Afri: Joe Murray retiring, coordinator post advertised
Joe Murray, the long time and well known coordinator of peace, justice and sustainability organisation Afri will be retiring in August this year. The permanent post of coordinator, starting in August, is now being advertised with a closing date of 26th April. The details are on the Afri website; the job advertisement at https://www.afri.ie/category/afri-hiring-new-coordinator/ and job description at https://www.afri.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Afri-coordinator-job-description.pdf “Afri’s vision is of a just, peaceful, equal and sustainable world. Key areas of work identified in the current strategic plan include: 1) militarisation and peace, 2) food sovereignty, 3) climate change and climate justice, and 4) migration, refugees and homelessness.”
Applicants should have experience of managing or leading within nongovernmental organisations or grassroots movements and a variety of other experience – specified in the job description – but Afri is encouraging people to apply who feel the job is right for them even if they don’t have all the experience listed. The coordinator of Afri is one of just two full time staff and is responsible for Afri’s programme of one off and regular events, the latter including Féile Bríde and the Doolough Famine Walk, as well as a global citizen education programme. The Afri office is in Dublin but a certain amount of remote working is envisaged.
Legacy Act: Broad welcome for Belfast High Court decision
There has been widespread approval among victims and human rights groups, including Amnesty International who were involved in supporting the case, for the NI High Court decision (in a lengthy ruling) that the British Government’s Legacy Act breached the European Convention on Human Rights in offering conditional immunity from prosecution for crimes committed during the Troubles. The British government remains committed to the Act so the way forward is unclear. Word search for more details, and for background see e.g. https://caj.org.uk/our-work/legacy-of-the-past/
Thales and Palestine
In a positive crossover event, a protest and blockade of the main entrance at Thales arms company factory at Alanbrooke Road, Castlereagh, Belfast, took place for over an hour on 23rd February. Organised by an ad hoc group of activists on Palestine, with help from peace activists, over thirty people attended. https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/53546068897/in/dateposted/ Earlier, workers had also been leafletted as they arrived, among other things urging conversion to socially useful production. Thales is involved internationally with the prominent Israeli arms company Elbit in the production of drones including Watchkeeper – and drones are now a key aspect of warmaking without any indication in Gaza that it adds to the ‘precision’ of attacks on Hamas by the IDF.
VSI volunteer programme: Promoting peace, social justice
VSI/Voluntary Service International has launched its 2024 programme of international volunteer projects which take place across Europe, including Belgium, Germany, Britain, Switzerland, Sweden and elsewhere. Most projects last for 2-3 weeks throughout the summer, with the earliest starting near the end of March, and many more starting from May onwards. VSI also has medium and long-term volunteer projects available, and various global citizenship education activities. To learn more, follow on social media or visit the website https://www.vsi.ie/volunteer/programmes/ivp/ VSI is the Irish branch of Service Civil International (SCI) and works to promote peace, social justice, sustainable development, and intercultural understanding through volunteering in Ireland and internationally, and through global citizenship education.
Palestine: Meeting violence with non-violence
A meeting at Queen’s University Belfast from 12.30 – 2.30pm (light lunch from 12 noon) on Thursday 7th March sees Prof Mohamed Abu Nimer and Dr Marwan Darweish speaking, respectively, on the role of religious identity on war and peace in Israel and Palestine, and on the role of unarmed civil protection in Palestine. The full title of the meeting is ‘Meeting violence with non-violence – Responding to injustice through peaceful interventions in Palestine’. The event is organised by the George Mitchell Institute and the School of Law at QUB. Admission is free and booking can be made at buff.ly/3SCXj7X which gives further info.
Front Line Defenders: Afghan women defying the Taliban
The 2024 Front Line Defenders (FLD) lectures in Dublin, Galway and Belfast (respectively on 11th, 12th and 14th March, times differ) are given by Afghan Woman Human Rights Defender & Journalist Horia Mosadiq on the topic ‘How Afghan Women are Defying the Taliban’. Attendance is free but the Dublin event is already ‘sold out’. She will address human rights, particularly the situation for women’s rights under the Taliban and the struggle of Human Rights Defenders and Women Human Rights Defenders in this context, as well as what can be done to support them. Run in conjunction with local bodies. See https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/front-line-defenders-annual-lecture for more info and booking. FLD is based in Blackrock, Co Dublin, their website is https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/
Afri: Secondary school resource on hunger and war
Afri has published a new GCE (Global Citizenship Education) resource entitled “Sowing seeds of peace: A Global Citizenship Education Resource on Hunger as a Consequence of War”. Designed for use by secondary school teachers, this 77 page resource includes introductory material, and sections on the scourge of war, hunger as a humanitarian cost of war, sowing seeds of peace as active citizens, and material for further learning. Addressing its intended teacher audience it states “We urge you as educators to move away from seeing and teaching about war and hunger as natural phenomena in our world, and to ensure students see both as political and human failures of will and empathy.” Available at https://www.afri.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Sowing-Seeds-of-Peace-final_web.pdf
l A 10 minute video report on Afri’s Féile Bríde is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_BJKYsL8E4
Corrymeela Horizons volunteer programme
The closing date to apply to be part of the September 2024 – August 2025 volunteer programme at Corrymeela is 8th March; roles are for programme and hospitality, and cover support. Accommodation and living costs are covered. See https://www.corrymeela.org/volunteer for details.
ICCL: Human rights, facial recognition
ICCL/Irish Council for Civil Liberties has presented to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Geneva its alternative report highlighting issues such as gender equality, the right to housing, hate crime and the legacy of Mother and Baby Homes. https://www.iccl.ie/equality-inclusion/iccl-alternative-report-to-un-committee-on-economic-social-and-cultural-rights/ Meanwhile it has also commented on a Joint Oireachtas Justice Committee critical report on the Facial Recognition Technology bill https://www.iccl.ie/digital-data/justice-committee-highlights-serious-deficiencies-with-facial-recognition-technology-bill/
Irish Neutrality League leaflet on Triple Lock
The Irish Neutrality League (INL) has produced a very useful A5 back-to-back paper leaflet on the Triple Lock on the deployment of Irish troops abroad. It is reproduced at
https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/53559581373/in/dateposted/ which gives contacts.
Deposit Return Scheme in Republic – how it came about
A little success….whether you judge it worth opening a bottle/can of anything is up to you, but the first ever reverse vending machines for plastic bottles and aluminium cans opened to the public at the start of February to allow people to bring back their waste and get rewarded with cash. FOE has documented how it came about – see https://www.friendsoftheearth.ie/news/irelands-newly-launched-deposit-return-scheme-a-testimony-to/
Development educators and the war in Gaza
The Centre for Global Education in Belfast and Comhlámh have organised a couple of online discussions on how the development education sector should respond to the war in Gaza, with various suggestions emerging, and another meeting is planned. https://www.centreforglobaleducation.com/news
Feasta: hiring communications and operations worker
Feasta is hiring a part-time Communications and Operations Facilitator which they say “should be of interest to anyone living in Ireland who is attuned to wellbeing, post-growth and doughnut economics, and who wishes to enhance their skills in communication, advocacy, logistics and digital media.”
The closing date for applications is March 12th. https://www.feasta.org/
INNATE posters on Palestine and Israel, arms race
Four new mini-posters (A4 size for home printing) on Palestine and Israel, and one on the arms race, have been added to the sizeable set of posters on the INNATE website at https://innatenonviolence.org/wp/posters/
World Beyond War virtual film festival: Women and war
Marking International Women’s Day (March 8), World Beyond War’s “Women & War” virtual film festival from 9th – 23rd March explores the intersection of women, war, and militarized masculinity. One ticket (standard price $15, concession $5) gives access to the 3 films (to be watched at your own time) and three Zoom discussions. Details and booking at https://worldbeyondwar.org/2024filmfest/