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ANNOUNCEMENT ON PEACE ACTIVITIES OF WOMEN IN BLACK – BELGRADE |
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We would like to inform you that on 16, 17 and 18 Nov. 2001, we are conducting the following activities: - On 16 November 2001 (in the afternoon) Nothing will ever be the same as before 11 September, workshop / discussion on growing militancy, - On 17 and 18 November 2001, the evaluation of the Fifth Cycle of workshops Anti-militarism and Women, as part of the year-long project of alternative education Traveling Women’s Peace Workshops. - On 17 November 2001: peace activity Women’s Solidarity against War and For all victims of war – we Remember: Ten years of devastation/ conquest/ fall of Vukovar. The activity will be held between 1 and 2 p.m. in Kragujevac, near the Cross. All activities will be attended by women activists / workshop participants from: Aleksinac, Bela Crkva, Cetinje, Cacak, Kolasin, Kraljevo, Kragujevac, Leskovac, Novi Sad, Novi Pazar, Nis, Pirot, Pancevo, Priboj, Prijepolje, Sjenica, Smederevo, Svrljig, Valjevo, Tutin, Zajecar, Zrenjanin, and, of course, by WiB activists from Belgrade. Citizens are invited to join in and participate in this peace action.
FOR ALL VICTIMS OF WAR The years, months, and days of forced mobilizations, of night-time transfers to the front lines… We remember when in the end of August 1991, the JNA tanks set out from Belgrade to conquer and devastate Vukovar… We remember the citizens of Belgrade hailing the tanks and throwing flowers at them… We remember that shameful act of collective responsibility and complicity in war and war crimes… We remember when, on 18 November 1991, JNA charged into Vukovar turning it into ruins… We remember when in the autumn of 1991 the deserters’ names were being read out over the local radio station in Kragujevac… We remember when the names of deserters and people who rebelled against war were exposed in public places / pillars of shame in Kragujevac, just because they had refused to go to war, to kill, destroy, loot and rape… We remember that in the period between October 1991 and the spring of 1992, ten-odd mutinies broke out among Army reservists involving more than 55,000 men. We remember the protest of parents in Kragujevac on 18 November 1991, demanding that their sons be immediately withdrawn from the Croatia war theater. We remember when on 12 December 1991, the reserve troopers fled the battlefields of Slavonia, refusing to kill… We remember because IT IS A CRIME TO FORGET CRIME ! We remember, seeking out the truth and responsibility for war and war crimes, primarily for those that were committed in our name, and then all the others as well. We remember, seeking justice, not vengeance! We remember, because there will be no just and stable peace before the truth comes out, and war criminals are brought to trial. We remember, while building a network of solidarity and creating a culture of peace and non-violence. Women in Black – Belgrade
WOMEN’S
SOLIDARITY AGAINST WAR Stop terrorism! On 7 October 2001, the American and British armed forces began a campaign against Afghanistan. The greatest victims of the air strikes are civilians. Men, children, and above all women, have been suffering for a long time under the brutal Taliban regime. At this time, the Afghan Taliban regime has been largely replaced by a new regime, personified by the Northern Alliance. Like our Afghan friends from the women’s peace network RAWA, we fear that this regime will represent only a continuation of a massive abuse of human rights, and particularly of women’s rights. We fear that the USA are yet again backing the fundamentalist option that serves their interests, and not the interests of the citizens of Afghanistan. The international community should, instead, lend support to the civilian society in the region. We, women, know that there are alternatives to war and violence. Instead of superiority, power, patriarchal hatred and vengeance, we opt for more equitable relations in the world and for fairer distribution of wealth on the planet. Dominance over the Other and the Different ought to be replaced by equality and solidarity. Instead of investing in war, let us pledge for investing in peace. We, women, create alternatives. Women in Black all over the world organize non-violent actions making visible their resistance to war and militancy, and creating networks of solidarity and mutual support. We, Women in Black from Belgrade, intermittently organize peace activities, both in Belgrade and in many other towns of Serbia and Montenegro. On 17 November 2001 we are organizing a peace activity in Kragujevac, from 1 till 2 p.m. at the Cross. Let us chase the war from our history! Women’s solidarity is our power! |
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