arms

ISRAEL: MODERN TIMES can document that since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, the oil fund has increased its investments by 35 percent in companies involved in Israel's war crimes, occupations and violations of international law in the Middle East. In 27 of these, the oil fund has invested at least NOK 1430 billion by the end of 2024 – compared to NOK 930 billion the previous year.

CONTEMPORARY: Zeiten Ende is a complaint about the current lack of vision. But what about one of Harald Welzer's suggestions for improvement: 80 percent salary for professionals and 20 percent for social activities or volunteer work?

AWARD: David Swanson received 'The Real Nobel Peace Prize' this year. This has its background in Nobel's ambition to build down, yes, remove, the military, the weapons and consequently their manufacturers.

PALESTINE/ISRAEL:What is it like to be the UN's special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories? After the launch of the Italian book J'accuse, we spoke to Francesca Albanese – about Israel's war against Gaza, genocide, anti-Semitism and impunity, based on her specialization in international law. She talks about political, legal, psychological and epistemic violence resulting from how Israel, with the consent of the West, has oppressed the Palestinians for decades. (And what about the Oslo agreement, see the sub-section.)

HEGEMONY: Will the genocide continue until the Palestinians are exterminated or forced into Egypt – or indeed until America's global hegemony is defeated? No true friend of Palestine should therefore support this hegemony's arms deliveries to Ukraine.

RUSSOPHOBIA: Russophobia has cost hundreds of thousands of lives – not because you are afraid of the Russians, but because you need enemy images. Did the USA/NATO have a carefully planned and announced provocation intended to provoke reactions from Russia?

KENNEDY: 60 years after JFK was killed, despite the Biden administration's attempts to renege on its administration's promises, some of the remaining secret documents about the incident are being released. One of the revelations is that the CIA kept an eye on Lee Harvey Oswald.

MODERN TIMES CONVERSATIONS: We talk to the former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn, the man who could have become Prime Minister of Great Britain, about current issues – such as military rearmament, Ukraine, Israel, climate justice and work, security, democracy, citizens' councils, and not least a hope for the future.

KENNEDY: He said in his speech in 1963: "Where ignorance too often abounds and truth too seldom prevails, the most important subject we have is: world peace." Was it possible, as he said, "to create conditions so that weapons can finally be abolished"? According to Kennedy, the struggle for disarmament had been a matter for US governments since the 1920s. This has not been the case for very many of his successors.

POWER: According to Hannah Arendt, the use of violence, weapons and bombs renders us politically speechless. Can her particular analyzes of power teach us anything about the violence that is being carried out from and in Gaza today?

FUTURE: Are we moving towards an international society that takes care of those who fall outside the established working life – and wisely converts today's military industry towards civilian tasks? It is possible that the new BRICS may point the way away from current Western ideology.

EQUIPMENT: That the rest of the world, apart from the West, does not stand on the side of Norway, the USA and NATO when it comes to Ukraine today, is not surprising when we know the centuries of looting and colonial times, followed by imperialist wars and Western-backed coups. It is still "war and weapons that create peace" that is the narrative. Stop the race to a possible world war!

UKRAINE/RUSSIA: The authors of this book believe that the European countries should loosen their ties with the United States in order to achieve constructive results in what can be considered a European security problem. Two parties can only achieve security together with the other party – not at the expense of it.

SCENARIO: MODERN TIMES here tries out an imaginary scenario to compare two irreconcilable conflicts. It is up to the reader to make up their own mind as to what this might mean.

All hindsight notwithstanding – the Russian #invasion# came hard on the vast majority of us. In terms of peace policy, we were also ill-prepared for it...

PUBLIC: Precht and Welzer want more "well-intentioned disputes" about points of view – not social media's definition, person-orientation and excitement production. Their book has been met with everything from total rejection and hesitant acceptance to detailed criticism.