Responding to injustice in the world caused by war and other violent conflict
Afri will once again begin our calendar year with an informal gathering at the bench in Stephens Green commemorating Louie Bennett and her companion Helen Chevenix. All are welcome to meet there at 1 pm on her birthday, on Sunday, 7th January. Continue reading “Louie Bennett Commemoration”
The Irish Anti-Apartheid Campaign for Palestine (IAAC-P) is a coalition of 23 Irish civil society organisations representing a collective membership of over one million people across the island.
We mourn, without reservation, the taking of all civilian life, in Gaza, in Israel and across the occupied Palestinian territory; and we condemn all unlawful acts which deliberately target or recklessly endanger civilians, including all acts of collective punishment against a population under siege. Continue reading “Statement by the Irish Anti-Apartheid Campaign for Palestine on Gaza and Israel”
The online launch of A Force for Good? Reflections on Neutrality and the Future of Irish Defence took place on Tuesday, June 20th 2023. The book is a collection of essays by people with long and deep experience of working for peace and against militarism on this island and in the wider world.
Contributors include Nobel Peace Prizewinner Máiréad Maguire; Thomas Pringle TD; UCC Emeritus Professor John Maguire; Dr Karen Devine of DCU; Carol Fox of the Peace and Neutrality Alliance; and Tarak Kauff, former paratrooper with the US Army and now active member of Veterans for Peace.
The book is available from Afri for €10, including postage.
I have just returned from Vienna where I attended a very important event entitled ‘International summit for Peace in Ukraine’, which was organised by the International Peace Bureau and a range of other Peace groups such as the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. Sean MacBride was a former President of the International Peace Bureau and I myself was a Board member for a three-year period. Continue reading “Peace Cannot be Discussed”
There are many extreme dangers associated with the war in Ukraine, some too obvious to refer to, but the danger of groupthink around the war is one that is perhaps not sufficiently in some people’s awareness. Groupthink is a phenomenon that occurs when a group of people make irrational or non-optimal decisions spurred by the urge to conform or the belief that dissent is impossible. Continue reading “Good Friday Agreement reminds us war can end when peacemaking begins”
As the war in Ukraine enters its second year, growing more vicious and destructive with each passing day, it is increasingly clear that it is a war in which there are no winners (except the weapons industry) Continue reading “THIS CANNOT GO ON”
On February 1st, Brigid of Kildare joined members of the anti-war alliance StoP (Swords to Ploughshares) to deliver a St. Brigid Cross Continue reading “‘BRIGID’ CALLS FOR PEACE ON ST. BRIGID’S DAY”
It comes as no surprise to Afri or to those involved in opposing Ireland’s involvement in the iniquitous arms industry that components made in Ireland have been found in weapons used by Russia in Ukraine. (Sunday Times – Jan 15th)
This discovery implicates Irish manufacturers and Irish workers in the appalling suffering of women, children and men in Ukraine. Continue reading “Involvement of Ireland in Russian Weapons used in Ukraine is shameful”
Attendees at the Louie Benett event in St Stephens Green sitting on the curved commemorative bench, originally unveiled in her honour in 1958. Continue reading “Louie Bennett Commemoration”