The Past and Future of Armistice / Remembrance Day: A Global Webinar  [Full text see #46.  –D]
What the Day Means and Where It Came From
November 11, 2021, is Remembrance /Armistice Day 104 — which is 103 years since World War I was ended at the scheduled moment of 11 o’clock on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 (killing an extra 11,000 people after the decision to end the war had been reached early in the morning — we might add “for no reason,” except that it would imply the rest of the war was for some reason).

In many parts of the world, principally but not exclusively in British Commonwealth nations, this day is called Remembrance Day and should be a day of mourning the dead and working to abolish war so as not to create any more war dead. But the day is being militarized, and a strange alchemy cooked up by the weapons companies is using the day to tell people that unless they support killing more men, women, and children in war they will dishonor those already killed.

For decades in the United States, as elsewhere, this day was called Armistice Day, and was identified as a holiday of peace, including by the U.S. government. It was a day of sad remembrance and joyful ending of war, and of a commitment to preventing war in the future. The holiday’s name was changed in the United States after the U.S. war on Korea to “Veterans Day,” a largely pro-war holiday on which some U.S. cities forbid Veterans For Peace groups from marching in their parades, because the day has become understood as a day to praise war — in contrast to how it began.

We seek to make Armistice / Remembrance Day a day to mourn all victims of war and advocate for the ending of all war.

White Poppies and Sky Blue Scarves
White poppies represent remembrance for all victims of war (including the vast majority of war victims who are civilians), a commitment to peace, and a challenge to attempts to glamorize or celebrate war. Make your own or get them here in the UK and here in Canada.
Sky blue scarves were first worn by peace activists in Afghanistan. They represent our collective wish as a human family to live without wars, to share our resources, and to take care of our earth under the same blue sky. Make your own or get them here.

Much more about Remembrance Day / Armistice Day here.

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