Editor’s Note From Rivera Sun
Around 8,000 trainee doctors in South Korea have submitted their resignations and gone on strike. They are opposing a plan to admit more students to medical school while trainee doctors are grossly overworked and underpaid. Argentine health workers also held a 24-hr strike for better salaries, part of a series of rolling strikes amidst President Milei’s economic policy changes. Last week, the train drivers struck for a day, leaving a million people without transit.
In more Nonviolence News, thousands participated in an anti-government protest in Croatia, Myanmar is at a standstill during a general strike on the third anniversary of the military coup, tens of thousands of Hungarians demonstrated outrage of a child sex abuse scandal involving high-ranking politicians, German airlines are warning people to stay home as an upcoming strike will ground planes, thousands marched across the US and Canada for Missing & Murdered Indigenous Peoples, and the Russian police arrested hundreds of people during protests over the suspicious death of imprisoned opposition leader Navalny. This is just the start of the actions this week, so be sure to explore the full round-up.
Hundreds of thousands of people across the world took part in protests against the ongoing attacks in Gaza. At least 200 unions – representing half the US Labor Movement – have now called for a ceasefire. Google workers are pressuring the company to end its complicity in genocide. India’s port workers are refusing to load military cargo headed to Israel. Meanwhile, 10,000 people demonstrated for an end to the war in Ukraine as global leaders met in Germany with intentions of expanding military aid.
Here’s a few success stories to lift your spirits: Peace activists in Montenegro have thwarted a plan for a military training ground. Chicago organizers defeated police tech by stopping a racially-biased surveillance system. And the University of Wisconsin is returning 3,400 acres of land to the Chippewa.
A favorite story this week? Don’t mess with German soccer fans. Upset over a plan to sell off ownership of a sports club, fans showered the field with tennis balls. The next time, they held a 12-min silent protest then threw chocolate coins on the field. They capped off their protests by attaching smoke flares to remote control cars and racing them over the field. In the end, they prevailed and the deal collapsed.
In solidarity,
Rivera Sun
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Bundesliga Owners Back Off Deal After Fans Protest: Upset over a bid to sell the sports club, fan protests have interrupted games and nearly led to some games being called off over the last two matchdays. Now the objectionable buyer has backed out of the deal. Read more>>
Peace Activists Stop Military Training Ground In Montenegro: After years of struggle, supported by World BEYOND War and others, the Save Sinjajevina campaign has met with the Prime Minister of Montenegro and gained his promise that there will be no military training ground built at Sinjajevina. This was to have been a massive and destructive project for the benefit of NATO and the U.S. military. It now seems clear that it will not happen. Read more>>
Chicago Organizers Defeat Police Tech: Organizers have been working for the last few years to end the city’s contract with ShotSpotter. After months of uncertainty, news broke that Johnson would, in fact, end the city’s contract. This is a tremendous victory for grassroots organizers in Chicago, and it also demonstrates that activists can take on Big Tech, as it relates to policing, and win. Read more>>
12 Years After Degrading Mass Strip Search, Women in Prison Won $1.4M Settlement: A group of 200 incarcerated women were walked in a single file line to the gym and left standing in handcuffs for “hours” in the gym the women were taken into a bathroom and strip searched. A dozen years later, the women have won a settlement that is far larger than others of its kind and represents a win for Fourth Amendment rights behind bars. Read more>>
University of Minnesota to Return 3,400 Acres to the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Tribe: Since 1909, the land—entirely within the tribe’s boundaries— has been occupied by the university’s Cloquet Forestry Center, a research center with a stated goal to “build an understanding of northern forest ecosystems through field-based research, education, and outreach.” Read more>>
Bob Moore, Founder of Bob’s Red Mill, Leaves His Company to The Employees: Bob Moore, who founded Bob’s Red Mill nearly half a century ago, died over the weekend at his home in Milwaukie, Oregon. He was 94. In 2010, Mr. Moore secured the company’s legacy by transferring its ownership to its employees. Now, more than 700 employee owners own the company. Read more>>
How Socialists Won Historic Tenant Protections In Tacoma: Last fall, democratic socialists in Tacoma, Washington, led a victorious campaign to establish robust protections for the city’s renters. Jacobin spoke with two campaign leaders about the effort. Read more>>
Thousands Hit The Streets In Zagreb, Croatia, In a Massive Anti-Government Protest: Croatians mobilized against the appointment of a state attorney who has been accused of communicating with people involved in scandals and fraud. The opposition has also demanded the dissolution of parliament and fresh elections. Read more>>
70% Of South Korean Trainee Doctors Submit Resignations & Walkout: Almost 8,000 trainee doctors have walked off the job in South Korea to protest pay and working conditions. Medical interns and resident doctors say they are underpaid and overworked and that their protest shows the system is broken because their absence results in surgical procedures being cancelled and emergency rooms turning back patients. Read more>>
‘We Want Dignity’: Indian Farmers Defy Pellets, Drones To Demand New Deal: Two years after they brought the Indian capital to a standstill, farmers say Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has betrayed its promises. “Farmers are demanding dignity, we cannot be poor forever,” says Mota, when asked why he was protesting. Read more>>
Myanmar At Standstill As Silent Strike Marks Third Anniversary of Coup: Cities and towns across Myanmar have come to a standstill as people took part in a silent strike to signal defiance against the military junta on the anniversary of the 2021 coup. Three years since the military detained political leaders including Aung San Suu Kyi, its grip on power is more uncertain than at any point in the last six decades, according to analysts. The UN says two-thirds of the country is experiencing conflict. Read more>>
House of Commons Lobby Targeted By Extinction Rebellion To Protest Against UK’s Role In Violence In The Democratic Republic of Congo: Protesting ‘the deadly links between war, resource robbery and climate breakdown’, the activists drew public attention to the causes and impacts of a conflict that has raged in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for over three decades between armed gangs and militias fighting for control of an estimated $24 trillion in natural resources. Read more>>
In Hungary, Mass Protests Against Child Sex Abuse Scandal: Tens of thousands of people protested in Budapest on Feb. 16 over a child sex abuse scandal that has rocked the government of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and caused a series of resignations. Read more>>
Russian Police Detain Hundreds In Protests Over Opposition Leader Navalny’s Death In Prison: Navalny, 47, had been the most high-profile and effective opponent of the Kremlin since Vladimir Putin took power on New Year’s Eve 1999. His death shocked liberal Russians at home and abroad, triggering rare anti-government protests and spontaneous outpourings of grief in cities across Russia. Police detained more than 340 people, including a priest, in what amounted to some of the largest public displays of dissent in Russia since Putin’s mobilization order in September 2022. Read more>>
‘Drop the Assange Case Now,’ Advocates Tell Biden DOJ as Critical Hearing Begins: “The responsibility still lies with the U.S. Department of Justice,” said a Reporters Without Borders campaigner. “At any point, they could drop the charges, they could close this case, they could let Julian Assange free.” Read more>>
Activists Occupy Royal Courts of Justice Over Assange, Climate Trials, And Protesters’ Legal Rights: On February 21, over 100 people gathered within the central hall at the Royal Courts of Justice, London, to hold a series of peaceful People’s Assemblies or ‘Citizens Juries’, in what is being described as ‘a makeover’ of British Justice. Read more>>
Workers in 14 States Launch Largest Starbucks Union Drive Yet: “It’s important that we’re recognized as people rather than profit machines,” said one Louisiana barista. “We don’t have another choice but to stand together.” Employees at 21 Starbucks stores across the United States informed the global coffee giant’s CEO on Tuesday that they are launching the largest single-day unionization in company history. Read more>>
Lufthansa Warning Strike: Passengers Told To Stay at Home as Flights Grounded Across Germany: Warning strikes are a tactic used by unions to warn that longer strikes could follow if demands are not met. The union is seeking pay raises of 12.5%, or at least €500 more per month, in negotiations for about 25,000 employees, including check-in, aircraft handling, maintenance and freight staff. Customers were advised to contact customer service. But, of course, they were on strike too. Read more>>
Argentine Health Workers Go on Strike: The Federation of Associations of Argentine Health Workers (FATSA) is carrying out a 24-hour strike to demand salary improvements amid an inflationary process fueled by President Javier Milei’s adjustment policies. Strikes and mobilizations by various unions and sectors have been constant since the far-right politician Milei took office on December 10th. This strike comes the day after a 24-hour strike by train drivers, which left over a million people without transportation. Read more>>
Workers at LAX And LA Grand Hotel Launch Strikes Over Wages, Staffing: Unite Here represents workers across Southern California that have been involved in the largest hotel strike in U.S. history. The action involving 60 hotels began in July 2023 with 34 reaching tentative labor agreements with the union. Their actions highlight a wave of union activity that has swept Southern California in recent years. Read more>>
Six Years Into Rent Strike, LA Tenants Union Will Battle Landlord in Court: The Hillside Villa Tenants Association is engaged in one of the longest rent strikes in the history of Los Angeles. Read more>>
Twenty-Five US Universities Face Calls To Cancel Starbucks Contracts: Student organizers, faculty and workers at 25 university campuses across the US are calling for their institutions to cancel their contracts with Starbucks in protest against the company’s response to union organizing efforts. Read more>>
‘No Love For Deliveroo’ – Food Couriers in Massive Valentine’s Day Strike: ‘We cannot afford to keep going like this any longer.’ Thousands of food delivery couriers working for Uber Eats, Just Eat, Deliveroo and Stuart walked off the job on Valentine’s Day in one of the largest ever strike actions against gig economy platforms in the UK. Read more>>
Dinosaur Protests and -25°C Actions – Extinction Rebellion’s Global Newsletter: Find out why Finnish rebels braved temperatures of -25°C, and why Austrian rebels are fighting a spider with a dinosaur. And check out recent actions in DRC, Uganda, Australia, Norway, France, Canada, Argentina, UK, Denmark, Belgium, USA, and Sierra Leone. Read more>>
Mapuche Hunger Strike Reaches Crisis Point: The renewed hunger strike of fifteen political prisoners of the Mapuche resistance movement in Chile has reached a highly critical stage. The prisoners are members of the Coordinadora Arauco-Malleco (CAM), a movement in Chile, that is involved in direct action to recover ancestral lands in order to protect Madre Tierra from spoliation by logging companies and big business latifundios. Read more>>
Climate Defiance Takes On The Federal Reserve Again: “BIG NEWS: We asked Fed Vice Chair Michael Barr if fossil fuels threaten the economy. He wouldn’t answer. So we asked again. And again. And again.” Watch the video here>>
What Europe’s Egg-Hurling Farmers Can Teach Us About Climate Progress: EU officials had big plans to slash emissions from farming. Then the protests started. The protests have revealed just how tough it is for governments to curb agricultural emissions, not just in Europe but worldwide. Read more>>
Climate Change Is Undoing Decades Of Progress On Air Quality: Community organizers fought long and hard to improve air quality and stop pollution. But climate change is unraveling that progress. A new report finds that 1 in 4 people in the U.S. are breathing unhealthy air as rising temperatures and bigger fires create a “climate penalty.” Read more>>
A Forest Nursery Offers A Theory Of Social Change: “By working on a forest farm, I have learned that trees can teach us how to protect land and water, remove carbon from the air and create cultures of care.” Read more>>
Across Minnesota, Thousands March For Missing & Murdered Indigenous People: On Valentine’s Day, actions were staged throughout several Minnesota cities and Indian reservations to memorialize Indigenous people who are missing, or have been murdered. Minneapolis, Duluth, Bemidji, Fargo-Moorhead, Mahnomen on the White Earth Indian Reservation and the Red Lake Indian Reservation all organized events including opportunities for family members to speak of their lost loved ones and the community to show support. State officials even unveiled a license plate supporting the cause. Read more>>
Montrealers March For Missing & Murdered Indigenous People: Montrealers came for a memorial march to honor missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, trans, and two-spirit people. Many grieving shared their stories, while calling for action from Montreal police, the provincial and federal governments. Read more>>
Gaza’s Social Media Activists Are a Potent Force For Change In The Fight Against Racism: Politicians may dominate the narrative, as they gaslight the world with fake facts, but the voices of activists, amplified through social media, are making an indelible mark. Read more>>
The Unsettling Reality Of Settling Refugees: On Nonviolence Radio, philosophy professor Jen Kling discusses the complex issue of resettling refugees and making sure they have access to justice. Read more>>
How Social Media Platforms Can Empower Disabled Women: These spaces aren’t just about connection – they’re arenas of advocacy, empowerment, and solidarity, representing a new kind of social value. Read more>>
African Feminists Are Leading The Campaign Against Femicide: African feminist activism on femicide has created and continues to create a wealth of knowledge that is fueling an unprecedented political activism centered on women’s non-negotiable belonging, as well as our right to security, safety and dignity. Read more>>
LGBTQ Advocates Condemn Passage of De Facto “Book Ban” in West Virginia: “The language is so vague that anything could be deemed obscene,” a West Virginian said on social media. The law calls for criminal prosecution of librarians, teachers, and museums for displaying “obscene” material to minors. Read more>>
The Invisible Labor of Women Who Love Incarcerated People: There are few things more important for people in prison than keeping links with the outside world. That task falls overwhelmingly to women. According to a report from a coalition of 23 different social justice organizations, not only does family contact improve the likelihood of successful reentry to society, “maintaining contact with family during incarceration has been shown to significantly reduce chances of recidivism.” Read more>>
Hundreds of Thousands Take Part In Pro-Palestine Protests Across The World: Protests took place in major world cities, including London, Madrid and Istanbul. Protests also took place in Israel’s capital Tel Aviv and outside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in West Jerusalem with demonstrators calling for a captive-prisoner exchange deal and immediate elections in the country. Read more>>
200+ Unions – More Than Half The US Labor Movement – Launch Network to Push for Gaza Cease-Fire: “The support for a cease-fire is overwhelming,” said one union leader. “We can’t stand by in the face of this suffering. We cannot bomb our way to peace.” The coalition says it represents more than 9 million union workers—”more than half the labor movement in the United States.” Read more>>
Local Papers Across the US Are Refusing to Cover the Movement for Ceasefire: Throughout the country, organizers for ceasefire are encountering acute bias from local media outlets. Read more>>
Google’s Internal Rebellion Over Israel Goes Global: ‘If Google doesn’t want to be evil, then it shouldn’t [be].’ Google workers and members of the public protested at the company’s UK headquarters on Tuesday, as dissent against the company’s work for the Israeli government grows. Read more>>
At Munich Security Conference, Anti-War Protests As World Leaders Discuss Expanding Military Aid: Around 10,000 protesters gathered at the southern German city’s Königsplatz – one of more than a dozen demonstrations across the city which drew together anti-NATO protestors, pacifists and pro-Kurdish activists. They opposed the on-going war in Ukraine as global leaders discussed expanding military aid to Ukraine. Read more>>
Indian Port Workers Refuse To Handle Military Cargo Bound For Israel: The Water Transport Workers Federation of India, which represents 3,500 workers in 11 major ports across the country, has declared its refusal to load or unload any “weaponized cargoes” intended for use in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. This includes any cargo coming from Israel “or any other country which could handle military equipment and its allied cargo for war in Palestine”. Read more>>
Popular Enforcement of International Law From Vietnam to Gaza: The International Court of Justice has found that Israel’s actions in Gaza may constitute genocide in violation of international law. While the court did not elaborate on the obligation of individuals, there is a long history to the moral and legal responsibility of all, governments and individuals alike, to prevent war crimes. A US District Court has added, “It is every individual’s obligation to confront the current siege in Gaza.” Read more>>
Faculty For Justice Forms 80+ Affiliate Groups To Support Students Targeted For Their Palestine Activism: Academics have launched a new national network to advocate for Palestine. Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP), which was formed in solidarity with Palestinian students, already has 80 affiliate groups across college campuses. They have also been advocating for student protesters. Students protesting the carnage have consistently been targeted across universities, where pro-Palestine groups have been suspended, and individuals have faced academic repercussions. Read more>>
Protests Over Gaza Pop Up At Sundance Film Festival: There was a rally and protest at the Sundance Film Festival Melissa Barrera, Indya Moore Among Fiery Palestinian Protesters During Sundance, Chanting “End the Genocide”. Read more>>
Gamers For Peace Take Counter-Recruitment Into Digital Realms: As the US military ramps up its recruitment through gaming, one group is showing up in virtual reality to try to be a force for peace. Read more>>
West Bank Protest Withstands Repression To Decry Gaza Attacks: Despite Israeli repression, a demonstration in occupied territory challenged the status quo. The action was organized by Combatants for Peace to oppose the war and the occupation of Palestine. Combatants for Peace is a joint Israeli-Palestinian organization composed of former Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants who engage in non-violent resistance to the occupation. Read more>>
Sixteen Months on Strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Over 16 months on strike, newspaper workers have used a range of creative tactics. They’ve picketed the wedding of the publisher, John Block. They’ve placed pro-union yard signs in the neighborhood—and even the yard—of the executive editor. They’ve asked C-SPAN to remove owner Allan Block from its board. “It’s like chipping away at a rock and you don’t know what chip is going to actually break it in two until you hit that one,” Batz said of the tactics. Read more>>
Zionists Try – And Fail – To Shut Down Family Kite-Making Workshop: Zionists tried to shut down a family kite-making workshop because ‘it implied support for Hamas’ – but failed. “I write to my MP, I attend protest marches alone and with my family, but solidarity can also be shown in less political ways. And that’s what we saw the kite-making workshop as; a safe, family-friendly environment for people of Hitchin and the surrounding areas to come together, to hold Gaza in our hearts and minds, and learn how to create a kite from someone who would draw on his childhood memories of Gaza.” Read more>>
The ‘Carbon Parties’ Will Not Save Us. That’s Why Just Stop Oil Wants the UK’s Votes: “We are seeing cowardice on a huge scale, so we will ratchet up pressure on MPs. We’ll also seek our own voice in parliament. Just Stop Oil will either stand candidates or support independents who sign up to a radical short manifesto. A manifesto that centers on deliberative democracy for a new People’s House.” Read more>>
Teen Codes Song Lyrics App To Swamp Teaching Reporting Website: Sofia Ongele learned how to code as a teen. When she spotted a website where conservative parents were reporting on teachers who were teaching banned history (and other subjects), she organized GenZers to flood the website with mock reports. In a few weeks, the website was shut down. Read more>>
Graphic Novel: Who Is Afraid Of Degrowth? Illustrator Céline Keller has crafted this beautiful graphic novel about degrowth and why it seems to upset some people. The book manages to explain why this economic theory is the answer to climate activists’ prayers and to debunk some persistent myths around it. The link takes you to a free digital download. Read more>>
German Sports Fans Protest With Tennis Balls, Chocolate Coins, And Remote Control Cars With Flares: Remote control cars carrying flares invaded the pitch during a German second-tier football match as fans protested external investment into the league. Supporters across several stadiums also took their discontent public by halting games with showers of tennis balls. This forced significant delays—one match in Stuttgart ended up lasting 70 minutes for the first half alone. In another action, a 12-minute silent protest was ended by throwing chocolate coins onto the field. And the fans won. Read more>>
The #NeverAgain Movement 6 Years Later: After a school shooting in Parkland, Fla., on February 14, 2018, hundreds of thousands of young people pushed for stronger gun control measures. How has their advocacy changed since? Read more>>
How 4 Black Women Changed Labor Organizing Forever: Forty years ago, Irma Sherman and the over 150 homecare workers employed by “McMaid” (Yes, McMaid really was the name of the company) decided they’d had enough of low wages and no benefits and began to organize. Their titanic struggle with their employer pioneered new tactics and strategies, led to new models of organizing, and sparked one of the largest organizing successes in modern labor history. Read more>>
The Labor Movement Includes Nonprofit Workers, Too: CJ Garcia-Linz, president of Progressive Workers Union, argues for nonprofits like the ones they represent – including the Sierra Club – live their values with their staff unions. Read more>>
US Strikes Doubled From 2022 To 2023: According to a new report by the joint Cornell-University of Illinois Labor Action Tracker, the number of workers on strike last year doubled from 224,000 in 2022 to 539,000 in 2023. Read more>>
How The US Government Began Its Decade-Long Campaign Against The Anti-Pipeline Movement: Newly released documents show the FBI monitoring anti-Keystone protesters much earlier than previously known. Young Native activists were among its first targets. Read more>>
Join the Mother’s Rebellion On March 9: Mothers* Rebellion invites you to our 4th global rebellion! The Saturday right after International Women’s Day we’ll be manifesting around the world, to demand climate justice and highlight the fact that women and children are the ones most affected by the climate emergency. Learn more>>
Women & War – World BEYOND War Film Fest: Marking International Women’s Day (March 8), the “Women & War” virtual film festival explores the intersection of women, war, and militarized masculinity. Each week, features a live Zoom discussion with key representatives from the films and special guests to answer your questions and explore the topics addressed in the films. (March 9-24) Learn more>>
How To Inspire Others To Act On Sustainability (So They Thank You): Join Flight Free USA and Josh Spodek to learn skills for convincing people to make a shift toward sustainability. (March 13 & 20) Learn more>>
Earth Day 2024 – Peace & Planet Mobilization: Join Campaign Nonviolence for their first-ever Peace & Planet Mobilization from Earth Day to May Day. With the extreme urgency of the climate crisis and the growing concerns about ongoing and escalating wars, we are asking people to take action with Campaign Nonviolence from April 22-May 1, 2024. Learn more>>
War & Environment Course w/ World BEYOND War: By understanding the costs of war to our species, the planet, and the economy, those involved in both the climate change and peace movements can work together more effectively to advance their common goals of protecting the planet and ensuring a safer world for everyone. This online course is designed to enable this collaborative learning to take place and will provide insights into what we need to know and do in order to avoid two existential threats: war and environmental catastrophe. (March 4-April 14) Learn more>>
Engaging Nonviolence II: Inner Skills & Outer Practices For Interpersonal and Social Conflict: In this new 6-week online course, you will explore the power of nonviolence in our relationships, communities, and daily lives. Engaging Nonviolence II explores skills for interpersonal conflicts, builds our inner awareness, and fosters our capacity to engage nonviolence in wider settings, such as interrupting harassment on the subway, or participating in nonviolent actions. (March 2024) Learn more>>
People Power & Peace: Join this an inspiring 6-week course, where you’ll explore powerful stories from around the globe. From Liberia to Northern Ireland, Colombia to the Philippines, you’ll discover how communities have successfully halted or averted wars through nonviolent action. (May 6-June 17) Learn more>>