Maya Khankhoje, who does not confuse pacifism with passivity, recently won the first prize for the  Montreal Paragraphe Bookstore short-story contest.

Montreal Serai has chosen the subject of violence as the focus of its December issue not to spoil the “holy” days celebrated with such commercial hubris throughout the world, but rather to conjure the retreat of dark forces when the Winter Solstice announces brighter days ahead. Whether violence is individual, structural, moral, physical or simply a matter of perception, it is clear that much of it is “manmade”, including global warming with its concomitant cataclysmic phenomena. And here the use of the word “man” to designate humanity in general is appropriate since in most societies men are rewarded for destroying life, whereas women are rewarded for creating it. That, however, does not rule out female-perpetrated violence. Human beings are one of the few species infamous for wantonly killing their own kind. Violence is the law of cause-and-effect run amok. The good news is that violence is self-terminating. Latin America, for example, is seeing a resurgence of progressive regimes with a more humane social agenda, which is a good thing, since social injustice is one of the main causes of violence.

The following are a few headlines culled from the international press on December 15, 2006. They have been edited for brevity or translated from other languages. Read on.

A 20-year old Chinese protester was put to death in secret.

Women face increased risk of abduction by militias and criminal gangs in Iraq.

Hamas and Fatah trade fire.

There will be no bullfights in Barcelona as of 2008. (What, there are still gory bullfights!)

Yoko Ono’s driver arrested for attempted blackmail.

A Porto Rican prisoner in the U.S. was given a second lethal injection to speed-up his death.

Iran’s poor get poorer.

Can the ETA ceasefire hold?

Reports on children as slaves, laborers, war victims and AIDS patients in Africa.

Japan takes steps away from postwar pacifism.

A fourteen year old rapes a 3-year old in Palermo.

Russia is building a new nuclear warhead designed to evade US defenses.

Ex-priest (in Rwanda) gets 15 years for ordering demolition of a church, killing 2,000 people inside.

Botswana court rules Bushmen evicted illegally.

Satellites detect decreases in Africa’s water.

Israel’s high court backs killings.

President Fox’s term (in Mexico) increased women’s migration to the United States.

Tasmanian suicide rate (mainly children) 65 per cent above national average.

Australia signs for new fighter jet.

Child killer appeals sentence.

UN draft calls for release of political detainees in Myanmar.

A baby murderer has been jailed for 24 years and a mother who failed to lift a finger to stop him was given seven years.

How can we stop violence? By being the change we want to see, said Gandhi. By lifting more than a finger when injustice stares us in the face.