Press Release

Ukraine, Un Ponte Per: 'Take to the streets now, together with anyone who stands against the madness of war'

The Italian association, returning from a peace caravan in Ukraine, calls for more than just a demonstration by pacifists, but for a people's process involving the whole of society. After the caravans in Ukraine, it is time to do them in Italy as well. "We ask the world of culture and sport to join us and become part of the crew of hope".

Milan, 10 October 2022 - The National Assembly of Un Ponte Per welcomes any proposal to mobilise for peace wherever it comes from.

War in the atomic age (that of mutually assured destruction) has definitively left the sphere of rationality if it ever belonged there. It is no longer the continuation of politics by other means, but the premise and cause of the end of the human species and the biosphere itself. And the whole of humanity, to save itself, should unite in a conscious pact of 'species solidarity'. But to do this, it is necessary to alphabetise consciences today anaesthetised by indifference or disheartened by the impermeability of power to the reasons of civilised societies. This literacy starts in the territories, in the places of study and work, and must immerse itself in society.

This is why, while we welcome the various proposals for a national peace rally, it is crucial that its construction does not follow worn-out rituals, but allows for a mobilisation that translates into a constant commitment and a programmatic platform that overturns the current single-mindedness of war. We do not need a demonstration of pacifists who are already convinced of the repudiation of war and weapons, but a demonstration of the people that moves society as a whole, representing a cultural and political break with the current line chosen by a large part of European and national institutions of entrusting the solution to the conflict in Ukraine to the military option.

Seven months on from the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, contrary to what has been claimed on the unified networks, the choice of arms is not only silencing any possibility of negotiation, but is also stiffening the parties, and there is no longer any hesitation in threatening the use of nuclear weapons. This continuing escalation is close to the point of no return: a cease-fire and the start of an international conference on a common security system for all the peoples of our continent, bar none.

The situation is so serious and deteriorated that to delude oneself into thinking that under these conditions an agreement along the lines of the one imposed at Dayton on Bosnia Herzegovina, with the ethnic division of territories and the separation of peoples, risks being vain. What is needed is a new Helsinki that excludes new iron curtains and new cold wars and rebuilds forms of mutual guarantees that are no longer based on the muscles of armies and weapons. Peace must be made worthwhile and no people must feel threatened any more.

To the networks of which UPP is a part, to all the forces willing to mobilise to stop the war, to the trade union and association forces, we say that the time has come to put aside organisational differences and jealousies and make themselves available for a participatory and inclusive path.

We would like to extend the experience of the 'STOP THE WAR NOW' network peace caravans to Italy as well. Why not hold one or more peace caravans in Italy in the coming weeks, from north to south, from east to west and vice versa, with an itinerary that includes stops in as many countries and squares as possible, so that, on the way to the national event (for which a date must be set immediately), the wind of peace will swell and leave committees in the places it passes through, places of unity, in which the commitment to peace can be continued every day? We ask scientists, artists, mayors, men and women from sport and entertainment to be part of this crew of peace and hope. Everyone must do something, walking together in diversity is possible and necessary. The time to do this is now.

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