My name is Yamen Nashwan, and I used to live in a beautiful four-story house in Beit Hanoun, Gaza. My life was full of promise. I had a job, dreams for the future, and a close-knit group of friends and family. But all of that was taken away from me when the conflict erupted.

The place I once called home is now just a memory. My family and I were forced to flee, and now we’re living in a small tent in Rafah City. There are 27 of us crammed into this tiny space, including 13 children and a newborn. Every day, we struggle to find food, warmth, and safety. Loved ones.

The dreams I had for the future now feel like distant memories, overshadowed by the daily fight for survival. My friends, my community, so many have been scattered, displaced, or worse. The laughter and joy that once filled my life have been replaced by fear and uncertainty.

The hardest part is the loss of the intangible things—the memories of better times, the bonds with friends and neighbors, and the sense of security that came from knowing we had a home. These things can never be replaced.

Life in Gaza is not just a struggle for survival—it’s a constant reminder of what we’ve lost. I wanted to shed light on the harsh reality we face every day. It’s a life filled with pain, but also with a small, flickering hope that one day, things might change.

Do you want a ceasefire immediately? Do you want a more substantive agreement with concessions? Do you want complete restorative justice for Ukraine? Do you want something else? Do you think it’s all foolish and pointless?

I’m not advocating for anything, rather I just want to know people’s thoughts.

I plan on getting a peace sign tattoo so I googled the difference between the peace sign with and without the line on the bottom. I found out that the sign with the line originally represented anti-peace, as the original did not have that line through it. Is that interpretation common enough that I'm giving off the wrong sign? Or should I get the peace sign without the line to play it safe?

Manifesto of the Stop Movement – The Stop Movement is a call for unity in peaceful, collective non-participation By issvw

On https://www.reddit.com/u/issvw/s/3RUI5gdikx

Thank you friend.

Knowledge is not enough, though.

Action has to follow.

Manifesto of the Stop Movement:

We live in a world that moves too fast, driven by endless demands that exhaust us and trap us in cycles of productivity, consumption, and competition.

These forces have become the measures of our worth, pulling us away from our communities, harming our environment, and distancing us from our own well-being and true potential.

In this rush to keep up, we have lost sight of who we are-and what we could become.

It is time to change.

Not through violence, not through destruction, but through the simplest and most powerful act: to stop.

By choosing to pause together, we reclaim our lives, our communities, and our power to shape a different future.

We refuse to participate in systems that exploit us, creating instead a space to rebuild a society that values balance, sustainability, and genuine freedom over profit and relentless production.

Declaration of Purpose: The Stop Movement is a call for unity in peaceful, collective non-participation. By choosing to pause-together

—we aim to:

Reclaim our power as individuals and communities.

Shift the structures that perpetuate inequality, exploitation, and environmental degradation.

Rebuild a society that values balance, sustainability, and genuine connection over profit and endless productivity.

We believe that when people unite in choosing not to participate, they have the power to reveal the truth: that the systems controlling us depend entirely on our participation.

Together, we will demonstrate that a different way is possible.

Guiding Principles of the Stop Movement:

Unity through Non-Cooperation Our strength lies in our unity.

By stopping together, we reclaim control over our lives. We do not fight these systems by playing their games; instead, we withdraw our support and participation, declaring that we will no longer fuel the machine that oppresses us.

Peaceful Resistance We reject violence as a means to change.

Our power is in our peaceful refusal to engage, a collective halt that will ripple through the structures that rely on our labor and consumption.

We are not here to destroy; we are here to reimagine and rebuild.

Support and Resilience in Community Stopping does not mean isolating.

We commit to supporting one another, sharing resources, and rebuilding a culture of community.

As we stop participating in exploitative systems, we will create networks of mutual aid and solidarity, ensuring that every person has the support they need to thrive.

Self-Reliance and Sustainability The movement encourages self-sufficiency, a return to simpler, sustainable practices that reduce our dependency on corporations and centralized power.

We will grow, produce, and create within our communities, supporting local resources over external forces.

Introspection and Collective Awakening The act of stopping is not merely a pause; it is a chance to reflect and to awaken.

By stepping back, we regain the clarity to question what truly matters: health, relationships, creativity, and purpose.

This is a journey to reconnect with our values and foster a collective consciousness that sees beyond material wealth.

Environmental Stewardship As we pause, we acknowledge our responsibility to the earth.

Our stop is a step toward healing— giving the planet and us a respite from constant exploitation.

We commit to sustainable living, to practices that honor the earth rather than deplete it.

Our Goals:

Reveal the Power of Collective Action To show the world that when people unite to stop, they create a new form of strength-one that needs no wealth, weapons, or authority. Our action will reveal the vulnerability of systems that depend entirely on our participation.

Disrupt Cycles of Exploitation By ceasing work, consumption, and engagement, we will disrupt the cycles that demand more from people and the planet than they can give.

In stopping, we aim to expose the unsustainable nature of these cycles and spark new conversations on alternative ways of living.

Build a New Model of Society Our goal is not merely to dismantle the old, but to make space for the new.

Through this collective stop, we hope to create a society built on principles of equity, mutual respect, ecological balance, and shared prosperity.

The Path Forward: How We Will Stop

The First Step – 24-Hour Stop We will begin with a 24-hour collective pause-a chance to experience, even briefly, the power of unity and withdrawal.

During this day, we will refrain from work, purchases, and all forms of engagement with profit-driven systems.

Instead, we will connect, support, and reflect as communities.

Growing Commitment Following the initial stop, we will organize regular, longer pauses—a weekend, then three days, then a week. Each stop will allow us to build resilience, strengthen support networks, and deepen our understanding of this movement.

With each pause, we grow stronger in our independence and unity.

Building Self-Sufficiency and Support Networks During these stops, we will establish local hubs for resource sharing, skill exchange, and community-building. We will foster self-sufficiency through community gardens, time banks, and cooperative ventures.

These structures will reduce dependency on profit-driven systems and empower us to sustain the movement.

Maintaining the Spirit of Stop in Daily Life Beyond each organized stop, we will carry this spirit into our everyday lives.

By consciously reducing consumption, choosing local resources, and fostering true relationships, we create lasting change in how we live and interact with society.

A Vision of the Future

We envision a world where the Stop Movement is no longer needed—a world where people have rebalanced their relationship with work, with each other, and with the earth.

In this world, communities thrive on self-sufficiency, economies prioritize well-being over profit, and individuals live with purpose and connection rather than constant pressure.

This is our declaration: a call to those who feel the weight of an unsustainable world.

A call to those who seek change but have found no place for their voice.

Here, in this stop, is the power to create the future we deserve.

Let us unite, let us support one another, and let us, together, stop.

I find it so weird how it’s not just a natural urge for humans to care and empathise with others and that people can be so blinded by greed like what? I really can’t get my head across it

I am concerned that my peace sign on my car might be giving offense to veterans. I've had a few make some comments. I guess they were a veteran because of their cap or other nadge that indicated they were a veteran. I currently live in a very conservative community. I didnt realize it when i moved here. i am an associate member if veterans for peace and i had a close friend who was a ww2 veteran who suffered a great deal from the trauma of war. men killing each other had serious impact on him even though this was a just war. my old friend talked a lot about the people he saw dead.

anyway, I am worried about giving more offense to veterans in my neighborhood.

I am just pro peace, which has become scary offensive. I keep mentioning the group veterans for peace but no one seems to have heard of them.

I'm going to set up a purple table on voting day. Call it Peace Between Parties PBP maybe have some literature on how to peacefully, logically, discuss hard topics. Maybe have some party 🥳 masks if people are willing to take selfies w me I'm open to suggestions

Hi there this is my first post in this group and based on the name I felt this would be the group to post what I’ve been thinking about. Think about this. Having to be very formal or professional expresses a high degree of neutrality. Not good or bad per se, but it almost feels like there is nowhere to build off when being formal. Imagine a letter you would write to a political official or school, or how you would speak to people in a work environment or at an interview. It’s very robotic and almost conveys a lack of humanity or individuality. Every job interview or letter wrote professionally is 80% the same as all others and just full of big words no one uses realistically and makes you feel as if you’re speaking with an entity that will judge you for expressing your true self. I mean just imagine how many friends the world would be filled with if we all just spoke to each other in a way that shows real interest in others and a want to know about peoples morals and lives. You would feel much more open to speak and form actually meaningful relationships with so many more people and if this informalism was to become a new norm I feel more people would be standing together than alone. I know I might sound crazy for saying that something as simple as a way of speaking may be an issue in social connection around the globe but I really feel this is true. I just started to think about this but even if you disagree please let me know your thoughts on this in the comments, support or positive criticism is all encouraged.

It's stressing me out how violent the world is becoming and how accepting and justifying the internet has become of it. I'm worried another global war is inevitable given such sentiment. Harris says she'd shoot an intruder and so many are comforted by that. Israel is boobytrapping electronic devices and it's being perceived as a cool, James Bond style ploy against people who deserved it regardless of the civilian deaths.

I'm just so sick of the utilitarianism, the lack of compassion, the justification for revenge thinly veiled as apparently time-sensitive acts to permanently eradicate terrorism and the lack of foresight into how all of these acts could continue to create more "terrorists" while escalating global violence home and abroad. I get its rhetoric in an election year, but where is the secular pacifist voice? The UN? Where on Reddit? Where can I hear people speak of non-violence?