평화영성, 평화교육

'Resisting Militarization in Jeju and Northeast Asia' 프로그램이 끝났습니다.

센터알리미 0 2,724 2021.06.15 15:25
4 10일부터 529일까지 프란치스코 평화센터가 “제주와 동북아시아의 군사주의에 저항” 이라는 영어로 진행된 온라인 수업을 주최했습니다. 센터 소속 국제 활동가 카야 뷔레이디 (Kaia Vereide) 7 동안 세미나를 진행했습니다. 매주 다른 발언자가 자기지역에서의 군사주의 저항에 관해서 40 강연하고, 나머지 시간에 25명의 다양한 참가자들이 소그룹 대화와 질의 응답하는 시간을 가졌습니다.

 

St. Francis Peace Center Foundation hosted an English-language online course titled “Resisting Militarization in Jeju and Northeast Asia” from Apr. 9/10 to May 28/29. Kaia Vereide, an international peace activist supported by the Center, facilitated the 7 weekly sessions. Each week, a speaker gave a 40-minute presentation about resistance to militarization in their region, and 25 participants with diverse backgrounds and ages joined in small group discussions and full group Q&A times.

 

Three of the speakers gave permission to share publicly their presentations:

April 23/24

Recent militarization and resistance in Jeju

-Sunghee Choi, Gangjeong International Team

유튜브?https://youtu.be/K3dUCNTT0Pc

May 7/8

Resisting colonialism, dictatorship, and military bases in the Philippines

-Corazon Valdez Fabros, International Peace Bureau, Asia Europe People's Forum

유튜브?https://youtu.be/HB0edvscxEE

May 28/29

How to Hide Empire in the 21st Century 

-Koohan Paik, Just Transition Hawaii Coalition

유튜브?https://youtu.be/kC39Ky7j_X8

 

 

These are some of the participants’ reflections:

***

This course gave me a wider vista to view the issue. I was appalled by the destruction of coral reefs at Henoko, enraged with the way the local police and military treated inhumanely its own people, and my heart was broken with the massacre of young people on the third of April in Jeju. I knew now that the island nations are being transformed into military arsenal by the US military forces. 

Though seemingly formidable this struggle is, I am still hopeful because I have found kindred spirits.  For me, this course exemplified solidarity in action and the journey just began. I am hoping to bring this issue to our local discourses. -Prescilla Tulipat

***

I have learned a lot through the program. It was great to meet people from the places across the ocean and share our experiences with each other. An opportunity like this brings us together and connects us. I would love to keep in touch with them and continue our conversations! This program helped me learn about Korean, the Philippines, and the U.S. military strategies. Learning about these places also gave me a different perspective to think about Okinawa as well! It was a great program, and I would love to participate again! -Tatsuki

***

Our histories, political struggles and joys are so bound up in one another but sometimes it seems that colonial borders, languages and mindsets have fragmented us and made it difficult to witness each other's stories. The Resisting Militarization program was a remedy for this separation and allowed me to dive deeper into the work of connecting the militarization of my ancestral homeland with other places across the Pacific. This program affirmed in me that my vision is much stronger when I am in conversation with others from different homelands, generations and political organizing lineages. -Sho

***

One thing that always strikes me in learning about anti-military struggles is the common threads between struggles in different contexts. For example, the history of Jeju and the current resistance to base construction reminded me a lot of Okinawa's experience. For me, this really highlights how both the US military and host nation governments prefer to station troops and construct bases in more remote places like Jeju and Okinawa that are far from the "mainland" and "inconvenience" fewer people. In other words, they continue to marginalize historically marginalized groups and treat them like second-class citizens, in the name of "national security.-Charmaine

***

This program was incredible, thank you so much for organizing it! The history of women in the Philippines, Okinawa, Jeju, and South Korea organizing against the US military is so important to share. I've learned so much. -(anonymous)

***

Born in South Korea, I have been living with this on-going war. I had been taught to accept the militarization as a necessity to survive and to protect ourselves. Since moving to Gangjeong village last March, I started questioning many beliefs in my mind. Participating in this course helped me loads in redirecting my questions.

I had many rude awakenings. I was shocked how blinded I was. The truth can be so easily hidden from our sight by ideologies. As though there were people who wants us to feel insecure and insufficient.

Through this course, I felt deep sense of connection and humanity. I found hope for breaking the vicious circle of brutality by solidarity. In fact, each of us are from different parts of the world yet we belong to one humanity and one Earth. I deeply appreciate this opportunity to be with all of the other participants who share similar concerns. I felt connected through our mutual concern for cruel history and for not repeating it. May peace be with you. -Susan

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