illegala invasion av Irak. Bakgrunden är de framgångsrika bojkotterna av den sydafrikanska apartheidregimen, av Deutsche Shell i Nordsjön och mot franska kärnvapenprov i Polynesien. Det finns nu skäl för att återuppliva metoden. Några faktorer att överväga En total bojkott skulle gälla alla amerikanska konsumtionsvaror, från filmer, Coca-Cola och Mc Donald till bilar och bränsle, kapitalvaror av alla slag och särskilt militära produkter. Den skulle också innebära att man inte använder dollar utan hellre t ex Euro, att man undviker amerikanska kreditkortföretag och inte köper amerikanska värdepapper. Krav ställs på regimer och företag att undvika amerikanska företag, särskilt de mest kritiserade. En partiell bojkott kan fokusera på någondera av ovanstående. En bojkott kan rikta sig...

Denne PressInfo på engelsk og svensk Over hele verden tales der meget om boykot af amerikanske produkter. Specielt i Tyskland og Frankrig synes folk efter den ulovlige invasion af Irak at være meget mindre tilbøjelige til at købe amerikanske produkter. Det er interessant, at der ikke tales om at boykotte engelske eller britiske produkter, men der tales meget om Israel. Baggrunden er den vellykkede aktion mod apartheid regimet i Sydafrika, mod Deutsche Shell i Nordsøen og mod den franske atomprøvesprængning i Polynesien; alle som del af den politiske scene i 1990erne. Der er nu mulighed for en genoplivning ! Nogle af de mange faktorer og forhold, der skal overvejes En komplet boykot ville omfatte amerikanske forbrugsvarer, fra film, Coca Cola, McDonalds til biler og brændsel, kapitalvarer af enhver slags, især militært udstyr, finansvarer som dollars, ved i stedet at bruge Euro og Yen etc. til at sætte priser, indgå kontrakter, til turismen og...

LONDON – The critics of President George W.Bush’s new nuclear deal with India have got it back to front. They appear to have no understanding of the history of U.S.-Indian nuclear relations. They draw their pessimistic and sanctimonious conclusions about how this new policy of relaxing the supply of advanced nuclear materials to India will further undermine the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as if no water had ever flowed under the bridge. Let’s go back to the head of that river. The first mistake in dealing with India was for President Richard Nixon to make it unambiguously clear in the early days of his opening-to-China policy that a major reason for taking China seriously was China’s possession of the bomb. The second mistake was the famous Nixon-Kissinger “tilt” towards Pakistan during the India-Pakistan war of 1971. It was at that time that the Indian prime minister, Indira Gandhi, gave the go...

 Denne PressInfo også på dansk og svensk There is much talk of boycott of US products all over the world, and, particularly in Germany and France, people seem much less inclined to buy US products after the illegal invasion of Iraq. Interestingly, there is no talk about boycotting English or British products, but much talk about Israel. The backdrop is the successful action against the apartheid regime in South Africa, against Deutsche Shell in the North Sea, and against the French nuclear testing in Polynesia; all as parts of the political scene of the 1990s. There is space for revival! Some of the many factors and dimensions to consider A complete boycott would cover US consumer goods, from movies, Coca Cola-McDonald to cars and fuel, capital goods of all kinds particularly military hardware, finance goods like dollars, using Euros, Yen etc. to denominate prices, for contracts, for tourism, also avoiding US credit card companies, and divesting from US bonds and stocks, demanding that governments do not buy and that corporations divest from US firms, starting...

LONDON – Returning to London after a month away what astonishes me most is how sotto voce is the debate that links the bombings and Britain’s ‘pillion passenger’ role in the American-led war in Iraq. Apart from a few predictable voices, most political contributors have maintained a kind of becalmed dignity, concentrating attention on defeating the homegrown terrorists. This is all very well. It is decorum at its best. The upper lip may be pierced by an earring or two but it does not easily quiver. But there comes a point when Britain has to take its head out of the sand because the whole sorry, very much intertwined, mess of the ongoing war in Iraq and the mushrooming of Islamic terrorism seems to be out of rational control. There is no debate, for instance, about the legacy of empire. By that I don’t just mean the double crossing of...

The Real Story Behind Srebrenica Reproduced from The Globe and Mail, Thursday, July 14, 2005 – Comment This week marked the 10th anniversary of the United Nations’ second greatest failure since its creation in 1945 — the genocide in Rwanda being the undisputed No. 1. With much fanfare, the ceremonies focused on the massacre of "up to" 8,000 Bosnian men and boys by General Ratko Mladic’s Bosnian Serb army in Srebrenica in July of 1995. In the vast majority of recent media reports, the background and responsibilities for the disaster in Srebrenica were absent. Preferred was the simple explanation: a black and white event in which the Serbs were solely to blame. As someone who played a modest role in some of the events preceding the massacre, perhaps a little background will provide some context. In early 1993, after my release from the Canadian Forces, I was asked to appear...

Fred är det när det inte är krig. Klart som korvspad? När det är fred, sa min pappa till mig, då ska vi köpa det där pianot som du längtar efter. Jag var åtta år och slutet på det andra världskriget var nära. När det är fred, då köper jag jordbruksmaskiner för sparpengarna, och startar en affär. När det är fred, behöver bönderna sådana maskiner. Bara det blir fred, så… Men innan dess hann fler bomber falla på vår by och min pappa blev skjuten, om med tysk eller rysk kula är ovisst. Och min storebror återvände inte från Ryssland. Men så blev det ju fred i alla fall. Fast det var inte alls ett sådant jubel jag senare såg på film från Kungsgatan i Stockholm. Den fred som kom då i maj 1945 till vår by i Österrike smög sig på lite peu à peu liksom. För mig var...

TFF’s Erni Friholt is among the women nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. So are 999 others in this fascinating worldwide initiative to promote the idea of “1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005”! We are so proud of this initiative! Erni Friholt is the only one from Sweden – the other Nordic women being Annelise Ebbe (Denmark), Barbro Sundback (Finland) and Ingrid Eide (Norway). Read about Erni and Ola Friholt’s life together in peace and for peace. The TFF founders and the Friholts have been friends for more than 20 years and they are also advisors of the foundation. More than anyone else, these two people practise the Gandhian principle that “we must be the change we wish to see.” Having said that, there is the much larger framework. Erni Friholt has been nominated together with 999 other strong women for the Nobel Peace Prize. It’s a fantastic...

Based on police record, there have already been 808 victims of violence in Southern Thailand during the first six months of 2005, with 607 people injured and 207 other killed mostly in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat. Among those who lost their lives were 6 soldiers, 15 policemen, and 186 civilians. (Bangkok Post, July 2, 2005). Judging by both the growing number of those fallen victims and the ways in which some of them were killed from January 1 to June 20, 2005 , including 8 cases of beheading, the killings of three religious teachers (ustazs) while praying in Pattani on June 21, and the first case of a deliberate killing of a woman who is also a teacher and a local school administrator on June 24, it could be said that the situation of violence in the South has worsened. In light of the intensified violence, amidst rumors about more...

This is Galtung’s speech to the World Tribunal on Iraq, Istanbul Final Session, June 24-26 2005. Distinguished Members of the Jury of Conscience, Fellow Advocate, Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends! The testimonies have brought the reality of an Iraq tortured by the US/UK (and a coalition of willing clients) illegal attack, and illegal occupation, into our minds and hearts. With a sense of deep anger at the continued aggression and deep compassion with the victims we have witnessed the reality of crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity, including nuclear war through the use of depleted, radioactive uranium, on top of the genocidal economic sanctions, and the general “softening up” of Iraq for a quick, decisive war and remolding to the taste of the aggressors. Members of the Jury! What we are witnessing is the geo-fascist state terrorism of US imperialism, following the defunct British Empire, soon to follow...