Activists for peace (In Swedish: Aktivister för fred) can look back to two fruitful years. Together with our cooperation partners we can now move forward on several different initiatives:
Work against repression in Russia and Ukraine. A project initiated in a co-operation between Russia and Ukraine.
Link will be posted.
Cooperate with other popular movements in the Nordic and other European countries towards and beyond the EU parliamentary elections in May. The chances are better than ever to be part of building alliances for conflict resolution and Yes to peace negotiations – no to war. More and more movements say Yes to common security – no to rearmament and strengthen peace demands by saying Yes to investments for social justice and the environment – no to austerity policies.
Be part of building stronger world-wide alliances – for peace on earth and peace with the earth.
We have together with the social forum network Prague Spring 2 against right wing extremism and populism (PS2) been able to contribute to take initiatives such as the Odessa solidarity action and work to stop repression in Russia and Ukraine. With PS2 we have closely followed Thematic World Social Forum on migration in Mexico City, Mexico, European Forum in Bilbao, Spain and been part of Europe in movement in Barcelona, Spain, Assembly of Resistance in Budapest, Hungary and Nordics in movement in Malmö, Sweden.
In 2017, Activists for peace initiated Dags för fred! (In English: Time for peace!) in Stockholm, Sweden and co-arranged Another Europe is possible in Gothenburg, Sweden. This have made it possible to start cooperation with a broad range of peace, migration, environmental, solidarity, no to EU and EU-critical movements.
This year, 2018, we have supported our two Ship to Gaza activists. Although we are not working politically on the Palestine issue – since we are mainly focused on Ukraine and criticism of how NATO advances closer to Russia in the Nordic region – we have supported Divina Levrini who went all the way from Sweden until getting hijacked by the Israeli military on international waters and Lars Drake, a Ship to Gaza veteran.
During the autumn; informing and support protests against NATO military excercise in Norway where also Sweden actively participated, has been a main task.
We also have participated in Naturbrukskonferensen (In English: Conference on Land management), a yearly meeting with small farmer, environmental and other organisations to promote food sovereignty and sustainable agriculture and forestry. Here we addressed the need to strengthen civil contingencies by raising food self sufficiency, reestablish food and other contingency storages and give small farmers a say in the planning of civil contingencies.
In early December 2018, Tord Björk from Activists for Peace was once more the target of a smear campaign. In a joint effort by Stockholm Free World Forum, an NGO paid by The Confederation of Swedish Enterpriseto promote business interest in security affairs and Atlantic Council, the closer cooperation between environmental and peace movement and linkages to the Green Party was presented as a threat in the report Kremlin’s Trojan Horses 3.0. Tord Björk had written in an article in an environmental magazine that the referendum in Crimea in 2014 was a breach of international law but that a majority of the local population including the Ukrainians supports the outcome. The author of the report, Henrik Sundbom, a fellow at Stockholm Free World Forum, claimed that the article showed to much sympathy with the Russian Crimean narrative.
Last year a close cooperation partner to Sundbom, Martin Kragh, head of the Russia and Eurasian programme at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs and researcher at the Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Uppsala University where he also is Research Director at the Uppsala Forum for Democracy, Peace, and Justice, together with the daily Expressen also started a smear campaign against Tord Björk and Ukrainabulletinen, the newsletter publicized by Activists for peace.
In late December 2018 Activists for peace started to inform on our blog about the smear campaigns and their connections in Sweden and internationally to Integrity Initiative and Atlantic Council. Activists for peace have compiled links to some 150 comments made in 24 countries and this is complemented with open source material presented in 100 links about the scandal last year. What was once a tragedy during the Cold war seems to have returned as a farce. You can read more here (link will be posted).
Dags för fred! (In English: Time for peace!) in Stockholm, Sweden, May 20, 2017 A report from Time for Peace! in Stockholm, Sweden published by Activists for peace (In Swedish).
NATO military exercise Trident Junction in Norway, where also Sweden participated, started October 25, 2018. No to Trident juncture and subsuming Sweden to NATO – A call in Swedish published by Activists for peace.
Naturbrukskonferensen in Falun, Sweden, October 26-28, 2018. Homepage for the Conference on Land management.
Update: Thursday Augusti, 2 Devina Levrini landed in Sweden after being deported from Israel.
A report from Arlanda upon arrival in Sweden is published by AA news agency and can be found in this link.
“For days ago, they tried to break the Gaza blockade
Swedish activists Andreasson and Levrini, who were detained by Israel, said upon arrival in their home country that they were tortured in the cell in Israel.”
Help to spread this interview – Swedish speaking and Turkish text version.
Let the world hear and know.
NOTE! Sunday August, 4 the Israeli navy reported that they had highjacked a second ship, the Swedish flagged Freedom with 12 passengers and humanitarian cargo bound for Gaza. Below, you find who to contact to demand immediate release of the crew. Also, demand that the ship and it’s cargo are allowed to reach the destination in Gaza.
The Swedish citizen Divina Levrini which also is a part of Aktivister för fred (In English: Activists for peace) have since the departure from Sweden in May 2018 sailed with Ship to Gaza and Freedom Flotilla. During the last leg towards Gaza, she sailed under Norwegian flag on Al Awda (The Return).
They were expected to reach their destination in Gaza during the evening on Sunday July, 29. However, during the day Israeli military boarded the ship on international waters, confiscated the ship and it’s humanitarian cargo and took the the crew against their will to Israel.
Divina’s SOS-video is available through Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s Youtube-channel.
The other crew members SOS-videos are also published there.
Letter from Divina Livrini where she tells about the highjacking of Al Awda (The Return), the Israeli prison and that she started a hunger strike. Delivered July, 31 2018.
Divina and another Swedish crew member, Charlie, will be deported and are expected to arrive in Sweden on August, 1. They were held in Israeli prison from Sunday. Divina and another passenger started a hunger strike and wanted to make a juridical case against the Israeli State. Now, Divina is however deported. Israel just wants everyone to forget about what happened.
At the same time, another ship sailing in the flotilla is approaching the same area as Al Awda was highjacked during Sunday. It’s Freedom (for Gaza) sailing under Swedish flag.
Aktivister för fred (In English: Activists for peace) has gathered information on who to contact to help Divina and the other crew members who were kidnapped by the Israeli authorities.
Contact the government of Sweden and other actors to demand that Divina’s and the others safety are garantueed. Demand their immediate release. Also, demand that all the ships sailing in the flotilla are safely allowed to reach their destination.
Break the blockade of Gaza!
This post will be updated. Further contacts may be added.
Gustav Fridolin, Minister of Eduaction and spokesperson of the Green Party
Phone (mobile): +46 72-452 31 34
Phone (office): +46 72-557 38 01
Phone (press secretary): +46 72-5511605
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gustavfridolin
Magnus Hellgren, Sweden’s ambassador to Israel
Twitter: @hellgren_magnus
Sweden in the United Nations
Permanent Mission of Sweden to the United Nations
Phone: +1 212 583 2500
Visiting address: One Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, 885 Second Avenue, 46th floor, New York, USA
Mikael Lindvall, Ambassador, Ambassador, Head of the Department of Foreign and Security Policy, Representative of Sweden in the Political and Security Committee (PSC)
Phone: +32 (0)2 289 56 57 (Jeanette Lindzter, assistent)
E-mail: jeanette.lindzter@gov.se
Åsa Pehrson, Council of Ministers (Deputy Head of EUS, EU UN, Institutional Affairs, PMG)
Phone: +32 (0)2 289 56 22
E-mail: asa.pehrson@gov.se
Jeanette Lindzter, Assistant to Ambassador Mikael Lindvall
Phone: +32 (0)2 289 56 07
E-mail: jeanette.lindzter@gov.se
Other political parties represented in the Swedish Parlament and in the Parlament of the European Unions, spokespersons for foreign policy and Party offices
Contact local polititian by searching for contact details. Many have their own websites, Facebook-pages, Twitter and so on as channels to reach the electorate. Some contacts may be found by looking at each party’s homepage (se above).
Activists for Peace 