Newsletter of the Center for the Advancement of Nonkilling, Germany - August 2009

The Nonkilling Society - Illusion or Goal?

Mainz (August 9, 2009) - Los Angeles has online statistics on homicides now: www.latimes.com/homicidemap. With such statistics an awareness for the reality of killing can be created. Moreover, they make nonkilling measurable. This is especially important in war and conflict situations, confer e.g. www.iraqbodycount.org. The August newsletter at hand deals with the general question of whether a nonkilling society is realistic, with a focus on the peculiarities of the 21st century. The second feature presents ten people in Germany who support nonkilling in different fields. The World Congress of the International Political Science Association in Chile is another topic, and the second volume of the series "Books that Change Our World View" in the HWK publishing house: "Antisemitism and Islamophobia - A Comparative Analysis" by Sabine Schiffer und Constantin Wagner. The tip of the month is musical: Canadian songwriter Dave Carroll proved that you can get your right with peaceful means. The press photo of the month is Sabine Yacoub's (www.sabine-yacoub.de) contribution to the Art Festival, the crossed out hangman: www.nonkilling.de/cms/images/stories/2009/gallows.jpg

The Nonkilling Society - Illusion or Goal?
On the surface, people agree on the necessity of reducing killing in the world, if possible down to a zero body-count. At the same time, new wars have started that are not sufficiently questioned in the mainstream public. This can be criticized as double standards of the society, but it can also be recognized as a loss of values that can be overcome. Do German soldiers really have to kill and be killed in Afghanistan? The majority of the population says no, but does not have the power or strength to induce change. Too deeply rooted is the belief that killing and the threat to kill constitute effective forms of politics. And do we know a peaceful world, at all, be it at home, in school, at work, in the society? Sometimes it seems as if we simply lack functioning examples of nonkilling societies which prove their possible existance. Or is it that we view reality through the glasses of our lethal tradition and thus overlook trends of nonkilling? - Read the complete article at www.nonkilling.de/cms/en/press-releases/83-ziel.html

Ten People in Germany who Support Nonkilling
The following collection of ten biographies (Grässlin, Hänsel, Schachtschneider, Todenhöfer, Reisin, Hörstel, Wagner, Neudeck, Pfaff, Alaiyan) and sources is about people from different working fields who are engaged in the German public for nonkilling aims. I left the German sources in this translation and provided as many English links as possible. The series will be continued. - See the ten biographies and links at www.nonkilling.de/cms/en/biographies/82-zehn.html

IPSA Nonkilling Politcal Science Panel
The "Panel on Nonkilling Political Science: A Critical Evaluation" was held at the IPSA World Congress of Political Science in Santiago, Chile, 12-16 July, 2009. The IPSA (International Political Science Association) has a membership of 3600 political scientists and 50 political science associations. The papers were presented by Dr. Piki Ish-Shalom from Israel ("Nonkilling Political Science in the Killing Fields of International Relations"), Dr. Joam Evans Pim from Brazil/Spain ("Interdisciplinary Perspectives Towards a Nonkilling Paradigm"), and Dr. Chaiwat Satha-Anand from Thailand ("Violence as Anti-Politics: A Political Philosophy Perspective"). The discussants of the panel were Professor Michael Stein and Dr. Bill Bhaneja from Canada. The panel was attended by academics from various countries including political scientists from South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Belgium (Flemish Institute of Peace). Two of the theses: Satha-Anand argues that the notion of "political violence" is a contradiction in terms because violence "kills" politics. Ish-Shalom holds that neutrality works in favor of the most powerful party and that the nonkilling theory as brought forward by Professor Paige, under certain circumstances may work in favor of those who are willing to kill. Read more at www.nonkilling.org/node/150

HWK Publishing House with "Books that Change Our World View"
After the translation of the book "Nonkilling Global Political Science" there is now a new volume of the series "Books that Change Our World View" published in the South-German HWK publishing house. Title: "Antisemitism and Islamophobia - A Comparative Analysis". Sabine Schiffer and Constantin Wagner examine on 260 pages the parallels of anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim discourses. Stereotypes and prejudices are characteristic for both discourses. The book gains special topicality after the racist murder of a Muslim in a German court and the coverage of the event. More about this book at www.anis-online.de/1/ton/57.htm#e and www.hwkverlag.de

Tip of the Month
Congratulation to the Canadian songwriter Dave Carroll (www.davecarrollmusic.com) who successfully sought justice with nonviolent means. His guitar was damaged on a flight and the airline did not pay attention. So Dave wrote the song "United Breaks Guitars" and posted it at www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo . In the form of a country song he tells his story and it became an internet smash hit with almost five million viewers within a month. This publicity forced the airline in question to acknowledge the case and to act nicely from then on. Such viral action can certainly be used for nonkilling means as well. It particularly shows the potential of art. - Thanks to Charles Matthews (www.anis-online.de/1/rooms/charles/index.htm) for the reference. 
 
Events
17-18 September 2009, WHO-HQ, Geneva, Switzerland: 4th Milestones of a Global Campaign for Violence Prevention Meeting: "Boosting global violence prevention"

The Newsletter of the Center for the Advancement of Nonkilling, Germany, (ZFNND) appears monthly on the website www.nonkilling.de in German and English. Editor is Anis Hamadeh in Mainz. Contact and free email subscription: info (at) nonkilling.de