Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

Tag: peace

  • Hope in the Face of Darkness

    Hope in the Face of Darkness

    I am very happy to be here with you. I want to thank the organizers of this conference and the members of the Youth Peace Conference.

    I feel a great sense of hopefulness in this room, coming from your hearts. I know you have accomplished great things in the past and I know of your commitment to continue to meet the challenges that confront humanity.

    I hold your president, Daisaku Ikeda, in the highest regard, and consider him to be one of the true world citizens and peace leaders of our time. It was my great privilege last year to present him with our Foundation’s World Citizen Award. It was also my privilege to engage in a dialogue with him, which was published this year on August 6th under the title, Choose Hope.

    In our dialogue we discussed the route to achieving a world free of nuclear weapons and a world at peace. We also looked at the role of education, literature and poetry in shaping our lives. There was nothing we agreed upon more strongly than the importance of hope and of youth in shaping our common future. We share the belief that it is indeed possible to shape a peaceful future, and that youth must help lead the way.

    The title for this talk was chosen in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Those attacks were meticulously planned. They were attacks against symbols of US economic and military power, but they were far more than symbolic. They took some 3,000 to 4,000 innocent lives. The intentional taking of innocent lives is a mark of darkness on our planet.

    Each life is a miracle. Each of us is a miracle. We cannot explain by logic or experience where we come from before birth or where we go after death. We have no way to comprehend the mystery of life or the mystery of our universe. We can only appreciate that we exist on this Earth at this time in this vast and expanding universe, and try to use our precious lives for good purposes.

    As shocking as terrorism may be, it is far from our only problem or even our major problem. We still live in a world in which some 30,000 children die daily from starvation and preventable diseases.

    We live in a world in which the richest 20 percent control 80 percent of the resources. Some 450 billionaires have combined incomes equal to over half of the world’s population. While some on our planet live in lavish abundance with every material advantage imaginable, others live in abject poverty, lacking even the basic resources needed to survive.

    The world spends some $750 billion annually on military forces and weapons, while for a fraction of this amount everyone on the planet could have clean water, adequate food, health care, education, shelter and clothing.

    There are some 30 to 40 wars going on at any given time. Injustice, disparity and old and new hatreds give rise to these wars. The vast majority of the casualties are civilians. In these wars, some 300,000 child soldiers participate. These wars destroy the environment, the infrastructure in already poor countries, and produce new masses of refugees.

    In many parts of the world, people suffer from massive human rights abuses. These abuses fall most heavily on women and children.

    As a species, but particularly in the developed world, we are using up the resources of our planet at a prodigious rate. In doing so, we are robbing future generations of their ability to share in the use of these resources.

    We are also polluting our land, air and water – our most precious resources that we need for survival – with chemical, biological and radiological poisons.

    If all of this were not enough, we have developed and deployed tens of thousands of nuclear weapons capable of destroying humanity and most of life. Many people think that this problem has ended, but it has not. There are still more than 30,000 nuclear weapons in the world and some 4,500 of them are on hair-trigger alert.

    We have reached a point where all of us should be concerned and responsive. Things could grow still worse, however. Nuclear, chemical or biological weapons in the hands of terrorists would multiply the dangers. Instead of buildings being destroyed, nuclear weapons could cause the destruction of whole cities. Imagine the damage that could be done if terrorists had nuclear weapons. This danger cannot be dismissed.

    Humanity can no longer afford or tolerate the damage that hatred can cause. Nor can humanity afford or tolerate the suffering and premature death that has been the lot of the poor.

    Far too many people on this Earth live in despair and hopelessness. These are afflictions of the soul that go beyond physical pain.

    Others, who should know better, live in selfishness, ignorance and apathy. In many ways, these are even crueler afflictions of the soul. They are symptoms of the disease of selfishness of the Roman Emperor Nero, who fiddled while Rome burned.

    It is not always easy to have hope in the face of darkness, but it is necessary. If we give up hope for bringing about change, we give away our power and diminish the possibilities for change.

    Hope must be a conscious choice. There are always reasons for giving up and retreating into selfishness, ignorance and apathy. If you want hope, you must choose it. It will not necessarily choose you. The way to choose hope is by your actions to achieve a better world.

    There are important reasons, though, to have hope.

    The most important reason for me is the power of the human spirit. The human spirit is amazing. It is capable of achieving sublime beauty and overcoming tremendous obstacles. All greatness – in art, music, literature, science, engineering and peace – is a triumph of the human spirit. But the greatest triumph of the human spirit comes from choosing a compassionate goal and persisting in overcoming obstacles to achieve this goal. All worthy goals require persistence to achieve. They will not happen overnight.

    We should celebrate the spirit of the hibakusha, the survivors of the atomic bombings. They are fighting for a better world, a world in which nuclear weapons will never again be used. They have been proposed to receive the Nobel Prize for Peace. I would strongly support their nomination for this recognition and high honor.

    Miyoko Matsubara was a young girl when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. She has had a dozen or more surgeries and has suffered from breast cancer, but her spirit is indomitable. She learned English and has traveled throughout the United States and Europe to tell her story to young people in the hope that they will understand nuclear dangers and not suffer her fate. When I think of Miyoko, I think of her humble but determined spirit. She is a woman who has suffered and who bows deeply.

    Sadako Sasaki was two years old when the bomb fell on Hiroshima. When she was 12 years old she suffered from leukemia as a result of her exposure to radiation, and was hospitalized. She folded paper cranes with the wish of being healthy again. She folded some two-thirds of the 1000 paper cranes that she hoped would make her wish come true. On one of these cranes she wrote, “I will write peace on your wings and you will fly all over the world.”

    After Sadako died, her classmates finished folding the cranes. Today Sadako’s statue stands in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. The base of the statue is always covered in thick layers of folded cranes that have been placed there by children from throughout Japan and from throughout the world. Children all over the world know of Sadako’s story and her courage.

    Nelson Mandela fought for the rights of his people and an end to apartheid in South Africa. The government of South Africa put him in prison, where he remained for 27 years. Despite his imprisonment, he was able to maintain his spirit and his hope. When he was finally released from prison, he became the first black president of his country. Instead of seeking vengeance, he presided over a peaceful transition of power in South Africa, appointing a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to offer pardons to all who confessed their misdeeds during the period of apartheid.

    The first two presidents of Soka Gakkai went to prison rather than fight as soldiers in a war they thought was wrong. I admire their spirits. Mr. Makiguchi died in prison, and Mr. Toda came out to re-build this organization dedicated to applying Buddhist principles to social action. Mr. Toda left a lasting legacy to Soka Gakkai when he called nuclear weapons an “absolute evil,” and called upon the youth of Soka Gakkai to join in ending this evil.

    You responded magnificently to this challenge when you gathered more than 13 million signatures on the Abolition 2000 International Petition calling for ending the nuclear threat, signing a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons and reallocating resources from nuclear weapons to meeting human needs. This petition was presented to the United Nations, but much more needs to be done.

    There are so many people whose lives reflect the best of the human spirit. Another is Hafsat Abiola, who was one of our Foundation’s honorees for our 2001 Distinguished Peace Leadership Award. Hafsat’s father was the first democratically elected president of Nigeria, but he was not able to serve even one day because he was imprisoned by the military. When Hafsat’s mother fought for democracy in her country and for her husband’s release from prison, she was assassinated. On the day before Hafsat’s father was to be released from prison, he, too, was killed.

    Despite the pain of losing her parents, Hafsat is without bitterness or rancor. After graduating from Harvard University, she started an organization named for her mother, the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND). Hafsat works for democracy and for the rights of women and children throughout Africa.

    One other example of the power of the human spirit is found in Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire. Mairead was a young woman working as a secretary in Northern Ireland when disaster struck her family. Mairead’s sister and her sister’s three young children were hit by an out of control car when British forces shot an IRA getaway driver. Two of the children died and the pain was so great that Mairead’s sister later committed suicide.

    Mairead debated what she should do. She considered taking up arms against the British, but she instead choose the course of non-violence. Mairead and another woman, Betty Williams, organized peace gatherings in Northern Ireland. They brought together hundreds of thousands of ordinary people calling for peace. The important thing for you to note is that Mairead herself was a very ordinary person, who became extraordinary because of her choices that reflected courage, compassion and commitment. Today she is the most active of the Nobel Peace Laureates, and often brings them together to speak and act on important peace issues.

    A second reason for hope is that even improbable change does occur. Changes that no expert could predict sometimes occur with incredible speed. Relationships change and new possibilities for peace open up, such as occurred in US-China relations in the early 1970s. The Cold War ended after more than four decades of tension and conflict between East and West. This was symbolized by the fall of the Berlin Wall, which opened the way for a reunited Germany. Pieces of that wall with their graffiti are now souvenirs sold to tourists. I have such a small piece of the wall in my office. It reminds me that great barriers can come down.

    Nelson Mandela went from being a prisoner of a repressive government to becoming president of South Africa. Similar stories mark the lives of Lech Walesa of Poland and Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic. These changes are not predictable, and are usually the result of efforts that have been taking place over a long period of time by committed individuals, generally outside the glare of the media spotlight.

    A third reason for hope is the Power of One. Individuals can and do make a difference in our world. The second person our Foundation honored with our 2001 Distinguished Peace Leadership Award was Craig Kielburger. Craig is 18 years old, but he is already an old hand at social change. What changed Craig’s life was reading about a 12-year-old Pakistani boy, Iqbal Masih, when Craig was himself only 12 years old. Iqbal had been sold into bonded labor as a carpet weaver and had been virtually a slave, chained to his carpet loom for 14 to 16 hours a day. Somehow he had been able to get free, and began speaking out against child labor. Iqbal was given the Reebok Human Rights Award, but when he returned to Pakistan he was murdered by the “Carpet mafia.”

    Craig thought about Iqbal being the same age as he was. When Craig went to school that day, he told his friends about Iqbal and insisted that they do something to further the cause of children’s rights for which Iqbal had been fighting. That was the beginning of a new organization, Free the Children, founded by Craig Kielburger at the age of 12.

    Today, six years later, Craig’s organization has grown to over 100,000 members. It is the largest organization of children helping children in the world. They have been responsible for freeing thousands of children from bonded labor, and they have built hundreds of schools in places where children were previously not able to obtain a basic education. Craig travels throughout the world to learn and to inspire young people to get involved and make a difference.

    Let me review. Three important reasons to have hope are: the power of the human spirit; the fact that improbable change does occur; and the Power of One. The most important reason, though, is that hope is needed to change the world, and you cannot leave this job to others. Your hope and your help are needed.

    The greatest enemies of change are selfishness, apathy and ignorance. These are the enemies of hope. I urge you to resist these at all costs.

    Selfishness is a narrow way to live. It is about what you have, not what you do. Rich lives are not about the money we accumulate, but about the ways in which we interconnect and help others. The antidote to selfishness is compassion, built upon helping others.

    Apathy is about not caring about others. It is a lack of interest and a failure to engage in trying to make a difference. The antidote to apathy is caring and commitment.

    Ignorance in the midst of information is also about not caring – not caring enough to find out about the problems that confront us. I recently visited Sadako Peace Garden, the small garden that we created in Santa Barbara on the fiftieth anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. Each year on August 6th we hold a commemoration at the garden for all who died and suffered in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

    It is a very beautiful natural garden. It has many wonderful trees, but there is one immense and dramatic eucalyptus tree at one end of the garden that is called the Tree of Faith. The garden also has large rocks in which cranes have been carved.

    In that garden, people sometimes leave folded paper cranes and short messages hanging from the oak trees. On the day I visited, I found this message: “There are many things here I do not know, the knowing of which could change everything.” What a powerful message. The antidote to ignorance is knowledge.

    We must be seekers of knowledge, not for its own sake but to better understand our world so that we can engage in it and break our bonds of selfishness with a compassionate response to life. I don’t think this is asking too much of ourselves or each other. It is the essence of being human.

    Don’t be constrained by national boundaries. Recognize the essential equality and dignity of every person on the planet. This is the basic starting point of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

    Don’t expect to change the world overnight. Change seldom occurs that way. Trees grow from seeds. They all begin small, and some grow large. Sometimes they become magnificent. Often they need care and nurturing. Most of what we do to achieve a better world will require patience and persistence.

    I encourage you to plant seeds of peace by your engagement in issues of social justice, by your efforts to create a more decent world in which everyone can live with dignity.

    I have with me a seed from the Tree of Faith in Sadako Peace Garden. It has within it all that is necessary to become a great magnificent tree, just as you have within you all that is needed to become a great human being and a leader for peace.

    I want to conclude by asking you to take three specific actions.

    First, take the pledge of Earth Citizenship: “I pledge allegiance to the Earth and to its varied life forms; one World, indivisible, with liberty, justice and dignity for all.” That is the world we need to create. I also want to encourage you to study two very important documents, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Earth Charter. Please be an active and responsible citizen of our planet. Nothing less will do.

    Second, help to build schools in areas of great need. We have joined with Free the Children to raise funds to build schools in post-conflict areas, such as Chiapas, Mexico and Sierra Leone in Africa. For between $5,000 and $10,000 dollars a school can be built and a teacher provided for students who would otherwise not get a primary education. Free the Children has already built over 100 of these schools in poor countries. This is one of the best ways I can think of to make a difference in our world.

    Third, make a commitment to work for a nuclear weapons free future. Recognize the essential truth that human beings and nuclear weapons cannot co-exist. Choose life and a human future. In the past you helped gather 13 million signatures on the Abolition 2000 International Petition. Today I’d like to ask you to do even more.

    Work to make your school, your community, your nation and our world nuclear weapons free zones.

    Organize letter writing and petition campaigns to the media and to government leaders.

    Promote the idea of a Nobel Peace Prize for the hibakusha of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to bring global attention to their cry of “Never Again!”

    Use the sunflower as the symbol of achieving a nuclear weapons-free world.

    I urge you also to join us in also gathering support for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s Appeal to End the Nuclear Weapons Threat to Humanity, and sending it to leaders of your country and other countries throughout the world. The Appeal, which has already been signed by some of the great peace leaders of our time, asks the leaders of the nuclear weapons states to take five critical actions for the benefit of all humanity. These are:

    – De-alert all nuclear weapons and de-couple all nuclear warheads from their delivery vehicles. – Reaffirm commitments to the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. – Commence good faith negotiations to achieve a Nuclear Weapons Convention requiring the phased elimination of all nuclear weapons, with provisions for effective verification and enforcement. – Declare policies of No First Use of nuclear weapons against other nuclear weapons states and policies of No Use against non-nuclear weapons states. – Reallocate resources from the tens of billions of dollars currently being spent for maintaining nuclear arsenals to improving human health, education and welfare throughout the world. – Not one of these critical actions was even addressed by Presidents Bush and Putin at their summit in Crawford, Texas in November. Their pledge to unilaterally reduce their arsenals of strategic nuclear weapons to between 2,200 and 1,700 over a ten-year period is inadequate and represents their desire to continue to rely upon their nuclear arsenals. We must ask that these leaders take up again the issue of nuclear disarmament in a far more serious way when they meet again in Moscow next March. If they do not, they and we will face the risk that terrorists will be able to purchase, steal or develop nuclear weapons and destroy our cities.

    I would encourage delegations of youth representatives to travel to Washington, Moscow, Tokyo and other key capitals to make the case for ending the nuclear weapons threat to humanity. We cannot rely upon the leaders of the nuclear weapons states to solve the problems themselves. They need the help and encouragement of all of us. This is part of our responsibility as citizens of planet Earth.

    If serious progress on nuclear disarmament is not made soon, you will be inheriting the nuclear dangers that are left behind. Time is of the essence and we must approach nuclear disarmament now as if the future of civilization depended upon our success in convincing world leaders to adequately control and eliminate these weapons and the fissile materials needed to create them.

    I hope that I have challenged you, particularly with the actions I have proposed. I have confidence that you will meet the challenge of being an active participant in creating a more just and decent future for humanity, a future you can be proud to pass on to your children and grandchildren.

    I encourage you to choose hope and then never lose hope, even in the face of darkness. Your success in life will be something that only you can judge, but I believe the right criteria for you to use are compassion, commitment and courage. I hope that you will work to achieve a better world, and I know that you can and will make a difference.

    *David Krieger is president of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

  • Combat is the Wrong Answer for Alienated Youth

    Re: Raymond Marquez’s Nov. 4 letter, “Draft gang members”:

    The letter by Mr. Marquez asserts that the front lines in war would be a more appropriate place for our gang members than the streets in our country. He does not see America as a war zone, whereas many young people do. They are fighting for attention, for recognition and for legitimacy.

    Because we teach them little about nonviolent power, about changing the dynamic of the “powerful few” and the “powerless many,” about organizing themselves toward a greater good, and about structures of systemic and institutionalized violence, they use what they perceive as their only power: violence through brute force.

    I see every day the origins of their careless, bad attitudes and their sense of disenfranchisement from society. They are concerned about the basics: money, food and their personal safety, things that, as a caring society, we should be providing in an attempt to raise a compassionate generation ready to lead us in the future.

    Yet, nearly 25 percent of kids in America live in poverty, while we spend $350 billion annually on our military. Funding for education, justice, housing assistance and social programs together makes up less than one-third of the military’s budget. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said that a “country spending more on its military than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”

    Our young people know where our priorities are because the money we spend, or refuse to spend, speaks volumes about what we value: money, weaponry and absolute power.

    When gangs fight on the streets, the violence is illegal and punishable with jail time, but when they train and fight in the military, the violence becomes legitimate. Right time, right place, right enemy and they get a medal of honor and money for college.

    Wrong time, wrong city, wrong enemy, they become immersed in the prison-industrial system of injustice. This mixed message is exactly what Mr. Marquez suggests we employ in our country.

    His suggestion is both classist and bigoted. Instead of only sending the already poor and disenfranchised young people in gangs to war, why do we not also send the sons and daughters of the members of Congress who have voted so adamantly and unilaterally for this war in Afghanistan?

    Not even those orchestrating this war, namely Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney, served in the armed forces. Are the lives of gang members less worthy and more disposable than the decision-makers’? Additionally, if Mr. Marquez believes that a healthy dose of combat will shape up our gang members, I wonder if he believes, too, that the veterans of the Vietnam War were better socialized in American society after serving in the armed forces.

    Not even our classrooms are exempt from military indoctrination. Education in America already encourages institutionalized violence through participation in the armed forces. Because administrators and teachers have more to worry about than military recruiters on campus, the Pentagon has an unobstructed avenue into the consciences of our youth in high schools. Whether through brochures in the career counselor’s office, or on television through Channel One, a “news” channel that advertises for one of its primary sponsors, the Pentagon, the captive high school audience is in prime marketing territory for the military.

    In recent years, more than $1 trillion has been cut in aid to cities and those funds have been reappropriated for usage by our military, with little accountability to the American public and certainly no accountability to our youth and future generations who will have to live in the militarized world we have created. When students believe they have no future, their actions reflect their inner emotions.

    In an open letter to a newspaper on May 5, students from Los Angeles High School outlined their gripes in their own words: “How can you blame us for doing poorly as students when you are doing poorly as parents? You should insist on the right to be good parents. If your employers complain when you have to go to a parent-teacher conference, tell them that most juvenile crime would disappear if only the adults would take charge of their children.”

    In this letter, the class demands that we build more schools to accommodate the growing student population, that we take them to museums instead of the malls, and that we, the adults, clean up our acts and take responsibility for our skewed priorities.

    Instead, every day, 200 new prison cells are built, according to the War Resisters League. In March 2000, Proposition 21 was passed in California creating a death penalty for people under 18, and directly violating international law.

    The Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by every country other than the United States and Somalia, clearly identifies people under the age of 18 as requiring special protection and exempting them from being treated as adults, especially in a court of law.

    The solution is not new. We need to provide health care to every person, we need to engage in restorative justice rather than punitive justice, and we need to allocate enough money to schools so that teachers are well-paid, classrooms are well-maintained and higher education is accessible to anyone who wishes to continue studying.

    What we don’t need are more people telling kids how bad they are, and providing suggestions for how to get rid of the problem of delinquent youth in our society.

    Perhaps I have learned more from my students about wisdom, compassion and value than they have learned from me. My students are my role models, all of them. Being around gang members and troublemakers reminds me how far we have to go in creating an equitable society and encourages me in the struggle for justice.

    *Leah C. Wells is the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s Peace Education Coordinator.

  • Hope Will Shape Our Future

    Terrorist acts are the acts of people who have given up hope that they can be heard or achieve their goals by more reasonable forms of discourse and action. Terrorist acts are not acts of first recourse. They are acts of desperation, sending messages in blood and death. They are acts of individuals whose only hope lies in the worst forms of cruelty without regard for the welfare of their innocent victims.

    There is no doubt that terrorists are criminals and should be punished for their crimes, including those against humanity. International terrorism is a problem of the global community and should be punished by international tribunals established for this purpose. The international community, through the United Nations, should also be mobilized to join hands in the fight to prevent all forms of terrorism.

    In fighting terrorism, though, it is not enough to apprehend and punish the terrorists. More important is to prevent the future loss of innocent lives that can occur by means of terrorism, including chemical, biological, and nuclear attacks.

    We need to clearly grasp the fact that the consequences of acts of terrorism in a nuclear-armed world could grow much worse than what we have yet seen. Nuclear weapons in the hands of terrorists could mean the destruction of cities rather than buildings.

    The vulnerability of our high-tech societies to terrorism places civilization itself at risk. The stakes are very high. We must put an end to terrorism. To do this, we must be able to offer some hope to terrorists and would-be terrorists that their lives can be made better through political discourse and action.

    Thus, no one on our planet can be excluded from the hope of living a decent life, from living with dignity and justice. Each person excluded from this hope is a potential terrorist, a potential recruit as a saboteur of our vulnerable civilization.

    Military power alone cannot solve our problem and make the world safe from terrorism. In fact, military power – because it is a blunt instrument likely to cause more innocent deaths – is likely to reinforce the hopelessness of those attacked and create a greater pool from which to recruit terrorists.

    We must rather look deeper, and try to understand the factors that motivate terrorism: crushing poverty, oppression, and the sense that one’s grievances are not being heard and will not be heard. While our policies must not be dictated by terrorists, neither can we be indifferent to their grievances and to the conditions that spawn terrorism.

    Our civilization cannot survive with a small bastion of privileged societies trying to hold out against multitudes mired in poverty and oppression, those who have given up hope for a more decent future for themselves and their children.

    Hopelessness grows when some 35,000 children die daily of malnutrition and preventable diseases, when 50,000 children a year die in Iraq as a result of US-led economic sanctions on that country, when the Palestinians are increasingly marginalized and oppressed in their land.

    If we in the United States want to have hope of living without fear of terrorist attacks, we must reflect upon our policies that take away hope from others throughout the world. We are connected on this planet by not only our common humanity, but by our common vulnerability.

    Hopeless enemies will find ways to attack us where we are most vulnerable, and we are vulnerable nearly everywhere: our cities, our water, our air, our energy, our transportation, our communications, our financial institutions, and our liberties. Therefore, our policies must build hope by waging peace against poverty and oppression and by encouraging an open forum through the United Nations for listening to grievances and responding to them with justice.

    The future of our planet will be shaped by hope, and hope itself will be shaped by the policies and leadership of the United States. We must choose hope and foster it, not only for ourselves, but for every citizen of our planet. We must give hope, to even those who hate us and, in doing so, turn potential enemies into allies in the struggle for a better world.

    *David Krieger is President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. He is co-author of Choose Hope, a Dialogue with Daisaku Ikeda, recently published in Japan.

  • Searching for a Peaceful Solution

    Candles flickered in the darkness of night as about 500 people gathered Tuesday in search of peaceful solutions in response to last week’s acts of terror.

    The peace vigil at Alameda Park was an opportunity for the community to unite and think not just about last week’s events but about the broader aspects of violence and any nonviolent options, said Carah Ong of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, a sponsor of the vigil.

    “I think everyone believes some sort of response is needed,” said Chris Pizzinat, the foundation’s deputy director.

    But he said a military response is not necessarily the answer; another answer is the International Criminal Court.

    “I think everyone agrees the perpetrators need to be identified and brought to justice,” he said. “I have no misconceptions that will be easy. And there will be bloodshed.”

    David Krieger, president of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, said any response by the United States needs to be based on three things: the legality under international law; morality, not taking any more innocent lives; and thinking about how the problem of terrorism can be solved without increasing the cycle of violence.

    He hoped the vigil would bring the people together “to recognize we are a community not only here in Santa Barbara, but we are a community with the nation and the world.”

    A community, he said, needs to come together in times of grief and celebration.

    “And this is a time of grief and we need to support each other,” Mr. Krieger said.

    He said the nation needs to be very careful not to take steps to add to the violence.

    “I’m worried myself about this mood in Washington and a desire for vengeance,” he said.

    Besides hearing from a variety of speakers, those attending the vigil had the opportunity to sign condolence books that Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, will take back with her to Washington, D.C.

    The books will be shared with those in the areas where the devastation occurred.

    The congresswoman told the crowd that they gathered together to light a candle in the darkness and to give voice to that which is unspeakable.

    Gail Shaughnessy was among those who agree a military response might not be the best answer.

    “I think it would be a big mistake to rush in in a vengeful state. We need to step back and make sure we don’t jeopardize more innocent lives. Enough innocent lives have been lost. I do believe there are other ways,” she said.

    Security and intelligence could be increased, as well as putting pressure on those who can get to the perpetrators, Ms. Shaughnessy said.

    “I hope that’s the course we decide to take, ultimately,” she said. “So far I feel we are being prudent. We didn’t just mount a blind attack immediately.”

    As they listened to the speakers, members of the crowd sat silently, candles flickering. Some held flags and scattered throughout the crowd were young and old wearing T-shirts with Old Glory and the words, “God Bless America.”

    As he ended his remarks, Mr. Krieger said, “We do have the opportunity to change the world. We can create a world that can truly live together in peace. May your candles shine brightly and your love fill the world and make it a better place.”

    E-mail Vicki Adame at: vadame@newspress.com

  • Vote for Peace

    “The first time the first woman had a chance to say no against war she should say it.” – Jeanette Rankin

    Behold the anti-war sentiments of this Congresswoman from Montana whose pacifist ideals are nowhere to be seen nor heard in recent days. This often forgotten former Congresswoman from Montana voted against entry into both World War I and World War II, a risky gamble for peace in this war-hawk nation. Yet, believing war was not the answer and willing to take a stand in the face of weighty opposition to remain true to her beliefs, Ms. Rankin cast her vote for peace. Last week, our modern-day Jeannette Rankin, Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA), cast the only dissenting vote against legislation giving President Bush the authorization to wage military war against terrorism. The other politicians in our country would do well to pause in silence for a moment and listen to the sounds of conscience which resonate among the peaceloving people in the United States.

    What I find remarkable in the aftermath of the Tuesday’s devastating events is that our outspoken government leaders, especially our President, have maintained a hate-filled unilateral front using language of retaliation and revenge for the perpetrators and the country harboring them and abetting their activities. The mainstream media has reported precious little from peace groups who represent the wishes of many Americans who think that military action is not the only valid response to this tragic situation. We are continually told that more bloodshed will make us feel better. If we can beat up on some other nation’s innocents, it will ease our pain here. Misery loves company.

    The paradigm has already been set up: if you call for peace, for reconciliation and for forgiveness, you are anti-American. You are unaligned with the multitudes of grieving families across our nation and empathize too much with the enemy, who deserves no mercy. Can we be pro-peace and still be true to our country? Can we call for compassion and nonviolent responses to a tragedy this terrible? Revenge and retaliation have been perverted to mean justice, and the American public ought to be offered other options than the militaristic, one-sided vengeance which our leaders have set before us. How can our leaders call for tolerance toward Arab-Americans in our own country and in the same breath blast Arab countries with unrelenting rhetoric of retaliatory attacks?

    After all, we are all human beings, right? Nationalities are man-made creations, as are national borders. In essence, we are plotting the destruction of our own species. Is our national policy toward foreigners nothing than a mirror held up to the face of our own self-hatred? I would like to believe that the good people of America can grieve together during this time of intense loss and still not wish to create more tragedy anywhere else on our planet.

    Within the boundaries of the United States, we house many ideologies, many faith traditions, many races, and many ethnicities. Should we be so myopic to believe that there is only one acceptable response to the terrorist attacks on which all varieties of Americans concur? Does everyone want an all-out war? Many high school students in recent days have been envisioning alternative structures of government more compatible with the principles of nonviolence. Many high school students believe that meeting hate with hate multiplies hate, as first written by Martin Luther King, Jr., and that, quoting Gandhi, an eye for an eye and the world goes blind. Are these students too young and idealistic to dream of a world where their future is not jeopardized? Is their peace studies class teaching them blind optimism? They don’t think so.

    Our President says he would like to eradicate the evil in the world. Let’s take him up on this idea. Let’s stop funding the war on Palestine. Let’s stop bombing Iraq every week. Let’s stop fueling the fires of conflict in Colombia. Let’s provide healthcare to the 25% of children in America who live in poverty. Let’s teach our children to get along rather than to harbor hatred toward their enemies. Let’s take our role as the world’s superpower seriously and respond to these senseless events with dignity and restraint.

    Can we challenge our government to find a creative and meaningful way to respond to this violence while caring for our wounded nation?

    *Leah Wells is Peace Education Coordinator at the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

  • Evolving Thoughts on 11 September Events From a Young US Peace Activist Perspective

    When I first awoke on Tuesday, 11 September 2001 and began watching from the West Coast the events unfolding in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, I had a variety of reactions. While the tragedy which occurred in the US against innocent people is unjustifiable by any means, US citizens and citizens around the world must seize this opportunity to examine the root causes of violence and respond with redoubled efforts to create a truly just and peaceful world for all human beings.

    My first reaction was “What a way to celebrate the International Day of Peace!” But not once during the course of the day did I hear media make mention that it was in fact the International Day of Peace until a tiny scroll message announced it at 9:30 p.m. pacific time, nearly thirteen hours after the first crash.

     

    I knew from the first sight that I saw on the television that as a peace activist and a US citizen, the events would greatly alter my life. All of the US media reports from the first moment and continuing voiced a sense of resurgent nationalism ever apparent in the minds of Americans. Americans on television and in the papers cried out for revenge and retaliation mirroring the calls from the US government and military. I thought to myself, “How will people in the US respond to the message of peace? How will people listen to the voice of non-violence?” Headline after headline, news story after news story reiterated the need for justice, not true justice, but a perverted justice based on military retaliation.

     

    My heart went out to the victims of the acts of violence committed that day. But even more so, my heart went out to victims of violence everywhere around the world. I realized how self-centered and naive we are in the US. Every day, violence is a daily occurrence in many countries around the world. Very few acknowledge their suffering. Some 40,000 children die every day from malnutrition, where is the peace and justice in that? Immediately, heads of state around the world responded to the events in the US, allying with the government and military’s plans to seek out and take revenge upon those responsible for the acts. Organizations and individuals also sent messages of solidarity and condolences to the people of the US. While I appreciated these messages, at the same time I was saddened to think of all victims of violence around the world who do not receive condolences and solidarity, let alone acknowledgement of their struggle for survival. What makes the loss of American lives more valuable than the loss of lives in other parts of the world? Violence has become a means by which we place value on human life and the environment. We consider certain losses justifiable so that 20 percent of the world’s population can exploit 80 percent of its wealth.

     

    The government and military also immediately accused a scapegoat and the media reported this person and his affiliates to the American people, feeding into the frenzy and anger of a nation too blinded by the devastating images before our eyes to see reality. If in fact, the acts of violence were committed by terrorists, weren’t we the party responsible for creating them? How could we not know that the seeds we sowed during the Cold War, the seeds we continued to sow after the dissolution of the USSR would not come back to haunt us? How can we be so selfish as a society to believe that our consumption and way of life is a right only we should enjoy? Why is that we are the only ones in the world that should enjoy it?

     

    Many have called the events a “collective loss of innocence” in this country as have been other historical moments, such as the two World Wars, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the Vietnam War, the Korean Crisis and the Cold War. I hope that instead we would stop and re-evaluate the 11 September events as a collective loss of ignorance. After the dissolution of the USSR, the US was under the impression that it had “triumphed” over the “evils” of communism. But we did not stop think about the policies we instituted around the world in the name of democratic ideology, an ideology funded and backed by capitalism and militarism. At the end of the Cold War, the US was presented with a great opportunity to be a true leader, to take the lead in negotiations for the abolition of nuclear weapons, to reduce our reliance on military might, to decrease the vast amount of money spent on defense, to redefine global security in terms of human and environmental needs rather than in terms of military superiority. But we chose not to take this role. Instead, we continue to plunder the environment, to consume vast amount of the precious Earth’s resources, to ignore human suffering beyond our “national” borders.

     

    Younger generations in the US do not understand why this event occurred. We do not recall the perceived threat of communism of the Cold War or the duck and cover drills practiced in the event of a nuclear strike. We do not recall protesting the Vietnam War. We do not recall the Korean War or the Cuban Missile Crisis. We do not remember JFK’s assassination. We have only read of these events in textbooks. This US administration and military quickly called the 11 September acts, “acts of war.” The military-corporate-education complex needs US citizens, particularly younger generations, to live in fear of a perceived threat, a threat that has been to some extent been missing since the end of the Cold War. Without a perceived threat, how can they justify increased military spending? How else can they justify “controlling and dominating” the Earth and Outer Space because of the widening gap between the “haves and the have-nots” which “threaten” US economic interests here and abroad? How else can they justify missile defense systems, systems which would have rendered useless in the events of 11 September? How else can they justify developing and deploying the B61-11, a new nuclear weapon that makes the use of nuclear weapons more likely in the future of conflict despite international obligations to abolish nuclear weapons?

     

    The existence of war, nuclear weapons and all weapons of mass destruction evidence our insecurity and our inability to understand how our actions affect others. As human beings, we desire to be secure, yet we have some how deemed it in our nature to live in fear of each other and therefore we try to justify our urge to resolve conflicts through violent means. We must remember our commonality and our humanity and be mindful not to demonize any peoples based on ethnicity, religion, nationality and gender. We must put a stop to nationalism and hatred. We must not allow prejudice into our hearts and minds.

     

    Many analysts and editorialists have called the 11 September events a “defining moment” in this country’s history. I hope that indeed it will be a defining moment in American history in that we as a nation will stop to think about why such an event occurred here. We as citizens are responsible for the actions of our government and military. As a democracy, we elect our leaders. Governments only have the right to govern based on the will of the people they govern. It must be our will as individuals to achieve peace and we must hold our governments responsible to ensure the maintenance of peace for all peoples. We should call upon our leaders to examine the policies we have created and institute new policies that will preclude the use of violence and loss of life in the future. Rather than withdrawing from international establishments and obligations as the current administration is doing, the US should engage in the international community to promote cooperation and not rely on military might as the principal means of solving conflict. The US should work collaboratively with the global community to address the underlying causes of violence and promote non-violent cooperative measures to resolve conflict.

     

    Our only hope is to educate ourselves and future generations that all humans deserve to live with dignity, compassion and respect for one another and the environment, and that humans must use the Earth’s precious resources constructively and sustainably. Martin Luther King, Jr. Stated, “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly”. We must be cognizant of the inter-relatedness of all communities and peoples. Though cultures and traditions may vary, and though we are all individually unique, we are united by our humanity. We are all brothers and sisters of one human family and we must learn to live with each other and respect our differences. We must keep our impoverished brothers and sisters who live in the developing world in our conscience. With these ideals and principles, the human family can coexist harmoniously with each other and the Earth, making a peaceful world possible.

  • Message from the Peace Education Coordinator on the Recent Attacks

    Now more than ever, teaching peace is of utmost importance in our country. In the face of such terrible acts, we should be teaching our students about nonviolent responses to violence rather than the retributive and retaliatory acts which are at the forefront of our national dialogue. Peacemaking is a teachable skill, and one which takes commitment and discipline. How can we expect to create peaceful homes, schools, communities and nations if we do not explicitly train our students in the ways of nonviolence?

    In my nonviolence class during the past week, we have been talking a lot about hot versus cold violence. Hot violence is the violence which makes you shrink back in horror. The terrorist attacks this week in New York and Washington, DC were examples of hot violence. Cold violence, on the other hand, is the kind that is more quiet and often legitimized by society. Examples of cold violence, in my estimation, are the 25% of youths in America who live in poverty, or the nearly 40,000 children who die every day as a result of malnutrition and hunger.

    We get so angry about hot violence. It makes us indignant because it is in our faces. As long as we don’t see the violence, we are not motivated to take action. Why did we not allocate an emergency $40 billion to alleviate the mass poverty in our country, or to provide health care for the millions of Americans without any? Or to provide salary increases for the seriously underpaid teachers who deal daily with the effects of family, community, school and institutional violence?

    Cold violence is a tragedy, just as hot violence is. Just because a child dies in quiet, and not in a fiery blast, does not mean that the death is less significant and that the child was any less special. We need to be teaching our young people how to handle the violence they experience on a personal level as well as the systemic violence which perpetuates inequality and injustice all over the world.

    Classes in peacemaking teach our young people that hatred toward an entire people does not make the world a better place. Classes in peacemaking teach our young people the scope of their power and the importance of their voices. Classes in peacemaking teach our young people that their lives are special and that in the midst of mass-marketing strategies and consumerism, that an authentic alternative exists. Classes in peacemaking are the only real response to the many forms of violence to which young people are exposed. If peace is what we want, peace is what we should prepare for. Teaching peace lays the foundation for a more fulfilling life.

    *Leah C. Wells is Peace Education Coordinator at the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

  • Nuclear Age Peace Foundation Statement on 9-11 Terrorist Attacks

    Our hearts go out to the victims and families of the vicious and premeditated terrorist attacks against the people of the United States.

    These attacks make clear that people everywhere are vulnerable to fanatics, propelled by hatred, who are determined to inflict terrible injuries, even at the cost of their own lives.

    President Bush has vowed to bring the attackers to justice, but revenge is not sufficient. It is also not effective in dealing with people who are suicidal. We are faced with the dilemma of how to prevent future attacks by suicidal people without becoming a police state.

    Not military strength, nor nuclear weapons, nor missile defenses can protect us from such attackers, willing to die in the perpetration of their terrorist acts.

    Since we cannot end our vulnerability, we must find new policies that will restore an atmosphere free from violence in our world. The challenge we now face is to find the wisdom to develop new policies, based on justice and human dignity, to end the threats before us.

  • Declaration of NaturwissenschaftlerInnen-Initiative

    Statement Against violence – for prudence

    Speechless and horror-stricken, with our deepest regret and compassion for all victims and their relatives, we have to take note of this most unbelievable act of terrorism in history. We would like to express our sympathy to all citizens of the United States of America.

    As part of the peace-movement, the Initiative of Engineers and Scientists rejects all forms of terrorism and violence. We are shaken by this insane act of unrestricted violence that will solve none of our problems, but drive us further into desperation and a circle of violence.

    This crime was not necessary to prove the vulnerability of highly technologized industrial nations – they are not to be technologically secured against their own high end technology.

    There is no way to escape from this helplessness, merely political and humanitarian steps to minimize it. Acts of revenge and military retaliation will not solve the problem. We appeal for prudence, particularly for those who are in political charge.

    We would like to propose to the United Nations: The United Nations shall invite all head of states and governments of the world, all parliaments and NGO´s – immediately – to gather for a world – peace – conference, in order to work on courageous steps (in the spirit of the frequently cited New Thinking) to solve wars and conflicts, and to work against such senseless outbreak of violence.

    Dortmund, Sept. 11th 2001, 6:30 p.m. +49 (0) 231 – 57 52 02 Reiner Braun, Executive Director

  • Individual Responsibility in Building a Culture of Peace

    “He aha te nui mea o te ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata.” A Maori Saying (Translation: “What is the most important thing in the world? It is the people, the people, the people.”)

    If there is light in the soul, there will be beauty in the person. If there is beauty in the person, there will be harmony in the house. If there is harmony in the house, there will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world. -Chinese Proverb

    The Twentieth Century will be remembered as a century of wars. Despite opportunities such as the end of the Cold War between the US and the former USSR, human beings have moved further away from creating a world where they can live in harmony with one another and all life on Earth. Such a world is possible, but it requires active participation and cooperation from every individual to respect life and take action to create such a world.

    Peace begins with the individual. We must realize that, as individuals, we are not powerless and that the power of one can make a difference. As individuals we must accept the responsibility to end the scourge of war and culminate a culture of peace. We must realize that peace is more than the absence of war. War is a drain on both human and financial resources and as history proves, is not an effective means of resolving conflict. Peace involves a process of individual and communal participation. It requires justice, equal rights and equal opportunities.

    Martin Luther King, Jr. Stated, “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly”. We must be cognizant of the inter-relatedness of all communities and peoples. Though cultures and traditions may vary, and though we are all individually unique, we are united by our humanity. We are all brothers and sisters of one human family and we must learn to live with each other and respect our differences. We must keep our impoverished brothers and sisters who live in the developing world in our conscience. Everyone is entitled to Human Rights, not just those who live in industrialized or developed nations. On December 10, 1948, the General Assembly declared Resolution 217, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The preamble begins, “Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world…” The Universal Declaration further establishes human rights by stating that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” (Article 1), that ” Everyone has the right to life, liberty and the security of person” (Article 3) and that ” All are equal before the law and entitled to equal protection of the law” (Article 7).

    In a world that has become so globalized, with advanced technologies that bring us the internet and mass global communication, with news available to us 24 hours a day, seven days a week, we are responsible to remain aware of what is going on in our communities, in our country and in our world. We must maintain a global conscience and think before we make decisions that affect our families, our communities, our environment, and those all around the world. We live in a consumer-oriented world that capitalizes on a need for “things”. We must ask ourselves, “how does each purchase I make affect others?”

    I believe that young people have a tremendous responsibility to effectuate the change needed to create a world where human beings live in harmony with one another and all life on earth. Peace and security are age-old issues that have been around since the advent of war. The existence of war, nuclear weapons and all weapons of mass destruction evidence our insecurity and our inability to understand how our actions affect others. As human beings, we desire to be secure, yet we have some how deemed it in our nature to live in fear of each other and therefore we try to justify our urge to resolve conflicts through violent means.

    Knowledge may give individuals power, but it also obligates responsibility. As young people we are responsible to share what we know about peace and security issues with our friends, our families, our communities and all those with whom we come in contact. We must realize that as individuals, the knowledge we have gives us the power to make a difference and we must not be afraid to stand up and be a voice for positive change. As Mahatmas Ghandi said, “We must be the change we wish to see in the world.” Learning about an issue is the first step to realizing the responsibility we have as young people, but knowing is simply not enough. We must also actively work to achieve the secure and peaceful world we envision.

    We are the given an inalienable right when we are born into this world and that is the right of choice and will. The right of governments to govern is based on the will of the people. It must be our will as individuals to achieve peace and we must hold our governments responsible to ensure the maintenance of peace for all peoples.

    Simple actions that individuals can take now include: -Maintaining a global awareness and conscience by educating self and others -Writing to elected officials and governmental representatives and holding them responsible for making the right decisions on issues -Becoming involved in local and international peace efforts. – Only purchasing goods of whose origins one is certain. One can write to vendors to find out where products are made or simply ask a store clerk in order to ensure that goods made by child laborers or by laborers paid unfair wages are not purchased.

    As individuals, we must learn to respect all life on the planet and fundamentally redefine security in terms of human and environmental needs. Security can no longer be defined by military superiority because it enshrines a structure of perpetual violence, promoting war and weapons as the principle means of solving conflict. By changing how we define security, it will create conditions leading to a world where conflicts can be solved non-violently, where humans can live with dignity and in harmony with each other and the Earth. It is very easy to be apathetic to peace and security issues as, unfortunately, many young people are, but even taking the smallest action will make a world of difference. As youth, we have the greatest challenge, but also the greatest potential to create a world that is just and secure for all.