Europe

Thousands of people all over the world celebrated the beginning of the World March for Peace and Non-violence. In Spain, there were celebrations in thirty cities and numerous other districts. Everyone shared the emotion of the Base Team which left New Zealand to begin the long road to Argentina which will take them through more than a hundred countries in three months.

“Imagine all the people living life in peace…” John Lennon’s lyrics for “Imagine” ring out in Milan’s Plaza of the Cathedral, during a giant karaoke session in which all of the local citizens concerned about issues of disarmament and peaceful coexistence had wanted to celebrate the beginning of the first historic World March for Peace and Nonviolence (download video).

As of October 1st 2009 Mayors for Peace counts 3,147 member cities and municipalities in 134 countries and regions. During September 43 new members joined the movement of local authorities demanding the elimination of all nuclear weapons by 2020. Mayor Marcelo Ebrard from Mexico City is one of the new members welcomed during a special ceremony last September 10th.

José Manuel Muñoz Felipe, coordinator of the World Peace March for Spain, closed the First Conference on eJustice with an exposition on law, power and human rights. The physical event took place simultaneously in Trujillo, Spain and Mexico City, Mexico, with nearly 2000 people in 25 countries participating via internet.

On Sunday 27th September, from 10:00 onwards, the annual bicycle festival was held in this town on the outskirts of Madrid. Around 2000 locals took part and the March logo was displayed on their race numbers. At the end of the event a manifesto was read about this planetary initiative in favour of peace and nonviolence.

A number of testimonies of the situation suffered by the Mapuche nation in Chile were put forward at the 12th period of sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council, and Danielle Mitterrand, who was in Chile in April as part of a mission for the “France Libertés” Association, of which she is president, spoke out on the nation’s behalf.

With a farewell at the World without Wars headquarters in Madrid, the Spanish members of the Base Team got ready to leave for New Zealand, where the World March for Peace and Nonviolence will start on the 2nd of October. In this gathering they talked about some of the particulars of this adventure for peace.

Last Wednesday, in Rome, Umberto Veronesi and Luisa Morgantini took part in the presentation of the World March for Peace and Non-violence which will reach the Italian capital on November 12th. A delegation will take part in the World Summit of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates the previous day in Berlin. Silo has been invited to speak.

An exhibition of pictures by the Argentine painter Irene Montemurro has opened in Madrid, in the Hispanic-Central American Centre. The painter supports the search for liberty in women through vitally nonviolent experience. The exhibition, which will continue on until 1st October, is dedicated to the World March for Peace.

Montserrat Ponsa, member of the base team, has begun the World March in her hometown, L’Ametlla del Vallès (Barcelona), before leaving for New Zealand. Journalist and the only Catalan who will complete the entire route, she was accompanied in her personal first steps of the March by her neighbors, local and regional politicians, and representatives of various organizations.