Volunteer Spotlight: WBW Board Member Geoff Holland

Each month, we share the stories of World BEYOND War volunteers around the world. Want to volunteer with World BEYOND War? Email greta@worldbeyondwar.org.

Location:

Gimuy-Cairns, ancient Gondwana rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef, Far Nth Qld, Australia

How did you get involved with anti-war activism and World BEYOND War (WBW)?

I attended Palm Sunday peace rallies as a student at the University of Sydney. While living in Berkeley, California in the early 1980s I became involved in the Livermore Action Group, and then worked for People for Nuclear Disarmament (PND) in Sydney, Australia. In 2014 I initiated the peace group World Peace Now ॐ.

My main focus over the last decade has been climate activism and the cascading catastrophe of Global Heating. But when the genocide began in Gaza in October 2023, my attention shifted once more to peace activism.

I have always known intellectually, and even on an emotional level, of the violence perpetrated by the US around the world, particularly since WW2. This was particularly apparent in Latin America where I have lived for a number of years. But when the genocide erupted, and I saw how my own countries (Australia and the UK) responded, it was a visceral wake up for me. I went into an existential crisis. It felt like the ground had fallen away from beneath my feet. I can no longer identify with these countries where most of the political parties support the genocide and the government is an active participant.

We knew the history of the British Empire, the genocide that occurred against First Nations people in Australia, and the American Empire, but we still held onto the belief in a sound justice system including international law and justice. I still held onto the belief in Western liberal democratic society and values. Cracks first started appearing with the treatment of Julian Assange where the UK judicial system was bent to meet the needs of the CIA and MI6.

But now with the genocide in Gaza the veil has fallen away completely, and the mask removed. I realized to my horror the Lie of Western Society. We, Western Society, and in particular the US, UK, Germany, Canada and Australia, are not only enabling and providing political cover for the genocide against the people of Palestine, we, in both a legal and a literal sense, are committing the genocide! Our countries are fundamentally immoral.

Nothing has changed since the days of the African slave trade, and Open Season on Australian and American First Nations people. It is just packaged in a different way.

So much of my time this year (2024) has been working with our local group Free Palestine FNQ comprising Palestinians doctors and lawyers, and other committed citizens – painting large banners, organising fortnightly vigils, as well as rallies, banner drops and local social media intervention.

I am also busy organising the World Peace Summit 2025 (14-28 Sep) and publishing the World Peace Calendar every 10 days.

I became a Board Member of World BEYOND War this year (2024) after lovely conversations with Liz Remmerswaal Hughes. Being a part of the World BEYOND War collective has opened up for me another wonderful circle of friends and kindred peace activists.

What kinds of WBW activities do you work on?

I have been in touch with other members of WBW in Australia with the aim of building up our WBW Australia Chapter. Hopefully I can contribute by establishing a social media presence and help build up the membership. I have been busy publicizing the Annual WBW Conference #NoWar2024, and attending some of the sessions, particularly the one in Australia.

I am impressed by the level of dedication of volunteers, staff and Board Members at World BEYOND War. What also inspires me is the level of collaboration with other peace groups. We must celebrate our diversity and focus on our unity.

What’s your top recommendation for someone who wants to get involved with anti-war activism and WBW?

My recommendation for anyone wishing to engage in activism, whether for peace, environment or social justice – is to budget one or two hours a week every week. Don’t take on too much. Be a tortoise rather than a hare. In this way you will be more productive in the long run.

Also, what is important is not only talking among ourselves, but engaging with the mainstream, and hopefully inspiring more people to become active with the peace movement.

As the seasoned adage goes – think globally and act locally. Sometimes act globally too!

Peace activism gives us the opportunity to become more courageous – to become a public speaker, to write those frank letters to politicians and say those inconvenient truths on their Facebook and Instagram pages, to write those Letters to the Editor signed in your name which everyone in the community will see. It does come with a small level of risk. But when I think of what the Palestinians in Gaza are going through, the constant mortal danger, the ongoing heartbreak, the struggle for daily survival, and most of all, their heroic courage and will to go on, I see the risk and courage required of me is quite modest in comparison.

What keeps you inspired to advocate for change?

For me it is like a jigsaw puzzle where pieces have been forced to fit in the wrong places, and where you can see pieces lying idle when the spaces where they would fit perfectly remain empty.

I am so incensed at the idiocy and the tragedies resulting from militarism, as well as the greed and immorality of the military-industrial complex, that subverting the status quo to the extent I am able is very appealing and satisfying. How can we be so foolish as to kill each other in so many diabolical ways when all differences can be, and must be, resolved around the negotiating table, or according to ethical law?

Seems most of the community is distracted from the big issues of Militarism and Global Heating which can leave one feeling quite isolated – why don’t people wake up? So connecting with like-minded people, and usually wonderful, beautiful people, who share the same concerns about the state of the world and our future, is very healing.

I have four children and one grandchild. I feel sad to think that the world that I and my generation are leaving them is perhaps not as good as the one I inherited. For their sake I need to do all I can to rectify that situation.

Posted September 24, 2024.