PressInfo

There is every reason to commemorate the massacre by Serb soldiers on innocent Muslim civilians in Srebrenica ten years ago today. But unless it is considered acceptable to quantify crimes and politically misuse human suffering, there is no plausible reason to forget or silence other cases of massacres, ethnic cleansing and terror bombings in which other innocent people lost their lives. Other crimes silenced In September 2003, mainstream media around the world forgot to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the Croatian Army’s killing of civilian Serbs in the Medak Pocket in Croatia. In May 2005, they forgot to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of Operation Flash in Croatia and in August this year they are likely to remain silent about Operation Storm in Croatia. Here is what Amnesty International has to say about the fate of civilian Serbs in Croatia in the years 1991-95 during which 300.000 Croatian Serbs were forced to leave and/or actively driven out...

On September 11, 2001, nineteen men turned 4 commercial airplanes with passengers into weapons of terror attacking cities in the US, killing more than 3,000 people. “That crystal blue morning,” Craig R. Whitney wrote in the introduction to The 9/11 Investigation (2004), “changed the world, shocking the United States into realizing that it had been drawn into a global war with brutal suddenness.” The US attacked Afghanistan to root out “Islamic fundamentalist Taliban regime”, and then went into Iraq to depose Saddam Hussein, claiming that his regime possessed weapons of mass destruction, among other things. The Taliban were ousted, Saddam Hussein arrested, and no weapon of mass destruction were found in Iraq, yet “the larger war and the terrorist threat to the American homeland continued unabated.” In a way, all this is because at the time of the horrible attack, the US was, and presently continues to be, “led by...

2005 PressInfo 231, December 9, 2005Is the European Union pro-peace?Read the Constitution/Treaty text and you are in for a surprise! Contrary to what you have heard repeatedly, there is no hope for real conflict-resolution and peace there. In this field, the EU is more in need of reform than the United Nations. This PressInfo also includes information about TFF’s work concerning the EU, not the least Johan Galtung’s analysis and Erni & Ola Friholt’s constructive re-formulations of the Treaty. By Jan Oberg. PressInfo 230, December 4, 2005Ending the war on IraqThe solutions proposed in the American political mainstream are not convincing: wait until the Iraq military can bring stability to the country seems like waiting for Godot. We should have learned better from our Vietnam experience. Mobilise the U.S. anti-war opinion, help Iraqi reconciliation and consider the 8 balanced steps that must be taken now to get us out and...

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...

 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...

The culture wars are still on — and heating up on the family front. Yet even now, progressives are more comfortable talking about what’s right or wrong in “public” life — the widening gap between rich and poor, the immorality of an unnecessary war, policies ignoring global warming. But family relations directly influence what people consider normal and moral in all relations — public as well as private. Progressives cannot let reactionary fundamentalists continue to dominate public discussion of “private” life and “family” values. We cannot build a healthy democracy on a foundation of authoritarianism and intolerance. Family relations affect how people think and act. They affect how people vote and govern, and whether the policies they support are just and genuinely democratic or violent and oppressive. Slogans like “traditional values” often mask a family “morality” suited to undemocratic, rigidly male-dominated, chronically violent cultures. They market a “traditional family” where...

Development aid aims to raise the living standards of the poorest. Parties at war are sure to obtain what could be called war aid – i.e. weapons, ammunition, and training – from governments and arms dealers. Post-war countries may receive peacekeepers, reconstruction and humanitarian aid. What is missing is peace aid. Peace aid increases the chances that the other types of aid will bring normalization. What is peace aid? Peace aid focuses on the human dimensions of violence, the hatred, the wounded souls. It empowers local civil society to monitor a peace process and train people in reconciliation and non-violent conflict-resolution – i.e. future violence prevention. It supports the development of new schoolbooks, a fair and healing account of history and, above all, a culture of peace. Peace aid does exist in today’s NGO community, but it is the weakest link of all and governments generally don’t appreciate its vital importance. It’s about learning how...

Utvecklingsbistånd syftar till att höja levnadsstandarden för de fattigaste. Parter som befinner sig i krig kan vara förvissade om att de få något som skulle kunna kallas krigsbistånd, dvs vapen, ammunition och utbildning från regeringar och vapenhandlare. Efterkrigsländer kan få fredsbevarare, återuppbyggnadsbistånd och humanitärt bistånd. Men det som saknas är fredsbistånd. Fredsbistånd ökar chanserna att de andra typerna av bistånd ska medföra en normalisering. Vad är fredsbistånd? Fredsbistånd inriktar sig på de mänskliga dimensionerna av våldet, hatet, de sårade själarna. Det ger kraft åt det lokala civila samhället att övervaka en fredsprocess och utbilda folk i försoning och konfliktlösning utan våld – dvs framtida hinder mot våld. Det ger stöd åt att utveckla nya skolböcker, en rättvis och läkande redogörelse för historien och, framförallt, en fredskultur. Fredsbistånd finns faktiskt i dagens samfund av frivilligorganisationer, men det är den svagaste länken av alla och regeringar uppskattar i allmänhet inte dess livsviktiga betydelse. Det handlar om...

Udviklingshjælp gives for at hjælpe til at højne de fattiges levestandard. Krigsførende kan være sikre på at få, hvad man kunne kalde “krigshjælp” eller militærbistand, i form af våben, ammunition og træning fra både regeringer og våbenhandlere. Lande der har været i krig, kan regne med at modtage fredsbevarere samt genopbygnings- og humanitær hjælp. Hvad der mangler er “fredshjælp”. Fredshjælp er en indsats, der kunne øge chanserne for at de andre hjælpeinsatser vil lede til normalisering. Hvad er fredshjælp? Fredshjælp fokuserer på den menneskelige dimension af vold og had og på de sårede sjæle. Den lader de lokale civile samfund få magt til at overvåge en fredsproces og den uddanner mennesker til forsoning og ikke-volds konfliktløsning – med andre ord, fremtidig voldsforebyggelse. Den støtter udvikling af nye skolebøger, en retfærdig og helende historiefortælling og, fremfor alt, en ny fredskultur. Fredshjælp findes i dag i NGO’ers arbejdsformer, men den forbliver det allersvageste led, fordi regeringer...

Kosovo Solution Series # 1 This is the first in a series of TFF PressInfos about Kosovo. It follows PressInfo 208 about the United Nations praising the potential war criminal, former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj. Relevant background links for this series here. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY As Kosovo these very days marks the anniversary of the massive anti-Serb violence of March 2004, the path towards talks on its final status appears set. The mainly Albanian populated province of southern Serbia has extradited its Prime minister Ramush Haradinaj, indicted for war crimes during the Kosovo conflict, to the International War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague. Belgrade is doing the same with its own former generals indicted for war crimes during the conflict, thus paving the way for a positive stance by Brussels on its EU Feasibility Study. The roadblocks towards a true, negotiated and long-lasting agreement on Kosovo remain numerous, but should by no means prevent the international...

Fra serien “Løsninger på Kosovo” Dette er den første i en serie af TFF PressInfos om Kosovo. Den følger efter PressInfo 208, om at FN lovsynger den mistænkte krigsforbryder, tidligere premierminister Ramush Haradinaj. Relevante baggrundslinks til denne serie findes her. Officielt resumé I disse dage, et år efter den massive antiserbiske voldsbølge i marts 2004, ser det ud til, at vejen mod samtaler om den fremtidige status er udstukket. Provinsen i det sydlige Serbien, hvor befolkningen er overvejende albansk, har udleveret sin premierminister, Ramush Haradinaj, som er anklaget for krigsforbrydelser under Kosovokonflikten, til det internationale krigsforbrydertribunal i Haag. Beograd gør det samme med de af sine fhv. generaler, der anklages for krigsforbrydelser, hvorved vejen er banet for en positiv tilkendegivelse fra EU om Serbiens adgang til EU. Der er stadig mange forhindringer for en virkelig, forhandlet, langtidsholdbar aftale om Kosovo, men de skal ingenlunde forhindre det internationale samfund og de væsentlige parter i...