Teachers lead the way towards Peace in their Classrooms and Communities in Rakhine State, Myanmar

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from UNESCO Bangkok

The Ministry of Education in Myanmar and UNESCO are jointly implementing the “Education for Peace and Development in Northern Rakhine State” project through funding support from the Belgium government. Teachers, principals and education officers from Rakhine State have been trained in life skills for peace and conflict transformation in partnership with the Centre for Diversity and National Harmony. This reaffirms the commitment of the Ministry of Education to promote peace education as a means for fostering mutual respect for cultural diversity at a school level.

Myanmar

The overall aim of the peace education project is to enhance the capacity of principals, school teachers, students and their parents to facilitate inclusive problem-solving processes and consensus-building around community priorities and to strengthen the commitment to an inclusive civic national identity.

UNESCO has developed school-based peace education training resources with four components: training of trainers, teacher training, teacher and student guide for the classroom and working with parents. The resources are activity-based with combinations of learning outcomes/competency development delivered through a mixture of concepts, structured learning exercises, experiential learning, posters, drama, art and story-telling that lead to a culture of peace and building a safe school and community. In May this year, 41 participants from 17 townships in Rakhine state attended the training of trainers in Yangon and subsequently 250 staff from 98 schools in Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Rathedaung, Minbya and Mrauk-U received teacher training in their respective townships.

Through a conflict-sensitive approach to education, the pilot training of trainers and teacher training aim to promote inter-cultural awareness and peaceful co-existence. The project activities promote the long term goal of education to overcome discrimination and exclusion through human rights-based, quality education. The Ministry of Education is keen to see the training modules developed for this project rolled out in the whole of Rakhine state as well as in other ceasefire areas.

(Thank you to the Global Campaign for Peace Education for calling this article to our attention)

Questions for this article:
East Asia, EDUCATION FOR PEACE

Bosnia and Herzogovina: Celebrating 10 years of global education for peace at UWC Mostar

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from the United World Colleges

This year, graduation season has been particularly special for the whole community at UWC Mostar, which has just celebrated its 10th year anniversary! UWC Mostar was established against the background of the violent breakdown and division of former Yugoslavia along ethnic and religious lines that occurred between 1991 and 1995. During the conflict, over 140,000 people died, over 50% of the population was displaced and over one million people sought refuge in other countries. In this context, the opening of UWC Mostar not only provided a new educational model that was radically different from the prevailing national educational system in place since the war, but it also demonstrated the relevance of the UWC mission in the 21st century: using education as a force for a more peaceful future.

Bosnia
Click on photo to enlarge

In fact, since the war, UWC Mostar was the first school in Bosnia and Herzegovina having students from across the country being taught by the same teachers and in the same classroom. This deliberately inclusive educational model, which makes students from all backgrounds work and learn together, was – and is – very different from the segregational educational system still prevailing across Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) today. Pilvi Torsti, Chair of the Foundation Education in Action, UWC Adriatic graduate from Finland and one of the master minds behind starting UWC Mostar, underlined the active role of the college in fighting this model and make education a means for peace among people: “The wider influence of the work has even led to court rooms: UWC Mostar has been used to make the case against segregated educational system in this Canton. It is a miracle that we are all here today”.

UWC Mostar’s mission was and continues to be a most relevant one: to equip the next generations of young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the knowledge, skills, leadership qualities and international values, necessary to bridge the still existing ethnic divisions and move their country into a more peaceful future. But UWC Mostar has become much more than a model for inclusive education for young people from Bosnia and Herzegovina: its student body includes individuals from all over the Balkans and from countries across the world, with a special emphasis on students from post-conflict countries.

(Articles continued in right column)

Question for this article:

Where is peace education taking place?

(continued from left column)

Mary Ann Hennessey, Head of Office of the Council of Europe in Bosnia and Herzegovina and member of the Board of the College Foundation, who took part in the recent celebrations for the college’s 10 year anniversary, underlined: “From 2006 the United World College Mostar has been enrolling students from BiH and from around the world, providing an example of openness and diversity which lies at the heart of a modern, student-centred education. In doing this, and building relationships with local educational partners, UWC Mostar contributes to the transition from a post-conflict society to a society which can make a success of the European integration process, and eventually transition to a genuine modern, European Union economy, society and polity”.

UWC Mostar’s inclusive approach is also reflected in the words of Jasminka Bratić, Chair of UWC Mostar Board, who commented: “Mostar was the right place for founding a college. The College where children are educated about mutual differences in the atmosphere of equality and tolerance, where they are taught to respect those differences, to develop their critical thinking, creativity, social compassion and responsibility”. She also added: “Not long ago Bosnia and Herzegovina has applied for EU membership. But Mostar can boast about having its own UNITED NATIONS for the past ten years, where people of different cultures, nations, religions and traditions live and work in peace and harmony within the city and Gimnazija building”.

Being situated in a city which was divided by the war, UWC Mostar consciously spread its residences across the city to enable the students to integrate with different communities – and to become a living proof how people can live together independent of their ethnic, religious, national or linguistic background. Today, it is the interaction of students with the local community which has become the essence of UWC Mostar and one of its most unique characteristics. By establishing its community service programme in cooperation with more than 15 institutions and associations in Mostar, UWC Mostar gave impetus to the development of a community of volunteers in a society in which voluntary work was not firmly established. Sharing one school building with a local school and through scientific fairs and competitions, UWC Mostar played a key role in gathering students and teachers from both the Bosniak and Croat side of the educational system to work together.

This year, UWC Mostar is celebrating 10 years of work and achievements – and the whole UWC community celebrates with them! During the celebration, Pilvi Torsti, shared her thoughts on the past and the future of UWC Mostar: “So dear guests, this is what I wish all of us to recognise today: UWC Mostar celebrates today 10 years of start-up history, start-up mentality, start-up people. That start-up has educated almost 800 students (including current 1st years). 1000 Bosnian teachers have taken part in workshops. Now it is the challenge to turn the start-up into a long term successful venture with many new ‘firsts’. And that is the challenge for you all – there is nobody somewhere out there to do it but you!”

(Thank you to the Global Campaign for Peace Education for calling this article to our attention)

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Europe

Colombia, Minister of Education: The education sector is crucial for the consolidation of peace

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article of RCN Radio along with comments by Gina Parody, Minister of Education, reprinted by El Pilon (translated by CPNN)

The Minister of Education, Gina Parody, speaking at the meeting of secretaries of education from across the country, invited them to teach a new generation of peace, preparing children and young people to consolidate peace. The meeting took place in the municipality of Villa de Leyva in Boyaca department.

Colombia
Minister of Education, Gina Parody

The directors of the 95 Ministries of Education in the country are meeting from 29 June to 1 July, to take stock of education management and to meet the sector’s challenges in the light of the peace agreement to be signed in Havana, Cuba.

Secretaries of Education and the Education Minister are addressing a number of issues including educational infrastructure, the full school day, enrollments, quality of education, early childhood education and budgetary concerns, among others.

Remarks by Gina Parody, Minister of Education:

The government of President Juan Manuel Santos has set a goal: see the country experience its first generation that does not live even one day at war: a generation of peace. With the silence of the guns Colombia can turn the page and start writing the chapter of peace and equity. To write that chapter of hope and reconciliation, Colombia is prepared with the most valuable legacy that we can give our children: education.

For the first time, the government has allocated a larger budget for education of our children and young people, that the budget for war. We are convinced that it is in the classrooms that the new generation will begin to rewrite the history of Colombia as a country in peace.

(Articles continued in right column)

(Click here for the original articles in Spanish)

Questions for this article:

Where is peace education taking place?

(continued from left column)

And we’re already advancing! With every action we take in favor of education, we move forward towards peace. For example, we have established free education in all public schools in the country, from kindergarten to grade eleven; today thanks to this 7,620,397 children and young people are preparing for the future and their families simply by sending them to school.

We declare education to be compulsory until the 11th grade, to ensure that children wield pencils rather than guns. We started the Full School Day, ensuring that children spend more time in school and less on the streets. Today there are more than 500 thousand children who benefit from this measure, by 2018 it will be 2.3 million children, and by 2030 all children in public schools will be studying eight hours a day.

Our children will not only have more hours of study but also more spacious and modern spaces that facilitate learning. Our goal is to build 30,000 new classrooms by 2018, equivalent to 1,500 schools.

We are opening the possibility for low-income youth to prepare in the best universities in the country, we are gaining brilliant minds in the service of peace and rather than in the battlefields. With the program ‘Ser Pilo Paga’ 40,000 young people and their families will transform their lives.

We are working to improve the conditions of our teachers, because they are the heroes of education, whose dedication and commitment are forming the generation of peace. We are delivering 4,600 master’s scholarships and more than 20,000 digital tablets with instructional materials. To this are added 78,000 million pesos of incentives to reward their efforts and to improve the quality of our education.

With actions like these, we can be sure and without doubt, that the future and progress of our country will be defined in the classroom and not in the fields of war, because the soul of peace is education.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

Freedom Flotilla will sail until the blockade of Gaza is permanently and fully lifted

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article by the Women’s Boat to Gaza

September, Cigdem Topçuoglu, whose husband was killed by Israel on board of Mavi Marmara in 2010, will be sailing with women from all over the world on the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s latest mission, the Women’s Boat to Gaza (WBG). Ms. Topçuoglu’s action symbolizes Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s (FFC) position regarding the Israeli blockade of Gaza. It must be fully and unconditionally lifted.

gaza
Click on photo to enlarge

The Gaza Strip is the largest open air prison in the world. More than 1.8M persons have been living under an inhuman an illegal Israeli blockade since 2007. The blockade is killing Gaza. Five UN special rapporteurs found that the blockade of Gaza is illegal collective punishment.

MK Haneen Zoabi, who participated in the 2010 on board the Mavi Marmara, said that the reconciliation agreement between the two countries is a clear “admission of murder” by Israel. Ms. Zoabi called for more flotillas in order to remove “the criminal siege on Gaza”.

Laura Arau, an organizer with the FFC and herself a Mavi Marmara passenger said, “Keep in mind that the FFC is not affiliated with any government or political party,” and made a call to civil society: “Nothing can justify the suffering of the families of the activists who were murdered on board the Mavi Marmara in 2010 nor the daily violations of the human rights in Palestine. We, people of the world, must take action when our governments remain silent and are complicit to war crimes.”

Husein Oruç, member of IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation and also an organizer with the FFC, said that “all the participants, all the families, all the members of Mavi Marmara are saying we are not looking for apologies, we are not looking for compensation.Our main purpose for going to Gaza was to end the blockade. If the agreement does not have this, it is unacceptable.”

In mid September the Women’s Boat to Gaza will sail with the same goal which is to break the illegal and inhumane blockade of Gaza. The Freedom Flotilla will continue until the port of Gaza is open, and Palestinians of Gaza have the ability to fish, to import and export freely, and to lead a normal life without daily fear and suffering. Norwegian organizer Gerd von der Lippe asserts that “the Freedom Flotilla will continue to sail until the illegal and inhumane blockade of Gaza is permanently lifted.”

Question related to this article:

Presenting the Palestinian side of the Middle East, Is it important for a culture of peace?

Readers’ comments are invited on this article and question. See comments section below.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, Mideast

Londrina, Brazil: Fifth Municipal Conference on Culture of Peace

.. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION ..

An event posted on the facebook of Londrina COMPAZ (translated by CPNN)

The Fifth Municipal Conference on Culture of Peace of the Londrina COMPAZ (Municipal Council of Culture of Peace) took place June 1 and 2. The event was open to the public with every citizen invited to participate. The conference theme was “Restorative Justice and the Culture of Peacebuilding.

Londrina
Judge Leoberto Brancher

“Positive thinking generates positive words and images that create a culture of peace in Londrina, and which radiates outward to all of Paraná and Brazil. A better world needs more positive relationships between people. For this change must begin within each one of us.”

The movement for peace and nonviolence in Londrina celebrates sixteen years, It is formalized by the creation of the Municipal Week of Peace and Municipal Day of Peace according to Local Governmet Act 8437. The law establishes a Municipal Organizing Committee for the event. Since May, 2008, COMPAZ and the organization Londrina Pazeando have performed this function.

According to journalist André Trigueiro, “there is no sustainable world without peace, and Londrina makes it tangible.” A pioneer in our region, he spoke about the contribution of the press in building a sustainable world.

Among the speakers were Professor Lia Diskin, co-founder of the Association Palas Athena, Judge Leoberto Brancher, Special Presidential Assessor for the diffusion of restorative justice in Brazil, and Paulo Roberto de Souza, Professor of the Course of Human Rights at the University UEM.

(Click here for the article in Portuguese)

Questions for this article:
DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Latin America

English bulletin July 1, 2016

. . . PEACE IN COLOMBIA . . .

The government of Colombia and the FARC guerilla movement have agreed on a ceasefire and plan for demobilization. The bilateral ceasefire and surrender of the weapons will begin with the signing of the final peace agreement (expected in July) and this last point will have a term development of 180 days. A monitoring group composed of delegates from the UN will be created by the FARC and the Colombian government to verify the delivery of the guns. Also announced was the creation of areas and camps for demobilized guerrillas and commitment by the authorities to combat paramilitary groups, by means of a special unit of the Colombian police.

As stated by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, “Today the Colombian peace process validates the perseverance of all those around the world who work to end violent conflict not through the destruction of the adversary, but through the patient search for compromise.”

According to analysts, “What remains between now and a final, conflict-ending peace accord are details. Some of these will be thorny, and may require weeks or even a few months to unravel. But the hardest parts of the FARC peace process are now in the past.”

Already, the first United Nations observers have arrived to help with the demobilization process.

The Colombia people are celebrating but still fearful, as described by Amada Benavides, Fundación Escuelas de Paz: “Today at 12:39 when President Santos and the FARC leader signed the agreement, all of us, our partners and myself, only can to cry. After 60 years of war, we not really believe what it happened in that moment. Many of us never think in could seeing this moment.  At night, we had a workshop about Women, Diversity and Peace, and the feeling turned between hope, fear and anxiety. Hope for the possibilities the agreement has. Fear for many populations is not yet convinced in the benefits of peace; and anxiety for all the work we have in this moment. Peacebuilding moment starts just now. Today we need more support than ever.”

Last month the government and FARC signed an agreement to ensure that their peace accords will be binding on future governments of Colombia. This is important because there is already an opposition movement in Colombia headed by an ex-president who say they will try to overturn the accords.

As we have often said, peace is too important to be left alone in the hands of the national government. What is important is that it is being taken up by people at all levels in Colombia.

A key role is played by teachers and the movement for peace education, as in a recent meeting in Bogota: “Participants . . . included teachers, academics and trainers who shared their experiences and daily reflections. Together, they reaffirmed that there will be no peace unless there is peace education to transform the culture, and this requires a renewal of pedagogy.”

Artists and cultural actors have an important role to play, as described by the Director of a theatre in Medellin: “We have to to disarm our words because they are still loaded with violence. That will take a lot of pedagogy and here culture can help a lot. We need to heal, to seek the truth, to have some kind of repair,”

Colombian women, under the banner of “One Million Women for Peace,” are demanding a greater role in the peace process, saying that “Peace in Colombia Is Impossible Without Us”. The newly-formed bloc aims to create a community movement to provide popular backing for the peace process. The movement brings together farmers, artists, journalists, youth and political representatives of indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities.

It is especially important to establish peace at the level of local government. For example, the city of Cali, Colombia, has established a “Plan for Peace and Peaceful Coexistence”. It is a guide prepared by the Peace Advisory Council, in consultation with different social actors such as the High Council for Peace and Human Rights of the Government of Valle, the Archdiocese, universities along with staff of the mayor’s office in Cali and agencies such as the Post-Conflict Advisory Council.

As stated by Raul Castro, who mediated the accords, “The achievement of peace in Colombia represents a hope for millions of people on the planet, whose main concern continues to be human survival in a world shaken by violence and wars. Peace is not a utopia; it is a legitimate right of every human being and of all peoples. It is a fundamental condition for the enjoyment of all human rights, particularly the supreme right to life.”

      

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

acuerdo

Ceasefire between FARC and the government of Colombia is sealed in Cuba

WOMEN’S EQUALITY



Guatemalan Women Healing Toward Justice: Speaking tour

EDUCATION FOR PEACE


Ivory Coast: UNESCO announces the creation of a school for the Culture of Peace in Yamoussoukro

 HUMAN RIGHTS



‘March of Silence’ in Uruguay sends message of remembrance to South America

TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY



Togo in the struggle against terrorism: The “Pacific Magazine” plays its part

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT



The film “Demain”, a manifesto?

DISARMAMENT AND SECURITY

UNSC

The Elders welcome Paris conference as step towards two-state solution for Israel-Palestine

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION



The Peace Prize for city initiatives in conflict prevention, resolution or peace building
d-disarmament

First Group of UN Peace Process Observers Arrive in Colombia

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article from Telesur

The first group of United Nations observers arrived in Colombia to help with the monitoring and verification of the recently signed bilateral cease-fire between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq confirmed Tuesday.

observers
brief video of celebrations

The role of the U.N. observers is critical to the success of the peace process, as they will work to ensure all parties are complying with the terms of the agreement.

“For now, the team on the ground is engaging in preparatory activities, while the Special Representative of the Secretary-General Jean Arnault is actively engaged in the discussions in Havana about cease-fire implementation,” said Haq.

The 23-member team, which is comprised of observers from Argentina, Bolivia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, and Uruguay, will be joined by a second team in late July when the final agreement is expected to be signed.

The June 23 agreement between the FARC, as the guerrilla army is known, and the government, gave terms for implementing the cease-fire, but not a specific date.

According to Haq, “The United Nations will be able to begin monitoring and verifying activities as soon as a final peace agreement is signed and the bilateral cease-fire comes into effect.”

Twenty civilian staff from the U.N. were already in Colombia to coordinate and establish the basis for the verification process.

The United Nations has been a strong adovocate of the peace process, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon having traveled to Havana, Cuba, site of the peace talks, to participate in the ceremony celebrating the signing of the bilateral cease-fire.

Question(s) related to this article:
FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, Latin America

Ivory Coast: UNESCO announces the creation of a school for the Culture of Peace in Yamoussoukro

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article by Abidjan.net (translated by CPNN)

The Deputy Director for Africa of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Edouard Firmin Matoko announced Tuesday the creation of a school for the Culture of Peace in Yamoussoukro , the Ivorian political capital, during a meeting.

Matoko
Edouard Firmin Matoko

Called the “Pan-African center for research and advanced training in the culture of peace”, the school is expected to open in a year at the latest”, or in 2017. Mr. Matoko spoke during a workshop of experts from UNESCO, the African Union (AU) and the State of Côte d’Ivoire.

The school will be housed within the Felix Houphouet Boigny Foundation for Peace Research, he continued hoping that “the procedures will move rapidly.”

“Following validation by the Cabinet in Ivory Coast, the creation of this school must be submitted to the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the African Union in July in Kigali (Rwanda)”, he added.

The educational content, teachers’ profiles and the cost of training have not yet been defined for the Pan-African center for research and advanced training in the culture of peace, but the objective will be ” capacity building of decision-makers in the values ​​of peace and citizenship”, according to the permanent ambassador of Côte d’Ivoire to UNESCO, Denise Houphouet.

(Click here for the original French version)

Question for this article:
Africa, EDUCATION FOR PEACE

USA: Refugee Orchestra Project Showcases Refugees” Impact through Music on World Refugee Day

TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY .

Press release from Refugee Orchestra Project

As the world grapples with the most severe global refugee crisis since World War II, musicians convened by conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya, herself a refugee who found asylum in the U.S., are coming together to provide a voice to refugees in the United States.

orchestra
Lidiya Yankovskaya, of the former Soviet Union, conducts the Refugee Orchestra Project on World Refugee Day
Click on photo to enlarge

On World Refugee Day (Monday, June 20), Yankovskaya and other musicians whose friends and families have fled to the United States to escape violence and persecution will perform a free benefit concert at the St. Ann The Holy Trinity Church (157 Montague Street) in Brooklyn. The 8 p.m. concert will feature soloists, including Syrian opera singer Lubana Al Quntar, who use music to showcase the impact on American culture and society by those who have come to this country seeking safety and a better life.

“I organized the Refugee Orchestra Project as a way to demonstrate, through music, the critical role that these individuals play in our cultural landscape,” said Refugee Orchestra Projects Conductor and Artistic Director Lidlya Yankovskaya. “In light of the negative rhetoric we regularly read and hear in the news today, I felt it important for all of us to once again be reminded of the essential role that refugees play in making American culture vibrant and strong.”

Admission is free. All proceeds from donations will go toward the International Rescue Committee (IRC); HIAS, the global Jewish nonprofit that protects refugees; and Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM) in support of those seeking asylum in the United States and abroad.


The program will highlight of a variety of musical styles and texts including traditional Syrian music, excerpts from Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Consul, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Aleko, and Polina Nazaykinskaya’s new opera, The Magic Mirror,(and “God Bless America,” written by Irving Berlin in 1918 during his service in the U.S. Army. This iconic piece will be performed by the entire orchestra and chorus as a powerful testament to the positive contribution refugees have made to the culture of the United States throughout history. The concert will also feature works by composers including Kurt Weill, Paul Hindemith, Darius Milhaud, and Irving Berlin – all of whom were themselves refugees.

(press release continued on the right side of the page)

Questions for this article

The refugee crisis, Who is responsible?

What place does music have in the peace movement?

(press release continued from the left side of the page)

Featured soloists include:

Mikhail Svetlov: Russian bass praised for his rare technique in the bel canto style, winner of the prestigious Viotti International Competition, principal soloist with the Bolshoi Theater, and soloist with the Metropolitan Opera

Lubana Al Quntar: Acclaimed soprano awarded the title of Syria’s first Opera Singer

Zhanna Alkhazova: Award-winning, New York City-based soprano who has earned critical acclaim performing lyric and dramatic operatic repertoire

Percy Martinez: New York-based, Peruvian -born tenor, acclaimed for his powerful and dramatic vocalism

Korin Kormick: New York-based dramatic soprano skilled in opera, oratorio, and art song, praised for her unique voice and vivid theatricality

Ralph Iverson: Multi-instrumentalist with two awards for composition in Bulgaria and specializing in the music of international and Eastern European folk traditions

Yelena Dudochkin: Award-winning Ukrainian American soprano acclaimed for her shimmering voice and dramatic intelligence, accomplished in both operatic work and jazz performance, principal with New Opera NYC and Commonwealth Lyric

The Refugee Orchestra Project was conceived by conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya, herself a refugee who found asylum in the United States. In the wake of the Syrian refugee crisis Yankovskaya realized many of her own closest colleagues and friends were unaware of her own history as a refugee. In addition to raising funds for organizations supporting refugees worldwide, the Refugee Orchestra Project gives voice to refugees in the United States . The concert seeks to build support, human connections, and understanding within the larger community. More information at refugeeorchestraproject.org, and on Twitter at @RefugeeOrchProj and Facebook.

North America, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

Call for a National Debate on U.S. “Regime Change” Policy

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article by the delegation currently visiting Russia from the Center for Citizen Initiatives

We are a group of concerned U.S. citizens currently visiting Russia with the goal of increasing understanding and reducing international tension and conflict. We are appalled by this call for direct U.S. aggression against Syria, and believe it points to the urgent need for open public debate on U.S. foreign policy.

CCISF
Click on photo to enlarge

On June 16, the New York Times reported :

“More than 50 State Department diplomats have signed an internal memo sharply critical of the Obama administration’s policy in Syria, urging the United States to carry out military strikes against the government of President Bashar al-Assad to stop its persistent violations of a cease-fire in the country’s five-year-old civil war.

The memo, a draft of which was provided to The New York Times by a State Department official, says American policy has been “overwhelmed” by the unrelenting violence in Syria. It calls for “a judicious use of stand-off and air weapons, which would undergird and drive a more focused and hard-nosed U.S.-led diplomatic process.”

We are a group of concerned U.S. citizens currently visiting Russia with the goal of increasing understanding and reducing international tension and conflict. We are appalled by this call for direct U.S. aggression against Syria, and believe it points to the urgent need for open public debate on U.S. foreign policy.

We note the following:

(1) The memo is inaccurate. There is no ‘cease-fire’ in Syria. The ‘cessation of hostilities’ which was agreed to has never included the major terrorist groups fighting to overthrow the government in Syria. This includes Nusra (Al Qaeda), ISIS and their fighting allies.

(2) A U.S. attack on Syria would be an act of aggression in clear violation of the UN Charter. (Ref 1)

(3) The supplying of weapons, funding and other support to armed groups fighting the Syrian government is also a violation of international law. (Ref 2)

(4) A U.S. attack on Syria would lead to more bloodshed and risk potential military confrontation with Russia. With arsenals of nuclear weapons on both sides, the outcome could be catastrophic.

(5) It is not the right of the USA or any other foreign country to determine who should lead the Syrian government. That decision should be made by the Syrian people. A worthy goal could be internationally supervised elections with all Syrians participating to decide their national government.

(6) The memo reportedly says, “It is time that the United States, guided by our strategic interests and moral convictions, lead a global effort to put an end to this conflict once and for all.” Similar statements and promises have been made regarding Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. In all three cases, terrorism and sectarianism have multiplied, the conflicts still rage, and huge amounts of money and lives have been wasted.

In light of the above, and the danger of escalating global conflict:

We urge State Department officials to seek non-military solutions in conformity with the U.N. Charter and international law.

We urge the U.S. Administration to stop funding and supplying weapons to armed ‘rebels’ in violation of international law and end the policy of forced “regime change”.

We call for an urgent nation-wide public debate on the U.S. policy of “regime change”.

(See right column for delegation members)

Question related to this article:

Discussion: How can there be a political solution to the war in Syria?

(continued from left column)

The Center for Citizens Initiative (CCI) delegation currently visiting Russia includes:

Ann Wright, retired United States Army Colonel and U.S. State Department official. Ann received the U.S. State Department Award for Heroism in 1997 after helping evacuate several thousand persons during the Sierra Leone Civil War. She was one of three U.S. State Department officials to publicly resign in direct protest to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Elizabeth Murray, retired Deputy National Intelligence Officer for the Near East in the National Intelligence Council. She is a member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) and the Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence.

Raymond McGovern, retired CIA analyst (1963 to 1990) who worked in the Washington, DC White House and prepared daily briefs for seven Presidents. In the 1980s Ray chaired the National Intelligence Estimates and the U.S. Presidents’ Daily Briefs. Ray is the founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).

Kathy Kelly, peace activist, pacifist and author. She is a founding members of Voices in the Wilderness and is currently a co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence. Kathy has traveled to Iraq 26 times, notably remaining in combat zones during the early days of the US-Iraq wars. Her recent work took her to Afghanistan and Gaza.

David Hartsough, co-founder of the Nonviolent Peaceforce and the “World Beyond War.” David is a life-long peace activist, peace maker, and author “Waging Peace: Global Adventurers of a Lifelong Activist.”

William H Warrick III, retired Family Physician and 25-year member of Veterans For Peace. Former US Army Security Agency Intelligence Analyst (1968 – 1971).

Sharon Tennison, President and Founder of the Center for Citizen Initiatives. Sharon has 33 years of experience working in USSR/Russia (1983 to present).

Robert Alberts, MBA, Accountant. Bob volunteers with Voices for Creative Nonviolence.

Peter Bergel, Oregon PeaceWorks Board member and PeaceWorker news magazine editor.

Karen Chester, optometrist by vocation and a peace activist volunteer for two decades. Karen’s greatest concern has been and is the plight of Central American peoples, supporting those who come to the U.S. fleeing violence and poverty.

Jan Hartsough is an educator and community organizer. Jan worked for American Friends Service Committee (Quakers) for many years and currently works at the grassroots level to help African women gain access to safer water.

Paul Hartsough, Ph.D., clinical psychologist. Paul focuses on conflict resolution and how we can survive as one global family in the nuclear age.

Martha Hennessy, retired occupational therapist. Martha volunteers at the New York Catholic Worker.

Bob Spies, website developer, technical support volunteer for CCI, and activist for a number of non-violent causes. Bob previously was a participant in Beyond War.

Rick Sterling , retired aerospace engineer, Vice-Chair Mt. Diablo Peace & Justice Center, co-founder Syria Solidarity Movement, Board President Task Force on the Americas.

Hakim Young is a Singaporean medical doctor who lives in Afghanistan part of the year. He is active with Afghan Peace volunteers and is deeply concerned about US-Russia relations.

References:

(1) UN Charter Preamble: “All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other matter inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations”. The first purpose of the United Nations is “To maintain international peace and security, to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace.”

(2) On June 27, 1986 the International Court at the Hague issued its legal ruling in the case of Nicaragua vs. United States. The ruling was as follows:

Decision of the International Court at the Hague

Decides that the United States of America, by training, arming, equipping, financing and supplying the “contra” forces or otherwise encouraging, supporting and aiding military and paramilitary activities in and against Nicaragua, has acted, against the Republic of Nicaragua, in breach of its obligation under customary international law not to intervene in the affairs of another State.

By “training, arming, equipping, financing and supplying” the military rebel groups waging war against the Damascus government, the US and “friends” are committing the same crime that the USA was responsible for committing against Nicaragua in the 1980’s.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, North America