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The first ever international week of action for military-free education and research was held between 25-31 October 2014. This follows on from a day of action last year. Antimilitarists across the world took action to raise awareness, and challenge, the role the military has in education and research in educational institutions. This role gives them access to young people - to lay the groundwork for recruitment later in life, and to promote military values.

Different groups used the week of action in different ways. Some challenged military presence in schools through direct action, some publicly debated the presence of the military in education, others showed films, wrote articles, and campaigned on social media.

War Profiteers' News, November 2014: Special Gender Issue, No. 43

by Julie L. Arostegui, J.D.

There is no doubt that the group commonly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) must be stopped. The brutal tactics of this violent, extremist, archaic group that aims to establish a seventh century style Islamist caliphate have been made clear to the world: beheadings of civilians, mass executions, killings, and abductions of non-Muslims and ethnic and religious minorities. Especially disturbing is the horrifying sexual violence that is being committed against women and children as a tactic of war. United Nations officials have condemned the “barbaric acts” of sexual violence and “savage rapes” that ISIS has perpetrated on minorities in areas under its control.

A look back at the arts and cultural programme of the WRI conference in Cape Town, July 2014. Film thanks to Muti Films

During this, the International Week of Action for Military-Free Education and Research, WRI and other organisations have issued this call to action: War is not the answer: resist youth militarisation!

From the moment we are born, children and young people all over the world are exposed to the military and military values around them. They are taught that armed force and violence can solve problems.

We call this the militarisation of youth.

In some countries, this militarisation is visible and obvious: young people (mainly, though not exclusively, young men) are forced to join the military through conscription. This might include forced recruitment, or recruitment of children.

Dear friends,

Ten years ago I made one of the best decisions of my life. In Chile, I received an announcement that a position at WRI was opening for work in nonviolence and decided to apply for it. To my surprise – and I think also to that of many others! - I was chosen to be the first coordinator of WRI's Nonviolence Programme. Today I'm writing to you to ask you to help this work continue.

The day I came to work, I was told: “OK, here is your desk. Now you need to produce a handbook on nonviolent action, and launch a global campaign against war profiteering” – all very straightforward indeed.

WRI has welcomed VİCDANİ RET DERNEĞİ (VR-DER) -  the Conscientious Objection Association in Turkey - as an associate member.

You can find their details on the list of affiliates here.

This weekend VR-DER issued the below statement, on the situation in Kobane, and the Turkish government's response to ISIS

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Conscientious Objection Association: We have neither a second nor a life to give to war!

The authorities initiated a “peace process” after the Turkish state and military conducted a thirty-year-old war which left thousands of casualties. The process was conceptualized as a step towards constructive dialogue with the Kurdish movement. However, the state did not abandon its long lived habit of providing peace with its arms, tanks and bombs. Families lost their children and funerals never stopped although a ceasefire was announced and armed groups left the Turkish borders.

Planned for the week of the Small Actions, Big Movements WRI conference, this installation in the middle of Cape Town's grand parade was delayed due to the inclement weather. Three months on, we're delighted to see it finally take shape! The broken AK-47 is covered in money, to highlight the corruption amongst those who profit from war.

Description from the artists: "Resistance" is a giant wheat paste public art installation; a world record spanning more than 100 meters. The image is of a broken AK -47. Resistance was born from a conversation between Ralph Ziman and (anti-arms activist) and Terry Crawford-Browne (one of the organisers of the Small Actions, Big Movements WRI conference).

Resistance was inspired by War Resisters' International - an anti-war organization founded in the wake of the First World War. War Resisters has existed for almost a century and has branches all around the world. The logo has always been a rifle, broken in half by a pair of hands.

Photos and footage thanks to the Resistance project and MUTI films.

War Resisters' International held its first quadrennial International Conference in Africa 4-8 July 2014, in Cape Town's City Hall. The conference we co-hosted by the Ceasefire Campaign.

The meeting brought together 220 activists, researchers, and campaigners doing peace and nonviolence work from around the world for five days. Of the 220 participants, over half were African. The public conference followed meetings of the Pan-African Nonviolence and Peacebuilding Network and the Women Peacemakers Program. Before and afterwards WRI's Council and Assembly meetings took place. The meeting will have impacts on WRI as a network for years to come.

Christine Schweitzer

This hundredth issue of the Broken Rifle reprints articles that relate to the strategies affiliates of WRI are using and and issues they are dealing with. There are articles on direct nonviolent actions and on civil disobedience, articles discussing gender, conscientious objection, land grabbing, peace-building and antimilitarist trends in various regions. They reflect discussions we have had in WRI over the last 20 years.

Militaries across the world gain access to young people through education systems.

It gives them an extraordinary chance to shape every generation's perception of military violence and lay the groundwork for future recruitment.

25 - 31 October sees the first international week of action for military-free education and research: a concerted effort of antimilitarist action across the world to raise awareness and challenge of the role the military have in education, and to give voice to alternatives.