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EDITORIAL
WOMEN AND CHILDREN ARE THE BEST
ALLIES FOR ABOLISHING WAR
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Women
and Children are indeed the best allies of peace. HORIZON 4 depicts several
moving and authentic aspects and creations concerning this truth. There is
no greater challenge in the world today than that of living in harmony,
tolerance and respect with one's neighbors, and women and children seem to
instinctively share this basic grassroot knowledge. At a time when the
entire world is caught up in the process of globalization, it is imperative
for humanity
"to listen to women and children for a change."
There are more
women and children killed in wars than soldiers. We get continuous reports
concerning this tragic fact from various parts of the world, where more
than fifty senseless wars are being waged. In 1999, at the end of our
"mushroom" century, we seem not to have learnt anything from the
past, and more and more rivers of innocent blood are helplessly and
continuously being poured everyday, in Kosovo, Ruwanda, Nigeria, Lebanon,
Afghanistan, Guatemala, El Salvador, the Basque country, Ireland, and so
on, and endlessly so on.... The thwarted, shortsighted satanic belief that
wars can solve conflicts, has to be rapidly thrown into the anachronistic
dustbin of history where it belongs, before the new millenium.
The BAN-WAR
campaign and petition appearing in Section 4, built on the model of the UN
"Declaration of the Right of Peoples to Peace" (Resolution
39/11), gives us the opportunity to express our democratic global vote and
will, to abolish the very concept and practice of war, and to banish it
forever from our lives and from our world.
The global
village to which we all belong is one of great multiplicity, which is the
basis for the necessity of cultural bridges and exchange of humanistic
values. Literature and Poetry are some of the best vehicles for expressing
our innermost thoughts and feelings, and several moving pieces and poems
appearing in the pages below, bring this truth home. For example, in the
poem: "Eve's Defence" , in her monologue, Eve satirically touches
on one of the basic aspects of the discrimination of women, the myth that
she was responsible for offering the forbidden apple to Adam. Eve exclaims
that first, he did not have to eat it, and secondly, she reminds him, that
although she was created from a much finer substance than he was (his own
human rib-bone, instead of mere earth), men and women are in truth equal.
Women and
children are great communicators and consumers of culture, they are open to
new ideas and creations, new methods of organizing, and new ways of living.
They are, therefore, a special source of renovation, vitality, strength and
hope. They are certainly not in society's "museum anymore". Women
are organizing through NGO's, such as the "BEIJING NGO",
"THE BRIDGE", and numerous organizations and associations all
around the world, to safeguard their lives and that of their children and
families against violence. Women's demands for abolishing violence against them,
for equal rights, and the basic human right to live in peace, are at the
foundations of a truly democratic society.
However, the
media, worldwide, does not as yet give women the backing, coverage, and
credit they deserve. The corrrespondence between Ursula Oswald Spring (from
Mexico), the President of IPRA, and the editor of Horizon, concerning the
20 Years to The Bridge Symposium, clearly shows that.
Warm thanks to
all our contributors, who have helped us in making the creation of HORIZON
a labor of love. We call on the citizens of our global village to join us
in the creation of "TIKKUN OLAM" - the active "Repairing of
our World", through cultural bridges built on harmonious ethical and
human values, toward our new millenium. May it be a millenium beyond war!
Ada Aharoni
Editor
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GREETING FOR
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY
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Dear
Women, Peace Researchers and Men in solidarity with gender issues,
I would like
to send you all an extra special greeting today, 8 March, International
Women's Day 1999. It is important for us to reflect on this day not only on
the problems which women face living in a male-dominated, patriarchal
world, but the hope we all carry within us to improve the unjust conditions
in which more than half of the human race are forced to live, and the
possibilities we have to create a future society based on gender equality,
justice, non-violent conflict resolution and peace.
I believe that
women have a special role to play in peace processes. A new analysis is
needed of gender roles and the part they play in the male violence which is
causing so much misery in the world today and has done for centuries. It is
easy to give up hope, and put it down to human nature, that violence and
agression are intrinsic parts of masculinity, and therefore cannot be
changed. Any historical study would seem to back up this genetic argument
that men are naturally violent. However, I believe that the participation
of many men in peace proceses, and the emergence of the so-called "new
masculinity" offers us a counter argument, and therefore the basis to
work towards a new approach to gender relations, where men can be freed
from the straightjacket of machismo, which includes as an integral part not
only the rejection of anything considered feminine, but an exaggeration of
"masculinity", shown in violent attitudes towards other men and
women. We need a complete reworking of these gender roles which limit our
growth as human beings and as men and women, and cause so much frustration
and violence in our lives.
How can we do
this? We need to start with our own attitudes, our own behaviour, challenge
our own thoughts and actions. We need to look towards creating a different
world order for our children, which means fighting now against corruption,
violence, war, inequality and environmental degradation to be able to offer
future generations a world based on non-violence, equity, justice,
sustainability and peace. This means thinking twice before buying a toy gun
for our little son or as men, trying to resolve conflicts verbally instead
of physically. As women, we must fight against current discrimination and
prejudice which limit our development as human beings, as professionals, as
women. Although many men are now changing their attitudes and supporting women
and our rights, it is true that only we, ourselves, have the capacity and
the will to gain our own liberty and equality; nobody will do it for us.
Today we must
reflect on the importance of bringing a gender perspective into our work as
peace researchers; it is no coincidence that 99% of all violent acts in the
world are committed by men. Women and children suffer from particular forms
of violence whether in war or peace time. Many women are frightened to
leave their houses, due to increasing violence on the streets; every case
of rape or sexual assault results in warnings for women to stay at home,
but we mustn't forget that the vast majority of rapes, of physical violence
and of murder of women occur in the home, and by someone known to the
victim. Domestic violence is a huge problem which only recently has been
brought into the open and talked about rather than suffered in silence and
shame. It is not only our streets which are dangerous for women, but our
families, and the values of our societies which tolerate men's abuse of
women as a natural right. It is time that we let our voices be heard, that
we denounce all the crimes committed against women, the rape, the physical
violence, including torture, the enforced prostitution which are common
occurrences in peacetime and which increase during armed conflicts. The
terrible situation which our sisters in Afghanistan are now living could
happen to any of us; all our rights taken away from us in a matter of a
short time. We must also let our voices be heard in protest at this
complete abuse of human rights, reinforcing the idea that women's rights
are human rights too.
We still have
so much work to do, but today is not only a time to reflect on all that we
still suffer from as women, but a day to celebrate our womanhood, a day to
feel proud to be women, to be strong, to know that together we can change
the patriarchal order which oppresses both women and men. We must believe
in ourselves, and act together to show that sisters really are doing it for
themselves.
Once again, I
wish you all a very happy 8 March, and hope that you all have a marvellous
time in whichever part of the world you are in. Today is our day so let's
make the most of it!
I send you all
an affectionate hug, a wish for peace in all parts of the world, and some
of my Mexican sunshine with the scent of flowers outside my window and the
beautiful summer breeze to those of you in cold parts of the world.
Ursula Oswald
(President of IPRA)
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