Wahroonga Friends Bulletin - 27 May 2026
0 views
Skip to first unread message
quiver quaker
Jun 4, 2026, 9:14:21 PMJun 4
to Wahroonga-friends
Wahroonga Friends Bulletin - 27 May 2026 Quaker, 90, Begins Decade-long
Walking Challenge
A lifelong Quaker has started to walk 4,000 steps a day for the 90 days following his 90th birthday, with plans to repeat the feat every year until he turns 100. Gerald Drewett, from Hertford, is raising money to help maintain The Peace Museum in Saltaire, Bradford, which he founded in 1998. He described his challenge as "a 90s Odyssey" to bring "peace and social harmony to the forefront of the minds of people".
Drewett, who had a heart attack in 2004, said he was "slightly daunted to take on this challenge". He added he would do it "without fail for the next 90 days and pick it up for the next nine years if God keeps me alive". He said: "I am asking people to walk with me in the sense of providing funds to support the Peace Museum so it can become a national institution and not fade away." To make sure he carries out the correct amount of steps he said he had "got a little step counter which took me most of the day to set up". Quaker, 90, begins decade-long walking challenge
Conscription and Rearmament Are All the Rage Among European Leaders
Half of young people aged 16-29 would never fight for Britain if war broke out, a new opinion poll has revealed. The pollsters summarised young people’s attitudes as being ‘why fight for a country that isn’t fighting for you?’ The poll is not a one-off. Previous surveys, including a YouGov poll two years ago, have revealed the same sentiment. No wonder governments across Europe are now reintroducing conscription or other schemes to push new recruits into the armed forces, such as France’s strategy to encourage young people to volunteer for paid military training. Belgium is rolling out a similar plan, while the Netherlands has openly mulled bringing back the draft. Late last year, Germany also introduced voluntary military service, but that could shift towards compulsory service if the security situation changes – even though only 32 percent of young people in the country support the idea. Militarisation in Germany has gone so far that all military-age men now have to apply for permission to stay abroad for more than three months, no matter whether it is for study, a job or a holiday. In the UK, conscription was part of the Tory manifesto in the last election, and a thin-end-of-the-wedge scheme has now been introduced by Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government. The push to reintroduce conscription is just one part of the massive rearmament drive taking place across Europe.
Defence Spending
While European leaders might have their reservations about US President Donald Trump’s adventure in Iran, they are deeply committed to fighting the war against Russia in Ukraine, and equally committed to boosting arms spending and preparing for a continent-wide conflict. UK defence spending has soared in recent years, with an annual average increase of nearly four percent expected between now and 2029. Germany, meanwhile, is on track to spend €650 billion ($755bn) on the military over the next five years, more than doubling what was spent in the previous five years – despite polls showing that only 29 percent of people feel that ‘military means may be necessary to resolve international conflicts’.
In France, the country’s rearmament programme will see stock levels rise by 400 percent for all types of remotely operated munitions, such as explosive drones, and by 85 percent for Scalp cruise missiles. Torpedo stocks will increase by 230 percent, and surface-to-air missile stocks by 30 percent. The rearmament programme will hit just as the new cost-of-living crisis produced by Trump’s Iran war hits home across the continent. British ministers are already warning that even if the conflict were to end today, there would be at least an eight-month peak in inflation to follow. But as they pursue the largest arms bonanza since the end of the Cold War, Europe’s leaders have more to worry about than a lack of enthusiasm from young people – for there is now growing resistance to the war drive across Europe.Tens of thousands of students in Germany have reportedly gone on strike in dozens of cities and towns across the country to denounce the reintroduction of military service. Seventeen-year-old Shmuel Schatz, spokesperson for the School Strike Committee, told DW that he didn’t want to be “put into the trenches for the interests of large corporations” aiming to “line their pockets at the expense of war”.
‘Wages not Weapons’
Indeed, Germany has recorded a surge in conscientious objector applications this year, while former trade union leader Klaus Zwickel issued a powerful condemnation of the European war drive, deeming it of the “utmost urgency” for the world to unite against rearmament and militarisation. Across Europe, dissent is growing. In France, trade unionists recently held a pro-peace rally in the port city of Toulon. In Italy, large protests have linked the country’s domestic political crisis with the broader global drive for war, putting significant pressure on far-right Prime Minster Giorgia Meloni to distance herself from Trump and Israel. In Spain, powerful anti-war demonstrations were held in various cities in March.
Trade unions from across Europe will be sending delegations to the upcoming international anti-war conference set to take place in London next month. It follows a similar gathering in Paris last October, which saw 4,000 participants creating a new global network to oppose militarism and war.The London conference also follows the decision by the Trades Union Congress, a UK federation of trade unions, to adopt a ‘wages not weapons’ policy at its last congress. Among the expected attendees in London are dockworkers from Genoa who blocked arms shipments to Israel, alongside trade unionists from Belgium who have been involved in general strikes against austerity. The European trade union movement and the anti-war movement seem to be organising in tandem, in a unified drive against war-budget austerity. Conscription and rearmament are all the rage among European leaders
See - Japan Rearms as a Global Defense Boom Unfolds
As governments around the world ramp up defense spending, a new era of rearmament is reshaping economies, markets, inflation, and politics. This episode examines Japan’s dramatic shift away from its postwar pacifist identity amid rising tensions with China, ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, and growing uncertainty around the global security role of the U.S.
See it here Japan Rearms + Guns vs. Butter + Global Defense Spending Boom | The Spillover
May QBC - Anthony Benezet: Quaker, Abolitionist, Anti-Racist
The May QBC (Quaker Book Club) selection is Anthony Benezet: Quaker, Abolitionist, Anti-Racist, preeminent biographer David Chanoff.
In Anthony Benezet: Quaker, Abolitionist, Anti-Racist, preeminent biographer David Chanoff tells Benezet’s story―who he was, what he did, how he did it, and why it was that William Penn’s “Holy Experiment” of Pennsylvania provided the matrix for the historic transformation the abolitionist educator brought about. Indeed, Chanoff carves out a place for this forgotten American hero as a pioneering figure among those who launched American ideals onto the world stage. Read the Friends Journal review, here. Obtain a copy here Anthony Benezet
e- Wahroonga Send news of f/Friends and newsletter items to quiver...@yahoo.com.au Agenda items for Business Meeting should be emailed at wmnwah...@quakersaustralia.info or handed to a co-clerk. Visit us at "Our Home" First days (Sunday), 9.30 am Meeting for Worship - Wahroonga Friends Meeting, your local peace church. Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) 59 Boundary Road Wahroonga NSW 2076 Email:wmnwah...@quakersaustralia.info Web: Wahroonga Local Meeting | Australia Yearly Meeting A Zoom meeting occurs 9.30 am Sundays Meeting link Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting 918 558 7747 Passcode: 554662 Phone: 02 8015 6011 Please contact Paul Carter if you have any problems.
Walking Challenge
A lifelong Quaker has started to walk 4,000 steps a day for the 90 days following his 90th birthday, with plans to repeat the feat every year until he turns 100. Gerald Drewett, from Hertford, is raising money to help maintain The Peace Museum in Saltaire, Bradford, which he founded in 1998. He described his challenge as "a 90s Odyssey" to bring "peace and social harmony to the forefront of the minds of people".
Drewett, who had a heart attack in 2004, said he was "slightly daunted to take on this challenge". He added he would do it "without fail for the next 90 days and pick it up for the next nine years if God keeps me alive". He said: "I am asking people to walk with me in the sense of providing funds to support the Peace Museum so it can become a national institution and not fade away." To make sure he carries out the correct amount of steps he said he had "got a little step counter which took me most of the day to set up". Quaker, 90, begins decade-long walking challenge
Conscription and Rearmament Are All the Rage Among European Leaders
Half of young people aged 16-29 would never fight for Britain if war broke out, a new opinion poll has revealed. The pollsters summarised young people’s attitudes as being ‘why fight for a country that isn’t fighting for you?’ The poll is not a one-off. Previous surveys, including a YouGov poll two years ago, have revealed the same sentiment. No wonder governments across Europe are now reintroducing conscription or other schemes to push new recruits into the armed forces, such as France’s strategy to encourage young people to volunteer for paid military training. Belgium is rolling out a similar plan, while the Netherlands has openly mulled bringing back the draft. Late last year, Germany also introduced voluntary military service, but that could shift towards compulsory service if the security situation changes – even though only 32 percent of young people in the country support the idea. Militarisation in Germany has gone so far that all military-age men now have to apply for permission to stay abroad for more than three months, no matter whether it is for study, a job or a holiday. In the UK, conscription was part of the Tory manifesto in the last election, and a thin-end-of-the-wedge scheme has now been introduced by Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government. The push to reintroduce conscription is just one part of the massive rearmament drive taking place across Europe.
Defence Spending
While European leaders might have their reservations about US President Donald Trump’s adventure in Iran, they are deeply committed to fighting the war against Russia in Ukraine, and equally committed to boosting arms spending and preparing for a continent-wide conflict. UK defence spending has soared in recent years, with an annual average increase of nearly four percent expected between now and 2029. Germany, meanwhile, is on track to spend €650 billion ($755bn) on the military over the next five years, more than doubling what was spent in the previous five years – despite polls showing that only 29 percent of people feel that ‘military means may be necessary to resolve international conflicts’.
In France, the country’s rearmament programme will see stock levels rise by 400 percent for all types of remotely operated munitions, such as explosive drones, and by 85 percent for Scalp cruise missiles. Torpedo stocks will increase by 230 percent, and surface-to-air missile stocks by 30 percent. The rearmament programme will hit just as the new cost-of-living crisis produced by Trump’s Iran war hits home across the continent. British ministers are already warning that even if the conflict were to end today, there would be at least an eight-month peak in inflation to follow. But as they pursue the largest arms bonanza since the end of the Cold War, Europe’s leaders have more to worry about than a lack of enthusiasm from young people – for there is now growing resistance to the war drive across Europe.Tens of thousands of students in Germany have reportedly gone on strike in dozens of cities and towns across the country to denounce the reintroduction of military service. Seventeen-year-old Shmuel Schatz, spokesperson for the School Strike Committee, told DW that he didn’t want to be “put into the trenches for the interests of large corporations” aiming to “line their pockets at the expense of war”.
‘Wages not Weapons’
Indeed, Germany has recorded a surge in conscientious objector applications this year, while former trade union leader Klaus Zwickel issued a powerful condemnation of the European war drive, deeming it of the “utmost urgency” for the world to unite against rearmament and militarisation. Across Europe, dissent is growing. In France, trade unionists recently held a pro-peace rally in the port city of Toulon. In Italy, large protests have linked the country’s domestic political crisis with the broader global drive for war, putting significant pressure on far-right Prime Minster Giorgia Meloni to distance herself from Trump and Israel. In Spain, powerful anti-war demonstrations were held in various cities in March.
Trade unions from across Europe will be sending delegations to the upcoming international anti-war conference set to take place in London next month. It follows a similar gathering in Paris last October, which saw 4,000 participants creating a new global network to oppose militarism and war.The London conference also follows the decision by the Trades Union Congress, a UK federation of trade unions, to adopt a ‘wages not weapons’ policy at its last congress. Among the expected attendees in London are dockworkers from Genoa who blocked arms shipments to Israel, alongside trade unionists from Belgium who have been involved in general strikes against austerity. The European trade union movement and the anti-war movement seem to be organising in tandem, in a unified drive against war-budget austerity. Conscription and rearmament are all the rage among European leaders
See - Japan Rearms as a Global Defense Boom Unfolds
As governments around the world ramp up defense spending, a new era of rearmament is reshaping economies, markets, inflation, and politics. This episode examines Japan’s dramatic shift away from its postwar pacifist identity amid rising tensions with China, ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, and growing uncertainty around the global security role of the U.S.
See it here Japan Rearms + Guns vs. Butter + Global Defense Spending Boom | The Spillover
May QBC - Anthony Benezet: Quaker, Abolitionist, Anti-Racist
The May QBC (Quaker Book Club) selection is Anthony Benezet: Quaker, Abolitionist, Anti-Racist, preeminent biographer David Chanoff.
In Anthony Benezet: Quaker, Abolitionist, Anti-Racist, preeminent biographer David Chanoff tells Benezet’s story―who he was, what he did, how he did it, and why it was that William Penn’s “Holy Experiment” of Pennsylvania provided the matrix for the historic transformation the abolitionist educator brought about. Indeed, Chanoff carves out a place for this forgotten American hero as a pioneering figure among those who launched American ideals onto the world stage. Read the Friends Journal review, here. Obtain a copy here Anthony Benezet
e- Wahroonga Send news of f/Friends and newsletter items to quiver...@yahoo.com.au Agenda items for Business Meeting should be emailed at wmnwah...@quakersaustralia.info or handed to a co-clerk. Visit us at "Our Home" First days (Sunday), 9.30 am Meeting for Worship - Wahroonga Friends Meeting, your local peace church. Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) 59 Boundary Road Wahroonga NSW 2076 Email:wmnwah...@quakersaustralia.info Web: Wahroonga Local Meeting | Australia Yearly Meeting A Zoom meeting occurs 9.30 am Sundays Meeting link Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting 918 558 7747 Passcode: 554662 Phone: 02 8015 6011 Please contact Paul Carter if you have any problems.
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages