Timothy Bidon
Consensus decision-making has been growing more widespread in a variety of movements, from environmental activists, to co-operatives, to the recent explosion of Occupy camps. Rebecca Smith of Seeds for Change told PN: ‘We have seen a change in meeting culture in Britain, towards a greater awareness of the value of participation and the methods that make it possible.’
“The first step is learning to be honest with yourself."
Seeds for Change, a training and support network, has…
Five of the 182 cyclists arrested at last July’s Critical Mass bike ride in east London (PN 2549) were convicted at Westminster magistrates’ court on 14 March. Only nine out of the 182 had been prosecuted; charges were dropped against three and one was found not guilty by district judge Elizabeth Roscoe.
The five who were convicted were found guilty of disobeying a section 12 order (conditions on public processions) under the public order act (1986).
The…
On 8 March, a police and council swoop removed the peace camps in Parliament Square that have been a symbol of war resistance in central London since 2001, when a vigil was begun by the late Brian Haw.
The camps, which have long been seen as a form of resistance to British imperialism, were cleared just days before the tenth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.
Westminster council claimed the tents had been left unoccupied for 48 hours, according to a…
Gaza’s Ark is a new project to refurbish a boat in Gaza’s port, then fill it with Palestinian goods, and set sail to export them in defiance of the Israeli blockade.
David Heap, spokesperson for Gaza’s Ark in Canada and Europe, told Peace News in late February, that the project, run by Palestinians and international solidarity activists, aims ‘to continue to challenge the inhuman, immoral blockade and to stand with the people of Gaza very concretely in their…
Manning, who was arrested after allegedly providing Wikileaks with classified US military information, has been confined for nearly 1,000 days awaiting trial for what could turn out to be a life sentence in military custody. He has been banned from providing evidence for all but a few of the motivations for his actions.
Lind also ruled that Manning could not put forward evidence to support his claim that the Wikileaks revelations had little or no impact on US national security.
…On 19 December, four anti-nuclear power campaigners pleaded guilty to obstructing traffic at Hinkley Point in Somerset, in late November. Two days after their action, on 26 November, protestors blockaded the entrance to another planned nuclear power station site, Sizewell in Suffolk.
According to the department of energy and climate change, there are seven operational nuclear power plants throughout England, Wales, and Scotland, with at least eight ‘confirmed new sites’.
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The VCNV UK delegation was hosted in Kabul by the Afghan Peace Volunteers, who have fought for the UN to enforce a ceasefire in Afghanistan, bringing a peaceful end to the war.
The dialogues that VCNV UK has been holding with the Afghan Peace Volunteers and other similar groups has created a new discourse surrounding the war in Afghanistan, with VCNV UK writing on their blog: ‘Afghans are sick and tired of war and of living with fear and insecurity.… We heard from everyone that…
