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Many people like to talk of internationalism and solidarity. Horst Stasius, who has died aged 84, was someone who truly lived it.

Born in The Hague in the year Hitler came to power, Horst grew up in a German family who had gone abroad only to see their adopted country occupied. The family returned to Germany soon after, when his father, Otto, was called up. Continue reading “In Memoriam: Horst Stasius”

June 29^th, 2018, Kaiserslautern Germany

Attendees from Germany, Netherlands, France, UK, South Korea, Spain, Italy, USA, Ireland, Greece, Austria, Switzerland agree to the following

Whereas:

• The EU/US/NATO plays a key role in the creation of unequal economic conditions, wars and armed conflicts, and environment destruction that cause people to flee from their homes, seeking safety and sanctuary in Europe;
• Increasing levels of military spending are contributing to these conditions;
• Security and defence interests focusing on the security of states, power elites, and cooperate interests comes at the expense of individuals’ personal security;
• Over 30 000 people are estimated to have lost their lives attempting to find sanctuary in Europe over the last 25 years and countless thousands, possibly millions, have died in their own countries;
• The EU has put measures in place for open borders for weapons and soldiers, but not for people.

We oppose:

• The militarization of EU border security that serves the interests of the military and security industry and endangers the lives of people seeking sanctuary in Europe;
• The aims and actions of Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, tasked with border control of the Schengen Area, in coordination with national border and coast guard bodies;
• All migrant detention and long-term processing centres inside and outside Europe’s borders.

And we call on the EU to:

• Ensure safe and legal crossing of sea and land borders around and within Europe, thereby opening the borders for people fleeing from conflict and famine;
• Reduce military spending and invest in fair, just and equitable conditions for development and trade;
• End the sale and export of arms and weapons’ components.

Stop the wars and not the refugees!

Contact:
Aktionsbüro Stopp Airbase Ramstein
c/o IALANA
Marienstr. 19/20
10117 Berlin
Germany
info@ramstein-kampagne.eu

Photos from the week of actions can be seen here.

Today we are launching #YouAllOweUs virtual campaign. Please, feel free to share the materials with other activists and organizations.

New materials and how we will use it: #YouAllOweUs campaign

You will find the new infographics on the GCOMS website:  http://demilitarize.org/materials-owe-us-gdams-campaign/

1. 2 general images where Trump reminds global political leaders committed with increasing military spending that they all owe money and cooperation to the US for his role as world’s guard (starting from the idea of the 2%GDP he requires from NATO members and how he addressed Germany in these terms). We can see here how people are demanding politicians to take action instead on fulfilling the SDG’s.
2. Images of global political leaders committed with the increase in military expenditure. They are chosen based on their representativity and their public advocacy of the increase. Only 2 European leaders were chosen, despite a lot more countries being involved in the increase. We are conscious that, as for instance, Africa is only represented trough Al-Sisi. If you miss a leader or a territory, send us a representative sentence where he/she claims for the need to rise MilEx and all the information (including concrete sentences) and we will try to add new ones if necessary.

[IMPORTANT] How we will use this material: As mentioned, we all (partners but also organizations that can collaborate with us) will launch on May 16th the images on our social networks under the hashtags #YouAllOweUs (Health and wellbeing, better education, gender equality, etc) and #MovetheMoney #GDAMS2018

The idea is to combine the first image (the one with all the leaders) with one of the singles, adding those SDG’s or petitions we think military spending must be moved to, reminding political leaders what their priorities should be. You’ll find an example here: http://demilitarize.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Tweet_You_Owe_Us.jpg

President Trump cannot just ignore the means and impact of diplomacy, politeness and the binding rules of international law.

Now is the time for prompt and spontaneous actions. We hope that as many as possible of you will join and set a sign for peace and understanding, standing against war and violence.

Say no to war! It is about the danger of a disastrous war, which would harm, injure and kill many lives. War is not and cannot be a solution. Every single person and every government should engage in finding a peaceful solution.