Nonviolence News: Mexico Disarmament, South Korea Wins, Romania in an Uproar & Hopes of a Ceasefire
Image: Remix of India Farmer Protests by Jaskaran (JK Photography), CC BY-SA 4.0
Mexico Disarmament, South Korea Wins, Romania in an Uproar & Hopes of a Ceasefire
Editor's Note From Rivera Sun
South Koreans’ persistence has finally paid off: after weeks of protesting for the arrest of their suspended President Yoon Suk-yeol over his martial law and power grab, he has been apprehended and will face legal proceedings. This movement stands as a powerful example to all of us facing tyrants in high places. We can learn from their example, including their rapid response to oppose martial law, the practical defiance of helping public officials get into the parliament building to repeal it, and the dedication to using people power to force politicians to impeach and arrest the president.
Nonviolence News exists to help us watch campaigns like this unfold in real time and to see how they connect to rising trends across the globe. We also help track the stories from start to finish, often bridging multiple news journals to do so. For example, a few months ago, we shared a story about an underdog community group – the Save Chinatown Coalition – struggling to keep billionaires from wrecking Philadelphia’s Chinatown by relocating the basketball stadium into their neighborhood. This week, we’re happy to report that they’ve succeeded: the stadium will stay where it is. In this time of billionaire graft and extreme power, this story is a heartening example of how ordinary people like us can push back with nonviolent action and win.
In more good news, Thailand halted plastic waste imports over toxin concerns, the US banned a carcinogenic food dye, and Uzbekistan now imports more electric vehicles than gas-powered. Wisconsin created an official Office of Violence Prevention and allocated $10 million for grants that include local violence prevention initiatives by community members. Mexico’s President Sheinbaum has launched a bold, ambitious, nationwide plan for disarmament and peacebuilding with a gun buyback program.
The news of a potential ceasefire deal in Gaza set off relieved (and skeptical) reactions among Palestinians. Global allies are cautiously watching to see if it holds, while also rallying their movements for the longer term work of ending occupation, releasing political prisoners, humanitarian relief, and the right of return and rebuilding for displaced residents in Gaza. Divestment campaigns continue to push local governments to move money out of Israeli businesses. Activists are disrupting Israeli events selling Palestinian lands. Palestinian filmmakers are screening footage of genocide and resistance. The Hind Rajab Foundation is using Israeli soldiers’ own social media posts as documentation and evidence of war crimes. Polish citizens protested their government’s decision not to arrest Netanyahu for war crimes when he comes for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
It’s important to remember that while politicians will take credit for this ceasefire, it is the persistent and unrelenting global resistance to Israel’s genocide that even put the demand for a ceasefire into the realm of political possibility. And that resistance will be needed in the coming months and years. “A ceasefire is not the end,” many organizations are pointing out. It is the beginning of what needs to be a long, broad struggle for justice, accountability, reparations, and peace.
In more Nonviolence News, around 12,000 people in Germany attempted to prevent delegates from attending a far-right political party’s meeting to nominate a chancellor for the upcoming snap elections. In Oregon, 5,000 healthcare workers just launched the largest medical strike in state history. Protesters took action at Shell Oil Company headquarters over its role in climate disasters like the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles, CA, while others joined relief efforts organized by community groups. Forest defenders in Tasmania prevented logging for 5 hours to prevent the cutting of giant trees protected by law. With a looming US TikTok ban, users are flocking to RedNote, a Chinese social media app, in a clear defiant resistance to the highly-politicized debate. The European Federation of Journalists, representing 30,000 journalists, has decided to quit Elon Musk’s X over its refusal to curb misinformation. Romania is in the throes of political upheaval and mass protests over the supreme courts decision to annul the results of the presidential race after an outsider candidate emerged as the winner.
Across the United States, the movements seem to be bracing for the storm that is being inaugurated into the presidency on Monday, Jan 20th. Over 100,000 people have already pledged to join a local People’s March in protest of Trump. Climate groups are ramping up direct actions, launching campaigns against billionaire influence and pivoting to ‘pocketbook’ issues to mobilize new people. And among migrant rights groups, a race to prepare for the new administration’s threats of mass deportations is underway. Communities (like New Haven, CT) are making plans to resist immigration raids. Others are circulating Know-Your-Rights guides. Hundreds rallied against mass deportations in Albany, NY. Such resistance has a long history, one that can be drawn upon in these times. We’ll need it. An uptick in raids is already sweeping the country, including in California where day laborers are helping with fire clean-up and immigrants are caring for their communities.
You can find all these stories and many more in the January 12-18, 2025 section of our Nonviolence News Research Archive. We collected 52 fascinating stories this week – not all of which made it into this article. So, take a look, click through to the sources, and dig deeper into what’s going on with nonviolence in our world this week. You can also information about how to join upcoming actions, campaigns and trainings in the Calls-To-Action section.
Find more great stories from this week's news in our Nonviolence News Research Archive>>
A favorite story? I recently ran across an article about the ‘mass trespasses’ of 500 people reclaiming and defending their historic Right To Roam on private lands in the United Kingdom. It’s a campaign with centuries of backstory to it, including resistance to the enclosures of the commons and the 1970s Ramblers Movement. But their vision for free and open access to privately-held lands has contemporary parallels: Sweden, Finland, Austria, and Norway have a similar policies, as do many coastlines including in Maine and California. The mass trespasses are forms of mass civil disobedience to unjust laws, akin to Gandhi’s defiance of the Salt Laws or the US’ critical mass ride-ins of bicyclists reclaiming the streets from cars.
In solidarity,
Rivera Sun