“Peace and disarmament” inside the European Humanist Forum “The strength of nonviolence”, Milan, Italy, 17, 18 and 19 October 2008.
The thematic area “Peace and disarmament” has been active since 2003, with the participation of people from different European countries: with the name “Peace and Nonviolence Commission” has taken part to the meeting of the European Humanist Regional in Prague in 2003, to the meeting in Budapest in 2004 and to the European Humanist Forum in Lisbon in 2006.
All these moments have been occasions to interchange, compare and share experiences and present the documents elaborated by members about topics related to peace, with the objective of provide not very well known data, together with a humanist point of view.
We have therefore broached topics such as the European Constitution (the rejected with the referendum in France and Holland in 2006), the arms production and trade, the nuclear bombs, the European foreign policy and the presence of troops of several European countries in the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the conflict between Israel and Palestine, the genocides, the trend of military expenses and so on.
The participants of the thematic area are besides active in many initiatives and campaigns, from Europe for peace (www.europeforpeace.eu), for an Europe free from nuclear weapons, to the movement against the U.S. bases in Czech Republic, from the demonstrations and peace symbols in Hungary to the organization of forum and conferences with experts and activists in Spain and Italy, to the collection of signatures for laws of popular initiative about nuclear disarmament and military bases in Italy.
During the European Humanist Forum of October 2008, in the “Peace and Disarmament working table” the representatives of various European organizations will meet to define common points, launch initiatives of mutual support and moments of mobilization.
Besides this moment of interchange, that will take place in the morning of Saturday October 18th ad Bicocca University, we have organized three panels about important topics concerning our field and we have invited to speak experts and activists of different countries: our interest is to deepen matters like nuclear weapons, that concern us all, but also to listen to little-known experiences that show that the voice of nonviolence can rise even in the most violent places in the world and to know “David versus Goliath” stories that can be very interesting and encouraging.
Here is the draft program of the panels:
Friday October 17th at Palalido stadium:
- To stop the nuclear war: the role of Europe
Confirmed speakers:
- Giorgio Schultze, spokesperson for the European Humanist Forum
- Hans Kristensen, Director, Nuclear Information Project, Federation of American Scientists.
- Angelo Baracca, professor of physics at Florence University
- Giulietto Chiesa, member of the European Parliament
Saturday October 18th, Bicocca University
- Anti-missile shield and militarization of Europe
Confirmed speakers:
- Jan Tamas, spokesperson of No to the bases movement in Czech Republic
- Angelica Romano, Peace, Disarmament and Demilitarization Committee, Naples
- Massimo Zucchetti, Professor of Nuclear Installation at Turin University
- Lindis Percy, Coordinator Campaign for the accountability of American bases - CAAB
- A non-violent way out of the Israel-Palestine conflict
Confirmed speakers:
- Noam Livne, Israeli "refusenik" and anti-militarism activist
- Monica Czyza, Center of Cultures Barcelona
- Giorgio Forti, Network of Jews Against Occupation
- Luisa Morgantini, Vice-president of the European Parliament
- Projection “Jenin, Jenin”, presented by the director Mohammad Bakri