Give Peace a Chance -
Troops out of Afghanistan!
International Afghanistan Congress,
June 7th and 8th, 2008, Raschplatzpavillon, Lister Meile 4, Hannover
Germany is sinking deeper and deeper into the mire of the cruel Afghanistan War. The war in Afghanistan, which was started by the U.S.A. and its allies almost seven years ago, violates international law and tramples upon standards of humane behavior. It is-just like the war and occupation of Iraq and the threats of war against Iran--part of the project to restructure the Near and Middle East. What Afghanistan needs is peace, which is the prerequisite for a sovereign democracy. It is scandalous that many times more money is being expended on the war than on civil reconstruction!
We invite you to an International Afghanistan Congress on June 7th/ 8th, 2008 in Hannover. Together with international and German experts, with people from Afghanistan who have been directly affected, and with war resisters and peace activists from Europe and overseas, we want to confront the falsehoods and distortions of the political establishment from Washington to Berlin, and to lend a voice to the worldwide resistance against the war.
Among the sponsors of the congress are the two national umbrella organizations of the German peace movement, Bundesausschuss Friedensratschlag and Kooperation für den Frieden. Other sponsoring organizations include: the Afghan Culture and Communication Center of Berlin, attac Germany, Deutsche Friedensgesellschaft (DFG-VK), the International Association of Lawyers for the Abolition of Nuclear Arms (IALANA), the Friedens- und Zukunftswerkstatt Frankfurt am Main, the Bureau for Coordination with Social Movements of the industrial union IG Metall, and others.
Organizational details
Suggested donation by Congress participants: 5.00/15.00 euros
Contact address for the Congress:
IALANA, Reiner Braun, Glinkerstr. 5-7, 10117 Berlin, Germany
E-mail: kontakt@afghanistan-kongress.de
Web: www.afghanistan-kongress.de
Unfortunately, we cannot arrange accommodations.
A list of accommodations will be available on the Web pages of the Congress.
We also must depend upon your support in order to finance the Congress.
Donations can be made to the account of the
Friedens- und Zukunftswerkstatt at the
Frankfurter Sparkasse 1822 (IBAN: DE## 5005 0201 2000 8139 0)
Purpose: "Afghanistan-Kongress"
Schedule
Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Opening:
Reiner Braun (IALANA; Kooperation für den Frieden)
Welcoming address:
Hartmut Tölle (chairman of Niedersachsen & Sachsen-Anhalt Region of the German labor union federation DGB
Plenary session:
The dimensions of the Afghanistan conflict
Elaheh Rostami Povey (School of Oriental and African Studies, London), Iran/UK
Historical dimension of the development of and conflicts over Afghanistan
General Alexander Gramov (invited), Russia
The U.S. war on Afghanistan and the involvement of the U.S. peace movement
Joseph Gerson (American Friends Service Committee AFSC) ,U.S.A.
On the situation in Afghanistan
Zoya (Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan RAWA) -
Yaqub Ibrahimi (invited), Afghanistan
France's involvement in the war in Afghanistan
Arielle Denis (Mouvement de la Paix), France
Sweden in the Afghan War
Stefan Lindgren (Föreningen Afghanistan Solidaritet FAS), Sweden
Moderators:
Sabine Zimpel (Attac), Reiner Braun
Saturday, 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Causes and dimensions of the war
Working groups on the causes and dimensions of the war:
a. Geostrategic aspects; the "Great Game"; raw materials:
Conrad Schuhler (Institut für sozial-ökologische Wirtschaftsforschung, Munich), Germany
Moderator: Lühr Henken (Hamburger Forum & Bundesausschuss Friedensratschlag)
b. The situation of women in Afghanistan; women's rights as a legitimation of war
Elaheh Rostami Povey
Zoya
Moderators: Christine Buchholz (Die Linke party) & Heike Hänsel, MP (Die Linke)
c. The role of religion; Islam:
Sabine Schiffer (writer)
Moderator: Jana Werner (SDS)
d. Environmental threats to Afghanistan and the region
Prof. Qureischie (formerly U. of Kabul), Afghanistan
Andreas Dilthey (architect), Germany
Moderator: Jens Peter Steffen (IPPNW)
e. The historical development of the conflicts in Afghanistan:
Matin Baraki (U. of Marburg), Germany (originally Afghanistan)
Ali Fathollah-Nejad (political scientist)
Moderator: Michael Schaaf (Hamburg State Executive Committee, Young Socialists)
f. Social conditions in Afghanistan against the background of neoliberalism:
Shaima Ghafury (formerly U. of Kabul)
Moderator: Karl-Heinz Peil (Friedens- und Zukunftswerkstatt)
g. "More heroin from more war?"
Janet Kursawe (GIGA Institut für Nahost-Studien, Hamburg), Germany
Moderator: Susanne Grabenhorst (Kooperation für den Frieden)
h. Combating terrorism by means of war:
Werner Ruf (U. of Kassel), Germany
Moderator: Monika Knoche, MP (Die Linke)
Saturday, 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Germany at war:
plenary discussion with experts
Andreas Zumach (journalist, Geneva), Germany
Norman Paech, MP (Die Linke; jurisconsult), Germany
Katja Maurer (medico International)
Claudia Haydt (Informationsstelle Militarisierung IMI), Germany
Moderator: Angelika Claussen (IPPNW)
Saturday, 8:30 p.m.
Play "Seven Widows"
with: Miriam Jansen & Christa Weber
music by: Christof Herzog text by: Christa Weber
Sunday, 9:00 to 10:00 a.m.
Alternatives
Welcoming address:
Monty Schädel (Deutsche Friedensgesellschaft DFG-VK), Germany
Historical survey and perspectives for peace policies
Matin Baraki (U. of Marburg)
Deserter by conviction:
James Gilligan (Iraq Veterans Against the War; veteran of Afghan War), U.S.A.
Sunday, 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.
Discussion forums on alternatives from the peace movement and peace research:
Forum 1 - Requirements for a foreign policy of peace
Otto Jäckel (IALANA)
Wolfgang Strengmann-Kuhn, MP (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen - Green Party), Germany
Peter Strutynski (AG Friedensforschung, U. of Kassel), Germany
Moderator: Andreas Zumach
Forum 2 - Peace is more than the absence of war: peace and justice
Elmar Altvater (advisory board, ATTAC Germany)
Bernd Mesovic (Pro Asyl), Germany
Sabour Zamani (Afghanischer Kulturverein), Germany/Afghanistan
Moderator: Clemens Ronnefeldt (German section, Fellowship of Reconciliation)
Forum 3 - Civil conflict resolution: An alternative or a supplement to the military and war?
Andreas Buro (Komitee für Demokratie und Grundrechte), Germany
Wolfgang Gehrcke MP (Die Linke), Germany
n. n. (Ziviler Friedensdienst ZFD), Germany)
Hans-Jürgen Hinzer (union secretary, IG Nahrung-Genuss-Gaststätten NGG), Germany
Moderator: Kathrin Vogler (Bund für soziale Verteidigung)
Forum 4 - Involvement of teachers & educationalists for peace, truth, and enlightenment
- prepared by Pädagogen für den Frieden and the teachers' & university union (Gewerkschaft Erziehung und Wissenschaft GEW) of Lower Saxony
Sunday, 11:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Give peace a chance! Troops out of Afghanistan!
The peace movement is international
Colin Archer (International Peace Bureau, IPB)
Closing session "Give peace a chance! Troops out of Afghanistan!"
Hermann de Boer (superintendent, Ronnenberg Protestant church district)
Reiner Braun (Kooperation für den Frieden)
Vera Morgenstern (national office, service industries and government workers' union VerDi)
Horst Schmitthenner (Bureau for Contact with Social Movements, metalworkers' union IG Metall)
Peter Strutynski (Bundesausschuss Friedensratschlag)
Moderator: Ursula Schumm-Garling (Friedens- und Zukunftswerkstatt)
As part of the Congress, it is intended to offer the opportunity for a meeting of the international guests. The purpose is networking among international activists and organizations working on Afghanistan.
How to get there:
to Hannover:
by train:
Hyperlink to railway information Web site (bahn.de)
by car:
Hyperlink to route-planner (web.de)
in Hannover:
description of route on Web site of Kultur- & Kommunikationszentrum Pavillon