By Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, July 13, 2023
Tired of Pentagon-funded murder-glorifying violence-normalizing video games?
Here’s something different from World BEYOND War Board Member in Ukraine Yurii Sheliazhenko:
No To War: The Game
Evade the meat grinder of war profiteers!
Play here: https://notowar.itch.io/
Your mission: quit the corruption game and survive!
You are a young pacifist from Odesa, a city in Ukraine. After the brutal Russian invasion you call for nonviolent resistance and diplomacy instead of bloodshed. People think you are crazy or a traitor, because the media has told them to hate pacifists. Your government plans to wage war indefinitely until all invaders are killed. All men in the country are subjects to conscription, even against their will, for armed defense of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. Borders are closed: nobody should escape military duty. Scared by conscription, many of your peers sit home because people get draft cards mostly in the streets. It is not an option for you, though, because you must sustain your family.
You are deprived of your right to refuse to kill. You will be treated as cannon fodder, unless you evade a draft. When you meet recruiters with a draft card, you must pay for deferral or they will stuff you into their van and transport you to a frontline military unit for certain death. You are caught in a vicious cycle of corruption, forced to hand over almost all your humble earnings to greedy and cruel military recruiters all the time. The only way to escape from war profiteers is to buy on the shadow market a relocation scheme, get smuggled across the border, and start a new peaceful life in a new place.
How to Play:
Controls
- movement: ← → ↑ ↓
- Pause: <space>
- Touch the screen to move on smartphone or tablet.
Costs
- Deferral: $ 3,000.
- Relocation: $ 10,000.
Background
This game reflects in satirical form a real story of a military commissar of Odesa, local high officer in charge of recruitment, and his conscription methods. When he was in charge, young people were abducted on the streets, stuffed into vans (one of which was even camouflaged as an ambulance) by teams of brute recruiters and transported to military units. Some of his underlings and accomplice military medics were arrested for extortion of bribes for exemptions or deferrals from numerous draft evaders. Journalistic investigation revealed that a wife of the military commissar bought a luxury villa in Spain, and after the scandal President Zelensky ordered to him fired. Harsh and rotten conscription enforcement is widespread in Ukraine.
Despite the apparent popularity of the army and war effort in Ukraine (unsurprising, because of the cruelty of Russian invaders), many people don’t want to die for the Fatherland. They don’t dare to doubt a notion of war propaganda that mass killing of enemies at the battlefield is a best way of self-defense. But they think, frequently with a bit of naïve egotism, that the place where they could be most useful for their country is in the rear of the army and that it is the job of someone else (the professionals, the poor, the unbelievers, the illiterate, the men, etc.) to defend the country with a gun.
There are a few consistent pacifists ready for nonviolent and selfless resistance to war and militarism. They refuse to support any kind of war, both aggressive and defensive, and strive for abolition of all causes of war, since their conscience demands to cherish the sanctity of life and forbids to tolerate killing of innocents, inevitable during any war. Consistent pacifists practice, learn and teach nonviolent way of life as their duty for common good and in hope that once in the world where everyone refuse to kill there will be no wars.
In Ukraine the army denies human right to conscientious objection to military service in time of war, contrary to the country’s obligations under Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Conscientious objectors risk years in prison as punishment for draft evasion or desertion; there are attempts to challenge such policies in courts, but results are still uncertain and mostly judges and lawyers are skeptical. It is hard to advocate or even discuss publicly the right to refuse to kill: like in Russia, in Ukraine it is taboo from Soviet time (when death penalty for draft evasion during war was practiced) till today. If people have any doubts in official propaganda of war and infallibility of army, they fear to speak up frankly because such perceived lack of patriotism causes hateful and even violent reactions of omnipresent radicals, it makes you associated with the enemy and entails serious problems. Besides, freedoms of speech and assembly are restricted due to martial law (though radicals behave like they above the law).
This game is a part of the educational work of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement advocating human right to conscientious objection to military service, raising awareness of human rights violations and corruption related to conscription in Ukraine.
Here’s a video of the game being played:
2 Responses
It’s a start for reimaging the benefit of video games which desensitize violence and support a lack of empathy to humanity as several scientific studies have shown. Maybe this is a spark which will initiate a new beginning to cure the division, hate and fears festering in the modern world and enable us to see what we have in common. Wow. Imagine something positive being gifted to the world threw the sacrifice of the brave people of Ukraine.
Dear Ali,
I hope this email finds you well. It was a pleasure meeting you at the Zanzibar Conference last week. Our discussions left me inspired and eager to explore potential collaboration opportunities between our organizations.
I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to meet with you next week to further discuss potential areas of collaboration. I am confident that our shared goals and complementary strengths can lead to innovative solutions and positive outcomes.
Could we schedule a meeting for next week? Please let me know which date and time would work best for you, and I will do my best to accommodate your schedule.
Thank you for your attention, and I look forward to the possibility of collaborating with you.
Best regards,
Dawit
ZANZIBAR COMMUNITY IN THE TRANSITION TOWARDS A CULTURE OF PEACE IN THE XXI CENTURY
Re: Let us Unite and work together to strengthen the Strategic Planning Campaign to Reform / encourage our Zanzibar Community in the Transition Towards a Culture of Peace the XXI Century.
Dear all friends in peace
We greet you all in True Peace & Solidarity. My name is Ali Mussa Mwadini and I am the Founder of our Organization, and currently voluntarily working as Executive Secretary & Peace Activist and Founder of Zanzibar City of Peace Clubs Project. Our Organization Zanzibar Peace, Truth & Transparency Association (ZPTTA NGO), is committed to the promotion of True Culture of Peace (Positive Peace) & peace related issues, via increased negotiation, reconciliation and dialogue. We promote forgiveness and advocate for Human Rights, Gender Equality, Good governance and the Rule of law.
To affirm the possibility of living together, respecting one another in a world of different religious, ethnic and cultural traditions.
To provide tools for educators to work with intercultural and interfaith learning in different regions and in diverse settings.
To develop and promote successful practices for living together with people of different cultures, ethnicity, beliefs and religions.
Zanzibar Peace, Truth, and Transparency Association (ZPTTA NGO), is a Non-Governmental, Non-Religion, Non-Partisan, Non-Military and Non-Profit Making organization. The organization registered under the Societies Act No. 12 of 2012 with registration No Z0000017862. The organization identifies its members, as part of an emerging sustainable world community. Its actions support the values of True Culture of Peace (Positive Peace), possible to achieve the level of trust, and cooperation, Empowerment and Poverty reduction in Zanzibar Community and Tanzania. To affirm human dignity as expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and in the teachings of all religious traditions.
Once again, on behalf of our leadership, I would like to take this opportunity to official request you and all peace-loving organizations, the world cities of Peace & Donors willing to Support Peace organizations’ Programs & Projects in our Organization & country, in all forms possible. As we continue to make our way through this most unusual year, we ask for your donation, (Support) from one-time and recurrent donors. We rely on you to be able to exist to make a difference in our community. Whatever you are able to give, please do so. If recurring donations better fit our budget, we have made for our Zanzibar City of Peace Youth Clubs to Promote Peace & (POVERTY REDUCTION), which covers the Islands
Through our leadership development program, we believe strongly in the power of partnerships to create meaningful and lasting peace. “We seek peace, knowing that peace is the climate of freedom global. Without an understanding of the factors that create and sustain peaceful societies, it will not be possible to develop the programs, create the policies or understand the resources required to build peaceful and resilient in our Zanzibar societies.
We believe, without you, there would be no us. Without your support, we would not be able to grow our programming and outreach in Zanzibar and Tanzania at large. Without you and True Peace loving organization and Nations, we would not be the organized voice that we have striven to be, promoting non-violent solutions to social, economic and environmental injustice (including (Poverty Reduction and Child Abuse)
Once again, we believe that only through joint action can we break the cycle of violence
Our direction is that of nonviolent struggle, and we call on both nations to join us to achieve peace and reconciliation in Zanzibar Community & the World
Find attached photos of world peace day in Zanzibar
Hopping to hear to hear from you soonest
We thank you in advance
Yours in Peace
Inline image
ALI MUSSA MWADINI
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, PEACE ACTIVIST & FOUNDER OF ZANZIBAR
CITY OF PEACE YOUTH CLUBS.
(ZPTTA NGO ZANZIBAR
PHONE: +255-777-451257 (zptta@hotmail.com)
(Passport N0 T A E 205370)