PROGRAMMA

Opening and Keynotes

One hour plenary opening session with three keynote speakers.

Jeremy Corbyn
A steadfast champion of socialist values and defender of workers’ rights.As leader of the Labour Party (2015–2020), he rallied millions against austerity and war, demanding an economy that worked for all—not just the wealthy. Unwavering advocate for the cause of Palestinian liberation, his decades-long fight for workers’ rights, peace, and anti-imperialism made him both a beacon of hope and a thorn to the establishment.

Peter Mertens
General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PVDA – PTB) – Marxist thinker –  Steadfast peace advocate.In his recent book Mutiny and various articles, he challenges military escalations and NATO’s expansion, arguing for diplomacy over intervention. Under his leadership, the PVDA/PTB evolved from a small organization into a vibrant, authentically left mass party, proving that a political agenda for social transformation —centered on workers’ rights, anti-war politics and internationalism— can resonate in modern Europe today. 

Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla
A strategic thinker and bridge-builder rooted in the Global South.As the Coordinator of the Progressive International, she works at the intersection of policy, justice, and multilateralism—ensuring progressive voices shape the future of international relations. She leads The Hague Group, a coalition of eight Global South countries working to advance ICC cases, document war crimes, and dismantle impunity in the case of ongoing Israeli’s genocide in Palestine.

Protect the welfare state from the war state!

Language: Dutch 

Piet Rietman
Candidate to the National Board of the FNV 

At a time when the Netherlands increasingly embraces militarization, he resists the diversion of public funds to defense and weapons. For Rietman, this is a fundamental choice: social security and wellbeing for the working class over profits for the arms industry.

Martine Heithuyzen 
Executive Board Member of BIJ1 & Trade Union Organiser (FNV)

General board member of BIJ1, union organizer, and political content creator under the name @martydoesnotplay. On TikTok and Instagram, she creates content about how to unite—both in the workplace and on the streets.

Peter Mertens
General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PvdA/PTB)

A sharp Marxist thinker, he dissects military escalations and NATO expansion in his recent book Mutiny and numerous articles, making a powerful case for diplomacy over intervention. Through his new podcast Kantelpunt (NL/FR), he brings these analyses to a broad audience. He calls for a radical program for social transformation: workers’ power over profit logic, disarmament instead of war rhetoric, international solidarity as our compass.

Ludo De Brabander
Spokesperson for Vrede vzw

Flander’s tenacious organizer of the international peace movement for over three decades, he doesn’t just critique war – he builds the campaigns to stop it. A strategist who turns analysis into action, mobilizing unions, students and communities into unlikely yet powerful alliances. 

Moderator: Clint Verdonschot (Revolutionary Socialist Party)

The debate in Dutch politics on war and peace

Language: Dutch 

About the panel
Met vertegenwoordigers van drie linkse organisaties bespreken we de NAVO, waar het voor staat en waar het heen gaat en vooral wat linkse partijen in Nederland daar met een brede vredesbeweging aan gaan doen.

Stevie Nolten (BIJ1)

Bastiaan Meijer (SP)

Maite van Lith (RSP) 

Moderator: René Danen

Internationalist Solidarity: Dismantling Militarism, Building Global Movements 

Language: English (with NL translation) 

Danny  de Jong
Geen Ruimte voor Defensie, Anti-Militarist, InternationalistA committed campaigner in Leeuwarden for Palestine and Geen Ruimte voor Defensie (No Space for Defense), Danny Jong bridges local activism with global solidarity. Member of the Revolutionary Socialist party (RSP), his work confronts Dutch complicity in war and occupation—from arms exports to Israeli apartheid—while building working-class resistance.

Carrie Xin Hou
INTAL (Belgium) Coordinator • Internationalist Organizer • Anti-Imperialist Strategist A dynamic force in Europe’s solidarity movements, Carrie Hou spearheads campaigns with INTAL (International Action for Liberation), bridging Belgian and global struggles against war, sanctions, and neocolonialism. Her work connects local activism to internationalist horizons—from NATO protests to Latin American solidarity and resisting New Cold War escalation.

Katerina Anastasiou
Transform! Europe, Anti-Militarist Strategist, Transnational OrganizerAs facilitator of transform! europe’s Migration & Global Strategy Working Group, Katerina Anastasiou crafts radical frameworks to confront fortress Europe. Her work exposes how militarization, austerity, and border regimes serve the same capitalist logic and fuel global conflict. She is a key organiser of the Stop ReArm European campaign.

Imani Na Umoja
Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) • Revolutionary Organizer • Pan-African StrategistImani Na Umoja bridges party politics and pan-African resistance—from Guinea-Bissau’s anti-IMF protests to Sahelian solidarity networks. A disciple of Cabral’s praxis, they expose neocolonialism’s new faces while training cadres in political education. Their work proves liberation demands both institutional heft and militant street power, weaving a 21st-century revolutionary front across West Africa.

Moderator: Iván Orosa (Revolutionary Socialist Party)

Nuclear arms in the Netherlands and Europe

Language: English (with NL translation) 

About the panel 
In light of the Cold War in Europe, the likelihood of nuclear disarmament seemed small. 

Yet nuclear disarmament is an important precondition for relaxation. What are the chances of this if European leaders fantasize about their own nuclear umbrella; the U.S. expands its nuclear weapons policy in Europe and Russia has also placed tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

a. Tensions in the transatlantic world are making plans for a European nuclear bomb more attractive in certain circles.

b  Britain is now placing tactical nuclear weapons at the U.S. Lakenheath base. This gives GB, like the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy and Turkey, a position sharing U.S. nuclear weapons.

c. Germany will have a trio of new US medium-range (non-nuclear) missiles installed in 2026.

Tom Sauer
University of Antwerp, Belgium

Dirk Hoogenkamp
Doctors for Peace in the Netherlands

Sophie Bolt
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament UK

Moderator: Marianne Begemann (secretary of NVMP-Doctors for Peace)

The War on Migrants 

Language: English 

About the panel
From local politicians scapegoating migrants as a “threat” to the EU’s militarized borders, the West has declared a silent war on some of the world’s most vulnerable and resilient people. Those fleeing war, poverty, or climate disasters are met not with compassion, but with walls, warships, and weapons: a system designed to exclude, exploit, and expel.

This panel will expose the forces driving this brutal reality: the EU’s border regime, the role of NATO, the profiteering arms industry, and Frontex’s expanding power. But we will also highlight resistance. In the second half, we’ll amplify counter-narratives from solidarity movements and hear firsthand testimonies from those on the frontlines of this struggle.

Abdulaal Hussein
Yalla for Sudan

Abdulaal Hussein (25) is a Sudanese-Dutch actor and activist. Founder of Yalla for Sudan, a movement to end the war in his homeland, he uses storytelling as a tool for change. In 2024, he risked prosecution in Latvia for rescuing his sister and four migrants abandoned by smugglers, a direct act of resistance against Europe’s border regime.

Mark Akkerman
Stop Wapenhandel

Mark Akkerman is a researcher at Stop Wapenhandel (Dutch Campaign Against Arms Trade) and is actively involved in TNI’s research on border militarisation. They has also written and campaigned on topics as arms exports to the Middle East, the private military and security sector, greenwashing arms trade and the militarisation of climate change responses.

Josephine Solanki
TNI & Abolish Frontex

Josephine Solanki is a project officer with TNI’s War and Pacification programme. She holds an MA degree with distinction in Development Studies from the International Institute of Social Studies and a BA degree in Philosophy and Economics. 

Maisa Doorman
MIGREAT

Maisa is a migrant justice organizer with MiGreat, fighting to dismantle Europe’s violent border regime and the Netherlands’ racist deportation machine. Through direct action, advocacy, and frontline solidarity, they challenge the systems that criminalize migration while building alternatives rooted in collective liberation. Their work exposes how borders serve capitalism and white supremacy—and how we can tear them down.

Moderator: Diyar Jassim 
Diyar is an Iraqi-Dutch peace activist and social worker at the medical shelter for undocumented migrants of ASKV Refugee Support.

The genocide in Palestine

Language: English (with NL translation) 

Medhat is an organizer and activist originally from Gaza, Palestine. Based in the Netherlands, he is an active member of Utrecht4Palestine (U4P), where he plays a role in mobilising local and national solidarity actions. Medhat also contributes to the coordination of national demonstrations across the country through the Palestinian Community in the Netherlands (PGNL), working to raise awareness and demand justice for the Palestinian people.

Lydia de Leeuw  is a legal expert specializing in international criminal law. In 2009, she traveled to Nablus in the West Bank to volunteer in refugee camps, eventually staying for nearly four years. Later, she joined the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza until the Rafah crossing was closed in 2013. She went on to support refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. Since 2022, she has served as chair of Stichting Kifaia.

Yuval Gal is an ex-Israeli activist, writer, and political organizer with BIJ1 and the Jewish anti-Zionist collective Erev Rav. Born and raised in Israel, his experiences in the IDF and disillusionment during the Second Intifada led him to reject Zionism. Now based in the Netherlands, he works at the intersection of Jewish identity, anti-racism, and Palestinian solidarity, focusing on migrant justice and opposition to Dutch complicity in Israeli apartheid.

Moderator: Naomi Tyralla (Revolutionary Socialist Party & ROOD)

Imperialist war and global resistance against NATO

Language: English

Ghassane Koumiya
Zetkin Forum • Anti-Imperialist Theorist • Popular Educator

A leading intellectual of the Zetkin Forum and the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research, Ghassane Koumiya crafts frameworks for Global South reviving Amílcar Cabral’s tradition of revolutionary critical thought—where theory fuels liberation praxis.

Carrie Xin Hou
INTAL (Belgium) Coordinator • Internationalist Organizer • Anti-Imperialist Strategist

A dynamic force in Europe’s solidarity movements, Carrie Hou spearheads campaigns with INTAL (International Action for Liberation), bridging Belgian and global struggles against war, sanctions, and neocolonialism. Her work connects local activism to internationalist horizons—from NATO protests to Latin American solidarity and resisting New Cold War escalation.

Austin Cole
Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) • Anti-War Strategist and organizer• Transnational Solidarity Builder

A driving force in the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP), Austin Cole coordinates the groundbreaking Zone of Peace in Our Americas campaign—mobilizing communities to resist U.S. militarization from Haiti to Honduras. His work exposes how Pentagon policies abroad fuel violence in Black and Brown neighborhoods at home.

Gabriel Aguirre
World BEYOND War • Global Peace Organizer • Anti-War Educator

A key organizer of World BEYOND War’s international campaigns, Gabriel Aguirre mobilizes movements to dismantle economic warfare, organizing campaigns for the closure of military bases, and the lifting of sanctions on countries that suffer their consequences. —especially the crushing unilateral sanctions targeting Venezuela, Cuba, Syria and beyond. His work exposes how these “silent bombs” devastate ordinary people while fueling global instability.

Moderator: Maite van Lith (Revolutionary Socialist Party & ROOD)

What future does Ukraine have?

Language: English (with NL translation) 

About the panel
The current situation of the war in Ukraine will be analysed by the war since 2022 (and before) That war is the result of socio-political developments in Ukraine, Russia and Europe since 1991.

What are to most beneficial circumstances for solidarity with the people of Ukraine, the peace and/or socialist movements in Ukraine and  Russia.

Why the EU doesn’t initiate negotiations?

1.         Does Ukraine want an end to the war through negotiations? Yes or no?

2.         If Ukraine does not want an end now, under these curcumstances, what does it want? 

3.         Is there one voice in Ukraine that determines the will or are there different forces that determine Ukraine’s voice depending on circumstances?

4.         Can Ukraine win the war?

5.         What is winning in this context?

6.         Can we support the people of Ukraine? How?

Volodymyr Ischenko
Exiled scholar from Ukraine, living in Germany

Volodymir Ishchenko is a Ukrainian sociologist and writer of Towards the Abyss.

Ludo de Brabander 
Vrede vzw, Gent

Ludo de Brabander is a Belgian writer and peace activist for Vrede vzw, Oorlogskoorts (War fever – in cooperation with Christoph Callewaert).

Jolle Demmers
Utrecht University

Jolle Demmers is a professor in Conflict Studies in Utrecht and writer of ‘Het oorlogscomplex Oekraine: een relationele benadering’.

Moderator: Guido van Leemput 

Guido van Leemput is peace activist in the Netherlands and writer of De gelaagde oorlog in Oekraïne en de botsing van grootmachten (Ukraine’s layered war and the clash of superpowers) 

Conscription in the Netherlands and Europe

Language: English 

In an interactive way and in small table-groups we will explore issues around (returning) conscription in the Netherlands and in Europe and brainstorm at the same time about concrete actions which we could undertake to tackle it. Conscription in this workshop will be also framed in a broader field of the militarization of European society.

Resistance against the militarization of the EU

Language: English 

About the panel
The EU is militarising, a process that we see in Brussels and also in national capitals. In this workshop we will speak about what are the profiting powers behind this process and how can we as citizens resist? We will have a panel sharing their knowledge and insights, after the panel we have some time for questions and discussion. With Laetitia Sedou, Brussels project officer European Network Against Arms Trade (ENAAT) – How and why is the EU militarising? What is the relation with NATO?

Djuna Farjon
Trade Differently network. – Raw material and mineral competition, conflict and the global south.

Fabian van der Knaap
PINK! PvdD youth branche – Dutch politics and why they are so eager to militarise, PvdD as most recent example.

Rainer Braun
International Peace Bureau – how can we organise and stop EU militarisation.

Moderator: Wendela de Vries

Will there be a new cold war in Europe?

Language: English (with NL translation)

About the session
The current political situation in Europe started by Russia’s refusal to accept NATO membership from Ukraine. Ukraine wants to end the hot phase of the war but with concrete security guarantees from the West? Where does that end up?

a.     What recent news events do you connect this panel to?

a.     In what historical context do you place it?

It is (not only) about the next phase of the war in Ukraine. Will it be ended or will it drag on into a Cold War.

Are we heading for permanent war, cold war or a peace agreement?

Is there a chance for a comprehensive peace agreement in which future Ukraine is secured; nuclear weapons are banned from Europe; militarization is reduced?

What should citizens in the Netherlands, Europe do to prevent permanent war, or Cold War?

Tom Sauer
Teaches at university of Antwerp, International Relations; International Security;  Diplomacy and Negotiations; Arms Control and Proliferation, https://www.uantwerpen.be/nl/personeel/tom-sauer/mijn-website/

Marga Ferré
Is President of transform! europe and Co-President of The Foundation for Critical Studies Spain. She is a former member of the city council of Madrid.  ‘NATO and the Construction of the Enemy’, see https://transform-network.net/blog/analysis/nato-and-the-construction-of-the-enemy/

Pietro Tosi
Pietro Tosi is Sécretaire Permanent Commerce in trade union CNE adn member of the Italian Potere Popolo.

Moderator: Guido van Leemput

Justice and Peace in the Middle East 

Language: Dutch 

About this panel
The Middle East stands on the brink. As Israel resumes its genocide in Gaza with Western backing, regional tensions escalate dangerously. Yemen and Lebanon are being pulled into the conflict, while the standoff between Israel, the U.S., and Iran threatens to explode into full-scale war. With nuclear negotiations stalled and proxy wars raging, the risk of catastrophic regional war has never been higher.

This panel exposes NATO’s role in enabling this crisis and examines how global movements can challenge imperialist interventions and build genuine peace in the region.

Nikita Shahbazi
Iraanse, journalist en mensenrechtenactivist

Nikita Shahbazi is an Iranian journalist, human rights consultant, and migrant justice activist. Born into a progressive, socially engaged family, she has reported extensively on Israel’s occupation of Palestine, Middle East geopolitics, and Iran’s nuclear negotiations. Through her work with foundation IMOVE, she has supported mental health resilience in Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut.

Yolande Jansen 
University of Amsterdam

University Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam and Endowed Professor of Humanism in Relation to Religion and Secularity for the Socrates Foundation at Vrije Universiteit. 

Alward Mousa
ROOD

Alward is a speaker for ROOD (the youth wing of the Revolutionary Socialist Party in the Netherlands), born in Damascus, Syria. As a child from a minority family, he experienced significant violence there, including direct attacks by NATO countries and violence from groups supported by NATO. He has been living in the Netherlands since 2019 but fled to the United Arab Emirates in 2013. Since 2024, he has been a member of ROOD and actively involved in the movement.

Moderator: Mouaraya Said 

Why the climate struggle and the anti-war struggle go hand in hand

Language: Dutch

In a conversation between an arms trade researcher, a climate justice activist, and an anti-imperialist activist we will discuss the necessity and the problems of the intertwinement of the climate struggle and the anti-militarist struggle. 

Wendela de Vries
Stop Wapenhandel

Victor van der Wurff
Geef Tegengas

Moderator: Ronja (Geef Tegengas)

‘Feminism as an alternative to war horny patriarchy’

Language: English (with translation) 

Heide Meinzolt
(GWUAN/WILPF) ex-spokeswoman Grüne in Germany

Kayleigh Hofstede
Theology and Religion science, Student council AKKU – Utrecht

Natasha Skoraia
Grass root women’s movement: (Belarus, Platform World women and Worldwomenconference)

Parisa Poyande
Activist in form freedom political prisoners in Iran

Somaia Ramish
Afghanistan, human/women rights activist, writer. Was a representative of the people in the Provincial Council in Afghanistan. Following the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban in 2021, she was forced to flee the country and has been living in the Netherlands since then. 

Chandreyi Guharay
A granddaughter of the Sandinista Revolution, queer activist, gender justice and killjoy feminist by political choice.

Moderator: Alejandra

Global NATO; from Coalition to Domination

Language: English

About this session
Global NATO refers to the expansion of NATO’s influence, presence and activities outside the North Atlantic region. In the workshop the development of US global policy during the second Trump presidency and the role of NATO herein will be discussed.

Reiner Braun
is a German journalist, historian and peace activist. He is involved in the International Peace Bureau (IPB), where he was president from 2013 to 2019.

Joseph Gerson
is a peace and disarmament activist from the US. He is president of the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security. He is the author of Empire and the Bomb: How the US uses Nuclear Weapons to Dominate the World.

 Moderator: Sophie Bolt (campaign for Nuclear Disarmament UK)

Alternatives to NATO

Language: Dutch (with English translation) 

As Europe militarizes, we consider in this workshop possible alternatives to a centralized European military preparing for and waging large-scale war. Models like inclusive security, civil militia, social defence and alternative defence will be discussed.

Henk Baars
is the president of Kerk en Vrede (Church and Peace), the oldest still existing peace organization in the Netherlands.

Jan Schaake
is a Dutch peace activist, active in Enschede voor Vrede and an editor of the Dutch VredesMagazine (Peace Magazine).

Olaf Kemerink
is active in the Dutch revolutionary socialist youth organization Rood (Red) and a spokesperson for the Counter-Summit Coalition.

Kees Kalkman
is active for antimilitarist research group VD AMOK in Utrecht and an editor of Peace Magazine.

Marlies Tjallingii
is a Dutch member of the Quakers, she is in her own town Zwolle active in the Peace Platform and has a lot of experience in Israel and Palestine teaching Communication Skills. She lived 10 years in Mozambique and was a lecturer in intercultural communication at the University of Applied Sciences in Zwolle.