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IPRA: INTERNATIONAL PEACE RESEARCH ASSOCIATION
PAVE PEACE THROUGH CULTURE AND LITERATURE

ELECTRONIC MAGAZINE

Number 4, March 1999



SECTION 4: ME AND HUMANITY



CONTENTS:

  • Poem: Let This Be My Life Song
  • Women, IPRA and The Media
  • Response to Chairman Arafat's Visit
    to the Anne Frank Memorial
  • "Hatred": Poem by Wislawa Szymborska
  • The Ban-War Campaign and Petition
  • Poem: Blood Red Skies (Haifa Sunset)

    •

    LET THIS BE MY LIFE SONG

    by Milford A. Sutherland (1914-1998)

    I begin with my love -- for life - for people.
    I begin with what I am and have been and where I am heading.
    Yes, I begin with myself and reach out as far as I am able.
    I begin with myself - and find my relation to all mankind.
    I begin with myself because this is my story, my life,
    My experiences and lessons from experience.

    Beginning with myself -
    And often returning -
    I find I cannot tarry long:
    Myself is only the beginning -
    The stepping off place.

    The category of myself does not exist alone
    Only in the difference between myself and others
    Only in the unity of myself with all.

    Only as a living part of others -
    And yet separated from them -
    Do I have significance
    Only as a moment of mankind surging forward
    Only with a deep consciousness of a long trail of
    Struggling, suffering, victories, big and little
    Steps forward and upward behind me.

    Only with a vision of great victories ahead -
    Of a severe but sure path to peace
    And great universal happiness,
    Of ever greater and more joyous struggles
    For an ever growing and developing mankind -
    Only thus do I live.

    But why begin with myself, and why return?

    Because it is not enough for me to lose myself in the general.

    That precious stuff - time - is mine for the moment.
    Not very much - but as long as it lasts - it is mine.

    Given to me not only by my mother and father -
    But by all preceding generations
    Given to me not only to treasure
    But given first of all to use.

    For this moment I help carry that glorious banner, humanity.

    For this reason I begin with myself and return to myself.

    For me not to let that banner drop or fall!

    For me to carry it forward and lift it higher.
    Each of us is not an island separate.
    And yet each is an individual.

    No one entirely loses himself -
    Each has his own part of the common task.

    The living fabric of mankind can be torn by each
    Or mended and strengthened, by each.

    For me there must be no hole left when I pass away.

    There must be no regrets

    What I might have done,
    What I should have done
    Of useless wishing
    Or hopeless defeat
    Or sense of wrong.

    No September song
    Of how time has slipped
    And rudely awakened
    I attempt to seize it
    In crude desperation.

    Instead a May Day Song
    A song of youth and strength and growth
    A world coming to bloom
    A song of flowers and children
    A song of liberation!

    Let this be my funeral song.
    Let this be my life song.

    *********************************

    On the occasion of the author's death,
    I received this poem from his nephew, Erik Lindberg.
    Kazuyo Yamane

    WOMEN, IPRA AND THE MEDIA


    Dear Ada,

    I would like to congratulate you on the success of
    "THE BRIDGE SYMPOSIUM CELEBRATING 20 YEARS TO THE BRIDGE: JEWISH AND ARAB WOMEN FOR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST".

    It is so important that you and others continue in this work, especially at this moment when isolated terrorist attacks put the whole peace process in danger. The people have to take part in
    their own peace processes and make it clear that terrorism is not
    the way, in the Middle East as well as in Northern Ireland and
    the Basque Country.

    It is also of utmost importance for women to play a part in these peace processes as not only do we, as women, have a different perspective to offer, but also to ensure an equal participation in society in both times of war and times of peace.

    I congratulate you once more for your excellent work which will surely bring us one step closer to achieving the resolution of
    conflicts, both at a local level, between Jewish and Arab peoples,
    and at an international level.

    With best and peaceful wishes,

    Ursula


    To Professor Ursula Oswald Spring
    President
    IPRA, The International Peace Research Association.
    Mexico City, Mexico.

    Dear Ursula,

    Many thanks for your warm and encouraging words on our 20 Years BRIDGE SYMPOSIUM.

    I would like to share with you one of our major drawbacks in our peace work in general, and in our peace work through women in particular. We worked very hard on preparing the "20 YEARS TO THE BRIDGE SYMPOSIUM", and invited all the media to cover it, so as to spread the climate and hope of peace to the wide public that are so fearful and discouraged nowadays, in both the Jewish and Arab/ Palestinian sectors.

    However no media came! 230 Jewish and Arab/Palestinian women have a Symposium on "Peace in the Middle East," and it is not considered "news" !

    My question is, why do the media consider only violence as news? How do we bring to the media that something new concerning peace is ALSO NEWS! Can IPRA do something about this, to change the priorities and attitudes of CNN, ABC, NBC, newspapers, radio broadcasts, etc? It is the same all over the world, and it is one of our major drawbacks with our wonderful IPRA peace research work and conferences. How can we at THE BRIDGE and at IPRA make a greater impact, and bring our peace research and peace values to the "unconvinced" and the "sceptic" governments around the world, as well as to the wide public? How can we build the climate and culture of peace toward a new millenium beyond war, if we do not get the necessary exposure, backing, and help from the media, and people who are in key positions (governments, councils,etc.) and agree with us?

    This is a crucial question which we should thoroughly discuss as part of our preparations toward our Tampere (Finland), IPRA Council in year 2000, as well as to the "International Congress on Conflict Resolution Through Culture and Literature," in the Galilee, Israel (June 1999), which I hope you and all my friends at IPRA will attend. I hope to see you all soon at the "Hague Appeal Conference" (May 1999).

    With best peace wishes,

    Ada Aharoni


    Ursula Oswald Spring responded:

    Dear Ada,

    Thank you for your letter which I received today. It is indeed incredible that such a historical event as the 20 YEARS TO THE BRIDGE SYMPOSIUM, having 230 Jewish and Palestinian women together in the same room discussing peace, was not considered "newsworthy" whereas violence and death are always considered worth reporting. Surely this tells us something about the values of the societies in which we live. It seems that every day there are more programmes and films glorifying violence, especially reports of real-life incidents of violence where crimes are re-enacted for TV viewers. The popularity of such programmes (without mentioning the Hollywood blockbusters in which one man single-handedly kills thousands of people) is surely worrying.

    Unfortunately, we know that the violence which exists in the world in general, and in war-zones in particular, is anything but fantasy, that the bodies and the suffering are all too real.... which makes us all feel useless facing so much violence, so much death, so much desperation.

    Covering an event like the 20 YEARS TO THE BRIDGE SYMPOSIUM, however, could give us all hope. Just seeing this amount of Jewish and Palestinian women together, talking about peace, tells the world that there is hope. Nevertheless, as you pointed out, women discussing peace does not make "good news" and this is an extremely sad reflection of the values of our society, based on masculine values which dismiss women's ability to do anything serious and assume that nobody (meaning the masculine half of the population) would be interested in an event where women and peace were the main themes.

    For these reasons I think that we have our work cut out in trying to change the values of a whole society, to make the major TV companies, newspapers, radio stations etc. change their mind on what constitutes a good piece of news reporting. I definitely think it is something that we at IPRA, as an organisation, must discuss and take action, and that we, as women, must make an extra-special effort to change this situation as it is always left to us to defend our interests and rights.

    I believe that it is therefore imperative to prepare something solid for Tampere 2000 to make this point very clear, that peace is often not considered newsworthy whereas terrorism is. It is something which we have to work on as an organisation to improve our profile and that of peace research in general. It is also something to bear in mind during the preparatives for the Conference 2000 to work out strategies to initiate the "unconvinced" and the "sceptics" as you say , and to make the message clear that the future is peace, and that this is the most important news that could ever be broadcast, that we must reach the population in general with this most important message in order that in the future other events like the 20 YEARS TO THE BRIDGE SYMPOSIUM, are not ignored, but rather considered top-priority news.

    With peaceful wishes, as always.

    Ursula


    The following is the text of a letter addressed to Chairman Arafat
    in response to his visit to the Anne Frank Memorial:


    " Dear Mr. Chairman,

    Your visit to the Anne Frank Memorial was a courageous
    and important symbolic gesture, and your words after the
    visit concerning the "Peace of the Brave" were appreciated
    by everyone who is genuinely interested in the welfare of
    both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, and in advancing
    the cause of peace.

    Many substantive deeds on both sides are required to make
    the troubled peace process into a reality. However, it is
    equally important that leaders on both sides actively
    educate the public by constant example to the new reality
    of reconciliation and dialog that must be created if the
    peace is to succeed.

    Sincerely,

    Ami Isseroff, Israel: ami_iss@netvision.net.il
    Ameen Hanoun, Jordan: ash74@geocities.com
    Larry Butchins, Israel:larry@telaviv.ndsoft.com "

    Participants in PEACE - a Mid - East Dialog Group

    HATRED

    by Wislawa Szymborska
    (Nobel Prize Winner, Poland)

    See how efficient it still is,
    how it keeps itself in shape -
    our century's hatred.
    How easily it vaults the tallest obstacles.
    How rapidly it pounces, tracks us down.

    It's not like other feelings.
    At once both older and younger.
    It gives birth itself to the reasons
    that give it life.
    When it sleeps, it's never eternal rest.
    And sleeplessness won't sap its strength; it feeds it.

    One religion or another -
    whatever gets it ready, in position.
    One fatherland or another -
    whatever helps it get a running start.
    Justice also works well at the outset
    until hate gets its own momentum going.
    Hatred. Hatred.
    Its face twisted in a grimace
    of erotic ecstasy.

    Oh these other feelings,
    listless weaklings.
    Since when does brotherhood
    draw crowds ?
    Has compassion
    ever finished first ?
    Does doubt ever really rouse the rabble ?
    Only hatred has just what it takes.

    Gifted, diligent, hard-working.
    Need we mention all the songs it has composed ?
    All the pages it has added to our history books ?
    All the human carpets it has spread
    over countless city squares and football fields ?

    Let's face it:
    it knows how to make beauty.
    The splendid fire-glow in midnight skies.
    Magnificent bursting bombs in rosy dawns.
    You can't deny the inspiring pathos of ruins
    and a certain bawdy humor to be found
    in the sturdy column jutting from their midst.

    Hatred is a master of contrast -
    between explosions and dead quiet,
    red blood and white snow.
    Above all, it never tires
    of its leitmotif - the impeccable executioner
    towering over its soiled victim.

    It's always ready for new challenges.
    If it has to wait awhile, it will.
    They say it's blind. Blind ?
    It has a sniper's keen sight
    and gazes unflinchingly at the future
    as only it can.

    TIME TO ABOLISH WAR
    PEACE IS A HUMAN RIGHT
    Our Ban-War Campaign and Petition appearing further below, was modelled on the the UN Declaration on the Right of Peoples to Peace (Resolution 39/11): adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on November 12, 1984. The General Assembly ...
    1. Solemnly proclaims that the people of our planet have a sacred right to peace.
    2. Solemnly declares that the preservation of the right of peoples to peace and the promotion of its implementation constitute a fundamental obligation of each State.
    3. Emphasizes that ensuring the exercise of the right of peoples to peace demands that the policies of States be directed toward the elimination of the threat of war, particularly nuclear war, the renunciation of the use of force in international relations and the settlement of international disputes by peaceful means on the basis of the Charter of the United Nations.
    4. Appeals to all States and international organizations to do their utmost to assist in implementing the right of peoples to peace through the adoption of appropriate measures at both the national and the international level.




    The International Ban-War
    Petition And Campaign

    A Pave Peace Project

    To the Governments of Our Global Village
    And to the U.N. Secretary General, Mr. Anan Kofy.
    United Nations
    New York
    USA

    We the undersigned citizens of the world who abhor war call for the banning of war from our global village. We suggest that any nation or part of a nation that practices war will be boycotted and ostracized by all the other nations of our global village.

    Petition including ten signatures
    Sent by: Name ____________ Signature __________ Date _______.

    Please enter your name, address and signature on the petition below, and pass it on to your families and friends to sign. When you have 10-20 signatures, send it on to the U.N. and to your governments. Thousands of signatures have already been sent from all around the world, and we hope that if we all unite our efforts we will be able to BAN-WAR, before the end of our mushroom century.

               Name                          Address                Signature   Date   
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    PLEASE SIGN, POST AND CIRCULATE THIS PETITION AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE.. IT WILL GIVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO HUMANKIND TO VOICE THEIR ABHORRENCE OF WAR. WAR IS NOT DEMOCRATIC, AS MOST OF THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD DO NOT WANT WARS. THE WHOLE CONCEPT AND PRACTICE OF WAR SHOULD BE MADE ANACHRONISTIC IN THE THIRD MILLENIUM. THIS PETITION WILL HELP IN THROWING THE CONCEPT AND PRACTICE OF WARS IN THE DUSTBIN OF HISTORY, WHERE IT BELONGS. THANK YOU FOR YOUR MUCH NEEDED HELP AND INVOLVEMENT, IFLAC

    The worst waste of resources in the world is the vast sums that governments spend maintaining an ability to destroy all people on Earth. Less than a quarter of those immense sums of money, if spent on promoting a global peace culture could pave a world beyond war toward the new millenium.

    Citizens of our global village, including leaders from throughout the world have signed the BAN-WAR PETITION.

    This PAVE PEACE Petition is a major step forward for Abolition of War 2000. It is a citizens' campaign for a treaty by year 2000 for the total elimination of war by state against state, or by part of a nation against another one.

    The BAN-WAR PETITION has been translated into 21 languages, including Hebrew, French, Arabic, Korean, Chinese, Russian, Spanish and Greek.


    Related campaign:

    IFOR and the UN suggest Year 2000 to 2010 for the building of a world of non violence. HORIZON acclaims their decision and efforts, but adds a query: WHY NOT START NOW? If we give all our impetus to the building of a global peace culture starting 1999, perhaps we can BAN WAR by the year 2000. This is one of the major goals of HORIZON: PAVE PEACE. Please refer to our BAN-WAR CAMPAIGN above and sign our BAN-WAR PETITION.

    The UN Decade for a Culture of Non-Violence campaign was launched on July 1, 1997 by 20 Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, IFOR, Partage avec les Enfants du Monde/Share with the Children of the World, and other organizations. Their goal is to have the governments of all of the world countries at the United Nations to adopt a resolution declaring:

    1. The year 2000 "Year of Education for Non-Violence"
    2. The years 2000 to 2010 "Decade for a Culture of Non-Violence"

    There is only one way to fight violence with nonviolence: education.

    "Our mentality is archaic. Often we continue to raise our children using ideas developed in times of war and conquest. We need to reject these outmoded principles and teach children that the 'other' is not the enemy. We must dare to tell young people, even in history classes, that they will contribute more to the world by living in dignity than by dying heroically, that it is conscience, rather than obedience, which is the basis of human life."

    The Fellowship of Reconciliation urges people around the world to join in this traditional World Peace Prayer each day for one minute at midday, thus forming a continuous chain to encircle the earth.

    Jan Slakov has given us the prayer in English and Spanish, and a phonetic version of the Arabic [Jan also has the prayer in Hebrew] follow below.

    WORLD PEACE PRAYER
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

    Lead me from death to life

    from falsehood to truth
    Lead me from despair to hope
    from fear to trust.
    Lead me from hate to love
    from war to peace.
    Let peace fill our heart, our world,
    our universe. (bis)

    Spanish:
    Oracion por la paz
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    Llevame de la muerte a la vida

    de la falsedad a la verdad
    Llevame de la desesperacion a la esperanza
    del miedo a la confianza
    Llevame del odio al amor
    de la guerra a la paz
    Permite que la paz llene nuestro corazon,
    nuestro mundo, nuestro universo. (bis)

    Arabic:
    [stressed syllables in caps]

    SAlawat elsalAM
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    koedny meen elMOWT
    ila elHAYat
    wamin elKEd(th)ip ila elhaKEEkah

    koedny min elyaess
    ila elAmel
    wamin elKOWF ila elAmann

    koedny min elKOORH ila elHOB
    wamin elKARB ila elsaLAM

    DAa elsaLAM yamla koelooBAna
    waA LAmeena, walKOWN min HOWlina

    BLOOD RED SKIES (Haifa Sunset)
    by Amr El Zant (Cairo, Egypt)

    Dr. Amr El Zant is one of the founders of the Peace Movement in Egypt. He is an astro-physicist who researches faraway galaxies, and is at present, the first Egyptian lecturer at the Haifa Technion: Israel's Institute of Technology.

    Captured by the sunset from a Haifa Hill
    I stopped my heartbeat and let time stand still
    Observing ghosts of times past
    Parade in the Shadows --- the sun's last
    Violent memories of what has been
    Memories of times old and dim
    Float by as the Mua'zzen song rings
    While the chorus of the lazy sunset sings

    Suddenly rising from the hills beyond
    I see the ravages of a Khamsin storm
    Raging like a violent drunken soldier
    From beyond the border where the war smolders
    There in Lebanon,
    where dreams lie shattered and bridges broken
    And the free lie battered
    And their fantasies stolen
    A violent struggle rages
    As I contemplate the scene
    Strange in the calmness of my inner dream
    I try to look further to see the future unravel
    But I am bound to the past, I seem unable

    Future can only be an escape from the past
    Enjoy the visions, I say -- please let them last
    But the night is settling in
    And now serenity reigns
    The twinkling lights now form a crystal maze.
    The beauty of structure strikes my eye
    The rugged slopes now beyond the darkness lie
    Ignorance can be a great consolation to me
    Sometimes I think it sets us free
    But isn't freedom just a child of the human mind
    Born out of the need for hope
    In our eternal night?

    But we have fought for centuries,
    I hear the voices say,
    To achieve this concept you now deny
    We have thieved, killed and lied.
    We kill our enemies even now as we pray

    We have bought the concept and now you say:
    We have been ripped off and swindled
    Fooled in our quest and hindered.
    We have fought for centuries I hear them say.

    But in the Haifa night their cries go unheard
    Their epic fight only represented
    by the floating ghosts
    A new reality has now emerged
    And nothing will bring back a dream long lost

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