CAP: Peace Page

Peace Page

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience,
but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Like so many others around the world, we were shocked and deeply saddened by the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

Our constant prayer is that that highest good for all can emerge from this crisis. We extend our sympathy to all who have been harmed and would never wish for the suffering of those involved. However, given that this has happened, we hope that it can be a doorway for new insights and a higher level of consciousness in America and the world. Even at just a practical level, we believe that our security can be increased by only hearing, respecting, and incorporating into our actions the viewpoints of others here and around the world. We believe that peace and security are impossible without truth and justice!

Here are some of emails that we've received that we've found most valuable to us as we sort out how we can best contribute positively at this crucial moment in humanity's shared journey on this precious earth.

IMPORTANT:
* We've included some excerpts here to give you a sense of each piece; click on the title for the full text.
* The thoughts presented are, of course, the opinions of the authors and are offered here for information and perspective.

We send gratitude and blessings to everyone who is speaking and acting to help us find our highest, most conscious selves.

"Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral.
It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all.
The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind.
It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding;
it seeks to annihilate rather than convert.
Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love.
It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible.
It leaves society in monologue rather than dialog.
Violence ends by defeating itself.
It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers."

Martin Luther King, Jr.

* Message from His Holiness the Dalai Lama - September 11, 2001
"The hour has come for us to demonstrate at the highest level our most extraordinary thought about Who We Really Are. There are two possible responses to what has occurred today. The first comes from love, the second from fear. If we come from fear we may panic and do things-as individuals and as nations-that could only cause further damage. If we come from love we will find refuge and strength, even as we provide it to others."

* Prayers for Peace From Many World Religions

* Roots of War, Roots of Peace. Our essay describing the key components of the psychology/approach that generates war - and of the one that generates peace. A game we all can play!

* Norman Solomon's weekly syndicated column. This column looks at the media and politics in general. His recent columns have given excellent perspective on media manipulation of the current issues - feeding the Drumbeats to War, while omitting key perspectives and facts about our harmful actions (past and present) and how they impact others.

"Media scrutiny of atrocities committed by the U.S. government is rare. Only some cruelties merit the spotlight. Only some victims deserve empathy. Only certain crimes against humanity are worth our tears.... Today, the victims of terrorism in America deserve our deep compassion. So do the faraway victims of America -- human beings whose humanity has gone unrecognized by U.S. media." (Terrorism, Television and The Rage For Vengeance, 9/13/01)

* Understanding Afghanistan . This letter from Tamim Ansary, a UC Berkeley professor and an Afghani-American writer, discusses the difference between the Afghan people, the Taliban, and bin Laden - and how "collateral damage" would likely feed bin Laden's goal to make this into a worldwide Holy War, that bin Laden feels Islam would win. (Do we really want to make this into that? Is that really in our best interest?)

* Understanding How We Are Seen. This article, "They can't see why they're hated: Americans cannot ignore what their government does abroad", in The Guardian, discusses how are actions have fed this event.

"Americans are once again reaping a dragons' teeth harvest they themselves sowed ... Bin Laden and his mojahedin were armed and trained by the CIA and MI6 ... Already, the Bush administration is assembling an international coalition for an Israeli-style war against terrorism, as if such counter-productive acts of outrage had an existence separate from the social conditions out of which they arise. But for every "terror network" that is rooted out, another will emerge - until the injustices and inequalities that produce them are addressed."

* Why They Hate Us So. On 9/17/01, The San Francisco Examiner had an article discussing what people love and hate about the U.S. and the history of our involvement in Afghanistan as part of our Cold War battles with the USSR.

"People are really deeply shocked by the doomsday-like pictures," said Mirjana Bobic, a popular author and head of cultural programming on Serbian state television in Yugoslavia. "But you know, every stick has two ends, and if you are beating others you should expect a boomerang effect." ...

Yet anti-American sentiment is far broader and appears to have intensified since President Bush, after taking office in January, opposed a draft treaty on global warming and revived an unpopular U.S. proposal for a Star Wars-like missile shield. ...

"There are lots of degrees of anti-Americanism, but it would be dangerous to lump them all together," said Sergio Romano, a former Italian ambassador to Moscow. "There are growing divergences between the United States and other countries, but many who are critical of America would never dream of resorting to what we saw Tuesday." ...

The story goes back 22 years, to 1979. America had decided, post Vietnam War, that American deaths were an unacceptable price to pay for victory (let alone defeat) in far away countries of which they knew little. ... But during that process of supply and training, as veteran journalist John Cooley puts it, the United States indirectly "hatched a monster of Islamist extremism, the Taliban movement." ...

And while terrorists and the deadly acts of terrorism spread fear throughout much of the United States, there is also the worry that the United States will push further into isolationism and snobbery.

* Examining Our Collective Conscience. This article from Boulder Weekly, "Why are we so hated? Boulder examines the conscience of a country" explores the underlying dynamics and history.

"We believe the only way to defend the United States is to organize the world. We step on other people's toes every day in ways we can't understand," Chernus said. "It's a stupid way to defend yourself because in the end you experience more risk."...

"U.S. foreign policy is seen by many Middle Eastern people as being overwhelmingly one-sided in favor of Israel," he said. "There's tremendous anger toward the United States, and there's a tremendous irony in this. If it is traced to Bin Laden, he's a product of U.S. foreign policy."

"You have this ongoing degradation of Palestinians," Edelstein said. "They really were forced out of their houses. Their houses really were bulldozed."

The United States spends $3.5 billion annually on aid to Israel, which goes to support these actions and to defend Israel's continued settlement on the West Bank.

"Americans would not sit quiet if they were treated like the Palestinians are treated by the Israelis," Edelstein said.

Barsamian said Israel's policies build desperation in Palestinian people.

"If you lose your land, if you cannot feed your family, if you've been culturally humiliated, if you've been denigrated on all sides - this creates a reaction, and that reaction can take extreme forms," he said.

Terrorism, Barsamian said, is the "poor man's B-52."...

While Americans tend to view the United States as a force for freedom, justice and democracy in the world, many other peoples see the United States as an oppressor, he said....

"Not only does the United States export foreign policy. It also exports its culture," Barsamian said. "There's not sensitivity to local culture and local traditions, particularly in the Islamic world where tradition is stronger than it is in Europe."...

[In response to the 9/11 events,] "The United States needs to go through legitimate international channels and to try people in a court of law that's legitimate," Bninski said....

Chernus fears Tuesday's horror will be written off as the work of "unprovoked crazies," and America will lose a chance to benefit from what could be a wake-up call.

* Understanding the Underlying Causes. This article in The Herald by John Pilger, an award-winning journalist, explores a wider perspective of these events and includes views we don't often hear in this country.

"If the attacks on America have their source in the Islamic world, who can really be surprised?
* Two days earlier, eight people were killed in southern Iraq when British and American planes bombed civilian areas. To my knowledge, not a word appeared in the mainstream media in Britain.
* An estimated 200,000 Iraqis, according to the Health Education Trust in London, died during and in the immediate aftermath of the slaughter known as the Gulf War.
* This was never news that touched public consciousness in the west.
* At least a million civilians, half of them children, have since died in Iraq as a result of a medieval embargo imposed by the United States and Britain.
* In Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Mujadeen, which gave birth to the fanatical Taliban, was largely the creation of the CIA.
* The terrorist training camps where Osama bin Laden, now "America's most wanted man", allegedly planned his attacks, were built with American money and backing.
* In Palestine, the enduring illegal occupation by Israel would have collapsed long ago were it not for US backing.
Far from being the terrorists of the world, the Islamic peoples have been its victims - principally the victims of US fundamentalism, whose power, in all its forms, military, strategic and economic, is the greatest source of terrorism on earth."

* Justice, Not Terror. If you don't want to support playing into the terrorists' hands by responding with escalating violence, see this website - and tell America's leaders! This group has a petition campaign at http://www.moveon.org/justice and a discussion forum at http://www.actionforum.com/forum/index.html?forum_id=220

"To combat terrorism, we must act in accordance with a high standard that does not disregard the lives of people in other countries. If we retaliate by bombing Kabul and kill people oppressed by the Taliban dictatorship who have no part in deciding whether terrorists are harbored, we become like the terrorists we oppose. We perpetuate the cycle of retribution and recruit more terrorists by creating martyrs. Please do everything you can to counsel patience as we search for those responsible. Please ensure that our actions reflect the sanctity of human life everywhere. Thank you." (Letter sent to the President and Congressional Representatives.)

"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it... Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate.... Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." - Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

* Resources for Action

* One World Peace Website. Includes Sonoma County resources and more.

"We will learn to live together as brothers and sisters,
or we will perish together as fools."
Martin Luther King, Jr.

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