Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun
It’s a powerful week in Nonviolence News. In addition to growing protests and direct actions for a ceasefire in Gaza (see next paragraph), numerous other major actions took place. In Morocco, people displaced by a recent earthquake have been holding protests over lack of emergency aid and the worsening housing situation. In Guatemala, the Indigenous-led campaign to uphold democratic process continues to push forward. On the border of Ukraine, Polish truckers plan to shut down several border crossings over a new set of regulations that, while designed to get supplies in and out of Ukraine, also hurts their industry. In Belarus, the musicians who became a symbol of resistance during the 2020 protests now face 8-9 year prison sentences as the government cracks down on dissent. In the United States, the Portland Teachers Association (PTA) strike shuts down 81 schools in Oregon. In Panama, protests against concessions to a Canadian-owned copper mine brought people into the streets to protect the environment and Panamanian sovereignty.
Amidst a horrific death toll (close to 10,000 and continuing to increase), protests in support of Palestinians are happening all over the world. Palestinians in the West Bank have launched a general strike. Pakistan, Lebanon, and Greece held thousands-strong protests. Cities in Morocco, Spain, Denmark, Great Britain, Italy, Sweden, Turkey, New Zealand, and Malaysia also saw large protests, with smaller demonstrations happening in Germany and France. In the US, Jewish Voices For Peace and supporters took over Grand Central Station. Belgium unions refused to load weapons shipments and protesters in Oakland, CA, blocked another ship carrying weapons to Israel. In Bristol, UK, and Cambridge, MA, direct actions targeted weapons maker factories. These actions are isolating the supporters of Israel (notably, the US) as reports of devastating attacks on evacuating ambulance convoys and refugee camps fuel the cries for an immediate ceasefire.
That’s just the start of the 66 stories we’ve gathered for you this week. You’ll also find reports from Uganda’s pipeline struggle, Nigeria’s reckoning with anti-police brutality protests, and how Ghana and Kenya’s long histories of protest movements have shaped their countries. May these examples give you strength as you stand up for justice and change.
In solidarity,
Rivera Sun
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After Historic Victories UAW President Says Workers Must ‘Flex Our Collective Muscles’ to Win Class War: “One of our biggest goals coming out of this historic contract victory is to organize like we’ve never organized before,” said United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain. Read more>>
Jury Acquits Extinction Rebellion For Treasury Fire Engine Action: On 3 October 2019, Extinction Rebellion activists sprayed 1,800 litres of fake blood made of washable dye over the Treasury building from a decommissioned fire engine. The Treasury claimed the cost of the damage was nearly £20,000 and the defendants faced up to ten years in jail each if they had been found guilty. Read more>>
Penobscot Nation to Reclaim Ancestral Land in North Central Maine: The Penobscot Nation has plans to reclaim more than 30,000 acres of their homeland in Maine from a national nonprofit Trust for Public Land (TPL), according to a press release from the organization. The transfer will put the acreage— taken from the Penobscot Nation in the nineteenth century in the Katahdin region of Maine— back into tribal stewardship, the nonprofit said. Read more>>
Uber, Lyft To Pay $328 Million To Settle New York Wage Theft Claims: Uber (UBER.N) and Lyft (LYFT.O) will pay a combined $328 million to settle claims by New York’s attorney general that the ride-sharing companies systematically cheated drivers out of pay and benefits in the state of New York. Attorney General Letitia James said Uber will pay $290 million and Lyft will pay $38 million to resolve her office’s multi-year investigation into the companies, calling it the largest wage theft settlement in her office’s history. The complaint started with driver groups. Read more>>
The Floating Health Clinics Delivering Care to Isolated Island Dwellers: About 2,500 river islands are situated along the course of the Brahmaputra River, and this solar-powered boat clinic crew is responsible for providing primary health care services to the isolated riverine island community. Read more>>
In Detroit, A Building Is Transformed Into Permanent Housing For Veterans Experiencing Homelessness: The building, operated by nonprofit Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries, gives veterans like Tucker a much needed permanent housing option while stripping away some long-standing rental barriers, such as bad credit or a record of evictions, depending on their circumstances. These barriers often hinder veterans going through a rough phase from securing an apartment. Read more>>
At Neurodivergent-Friendly Gyms, All Kids Can Just Be Kids: As autism diagnoses rise, so too does the need for play spaces specially tailored to the needs of autistic youth. Read more>>
Anger Boils In Morocco’s Earthquake Zone As Protesters Demand Promised Emergency Aid: In a town near the epicenter of the earthquake that struck Morocco last month, residents are protesting as they await emergency aid and assistance. Read more>>
Palestinian General Strike in West Bank: As Israel continues its widely condemned attack on Gaza, the Palestine Authority in the West Bank has called for a full general strike. “The most important thing we demand is to stop injustice and tyranny, to stop killing innocent people, and refrain from arbitrary revenge,” 26-year-old Ramallah resident Fakhri Muhammad Shreiteh told AFP. A video released by Al-Jazeera shows that most of Ramallah was shut down by the strike. Editor’s Note: Find more reports on actions for Palestine in the Peace Section below. Watch here>>
Candles Light Up Civic Plaza For Those Lost To Fentanyl: The City of Albuquerque lit up Civic Plaza Sunday night in remembrance of those we’ve lost to the drug. Attendees brought photos of lost loved ones that were placed on an altar during the ceremony. Read more>>
Indigenous Leader of Guatemalan Protests Says They Are Defending Democracy After Election: One of the leaders of the nationwide protests that have paralyzed much of Guatemalan commerce for nearly two weeks is a young one-time law student who is now leader of one of the country’s most important Indigenous organizations. Read more>>
Polish Truckers Shut Down Ukrainian Border: Polish truckers will block several border crossings with Ukraine starting next week in protest at what they say is Ukrainian hauliers’ free rein in Poland that is hurting their business, said a co-organiser of the protest. The protest, planned to start on Nov. 6, comes amid an economic slowdown in Europe and a relaxation of regulations for Ukrainian transport companies in 2022 by the European Union to ease the transport of goods to and out of the country invaded by Russia. Read more>>
Turkish Investigative Reporter’s Detention Sparks Protests: Turkish journalists and rights campaigners rallied Thursday in defence of a veteran investigative reporter detained under a controversial “disinformation” law for writing about corruption. Read more>>
US School Shooting Survivors Now Have Children At Risk: After a record number of mass killings this year and surging youth deaths by firearms, it can be challenging for any parent to reassure their children and to set aside their own fears. It can be even harder for those who survived the school shootings of the Columbine era, now that they have children of their own. Read more>>
In Belarus, 3 Protest Musicians Sentenced To Long Prison Terms: Members of a pop music group that became a symbol of protest in Belarus were sentenced Tuesday to prison terms of up to nine years in the country’s relentless crackdown on dissent. Read more>>
The Portland (Oregon) Association of Teachers (PAT) Walk Out On Strike, Closing 81 Schools: The 4,500-member union is demanding more counselors, more planning time for teachers, more support for special education students, smaller class sizes, and increased salaries and cost-of-living adjustments. The union’s demands “are a paradigm shift for the state of Oregon,” said ninth grade teacher Sarah Mykkanen. “We aren’t just reacting to something negative, we are demanding a whole new view of what schools do, of how schools give students what they need.” Read more>>
Disabled Southerners Build New Paths To Grassroots Power: Alongside some of this moment’s biggest grassroots struggles — mass movements to transform American policing, labor, health care and voting rights — the fight against ableism has been a constant undercurrent. New Disabled South has taken a multi-faceted approach to building political power — grounded in abolition, popular democracy and the long history of disabled struggles in the U.S. Read more>>
Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign Plans to March on Democratic and Republican National Conventions: Grassroots organizers from around the country outline the details of the marches and share how other organizations and individuals can get involved in our mission and contribute to the national fight for economic human rights. Read more>>
‘Pharmageddon’ – CVS, Walgreens Protests Spread As Workers Seek Better Conditions: Around a thousand pharmacy workers across the country have walked off the job as part of a strike to protest conditions. The so-called “Pharmageddon” series of walkouts at pharmacy chains including CVS and Walgreens stores started Monday, Oct. 30, and is expected to continue at least through the middle of the week. A growing workload and understaffing are the main reasons for the protest, organizers say, noting that the pharmacy workers are not unionized. Read more>>
Majority-Black Pennsylvania Community Fights Back Against Proposed $6 Billion LNG Terminal: Chester, PA, residents have had their hands full for more than 30 years, fending off a range of efforts to heap more industrial weight upon Chester’s shoulders, including a soil remediation plant, a proposal to burn tires for energy and a Thermal Pure Systems facility treating infectious medical waste. Now, as Penn America Energy seeks to capitalize on Pennsylvania’s abundance of shale gas by building a $6.4 billion liquefied natural gas terminal on the city’s waterfront, residents are fighting back once more. Read more>>
Panamanian Unions Lead Renewed Protests Against Copper Mining Concessions: Protests have spread across Panama in rejection of copper mining concessions granted to Canadian company, First Quantum Minerals. “The people are in the streets in defense of sovereignty… in the face of a contract that cedes self-determination by devastating the environment in order to steal resources.” Read more>>
70 Last Generation Protesters Paint German Chancellery Orange: 70 supporters of Letzte (last) Generation painted the German Federal Chancellery Orange, displaying signs that said, “Olaf is Lying” and “Lying Chancellor.” Marion Fabian, 73 , spokesperson for the Last Generation, explains the words she just wrote to the Chancellery, “ Scholz claims that the government’s measures against the climate catastrophe are sufficient. This is a life-threatening lie!” Read more>>
Cancer Alley Residents Struggle Against EPA’s “Dropping” Of Important Investigation: For more than a year, the Environmental Protection Agency investigated whether Louisiana officials discriminated against Black residents by putting them at increased cancer risk. Federal officials said they had found evidence of discrimination and were pressuring the state to strengthen oversight of air pollution from industrial plants. Then, it dropped the investigation. Read more>>
Apocalyptic Ecocide Threatens Micronesia: At the October 2 protest in Guam, activists briefly blockaded the gate to the Anderson Airforce Base there. Dozens held signs acknowledging the Indigenous names of the land — Tailalo and Litekyan. The protest occurred to raise awareness that the military base destroyed 900 acres of limestone forest and poisoned the local water, as well as to raise awareness about the threat that the climate crisis poses to inhabitants of the islands. Read more>>
62 Arrests in Parliament Square After Slow, Peaceful March: In order to disrupt business as usual, 100s of supporters engaged in a slow march, peaceful protest through the streets. “Just Stop Oil supporters are willing to slow march to the point of arrest today, and every day until the police take action to prosecute the real criminals – the people who are facilitating new oil and gas when they know that to do so will kill hundreds of millions of people.” Read more>>
Activists In Uganda Subject To Harassment And Arrest Over Oil Pipeline Protests: East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) protestors face “arbitrary arrests, harassment, and threats for raising concerns.” The protestors include human rights defenders and climate activists, who are protesting EACOP on the grounds of greenhouse gas production, harm to local communities and environmental sensitivity of the ecosystems the pipeline will disrupt. Read more>>
14 Unions Issue “California Worker Climate Bill of Rights”: A new labor union coalition released the California Worker Climate Bill of Rights calling on legislators to take urgent action to support workers through the economic upheaval and hazardous conditions wrought by a rapidly changing climate. The new coalition, California Labor for Climate Jobs (CLCJ), includes labor unions representing public sector workers, teachers, oil workers, utility workers, domestic workers, healthcare workers, farmworkers, janitors, autoworkers and more. Coalition members have pledged to stand in solidarity with each other as they fight for a worker-led transition with policy solutions to improve California’s economy for low-income workers and communities of color. Read more>>
Jamaica’s Climate Resilient Coastline: Wetlands and mangrove forests absorb water, waves, and salt to provide economic security for coastal communities. Many people and organizations are dedicated to developing and enacting solutions, including Jamaica’s budding blue-green economy—the informal network of sustainability entrepreneurs, regenerative ocean farms, and sanctuaries incubating on the island. Read more>>
Pushing Back Against Disaster Capitalism In Florida: After Hurricane Ian, many in the hardest-hit region of Lee County continue to bear the cost, not just from the physical damage, but at the hands of property owners and developers. Here’s how people are pushing back. Read more>>
NUG’s First Rohingya Minister Says Myanmar In ‘Unified Revolution’: The National Unity Government (NUG) – established by elected ministers who were removed in the coup as well as supporters of democracy – continues to press on with governmental business and to build international support, largely from outside the nation’s borders. Aung Kyaw Moe, the NUG’s First Rohingya Minister says the civilian government working to remove the military has a vision of a more inclusive Myanmar. Read more>>
Dutch King And Queen Confronted By Angry Protesters On Visit To a Slavery Museum in South Africa: Angry protesters in Cape Town have confronted the king and queen of the Netherlands as they visited a museum that traces part of their country’s 150-year involvement in slavery in South Africa. Read more>>
Latin American Leaders Reject US-Imposed Migration Policies: Leaders from throughout Latin America and the Caribbean gathered in the city of Palenque, Chiapas, to discuss a regional strategy to deal with the growing migration crisis in the hemisphere. The official joint statement stemming from that meeting adopted a decidedly political posture, warning that the negative effects of climate change were among the root causes of migration. The Palenque Declaration also stated from the outset that “the main structural causes of migration are political, economic, social and the negative effects of climate change.” They specifically blamed coercive U.S. policies for the migration crisis. Read more>>
Thousands Continue To March For Gaza As Death Toll Climbs To 8,000: Thousands of people including women and children gathered on Sunday in Islamabad for the largest pro-Palestine rally in Pakistan since Israel’s war on Gaza began this October. Protests also happened in other cities across the world on Sunday as attendees expressed considerable anger at the perceived inaction of the international community in stopping Israel’s bombardments. Read more>>
Jewish Protesters Arrested In Grand Central Station: Chanting slogans including “no more weapons, no more war, cease-fire’s what we’re fighting for” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” hundreds of human rights defenders took over the Grand Central Station’s Grand Concourse, while others hung banners reading “Never Again for Anyone” and “Palestinians Should Be Free” from the stairway to the East Balcony. Read more>>
Israeli War on Gaza Sparks ‘Largest Mass Mobilization of Jews in American History’: “We will do everything in our power to demand an end to U.S. support for genocide and apartheid. We’re watching a genocide unfold in real-time. In just three weeks, the Israeli military has killed over 8,000 Palestinians in Gaza, among them over 3,000 children,” Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) said early Monday. “That’s more than the annual number of children killed in conflicts across the globe since 2019.” Read more>>
Anti-War Protesters Repeatedly Interrupt Senate Hearing On Israel: Multiple protesters calling for a cease-fire in Gaza repeatedly interrupted Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s testimony Tuesday at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, as police dragged them out of the room one by one. Each time one protester was escorted out of the hearing by police, Blinken would resume his testimony, only to be interrupted by another protester. Read more>>
Belgian Unions Refuse Handling Arms Shipments For Israel-Hamas Conflict: Belgian transport workers’ unions called on their members to refuse to handle military equipment being sent to Israel. The unions said that loading or offloading these weapons would mean contributing to supplying organizations that kill innocent people. Read more>>
Despite Intimidation, Union Voices Get Louder for Ceasefire in Gaza: Despite the current crackdown on criticism of Israel’s actions, a handful of union locals have passed calls for ceasefire and solidarity. Read more>>
Palestine Action Blocks Israel Weapons Makers: Campaigners against Israel’s military action in Palestine have set up a blockade of the entrance to a company in Bristol UK. Members of a group called Palestine Action have ‘locked-on’ across the private road entrance to a firm called Elbit Systems which makes drones and other military equipment. Read more>>
Activist Group Targets the US-Israeli War Machine in Massachusetts: Nine activists with Palestine Action US were arrested Monday during a rally at the Cambridge office of Elbit Systems. Read more>>
Civil Rights Groups Say Critics Of The Israeli Assault On Gaza Have Lost Jobs: Civil rights groups in the US have warned of a “wave of McCarthyite backlash” against criticism of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza after Americans expressing support for the Palestinians have been sacked, faced threats of violence and hounded by pro-Israel groups. Students who support Palestine also report being blacklisted. Read more>>
Students Walk Out of Hillary Clinton’s Class To Protest Columbia ‘Shaming’ Pro-Palestinian Demonstrators: Walkout at foreign policy lecture was in support of students who signed a declaration blaming Israel for October Hamas attacks. Read more>>
As Gaza War Enters ‘Second Stage,’ Hundreds of Thousands March for Cease-Fire: “This is not about Hamas. This is about protecting Palestinian lives,” one demonstrator said. Read more>>
Kyrgyzstan Supports Palestine, Uzbekistan Cracks Down On Protesters: Kyrgyzstan’s authorities have been happy to throw their support behind pro-Palestine sentiment, while in Uzbekistan, demonstrators have been discouraged from holding rallies. Read more>>
The Public Planning Process Is Broken – Street Experiments Can Help: Street experiments are temporary and low-cost changes to the urban realm, usually reallocating space used by private cars for other forms of mobility or activity. Experimentation is the key: Through it, new uses of urban space can be realized without significant long-term commitment. Read more>>
Recognizing Art As Protest: From poetry and song to murals and vigils, protest art is prevalent in city streets, museums and classrooms. Representing a call to action during social movements, these art forms challenge the status quo. Read more>>
‘Claiming Justice’ Art Honors Activists With Street Markers: More than 100 people turned out Sunday afternoon at the downtown Central Santa Rosa Library for a launch of a new public art project honoring local activists both past and present. Titled “Claiming Justice,” the project features 12 portraits of 14 activists on sidewalk markers stretching from College Avenue to Julliard Park. Each marker has an audio link that allows visitors to hear on their cellphones a brief history of the persons honored. Read more>>
Himalayan Artists Preserve Climate-Endangered Flowers: For the past two decades, Pradhan has dedicated her life to capturing the beauty of eastern Himalayan flora on canvas. Her exquisite paintings of orchids and rhododendrons have been showcased in exhibitions around the world. Her and other botanical illustrators’ work offer a potential solution for preserving the region’s flora in the face of climate change. “With climate change and fast infrastructural development, there is an ecological change in the hills of Darjeeling and Kalimpong, and as an botanical illustrator, I feel it is important that we sensitize our younger generation to the importance of conservation of the local flora and fauna,” says the 49-year-old artist. Read more>>
The Power of the People – Protests Through the Lens of Kenya and Ghana: Throughout history people have come out in numbers to demonstrate against various issues. In Africa, demonstrations were used when people demanded independence from their colonizers. People have protested for LGBTQ+ rights and abortion rights and against high costs of living and poor governance. It would not be far-fetched to declare that the right to protest is a very important aspect of our society. Read more>>
Nigerians Remember Those Killed Or Detained In the 2020 Protests Against Police Brutality: Many Nigerians are remembering the victims of the historic protests in 2020 against police brutality, with Amnesty International reporting that at least 15 of the protesters are still being detained and tortured. Read more>>
Truth, Reckoning, and Right Relationship With the Great Lakes: CELDF, Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund presented a conversation on “The Truth, Reckoning & Right Relationship with the Great Lakes Ecosystem Project”. How do we grapple with doing what might be better for humans while not considering the full impact on nature? To answer how to grapple with these big issues, we first must be truthful about our culture, our system, and our roles. The mid-October event included testimony given by 15 individuals from New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan in front of many witnesses. Read more>>
Museum Display Highlights WWII Danish Rescue of Jews: One of the most daring acts of resistance and rescue during World War II is the center of a new exhibit by the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Lower Manhattan. Titled “Courage to Act: Rescue in Denmark,” the exhibit tells the remarkable story of how Denmark rescued 95 percent of its Jewish population — some 7,000 people — from the occupying Nazis by transporting them on boats to Sweden. There’s even a replica of one of the boats on display. But those interested in seeing the real thing can go to Mystic, Conn., where the Gerda III, a 40-foot-long cargo boat that aided in the rescue is currently on display (unable to make the trip to Manhattan). Read more>>
Words About War Matter: When we talk about mass violence, language matters. Word choices can be a matter of life and death. Read this list of suggestions for writing and talking about the War on Gaza by Words About War. Read more>>
Stop Cop City! Construction is about to start. It’s up to people like us to stop it. We’ve been telling you about the grassroots movement to save the forest and stop the expansion of authoritarian policing started under the fossil fuel fascist Trump. For two years, this work has delayed, but not stopped, progress on Cop City in Atlanta, Georgia. And now construction is set to begin. This November 10-13, opponents of Cop City will gather in the South River Forest for a mass nonviolent direct action. (Nov 10-13) Learn more>>
6 Ways To Help Palestinians: The humanitarian situation in Gaza is dire. Water, food, and fuel are running out while the Israeli government continues its invasion and bombing campaigns. But we are not powerless. There are ways every one of us can help. Here are six things you can do to support Palestinians in Gaza. Take action>>
Call-in Day for the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act: Take action with people across the U.S. to call for peace on the Korean Peninsula. AFSC and partner organizations are hosting a call-in day to urge Congress to support the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act (H.R. 1369). (Nov 9) Learn more>>
Engaging Nonviolence Online Course: Join Rivera Sun and Ken Butigan in this 6-week series exploring transformational nonviolence for personal growth, healthy relationships, and a more just and peaceful world. Together, we’ll plumb the power of nonviolence as a way of life, a set of principles, a collection of practices for navigating conflict, and a toolbox for making change. (Starts Nov 6) Learn more>>
2-Hr Intro To Kingian Nonviolence: On November 6 at 4pm ET, there will be a 2-Hour Intro to Kingian Nonviolence. Register to meet others interested in Kingian Nonviolence, build Beloved Community, and connect with On Earth Peace’s Kingian Nonviolence Learning Action Community. (Nov 6) Learn more>>
Global Week of Action For #NuclearBan: As governments, experts and campaigners get ready for a week of building on the treaty banning nuclear weapons in #NYC, join the int’l day of action on Nov 26 to call for an end to nuclear weapons and bring attention to the #NuclearBan! Learn more>>