These are dark times in terms of international peace and conflict. There is much reporting of the violence, its causes and consequences (actual and anticipated). The death in Basra of the son (in the British army) of a peace-activist friend recently was a reminder of the desperate hurt being caused to and by so many. This blog entry is an attempt to pick out some of the small glimmers of hope
- The Quaker journal, The Friend this week carries a news story about the Peace Cycle ride which set off at the weekend, riding from London to Jerusalem as a witness against the cycle of violence. Find out about the progress and background to this project at http://www.peacecycle.org
- On OpenDemocracy, an article about the view of the current violence around Lebanon and Israel ends with the views of a citizen of Iranian Kurdistan … “This is just politics, with both sides using their different ideologies to push their own political agenda. Dialogue is the only way forward …. Enough people have already been killed”
- On the Ekklesia website it is reported that an international ecumenical delegation is on its way by boat to Beirut and thence to Jerusalem “with the mission of expressing ecumenical solidarity with churches and people affected by the current conflict”
- The Balkans regional network “Objection for Peace” conclude their statement about the current Middle East violence with the words “We survived a war. We Don’t Wish It Happens to Other People!”
- On 31 July an ad appeared in the New York Times (and in the Los Angeles Times on 6 August), sponsored by Tikkun (bimonthly Jewish critique of Politics, Culture and Society), the Network of Spiritual Progressives and The Shalom Centre calling for an end to the violence in Lebanon, Israel and the Occupied Territories. It’s a fascinating and challenging piece of writing …here’s just an excerpt:
“Our well being depends on the well being of everyone else on the planet. We need to strengthen international institutions that can foster this sense of solidarity, but we also need to support political and spiritual movements that encourage a transformation of the heart away from the excessive focus on our own individual egos, paths to success and “making it” in terms of fame, glory, sexual attractiveness, accumulation of “things” and money, so that we and all the peoples of the world can put our joint attention to building global peace, social and economic justice, ecological sanity, and a new spirit of mutual caring, genuine and lasting love and generosity. It’s too self-indulgent to let depression about the state of the world render you powerless—your participation is indispensable for changing the world. [emphasis added]”
Read the full piece here.
- In South Cumbria (Northern England), some Quakers are promoting the idea of lighting a candle between 9-10pm every evening, under the heading “Let us Encircle the World with Light … as a witness to our common humanity” for “as long as violence rules in the Middle East.”
