Peace and Justice News November 2013

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Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre

Peace and Justice News November 2013

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Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre Non-Violence Conflict Resolution Alternatives to War

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Peace and Justice News is the monthly publication of the Edinburgh Peace and Justice

Centre. While individual contributions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Centre, we en-

courage contributions which support and explore our aims and values relative to contemporary

events. Submissions by email to news@peaceandjustice.org.uk by 5pm on the 22nd of the month

for inclusion in the next issue. We may need to edit for length.

Editors: Helen Harris, Brian Larkin, Douglas Shaw Cover Design: Angus Doyle

Management Committee: Geoffrey Carnall, Arthur Chapman (Chair), Judy Russell

(Secretary), Phil Lucas, Michael Elm, Susan Robertson and Sarah Qui (Treasurers)

Co-ordinator: Brian Larkin

Volunteers: Douglas Shaw, Jill McClenning, Michael Elm, Pat Bryden, Patrick Hawkes, Ray

Rennie, Amy Johnson.

Contributors: Varsha Gyawali, William Duncan, Jeroen van Herk, Hannah Walters, Marco

Gori, Tamara Stupalova.

Patrons: Kathy Galloway, Rt Rev Richard Holloway, Dr Andrew McLellan, Joyce McMillan.

Edinburgh Peace & Justice Centre is run by volunteers and relies upon the support of its

members. Membership is £20 (£12 concession). all members receive P&J News.

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Tel: 0131 229 0993 Email: contact@peaceandjustice.org.uk

Address: EPJC, St John’s Church, Edinburgh EH2 4BJ

Peace and Justice News November 2013

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Editor’s Introduction

Contents

well as a report on the EPJC talk by Chris

Cole on The Economic and Human Cost of

Drone Wars. In a timely piece another new

writer Marco Gori tells the heartbreaking

tale of thousands of migrants who have lost

their lives in the Mediterranean. Finally we

have added a new Take Action section to

make it easier for readers to find out what

they can do about a few of the pressing is-

sues we all want to address in this troubled

world.

Next month we take our cue from the Edin-

burgh Peace Initiative Conference and take

for our theme Voices in Conflict. Submis-

sions gratefully received. Please send con-

tributions to contact@peaceandjustice.org.uk

Brian Larkin

Editorial 4

Centre News 6

Women’s Peace Crusade– Helen

Crawfurd 11

Music and Remembrance 12

Peace Activism and Remembrance Day 13

The Tragic Odyssey of Migrants 16

News from Around the Movements 18

Take Action 19

Review - Ray Newton - What it means to

be human 22

Unsung Heroes—Women of WW1 23

Reflection— Tessa Ranfurd 24

Welcome to this month’s edition of Peace

and Justice News, where our theme is Re-

membrance and War. As we lead up to the

annual Remembrance Day services and the

centenary of the beginning of World War 1

we remember all victims of war, soldiers

and civilians, and those who have always

worked for peace.

In the Editorial Brian Larkin considers Pac-

ifism & Realism in the context of the 20th

and 21st centuries, while our newest writer

Tamara Stupalova challenges the assump-

tion that peace protests and poppies are un-

patriotic. Former EPJC intern Hannah Wal-

ters is back, this time remembering Glas-

gow activist Helen Crawfurd and the Wom-

en’s Peace Crusade, while Helen Kay re-

minds us of Crystal MacMillan and the

founding of the Women’s International

League for Peace and Freedom. Douglas

Shaw listens out for the relationship of re-

membrance and music and in this month’s

Reflection Edinburgh poet Tessa Ransford

contributes two poems and her mother’s

memoir of the two terrible wars of the 20th

century. Centre News includes a write up of

the keynote address of Denis Goldberg

(who was arrested with Nelson Mandela) to

the Edinburgh World Justice Festival as

Photo credit: Peace Pledge Union: www.ppu.org.uk

Peace and Justice News November 2013

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Editorial : Remembrance and Militarism

This month I was asked to lead a discussion at the EPI conference addressing the question

“Does pacifism represent a realistic approach to conflict in the 21st century?”

Many pacifists refused to fight in the First World War. But when it came to the Second World

War however many who had refused to fight in WW1 came to accept that it was necessary to

use military force against Nazi aggression. Those who “abandoned their principles” did not

do so lightly. So “pacifists” have a duty to consider what brought them to take up arms.

Negotiation with Hitler it was felt allowed him time to build the war machine and prepare

aggression. WW2 is seen as the Good War, necessary and just. Indeed history shows that the

Nazis planned and carried out aggression and met any resistance with brutal force. Non-

violent resistance, it seems, was futile. Those who demonstrated opposition were killed. Six

students known as the White Rose, who produced leaflets calling for opposition to Hitler's

regime were arrested and beheaded. Realists conclude that states therefore must maintain an

army and be prepared to defend against attack.

But consider the atrocities committed by the Allies in WW2, the firebombing of Rotterdam,

Dresden and Tokyo and the atomic bombing on Hiroshima & Nagasaki. These actions, in-

volving the indiscriminate killing of many civilians, were crimes against humanity. Similarly

the US response to the attack by Al-Qaeda led to more than a million deaths in Iraq; and the

Appeal

Nuclear disarmament has again reached the political agenda with the approach of the

referendum on Scottish independence. A ‘Yes’ vote could lead to a reassessment of Britain’s

nuclear pretensions, and might even lead to a serious effort to activate the Non-Proliferation

Treaty, which requires states with nuclear weapons to negotiate their elimination. In any case

the current complacency about the dangers inherent in the presence of such weapons is

irresponsible, for reasons cogently set out in an article in the Wall Street Journal in 2007 by

four US elder statesmen, including Henry Kissinger. It is appropriately entitled ‘Nuclear

Madness’.

The authors have evidently been warned not to press their case, but the article is on

record, and needs to be better known. So the Centre is sending copies of it to MSPs to

remind them that Trident is not only an unacceptable expense but also an unacceptable

danger. This exercise requires only a relatively modest cost, but illustrates the way that any

activity needs funding. We hope that our supporters will continue to make such activities

possible. A regular standing order is particularly helpful.

Geoffrey Carnall

WHITE POPPIES are worn in November to remember all vic-

tims of war and as a plea for peace. They are available at the

Peace and Justice Centre. Stop by and get yours or phone and

we will gladly post one or more out to you.

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NATO war in Afghanistan has produced 5 million refugees. Pacifists ask, in attempting to

stop aggression with force do we inevitably come to resemble the aggressor as killers of in-

nocent people? Pacifists hold that violence breeds more violence and that there is a moral im-

perative not to use violence, not to kill to prevent aggression.

Following the Rwandan genocide the United Na-

tions developed the doctrine of Responsibility to

Protect (R2P). When a State slaughters its own

people there is a responsibility to intervene. Yet

in Syria the UN is paralysed. Some states have

provided arms, though not to protect civilians.

But the violence and the outflow of refugees in-

creased in direct proportion to the inflow of

arms. It is difficult to stand by and watch when

Assad regime snipers are targeting babies in

utero. Do States have an obligation to act to pro-

tect civilians? Perhaps they do. But by what

means? The realistic, relevant, pacifist re-

sponse is this: Not by arming the rebels. Seek agreement from those states like Russia to stop

arming the regime. But beyond that there is the possibility of Nonviolent intervention.

Nonviolent Peaceforce implements unarmed civilian peacekeeping as a tool for reducing vio-

lence and protecting civilians in situations of violent conflict.. They are envision a world in

which large-scale unarmed civilian peacekeeping using proven nonviolent strategies is recog-

nized as a viable alternative in preventing, addressing, and mitigating conflicts. Their primary

strategy for achieving this vision is the creation of space to foster dialogue. They enter conflict

zones, remove civilians in the crossfire and provide opposing factions a safe space to negotiate

and serve as a communication link between warring factions, secure safe temporary housing for

civilians displaced by war and provide violence prevention measures during elections.

Likewise nonviolent resistance has succeeded in thwarting even the most brutal dictators.

When the Nazis invaded Denmark and required the Jews to wear the Star of David most of

the population, led by the King wore the Star. The few thousand Jews in the country were

aided in escaping the country. And in the Philippines People Power brought down Marcos, but

this was largely due to nonviolence trainings organised by the Fellowship of Reconciliation.

In a study of more than 300 struggles Erica Chenoweth found that nonviolence was twice as

effective as violent methods of struggle because more people can participate and nonviolence

allows for a greater range of action. But regardless of this research the efficacy of active non-

violence cannot be proven. But every action is like a drop of water in a pond which causes

ripples which spread out in every direction. We don’t know the consequences of our actions.

The leaflets of the White Rose were smuggled out and then dropped from air planes over

Germany. One can only wonder what impact reading those leaflets had on citizens who read

them? No doubt at least they gave hope and they continue to inspire. Brian Larkin

Photo Credit: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Scholl

Alternative Remembrance Day Ceremony Monday 11 November. 6— 6:30pm.

At the Peace Pole. Outside the Peace and Justice Centre. Bring a poem, song or reflection.

Peace and Justice News November 2013

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Centre News

New Volunteer - Amy Johnson

Amy is currently helping with developing the Edin-

burgh Peace and Justice website and hopes to contrib-

ute to Peace and Justice News. She is extremely inter-

ested in the work being carried out by the Centre and

hopes to learn more about peacebuilding in Scotland.

She is interested in how mediation and dialogue pro-

cesses can be brought outside traditional structures with

a view to building long-term,positive peace. She has

interned with the Asia Foundation Nepal,working spe-

cifically with the Nepal Transition to Peace initiative

and has recently completed a Masters in Post-war Re-

covery Studies that saw her conduct primary academic

research inside Jordan’s Za’atari refugee camp

EPJC Takes Part in Edinburgh World Justice Festival and Edinburgh Peace Initia-

tive

In October the Peace and Justice Centre played its part in two city wide peace and justice

events. We organised a talk on Drones by Drone Wars UK Coordinator Chris Cole as part

of the Edinburgh World Justice Festival and Centre Coordinator Brian Larkin presented a

workshop and led a discussion at the EPI Conference.

World Justice Festival

The EWJF kicked off with a Reception at Edinburgh City Chambers with Denis Gold-

berg, who was arrested and tried with Nelson Mandela, and imprisoned for 22 years.

Goldberg was the only white member of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the Afri-

can National Congress (ANC), to be arrested and sen-

tenced in the Rivonia Trial. Goldberg’s remarks were

challenging to those of us who take our stand on nonvi-

olence. He said “There comes a time in struggles against

injustice when it is necessary to take up arms to destroy

the State’s mechanisms of oppression.” “Mandela”, he

pointed out, “is celebrated as ‘a man of peace’, yet he

was Commander in Chief [of Umkhonto we Sizwe]. But

he wanted peace. We were faced with a country where

children were dying daily, and a brutal regime that was not willing to negotiate. When we

tried nonviolent protest the repression intensified. When thousands marched the govern-

ment declared a state of emergency. 20,000 were arrested. The decision was made to or-

ganise violent resistance, but with the intention to not take human lives if we could avoid

it. We were willing to negotiate, but the government was not moral. Many were killed and

Peace and Justice News November 2013

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tortured. The Manifesto of the ANC said ‘We have two choices. To live on our knees or to

stand and fight.’”

Goldberg also reflected on present day injustices both in South Africa and here in the UK. The

morning’s Scotsman had carried a headline referring to ‘immoral capitalism’. “There is no

such thing as ‘moral capitalism’”he said. “I nail my colours to the mast and they are red”. He

therefore left the ANC. Mandela was a model, who, in sharp contrast to politicians throughout

Africa and elsewhere, after serving only one term as President,

turned over the reins of power to others. “But many ANC mem-

bers who took up powerful government posts” Goldberg said,

“used their positions for personal gain.”

Goldberg praised the organisers of the conference. But com-

menting on the turnout (about 50 people) he said “There should

be thousands here. You have to work harder.” This was the big-

gest festival yet with 21 events. And plans are underway for

next year. Whatever we might think about the decision to take

up arms there is no question that Goldberg - and Mandela - gave

the better part of their lives in the struggle for justice. And their

long prison terms served to strengthen the resolve of those on

the outside and anti-apartheid activists worldwide to organise

finally to put an end to apartheid in South Africa.

This years World Justice Festival was the biggest yet, with 22 events. The 'round-up' and the

beginning of planning for next year will be on 7th November. The planning for next years

MayDay events starts on Monday 4th November 7pm.

EPJC at Edinburgh Peace Initiative Conference

This year marked the second EPI International Conference, this year on the theme: Voices in

Conflict: Rights, Realism and Moral Outrage. The conference featured speakers with experi-

ence of conflicts in Scotland, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, The keynote interview,

conducted by Dr Christine Bell, was with Zainab Bangura, Special Representative of the UN

Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict. There were discussions, a showing of the

film A Tale of Two Syrias and practical workshops. Peace and Justice Centre Coordinator

Brian Larkin led the workshop on Consensus Decision making and a discussion on Pacifists

and Realism (see Editorial).

EPJC Speaker Series Report

Chris Cole: The Economic & Human Cost of Drone Wars

The latest EPJC talk as part of the Edinburgh World Justice Festival 19 October was very

timely. Chris Cole, Coordinator of Drone Wars UK and Convenor of the Drones Campaign

Network, spoke on the operational use of drones for remote warfare, the costs, and the legal

and ethical issues surrounding their use. A few days later Amnesty International and Human

Peace and Justice News November 2013

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Rights watch called for those responsible for the killings of civilians in Drone attacks in Pa-

kistan and Yemen to be tried for war crimes. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/

oct/22/amnesty-us-officials-war-crimes-drones . Cole’s talk incorporated two videos, one

from the US Air Force defending the use of drones and one from Afghanistan on the impact

of Drones on Afghan communities.

Chris began with an overview of what drones are and their operational use for the conduct of

remote warfare. The term ‘drone’ covers a huge variety of aircraft but refers to any aircraft

that is unmanned and controlled remotely.

Broadly they fall into two categories; surveil-

lance, reconnaissance and intelligence drones

and drones that carry out the above activities

and are armed.

Drones are widely hailed as the future of air-

power and over the last four years there has

been a large increase in the use of drones. Cole

outlined the complex factors that have resulted

in this shift. Advances in technology, specifical-

ly communications and satellites; strategic ad-

vantages as drones can remain in the air much

longer than manned aircraft and are not constrained by human fatigue; financial reasons:

drones are much cheaper to purchase than piloted aircraft; and finally political motivations

as drones avoid putting a side’s own soldiers at risk.

Six different types of drones are already used by the British military. Three armed drones are

in use: the Hermes 450, rented from the Israeli Defence Force, the Watchkeeper, and the MQ

-9 Reaper which is physically in Afghanistan and commanded by both US and UK pilots

now based at Waddington Air Base.

The fact that drone video feeds are unencrypted was raised by an audience member who

pointed out the security concerns that might result from such a breech. Cole explained that

while the video feeds can be hacked, control of a drone itself has only been achieved once by

a team at the University of Texas as part of a competition.

The audience then watched a documentary clip on America’s Creech Air Base featuring in-

terviews with drone pilots. Due to the secrecy surrounding the drones programme this film

offered a unique insight into how they are operated and the perceptions of those who operate

them. The interviewees explained that drones act as ‘eyes in the sky’ and improve the securi-

ty for ground troops. The pilots, though based in the US, emphasised their involvement in

the conflict despite their distance from the combat zone. The juxtaposition between the vio-

lence of combat that constitutes their working day and the suburban home life they return to

at the end of the day was highlighted. The pilots denied the possibility of fatal mistakes.

Cole suggested that drones make war easier by enabling ‘risk free’ attacks and thus reducing

Photo Credit: Nelisa Alicalde

Peace and Justice News November 2013

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possible public criticism associated with the death of own forces, by engendering a

‘playstation mentality’ with the threshold for violence lowered as flesh and blood are re-

placed by pixels, and by expanding the battle space. The high level of faith in the accuracy

of cameras/weapons results in forces being prepared to attack in contexts that would previ-

ously be deemed unacceptable. But despite this perception of certainty it is impossible to

guarantee a pinpoint accurate air strike. One US drone strike in Afghanistan resulted in

twenty-three civilians being killed.

Drones are eroding the laws of war. The example of Pakistan was given. Like all states the

US is bound by Human Rights Law. Under Common Law the use of force is permitted

when there is an immediate, imminent threat to human life. This cannot apply to the hun-

dreds of US drone strikes that have taken place in Pakistan where the US is nevertheless

not technically at war. The requirement of International Humanitarian Law for differentia-

tion between combatants and non-combatants is also undermined by drone usage as identi-

fying and mitigating ‘suspicious behaviour’ as

defining suspicious behaviour is challenged by

cultural differences. Cole gave examples of

weddings which were targeted.

The talk finished with a video http://

ourjourneytosmile.com/blog/2013/01/afghan-

peace-volunteer-says-drones-bury-beautiful-

lives/ which allowed the audience to hear di-

rectly from victims of drone strikes. Raz Mu-

hammod, a member of the from the Afghan

Peace Volunteers, http://

ourjourneytosmile.com/blog/ spoke about his

experience of drones and emphasised the loss

of humanity that he felt characterised the use of drones.

An Audience members asked: How can a drone pilot tell the difference between a group of

insurgents and, for example, a birthday party? Who creates the criteria that defines a ‘bad

guy’?

Cole: There is no way to find out what the criteria are. Drone Wars UK is trying to get the

films of attacks released to better understand the criteria used when deciding whether to

fire. Civilians on the ground don’t know what behaviour leads to drone strikes so can’t

avoid behaviour that might be mistaken as suspicious.

Q: How long do you think it will be before drones are used to police UK citizens?

Cole: Currently 200 UK institutions have authority to operate drones including the Police

and private companies. There are strict rules surrounding their usage, however these regu-

lations are almost impossible to enforce. There is potential for them to be used positively,

for example in search and rescue contexts but use by private companies challenges our no-

tions of civil liberty and privacy.

Photo Credit: www.youthpeacevolunteers.org/

Peace and Justice News November 2013

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Q: How closely are drones linked to the privatisation of the defence and security industry?

Cole: There is very little information about the manufacture of drones as it is done by private

companies and therefore greatly aids military secrecy.

Q: How can awareness of this issue be increased?

Cole: Amnesty International and Reprive have both done work on this cause however their

focus is on the human rights implications of drones and less so on the peace and security ar-

gument. I think the issue of drones must be approached from both perspectives.

Q: What can be done?

Cole: Political pressure, awareness raising, we can encourage our MPs to join the all party

parliamentary group on Drones. An audience member suggested Edinburgh people write to

Sheila Gilmour whose position we should challenge.

This talk was co-sponsored by Edinburgh CND, Edinburgh Stop the War, Scottish WILPF,

Edinburgh CAAT and Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre.

Reported by Amy Johnson

THE LAST ARMISTICE DAY OF THE CENTURY

for William Geoffrey Walford, killed 4th November 1918 aged 22,

after four years in the war (1914 – 18)

Who shall be your rememberer now my mother is dead,

she who adored you so briefly and yet for so long?

In ninety-six years she never forgot you and kept

your photograph beside her and within her head.

You were someone we knew and yet we never knew,

the almost-haloed one, the hero who died,

whose beauty emerges here and there in us

and yet the one we sensed we lacked and missed somehow.

I feel my mother’s pain as I did when as a child

I heard her describe the things you used to say and

how peace brought the worst news in the world:

too late the eleventh hour for her, when you were killed.

Now I am left alone as guardian of your presence.

When I am gone there will be none to maintain

our loss. Yet as my mother’s love is absorbed

in me, her sorrow will form a lasting inheritance.

Poems by Tessa Ransford (Not Just Moonshine, Luath Press 2008) )

Peace and Justice News November 2013

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Women’s Peace Crusade : Helen Crawfurd

The fourth of seven children, Helen Crawfurd was born in the Gorbals, an area just south of

the Clyde in Glasgow, in 1877. In spite of the family's relocation to Ipswich while she was

young, Crawfurd was to return to Glasgow in her teens and later became a leading voice in

what has come to be known as the first wave of feminism, and a prominent peace activist of

the age.

On returning to Glasgow, Crawfurd witnessed the desper-

ate poverty in which so many members of her Clydeside

minister husband's parish were forced to live, noting that

'skilled creators of the city’s wealth were living in squalor,

in hovels unfit for human beings. I began to think that

there must be something wrong with a system that could

allow this.' This proved to be an experience that moved

the young Crawfurd to political action: she joined the

Women's Movement in 1900, and later, the Women’s So-

cial and Political Union (WSPU) in 1910.

The onset of the Great War in 1914 saw Emmeline Pank-

hurst take the WSPU into a pro-war stance in vehement

nationalistic support of the British Government's militaris-

tic actions. An ideology she could not support, it was this

shift in the WSPU's political perspective which saw Craw-

furd split with the organisation, widening her political priorities to focus upon the im-

portance of peace and peace campaigning during this time of war. Attracted by their anti-war

stance, in 1914 Crawfurd joined the Independent Labour Party (ILP), and continued her

peace campaigning.

Throughout the Great War, Crawfurd worked tirelessly to promote the anti-war message

about which she was so passionate, and succeeded in attracting other women from a range

of different backgrounds to the emergent peace movement. With her friend, Agnes Dollan –

also a member of the ILP, as well as a peace campaigner and activist for the rights of work-

ing people across Glasgow – she began to organise regular meetings on Glasgow Green in

the city’s East End, with 1915 seeing the pair of friends found the Glasgow branch of the

Women’s International League. Working with women activists from across Glasgow, Craw-

furd helped establish a peace conference in the city, which later produced the Women’s

Peace Crusade (WPC). A leading voice in the anti-war movement of the time, the WPC rose

to become a national institution, with Crawfurd at the helm as the group’s Honorary Secre-

tary.

Throughout the war, Crawfurd remained highly active in Glasgow’s political circles. Elected

secretary of The Glasgow Women’s Housing Association (GWHA), she became a catalyst

for rallying women against rent increases across the city, an endeavor which led to the Rent

Restriction Act of 1915, and was appointed Vice-President of the Scottish Divisional Coun-

cil of the ILP by the end of the war. Throughout the war, Crawfurd remained a leading light

in Glasgow’s peace movement.

Photo credit: Spartacus Educational

Peace and Justice News November 2013

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Perhaps the best known incident of this phase of her activist career involved The WPC, the

City of Glasgow and a few dozen umbrellas. Refused a request by the City of Glasgow for a

peace deputation, the WPC decided instead to

partake in peaceful protest in George Square in

Glasgow’s city centre. Waving banners and dis-

tributing literature to passers-by, the women

were eventually joined by members of the Pa-

triot League. Far from peaceful allies, Patriot

League members began tearing up leaflets and

banners, forcing the women involved in the

WPC demo to defend themselves with the only

tools to hand: their brollies. Amongst the chaos

and hubbub of the spat, both Crawfurd and

Dollan managed to gain entry to the City

Chambers, just as a City Corporation meeting

was beginning. Showering the members in anti

-war leaflets, the two women had finally suc-

ceeded in presenting the City of Glasgow with the full force of their peaceful politics.

Hannah Walters

We are familiar with the music used in traditional remembrance of war, such as is heard at

the Cenotaph in London, and other remembrance services throughout the country. There is a

uniformity to the sentiments, and alternative views are rarely voiced within this tradition. I

hope to outline the traditional music of formal remembrance, and cover some of the alterna-

tive narratives of people’s experiences and attitudes to war and remembrance which do not

find a comfortable home within the accepted tradition, and which struggle to be heard.

Anti War songs, of which there is no shortage, are seen as part of the protest movement, ra-

ther than part of any remembrance event. There are few musical equivalents of the White

Poppy. An encouraging area is music for peace such as Karl Jenkins’ “Peacemakers”, and

his “Armed Man”: a mass for peace. There are numerous world peace projects which use

music to spread the message of peace, especially to young children, but instances of these

projects being involved in any forms of remembrance appear to be unusual.

This is the music from Epsom Concert of Remembrance, 2012:

With the 2012 Festival of Remembrance paying tribute to Bomber Command, there was no

more fitting way to open the Central Band’s annual Epsom Concert of Remembrance than

with the famous march ‘Dambusters’. Other music included songs from ‘My Fair Lady’....

March by Dmitri Shostakovich ... ‘Miller Memories’ medleys...songs from...Wizard of Oz’...

preceeded a short ceremony of remembrance. The famous words of Laurence Binyon’s poem

‘For the Fallen’ – featured at the Festival of Remembrance the night before – were sung by

Catherine Jack. In the minutes silence that followed the audience stood to remember those

Music and Remembrance

Photo credit: www.educationscotland.gov.uk

Peace and Justice News November 2013

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who have lost their lives in the service of the country and the Last Post and Reveille sound-

ed ...... The concert concluded with the stirring march ‘Fame & Glory’ before a rousing ren-

dition of ‘Abba Gold’ sent the audience out singing into the chilly November evening.

This music for a fundraising concert has several familiar areas; popular music from the time

of WW2, other popular music, music with a military theme such as marches, the classic Lau-

rence Binyon poem of remembrance set to music and the emotional military bugle call. All

this is quite a stark contrast with Britten’s “War Requiem”, the satire of “O What a Lovely

War”, and the anti war songs , the music and songs of the peace movement.

John Bell from his book “The Singing Thing”comments; Tunes carry with them memories

from the past....colours our appreciation in the present. Songs are highly evocative...we are

creatures of our past.....

This explains the traditional nature of much of the

music of remembrance; it arouses such strong mem-

ories of the past. But it also is used in a way today

where it is used in a context or for people who don’t

have those particular memories , but are swept up

into a collective emotion. Continual repetition of re-

membrance music has established a tradition and a

set way of remembering.

John Bell also writes;“There is the ambiguity of mu-

sic; what is an emotional song, evoking powerful

memories for one person may well be a cliché or even trite to another person”. Different

people react to music in different ways; the music of remembrance has a very restricted and

particular format with a definite emotional core and beliefs; that we must remember those

who were killed in war. But there is little room for expressing ideas of a more peaceful

world or stopping to consider the horrors and waste of human suffering, especially when it

becomes a kind of slaughter as was witnessed in the trenches of WW1. Many people cannot

relate to the music of remembrance today for this very reason. Military music doesn’t appeal

to everyone either.

Music is not just about feelings, but also ideas, as the English composer Benjamin Britten

said; ‘I don’t believe you can express social or political or economic theories in music, but

by coupling new music with certain well known musical phrases, I think it’s possible to get

over certain ideas’ (Letters, 705). Britten’s War Requiem, composed in 1962 for the conse-

cration of the new Coventry cathedral, used a combination of a traditional mass with some

very bitter and expressive poetry from Wilfred Owen, which caused some turned heads at the

time and was a bold project. It is a work of Remembrance but not often used or seen in the

accepted remembrance tradition. Britten had to couch the pacifist message of Owen ( and

Britten’s own pacifist beliefs), in a norm associated with the establishment (a Mass for the

Dead), to perhaps get away with such controversial ideas. It is a large work on a grand scale,

and is considered by many to be his finest work, but is not heard today as much as it could be

considering its importance.

Photo credit : Daily Mail

Peace and Justice News November 2013

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The ideas behind this work; namely that war is a waste of human life, is an obvious contrast

with patriotism, and sadly is largely absent from the ways we practise remembrance today.

“They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old” is the moving dignity of the famous

Laurence Binyon poem. Contrast this with the words of Wilfred Owen; “ My subject is War

and the pity of War”...or “slew...half the seed of Europe one by one”.

So much of the music of remembrance today is to a large extent about patriotism and cele-

brating a military culture, and “honouring” military casualties, using emotions to unite us in

a common feeling of being part of a larger social whole. But today as then there are other

voices which express alternative views on the correctness of war and a questioning of patri-

otism. Music serves the current outlook on remembrance but it can and has shown us alter-

natives, in Britten’s War Requiem and numerous works and peace songs today. There are en-

couraging pieces like Karl Jenkins “The Peacemakers”, but their role in formal remembrance

is uncertain as it is under the control of the Royal British Legion at present.

Music.....creates identity...expresses emotion...express words....revisit past...tell stories..shape

the future..enable work....exercise our creativity...give of ourselves.....(John Bell)

Seems that current forms of remembrance embrace the past, create identity and express deep

emotions. The question is how do we want to remember? Can we remember without listen-

ing to military marches and the Last Post?

Douglas Shaw

St John the Evangelist, Remembrance Sunday 10th November, 6 pm.

The evening service will include the first-ever Edinburgh performance of the deeply moving

cantata "Dona nobis pacem" (c.1955), for voices, organ, drums and concertante piano, by

the Aberdeenshire composer Ronald Center (1913-73), which juxtaposes Civil War poetry

by Walt Whitman with liturgical and Scriptural texts, to shattering effect. It will be sung by

the choir of St John's under Stephen Doughty,. The piano soloist will be Christopher Guild.

Ronald Center was an exact contemporary of Benjamin Britten. Though Center's music

sounds nothing like Britten's, it shares with the English master an overwhelming sense of

the drowning of "the ceremony of innocence" by mindless violence. Center's piano music

in particular is filled with quotations from and echoes of nursery rhymes and children's

songs, and all his works juxtapose darkness and light, violence and innocence, beauty and

terror, without ever offering the listener an easy way of 'resolving' the paradoxical coexist-

ence of these opposites in human life. As a result, Center's often disarmingly attractive mu-

sic has power to disturb our complacency and self-delusion. This is particularly true of his

cantata "Dona nobis pacem". Center never gained the recognition that his work deserves,

but on being introduced to his “Dona nobis pacem” Stephen Doughty, choirmaster of St

John’s, readily agreed that it should form part of the St John’s Remembrance Sunday even-

ing service. The guest pianist for this Edinburgh premiere, Christopher Guild, was born in

Elgin. Now based in London and performing internationally, he is a great enthusiast for, and

interpreter of, Center’s work. - Jamie Reid Baxter

Peace and Justice News November 2013

15

News from Around the Movements

Ronald Center 1913 -73: Scotland’s forgotten Centenary, a series of three concerts

All supporters of Peace and Justice are warmly invited to discover more about this neglected

composer with a profound yearning for world peace when Christopher Guild returns to Edin-

burgh. See Diary for details.

Peace Activism and Remembrance Day

With remembrance day approaching, the theme of peace protesting at remembrance day cer-

emonies arises for many activists. Is anyone entitled to their own opinion, or is it deemed

disrespectful to raise a peace flag at a remembrance day ceremony, or even just to wear a

white poppy?

Some assert that peace protesting can never be done without showing disrespect to those

wounded or killed in wars, and their families. While BBC presenters are questioned if not

wearing a red poppy during early November, children are instructed that red poppies must be

worn, and remembrance ceremonies attended, in order to show re-

spect and pay homage to ‘our boys’ who died in the war. We are

told ‘you may not agree with war, but show some respect to the

victims and the veterans’.The commonly established ‘norm’ is that

Remembrance Day has become a compulsory activity. Withdraw-

ing from Remembrance Day’s official activities or wearing the

White Poppy seems insulting to many and is labelled as unpatriot-

ic. But such a notion translates into propaganda: while one might

not support the war, one must support our heroes - but doesn’t that

also imply supporting ongoing wars?

Peace protesting on remembrance day is not a sign of disrespect. It simply means disagree-

ing with the idea of war and mass killing: a political protest noting the great number of vic-

tims, civilian and military, around the globe. We may understand peace protesting in the first

instance as a political stance, highlighting the need for global peace and refusing war in all

its forms. It means noting that the lives of those who died in war were lives wasted, and that

war’s victims did not necessarily die for a good cause. Rather, all those who lost their lives

due to war were victims of the system that allowed and perpetuated war in the first instance.

We all remember and mourn the dead, but just remembering is not enough - we should ques-

tion the political establishment that brought us war in the first instance, and challenge the

continuing willingness to lead war.

Let’s remember that war has been opposed by veterans themselves, noting the horrid experi-

ences of war and its deep political roots. Harry Patch, Britain’s last surviving veteran, who

died in 2009, described war as a ‘license to go out and murder’. He asked: ‘Why should the

British government call me up and take me out to a battlefield to shoot a man, whose lan-

guage I couldn’t speak? All those lives lost for a war finished over a table. Now what is the

sense in that?’

Peace and Justice News November 2013

16

On October 3rd 363 people drowned in the Mediterranean Sea. Men, women and children,

who left their homes looking for a better future instead found death. Immigrants put their last

hope on overloaded and unsafe boats to Europe. Those who want to enter the EU illegally by

land usually try through Gibraltar or the Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa

but it's not easy due to the high steel fences which are impossible to climb and the heavy po-

lice presence. The other alternative is by sea to Italy or Malta; but due to the fact that the lat-

ter is a small country the main influxes are to Italy; and often immigrants arriving in Malta

are redirected to Italy because the tiny island doesn’t have enough beds for them.

The main port of arrival is Lampedusa, a tiny island, situated in Africa, but legally Italian

territory. Every week this island welcomes thousands of the lucky immigrants who survived

Today, military parades and religious services celebrate the dead. This is an appropriation of

the memory of the lives of the millions deceased. We are allowed to forget that wars are of-

ten the result of political aims, and that they are often not carried out in the interests of

those who lose their lives. Remembrance day stifles any criticism of war, which normalises

war, and lightens its consequence.

While Britain still maintains military presence abroad, and we witness the daily killings of

civilians and military personnel in conflict zones around the world, peace activism is highly

relevant. We should stand united in our efforts to bring an end to all wars, and to oppose the

systems that deliver them. Rather than uplifting the status of war veterans, it is more perti-

nent to fight for a better awareness of the issues and political systems that bring us war, and

strive for global peacebuilding efforts.

As Ben Griffin, a former SAS soldier who refused service,

mentioned in his remembrance address while quoting a

London priest: ‘What about the tyrants, who need to be

stopped? Do I hear you say? Yes, but tyrants do not usual-

ly emerge overnight. This is why we need to be alert and

read the sign of the times. This is why need to negotiate

for peace, at an early stage. We must be aware that there is

such a thing as a culture of peace, a vocabulary of peace.

We need to have an attitude of peace, not violence. think-

ing some of this through would be a wonderful way of

honouring those, all of those who have died in violent wars.’

While red poppies do not bear the sign ‘no more war’, nor fully signify this, wearing white

poppies and peace protesting during remembrance day ceremonies is not fully accepted, but

also necessary.

Tamara Stupalova

The Tragic Odyssey of Migrants

Photo Credit: Peace Pledge Union

Peace and Justice News November 2013

17

the trip. The unlucky ones arrive at Lampedusa in a black sack directed to the morgue first

and then to the cemetery. The immigrants who reach Lampedusa usually are trying to get to

France, the Netherlands, Germany, UK or Scandinavia where they often have relatives, but

they are often either detained or do not have the money to continue their trip to Northern

Europe.

Immigrants often die trying to reach Lampedusa be-

cause their boats sink or the smugglers (hunted by

the police) throw them in the water and flee. And the

reality is that nobody in Europe cares about these

people. The European Union remains impassive,

leaving Italy to manage the situation: rescuing the

immigrants who launched the SOS and finding the

bodies of those who weren't lucky enough. But Italy

doesn’t have the structure, power or the money to

sustain this constant influx of migrants. Dead immi-

grants are buried in the island cemeteries, in areas

called “the area of the unknown” by the locals, with

a simple wooden cross as a gravestone. No names or

pictures to remember them, because nobody

knows them - they are just a number.

This influx of desperate people is such a serious problem that the dictator Gaddafi, before

being killed, threatened Europe, saying that because of the intervention from Europe in his

country, he would send thousands of immigrants from Libya to Spain and Italy. And in this

scenario the only leader who was in alliance with Italy against these influxes was Gaddafi.

Libya is one of the main starting points, so Berlusconi’s government in 2008 signed a con-

tract with Libya to fight these influxes. “Less immigrants on our coasts and more petrol’’

Berlusconi said in 2008 after the contract was signed. The result? Immigrants kept in Liby-

an prisons in inhumane conditions were then deported from Libya through the desert where

many of them died of starvation. Five years later many things have changed: Berlusconi is

not the Italian prime minister anymore, Gaddafi was killed and Libya has a new govern-

ment, but for the migrants, nothing has changed. In fact former Gaddafi soldiers became the

new human smugglers, and in some cases Libyan authorities have shot immigrants seen

leaving the Libyan coast. The numbers are large, in 2008 in Southern Italy almost 37.000

migrants reached the Italian coasts; but the solutions for this problem are evident to anyone

with eyes to see.

Helping those who are suffering is a moral duty but it’s also true that Europe can't

take millions of people needing help. That's why we have to fight the reasons that force so

many to emigrate, starvation, poverty and corruption. The “Big players of Europe”, France

and Germany which have almost half of the immigrants arriving in Italy don’t lift a finger,

as they fear that the migrants will reach their relatives in their countries, but the European

Union has to help the countries where the immigrants come from. They need to put in place

policies that guarantee fair prices for natural resources, and insure opportunities for work

Monument to Immigrants who Died crossing the Mediterra-

nean at Lampadusa: Port of Europe Photo credit:Wikipedia

Peace and Justice News November 2013

18

People and Planet Force University to Divest from Drone Manufacturer

The University of Edinburgh has succumbed to pressure from the People and Planet student

campaign group and is withdrawing funding from Ultra Electronics. According to Rob Ed-

wards, (Guardian, 27 Sept. http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/sep/29/edinburgh-

university-ends-funding-drone )The company, headquartered at Greenford in Middlesex,

makes navigation controls for the US fleet of Predator and Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles.

Armed with Hellfire missiles, they are sent on covert "targeted killing" missions against sus-

pected terrorist cells in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. But according to the Bureau for Investi-

gative Journalism at City University in London, more than 430 strikes since 2002 have killed

at least 428 civilians, of whom 173 were children.”

Waddington Six Guilty: Drone protests just beginning say activists

On 7 October the Waddington Six, a group of ac-

tivists who cut through a fence and planted a peace

garden’ were convicted. District Judge John

Stoddert said he convicted “with a heavy heart”

and urged them to appeal to a higher court. For a

good summary of the day see War isn’t a video

game: witnessing (against) drone warfare. At

http://dronewars.net/2013/10/08/drone-protests-

just-beginning-say-activists/

Briefing on WW1 Conscientious Objection

Peace Pledge Union has compiled a briefing about conscientious objection and peace activ-

ism in the First World War. It is available online at: http://www.ppu.org.uk/

OpposingWorldWarOne.pdf

Drones Conference Afghanistan: What Next?

A peace conference was held in London on 12 October 2013 by Voices for Creative Non-

Violence UK to mark the twelfth anniversary of the current war in Afghanistan and the start of

a new initiative to bring British and Afghan campaigners and communities for peace closer

together.

As the British government gears up for costly centenary celebrations of World War I in 2014,

less public attention is being paid to the highly unpopular ongoing war in Afghanistan, which

News from around the Movements

paid at fair wages, build democratic, peaceful and sustainable societies where every person

is treated with dignity, and rights, and at the same time prompt the African Union to press

for harsher penalties for the human smugglers and address corruption.

Marco Gori

Peace and Justice News November 2013

19

TAKE ACTION

marked its twelfth anniversary on Monday 7 October. The UK has lost almost 450 service-

men and women, with many casualties from other NATO states, and over 30,000 Afghan

deaths, not including the unknown number of casualties of drone strikes. The situation in Af-

ghanistan is currently at a major crossroads: 2014 will see elections for a new president as

well as both Britain and the US withdrawing their militaries by the end of the year.

On 12 October, as American and Afghan officials met to discuss a partial security deal, a

very different and unique meeting was held in London, with the aim of “supporting peace

and justice for Afghans”. Read the full report here: http://

onesmallwindow.wordpress.com/2013/10/14/what-next-for-afghanistan/

Edinburgh Campaign Against the Arms Trade Leaflet University Graduate Fair

Edinburgh CAAT members and the University 'People & Planet' group handed out over 1500

leaflets, contrasting "killing" jobs with those which make for human well-being e.g. health,

education and social justice during the bus-

iest hours of the event, . Although the origi-

nal official list of potential employers did-

n't include any arms firms, last-minute bro-

chures listed SELEX, which has a base in

Edinburgh, and Babcock and Wilcox, ma-

rine engineers with contracts on the Trident

dock at Faslane, as participating. Over 250

cards about CAAT’s recently launched lo-

cal campaign to end the sponsorship by SELEX of Edinburgh International Science Fair

were taken by people attending, with a number of supportive responses. This was a particu-

larly successful partnership, that will be built on, of Edinburgh CAAT Group and University

No Glory in War

Stop the War has organised an Open Letter condemning David Cameron’s “plans to spend

£55 milliion on ‘truly national commemorations’” to mark the centenary of the First World

War. As the letter states: “Mr. Cameron has quite inappropriately compared these to the

‘Diamond Jubilee celebrations’ and stated that their aim will be to stress our ‘national

spirit’. If you have not already done so you can sign the No Glory Open Letter here: http://

www.noglory.org/index.php/open-letter/no-glory-in-war-open-letter

Don’t Bank on the Bomb Report Released: RBS Biggest Investor in Nucelar Weapons in

the UK

In October ICAN released its report Don`t Bank on the Bomb on the top investors in nuclear

weapons. Royal Bank of Scotland wins the prize for top investor in nuclear weapons in the

Peace and Justice News November 2013

20

UK, with an estimated USD 5,635 million invested or available for the nuclear weapon pro-

ducers including BAE, Babcok and Lockheed Martin.

The Peace and Justice Centre urges all supporters to divest from the Royal Bank of Scotland.

We suggest that anyone with accounts at RBS write to the bank explaining your reasons. If we

are to be the change we want to see it makes sense that we do not earn interest income from or

allow our money to be used by financial institutions which profit from investments in compa-

nies that manufacture weapons of mass destruction. The Centre plans

on building this campaign in the coming months to urge divestment of

funds by Churches, trade unions, and public authorities across Scot-

land. Please contact the Centre if you or your organisation wants to get

involved in working on this new campaign. You can download the

full report from http://www.dontbankonthebomb.com/ or come into

the P&J to read it.

Transform Now Ploughshares

On July 28, 2012 Michael R. Walli, Megan Rice (82), Greg Boetje-

Obed, succeeded in a disarmament action at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Nu-

clear facility where the Hiroshima bomb was built. The three were

found guilty of obstructing the national defense (sabotage) and depre-

dation of government property, “ crimes of terrorism”. The charges carry possible sentences up

to 30 years though the government is likely to recommend sentences up to 12 years— Megan,

Michael and Greg are likely to each have a different range. But Judge Thapar may be open to

consider a “downward departure” from the guidelines.The TNP support team “asks that letters

to Judge Thapar continue and encourage him to sentence with downward departures from the

high sentencing guidelines. Even if you’ve written a letter in the past or sent in a pre-written

postcard, you can still write another.”

The Edinburgh International Science Festival is due to take place again next year between

April 5-20. The Science Festival reaches over a quarter of all schoolchildren in Scotland. It de-

scribes itself as "an educational charity that encourages people of all ages and backgrounds to

discover the wonder of the world around them". In light of this it may come as a shock to

many of you to learn that it lists one of its main supporters and sponsors as Selex. Selex ES is

a company which is part of Finmeccanica - the eighth largest arms company in the world.

Selex make drones, surveillance equipment and weapons targeting systems. Their products

cause death and destruction around the world. Selex say they sponsor the fair in order to

Please continue to send your letters to: US District Judge Amul R Thapar, c/o Professor

Bill Quigley, Loyola Law Clinic and Center for Social Justice7214 St. Charles Avenue-

Campus Box 902, New Orleans, LA 70118

For further details and Sample Letter see the Transform Now website: http://

transformnowplowshares.wordpress.com/2013/07/07/transform-now-plowhares-needs-

your-help/ or pickup sample letters from the P&J.

Peace and Justice News November 2013

21

'inspire the potential future workforce'. Is this the future children would choose?

Please ask Edinburgh Science Festival to stop supporting the arms trade.

CAAT have set up an online petition here: https://www.change.org/petitions/edinburgh-

international-science-festival-stop-supporting-the-arms-trade. It only takes a minute to

sign and your support is invaluable!

Calling all knitters, crocheters and disarmament friends

Would you like to help create a Scottish section of the Wool against Weapons scarf that will

stretch 7 miles in August 2014 between the Aldermaston and Burghfield (Nuclear Weapons Es-

tablishment sites) in Berkshire? The idea is that individuals knit or crochet a scarf (100cm long

and 60cm wide) in pink wool. You don't need to be a fantastic knitter, you just need to cast on

and get started. If you've never knitted or crocheted, maybe this is a good incentive to learn!

Many of us in Scotland have started already, and if we sew all of our scarves together we could

create a Scottish length that could stretch down the Royal Mile! The first step is to organise a

knit in in your area - at a community centre, library, market or in your own home. You could

then set a target length as a group, and recruit more knit-

ters to help reach that target. There will be a knitting ses-

sion Mon 11th Nov 7.30 - 9pm at the Peace and Justice

Centre . There will also be sessions in Portobello and at

the Edinburgh Quaker Meeting House. Bring pink

wool and (big) needles - or just come along! Contact Jane

Lewis at jane@gn.apc.org or phone the Peace and Justice

Centre. And join the 'Wool Against Weapons Scotland' fa-

cebook group. There's loads more information on the web-

site http://www.woolagainstweapons.co.uk/ .

Please pass this message on to anyone you think may be interested.

Day of Action Against Depleted Uranium Weapons on the Dundrennan Range

The Campaign Against Depleted Uranium (CADU) is calling a Day of Action Against Depleted

Uranium Weapons on the Dundrennan Range on November 6th, the International Day of Action

Against Depleted Uranium Weapons. DU weapons have been used in the Balkans and Iraq.

When fired they leave a toxic dust that may be the cause of rising birth defects and cancers. The

MOD has fired over 31 tons DU into the Solway Firth over 30 years. of We must make sure the

MOD never fires DU in Scotland again. People will walk on to the range en masse and release

(biodegradable) balloons with messages of solidarity to all those suffering the effects of toxic

wars in Iraq. Details at: https://www.facebook.com/events/211204779055436/

Book Review: Ray Newton 'What it means to be Human’ from

the Local to the Global'

Photo Credit: www.woolagainstweapons.org.uk

This book is a very readable mix of biography and politics, with a shrewd analysis of both.

It comprises of a series of transcripts from dialogues between the writer and his near contempo-

rary, Eric Kohn, followed by brief chapters on key issues arising in them: Humanism, Emotional

Peace and Justice News November 2013

22

Intelligence, …and On Scottish Independence, among others. The format of dialogue makes

it personal: as Ray himself says, the personal is social and the social political; thus the per-

sonal is political.

Ray’s own background is firmly working class Lancashire, with memories of his father’s re-

dundancy during the depression. His mother’s daily comments on events did not always agree

with the views of others in a then ‘safe’ Tory constituency.. He remembers helping collect

‘milk for Spain’ in the Spanish Civil War, and the contradic-

tions of the press, showing war photos along with ‘the

Queen’s new hat’: contradictions we today are familiar with.

Ray’s parents’ political engagement as members of the

CPGB (Communist Party of Great Britain) and the struggle

for socialism and against the rise of fascism in Europe was to

him ‘normal’. Being 12 when World War 2 began, he re-

members the improved quality of life once his dad had a job

and they had ‘full rations’. I find his details of those memo-

ries fascinating and his comment on how the war highlighted

for him the importance of community cohesion and ‘working

class solidarity’: the ‘common weal’. His activism in the

Communist Party continued when he moved with his family

to Aberdeen. His rationale for not speaking out more on the

failures of the Soviet Union was more to defend the princi-

ples of communism.

Ray went as midshipman aged 17 in the last year of the war, and arrived in Freetown, Sierra

Leone, where he experienced ‘what no no photograph…can convey’, the sweat, smells and

noise that are still etched in his memory. He looks back on the era of optimism with some

cynicism because he sees the seeds of ‘new Labour’ already in those early days, in the

‘selling out’ to the USA and to wealthy investors. The phrase ‘in the national interest’ was al-

ready a cover-all for the worrying increase in ‘defence’ spending, the establishment of NATO

(and the Warsaw Pact), and British military activity in Malaya, Greece, Kenya and more.

It would, however, do Ray no justice to agree passively with his views. Every reader will

have her/his own experience, background, beliefs and hopes - not to mention opinions, and

must enter the ongoing debate towards bringing about a better world. Ray’s frank appraisal of

his own journey will certainly help us all on ours. A fascinating political activist, thinker and

observer. His perspective is that of one fully engaged in local and global affairs, with a sound,

working-class background and the intelligence and independence of mind to integrate local,

global and personal.

Pat Bryden

Book available from the Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre at £5.00 - all proceeds going to

the charity ‘The Voice of Darfur Women’ Charity number 1143308, Green organisations and

Democratic Left, Scotland. Available for £3.00 on Kindle. ISBN 978-1491213360-0

Photo Credit: www.amazon.com

Peace and Justice News November 2013

23

In April 1915, amidst the carnage of surrounding warfare, 1200 women from 12 countries

met at The Hague for three days to discuss how the war, and all wars, could be ended. War

fever was still rampant, the press ridiculed the women as misguided ‘peacettes’,and travel

restrictions meant that getting to The Hague was problematic.

No French or Russian women could attend, and only 25 of the 180 British delegates were

granted passports. These 25 reached Tilbury to find all shipping had been halted. Only three

British women did succeed in reaching The Hague, Chrystal Macmillan, Kathleen Courtney

and Emmeline Pethwick-Lawrence.

The International Women's Congress was organised by women, active in the well -

established International Woman Suffrage Alliance, who wanted to show that their

ability to sustain international cooperation was stronger than patriotic war fever. They pro-

tested 'against the madness and the horror of war' and produced 20 resolutions on how to

avoid war in the future. (See attached photo of platform party in 1915) The Congress elected

five delegates to take their appeal to European and US Governments to end to the war by ne-

gotiation. Chrystal Macmillan was the British member of the international team who trav-

elled back and forward across Europe and to the USA, visiting 14 countries and meeting 21

Heads of State during the summer months of 1915.

The women urged the political leaders to set up continuous mediation by neutrals to end the

war, but not one would take the first step, although the statesmen declared themselves sym-

pathetic. However, US President Wilson adopted many of their proposals in his ‘Fourteen

Points’ which laid the foundations for the League of Nations.

In 1919 a second International Congress of Women met in Zurich just as the Terms of Peace

were published by the Versailles Peace Conference. The Women’s Congress elected dele-

gates to take directly to Versailles their prophetic critique of the Terms which they noted

would ‘recognise the rights of the victors to the spoils of war, and create all over Europe dis-

cords and animosities which can only lead to future wars.’

At the Zurich Congress the international women’s peace movement which had grown out of

Congress at The Hague in 1915 was formalised with a constitution; and the international or-

ganisation and the national committees united under the name of the Women's International

League for Peace and Freedom.

The legacy of these brave women continues to be acknowledged today. Current

members of WILPF - the oldest women's international peace organisation - are making plans

to return to The Hague in 2015 to review their current work and celebrate 100 years' of wom-

en's peace activism.

Helen Kay

For more information about WILPF and the current campaigns: please go to next page.

Unsung Heroes : WW1 Women’s Protests

Peace and Justice News November 2013

24

For more information about

WILPF and the current cam-

paigns: please contact Scottish

Secretary/UK Secretary Anne

Scott at scottish-

wilpf@yahoo.co.uk

or see the International WILPF

website

www.wilpfinternational.org and

the UK website http://

www.ukwilpf.org.

Further reading:

Gertrude Bussey and Margaret

Tims, Pioneers for Peace: Wom-

en’s International League for

Peace and Freedom 1915-1965,

London: WILPF, 1980

Anne Wiltsher, Most Dangerous

Women: Feminist Peace Cam-

paigners of the Great War, London:

Pandora, 1985

Reflection

GIRL RAKING HAY: 1918

She laughs in the hayfield, sixteen, slight,

over her shoulder a chestnut plait,

broad-brimmed hat

and long skirt,

summer, hay day, August heat,

1918, peace not yet.

The huge hayrake is twice her size,

the hands that wield it, like lilies;

death the news,

her brother dies.

While girls all yearn for armistice

the hay falls scythed about their knees.

From Poems by Tessa Ransford (Not Just Moonshine, Luath Press 2008)

Photo Credit: London School of Economics

Photo Credit: Peace Pledge Union