WOMEN IN THE PURSUIT OF PEACE
By Prof. Ada Aharoni
“As a woman, my country is the whole world…” Virginia Woolf
As the present article is one on women's pursuit of peace through
literature and the arts, I would like to start it with one of my poems from
the book: "You and I Can Change the World," which illustrates several of
the ideas concerning women and peace, examined below.
Peace Is A Woman And A Mother
How do you know peace is a woman?
I know, for I met her yesterday
on my winding way to the world's fare.
She had such a sorrowful face
just like a golden flower faded
before her prime.
I asked her why she was so sad?
She told me her baby was killed in Auschwitz,
her daughter in Hiroshima, and her sons in Vietnam,
Ireland, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Rwanda,
Bosnia, Kosovo and Chechnya…
All the rest of her children, she said,
are on the nuclear black-list of the dead,
all the rest, unless the whole world understands –
that peace is a woman.
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A thousand candles then lit
in her starry eyes, and I saw cherubim
bearing a moonlit message:
Peace is indeed a pregnant woman Peace is a mother.
The underlying theme in the poem above, is that if women are
empowered to be at the summit of their fate - that is, in influential key
positions all over the world (as for instance, the women in Scandinavia),
they would succeed to abolish the very concept and practice of war, and
not only save their children from being killed, but furthermore, save the
whole of humanity from an impending nuclear war. They would succeed
to do that not only by a motherly and responsible governance of the world,
but also through their creativity and contribution to the new required
peace culture system.
Wars suffocate women's creativity. There are more women and
children killed in wars than soldiers. In the past decade some four million
women and children have been killed, and eight to ten million disabled by
wars. We get continuous reports concerning these tragic facts from
various parts of the world, where more than forty senseless wars are still
being waged. On the commencement of the third millennium, and at the
end of our atomic bomb “mushroom” century, humankind seems not to
have learnt the lessons from the past, and more and more rivers of blood
are helplessly and continuously being poured everyday in conflicts and
wars, most of them based on ethnic and cultural causes. The thwarted,
shortsighted belief that wars can solve conflicts, has to be rapidly thrown
into the anachronistic dustbin of history where its belongs. Women can be
a tremendous force, for they are more than half the citizens of the world.
If the women of the world unite, together with all the democratic men who
yearn for a world beyond war, we can succeed to have global peace.
Women are the best ally for promoting peace, and there is a close link
between a culture of peace and gender. In our new globalized era, when
there are profound cultural shifts and new social relations, the necessity
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for women to be equal partners in the building of a world beyond war, is
becoming more obvious and urgent.
The Russian writer, Tatyana
Mamonova writes: “Women give life and appreciate life… they are
organically against war, and they can really save the world if they are
permitted to play an equally active part in government”. And Sai'da
Nusseibeh, a Palestinian women leader writes: "What price is peace? How
many more must be killed, before the two nations wake up to look at their
blood-soaked hands? There is so much anger, hatred and fear, and the
wall between the two nations (the Palestinians and the Israelis), is getting
higher – both sides are getting away from reality, and closing their ears,
eyes and heart to the suffering of the ‘other’. We should look into ways to
bring down the wall of fear, brick by brick, for all the mosques,
synagogues and churches in the world – are not worth the blood of one
killed child. "
Women are good at promoting the culture of peace, as well as at
creating it, and writing about it. A new book describing various peace
culture projects, is "Women Creating A World Beyond War and Violence
"(IFLAC 2001, POB 9934 Haifa 34341 Israel, ISBN 965-7204-00-3). It
depicts several important, moving and authentic aspects of women's
struggle for peace through research, articles, poems, stories, and letters.
This book shows that there is no greater challenge in the world today than
that of living in peace, respect, and harmony with one's neighbors. Some
of the questions posed and examined in the book are: At a time when the
world is still caught up in the clutches of wars, terror and violence, will
humankind know how to “listen to women for a change?” Can the women
of the world unite and throw the thwarted belief that wars can solve
conflicts, into the anachronistic dustbin of history where its belongs? War
is not democratic, as most of the people of the world do not want wars.
Will women, who are the majority of the citizens of the world - together
with all the men who also yearn for a world beyond war - succeed in
achieving their democratic right to live in peace?
Among the various subjects covered by this new book is also a
description of a quarter of a century of peace activity by: "IFLAC- LENA
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(formerly called The Bridge): Jewish and Arab/Palestinian Women for
Peace in the Middle-East", the first movement of its kind in Israel. It
includes, among other important documents, a correspondence and
cooperation with Mrs. Jehan El-Sadat, wife of the late President of Egypt,
Anwar El-Sadat.
The book also includes a section on: "The Four
Mothers'" successful campaign to “Leave Lebanon In Peace”. Thanks to
this organization, the Israeli soldiers retreated from Lebanon, after twenty
years, and all those young soldiers were delighted that the "Four
Mothers" had freed them. The "Poems from Lebanon," that appear in
the book, are inspired by moving letters that protest against war, written
by Israeli soldiers, while they were still in Lebanon.
The book covers as well, several aspects of women's struggle and
demands for abolishing violence against them and for equal rights. Will
women succeed to be at the summit talks of their fate? Will the media,
worldwide, give women's struggle for peace and equality, the backing,
coverage, and credit they deserve? The various writers presented in this
important book, demonstrate that with determination and vision it is
indeed possible, if they unite and take it into their hands to bravely work
together for peace and equality, for as the French saying goes, "L'Union
fait la force!"
Virginia Kennedy's description of Lena-The Bridge in "Women
Creating A World Beyond War," is entitled: " Israelis and Palestinians
Build Bridges of Peace" (it was first published in Positive News, England
– Winter 2000). She describes this organization in the following way: "A
unique initiative provides a dynamic opportunity for Israelis, Jews and
Arab Palestinians to work for peace and cross-cultural understanding
through discourse, literature, culture and art. IFLAC: The International
Forum for the Literature and Culture of Peace – and Lena: The Bridge:
Jewish and Arab Women for the Promotion of Women and Peace, call on
the peaceful majority on both sides to take the lead and make the peace
process work."
Today, there are additional organizations of women for peace,
4
including the "Women in Black." "The Four Mothers" organization was
especially effective, as together with Lena -and other organizations, it
succeeded to influence the government's decision to retreat the Israeli
troops from Lebanon (May, 2000). However, "The Bridge: Jewish and
Arab Women For Peace in the Middle East" (1975–1999), which became
LENA: League of Israeli and Arab/ Palestinian Women for Peace in the
Middle East," was the first organization of this kind, and it has been the
subject of the following case study.
CASE STUDY 1
The Bridge: Jewish and Arab Women for Peace in the Middle East
The Bridge was founded in 1975, two years after the Yom Kippur War.
This was the first organization of its kind in Israel that dared to gather
Jewish and Arab women in the same organization, to promote peace in the
Middle East. At the outset they met with much criticism and resistance,
sometimes violent, from both sectors. However, they knew they were
promoting a just cause, which required courage and perseverance, and it
gave them strength to struggle to promote their goal and vision of a
Middle East beyond war.
Description
"The Bridge" was established as a women's organization whose members
originate from various ethnic and religious communities, and who worked
together for both the attainment of peace in the Middle East, and the
promotion of the status of women. The legal status is: a non-profit
organization, and it was officially registered as such in 1977, in Haifa,
Israel. Its main characteristics are:
Number of Members in 2001: 155 full members, plus 320 affiliates, and
thousands of followers.
Yearly Membership: $25. Financial sources: membership, donations.
Structure: An executive Board of 5 women runs the, organization; the
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Council, which comprises twenty members, elects it. The yearly General
Meeting elects the Board and the Council, as well as the President, the
Executive Director, and the Treasurer.
Goals
To awaken the consciousness of every woman as to her power to promote
peace, and to take an active part in the peace process, as well as in the
promotion of women's rights. Both these goals are inextricably linked.
Furthermore, when there is war, conflict and unrest, the problem of
women's rights gets shoved aside as "not the most important just now." As
citizens, women, mothers, and educators of the new generation, the
members of LENA:The Bridge feel they share the full responsibility to
ensure peace in their region.
Main Activities
- Monthly lectures, presentations of books and poetry, and discussions,
are held at the center in Haifa.
- Launching of peace magazines, anthologies and books, published in both
sectors, in Hebrew,
Arabic, and English.
- Meetings in Jewish, Arab, and Druze towns and villages, for the building
of bridges of culture and understanding, are organized
- Exchange of visits between Israeli and Arab pupils in schools is held.
-
Group dynamics: role-play. The Jews act out the roles of Arab/
Palestinians, and vice versa.
- Radio and television programs in Arabic, Hebrew, English, and French.
- Picnics, outings, celebration of common feasts, and happenings.
- Seminars, symposiums, and international conferences.
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With ten branches in Jewish, Arab and Druze sectors in Israel, actively
and harmoniously working together to develop good neighborly relations,
bridges are being built through meetings, symposia and congresses. A
“Bedouin Tent of Peace” is one of their successes where regular meetings
of ‘Creative Women’ (and men) of all creeds and denominations, work
towards building bridges of understanding through the culture, literature
and poetry of ‘the other’. Recent initiatives include a Jewish and
Arab/Palestinian students' reconciliation meeting.
Publications
Their publications, together with Iflac, include Galim - Waves. Number 9,
was published recently, titled: New Waves Peace Culture Anthology
(IFLAC, 2001), in English, Hebrew and Arabic. It contains articles and
poetry on the promotion of a peace culture, which is used as a textbook for
peace education in schools, colleges, and universities.
Galim 8, titled:
Waves of Peace, was dedicated to the memory of the late peace leader,
Yitzhak Rabin.
“The Bridge” joined “Iflac” at its Foundation Conference in December
1999, in the Galilee, and is now part of the Iflac Network, under the new
name of "Lena: League of Jewish and Arab/ Palestinian Women for Peace
in the Middle East." Together with Iflac, that consists of both women and
men, their activities have gained momentum, even in these very hard and
trying times in their region.
End of Case Study 1
"Women Creating A World Beyond War and Violence," also contains a
revealing correspondence between (the late) Ruth Lys, founder of The
Bridge, who lost her 20-year-old son in the Six Day War, and Jehan El
Sadat of Egypt (wife of President Anwar El Sadat).
This important
correspondence precedes the Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel
(1979), by five years. In the first letter Ruth Lys wrote to Jehan El Sadat,
in May 1974, she writes:
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"Dear Madam President Jehan El Sadat,
It may seem strange that a woman of Israel addresses you, the more so
that this is a mother whose eldest son was killed by an Egyptian
bullet…Madam, we both are mothers and our common task is the protection
of human life.
The world of today is mainly guided by men, whose
brainpower serves – to a considerable extent – for the invention of more and
more refined arms meant to kill their fellowmen. Madam – from beyond the
camps of the fighting I stretch out my hand to you asking you to unite all
women who, like you and me, wish to put an end to all hostile actions – to
form a union prepared to collaborate together to build bridges of peace. We
women – if united – have great power.
Following is part of Madame Sadat's reply: Cairo, September 30, 1974
Dear Mrs. Ruth Lys,
I have read your letter with great interest. I have read it as a mother that
completely understands the meaning of having a son killed in war.
I
consider every martyr of our Egyptian fighters, my son. My husband's
brother offered his life in the first days of the war. I do wish that the word
"War" would be cancelled from the dictionary of human relations.
I firmly believe that the woman, as a mother, a wife, a daughter and a sister
can play an active role in protecting humanity from the horrors, dangers and
damages of war. The motherly instinct urges us to have a happy family and
to take care of our children to grow up in a joyful atmosphere based on love,
sympathy and peace. It is the right of the young generation to dream of a
wonderful future in which they can grant all their creative energies for a
better life.
I support the call for friendship and love and I do hope that each woman
should devote most of her time for hard and constructive work to realize
peace and love.
With my best wishes,
8
Yours Sincerely,
Jehan El-Sadat
When President Anwar El Sadat came to Jerusalem for the first time
in 1977, he mentioned over the television that he knew peace with Israel
was possible, because he had a very good ally, the Jewish and Arab women
of The Bridge, and that it was high time to make the peace poem they sent
him - a reality. This contribution of women to the peacemaking between
Egypt and Israel, is noteworthy and yet has not been recorded enough. It
is a proof of the power of women, through their own peaceful methods, to
bring conflicted countries to be reconciled.
The correspondence above clearly shows that we need a reform. It is
necessary for the Middle East, and the global community, to move
consciously away from patterns of war, force and aggression, and towards
creative and constructive methods of peacemaking, giving women an equal
role in this process.
The unprecedented UN Resolution on "Women,
Peace and Security," passed at the UN Security Council (October 31,
2000), was a sure step toward the required reform.
A coalition of five organizations: Women’s International League for
Peace and Freedom (WILPF), International Alert, Amnesty International,
Women’s Commission for Women Refugees and Girls, and the Hague
Appeal for Peace, joined with UNIFEM to draft a resolution that would
call for gender sensitivity in all UN missions including peace-keeping, for
women to equally participate at all negotiating tables and for the
protection of women and girls during armed conflict. “This is an historic
victory for women, and therefore for all of humankind. Now we have to
hold our governments accountable!” said Cora Weiss, President of the
Hague Appeal for Peace. (International Women’s Tribune Center, New
York, NY 10017,USA).
This achievement was reached due to a continuous struggle of women's
organizations. A study of the documents from the three first "UN Women
Decade Conferences" (Mexico, l975, Copenhagen, l980 and Nairobi,l985),
by Brocke - Utne, shows how the peace concept has changed through the
decades to include the opposition to violence against women (Brock-Utne,
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l988b). Linking the micro with macro, she states that there is no peace as
long as women are being beaten and mutilated, as delineated in the
Nairobi document (Brock-Utne,1986 and Brock-Utne,1989:70-73). In
paragraph 258, it states:
"Violence against women exists in various forms in every day life in all
societies. Women are being beaten, mutilated, burned, sexually abused
and raped. Such violence is a major obstacle to the achievement of peace."
And in paragraph 257 we find the following sentences: "The question of
women and peace and the meaning of peace for women cannot be
separated from the broader question of relationships between women and
men in all spheres of life and in the family. Discriminatory practices and
negative attitudes towards women should be eliminated and traditional
gender norms changed to enhance women's participation in peace."
By including the urgent issue of banning violence against women within
the UN human rights framework, women's organizations have made a
critical contribution to the promotion of human rights generally. For
seeking to understand violence against women as an issue of basic human
rights will no doubt shed light on the causes of other forms of violence and
will facilitate the discovery of strategies for curbing the disturbing rise of
violence across all levels of our societies. After their courageous struggle
over the years, women organizations all over the world, welcomed the UN
Resolution (January 2001), which rules against the discrimination and
violence against women.
However, despite the important ruling above, violence against women,
that chokes their creativity and impairs their capability to contribute to
the creation of a peace culture, is still rampant all over the world. It is a
yardstick by which one can measure the violation of all human rights. It
can be used to gauge the degree to which a society is governed by
aggression, and ruled by force. Abusive practices against women have
frequently been and are still being justified in the context of cultural
norms, religious beliefs and unfounded theories and assumptions. But
whatever its political or religious system, a society patterned on
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dominance inevitably gives rise to such distortions of power as violence
against women.
Economic disparity and legal inequality are known to contribute to
violence against women, as is the case in Afghanistan, which until recently,
was ruled by the extremist Taliban, and in several other places around the
world. Today, after the falling of Kabul, the women of Afghanistan are
free to take off their "burka" and to uncover their veiled faces. Their
stories of past horror and cruelty are freely reported: "A little girl, who
put some nail polish on her nails, had her fingers cut off… I can still hear
her cries! They dragged us in from the street to show us where the soldiers
massacred women and children. They showed us to warn us to behave… "
The recent liberation of the women of Afghanistan (in November 2001),
from their almost "livestock" status under the Taliban government, has
strengthened the "Afghan Women's Rights Committee - Sada" (meaning
voice in Persian), established in 1997. This independent, legal, social and
political foundation relies on peace culture values, the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on Women's Rights.
Sada is in favor of democracy and social justice, mainly the freedom and
rights of women, including the right to vote. It fights against the cruel
injustice toward Afghan women, and against the interference of religion in
the cultural and political affairs of society. Those who violate women's
social freedoms under the name of religion are considered the enemies of
humanity and social justice. They strongly denounce their treatment as
subhuman in the name of fundamentalist Islam. Sada strongly believes
that men and women have no privileges over each other and they should
not be deprived of their human and social rights and freedoms.
The Afghan Women's Rights Committee's goals and objectives, could
be a model for all countries, including Muslim ones. Understanding the
creative power of women, Sada gives special weight to the importance of
the artistic, cultural and scientific activity of women, and to the publishing
of journals and books on culture and society are stressed:
-Establishment of freedom of expression, freedom of belief and opinion,
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freedom of press and all artistic, cultural and scientific activities in the
country.
-Publishing and distribution of journals, magazines, books, brochures
and scientific, cultural, social, historical, political and legal treatises to
increase awareness of the Afghan women.
Well before the organization of the women of Afghanistan against
human rights violation, women in various other Islamic societies, and
other oppressed regions in the world, protested through various creative
works: novels, poetry and biographies. Those books often cover their own
experience, as in the case of the Egyptian writer Nawal El Saadawi, who
wrote "The Face Of Eve," a powerful book protesting against the inhuman
cruelty of the circumcision of girls. She was herself a victim of such a
circumcision when she was six year old, and she painstakingly recalls all
its horror in the book. Another brave writer and poet who protests
against her fate as a woman in a restrictive Islamic society, is the Kwaitian
princess, Soad Sabah. The following poem is a moving example of her cry
for freedom:
Return To The Coop
When an Arab woman travels
To Paris, London or Rome,
She becomes a dove,
She flies over statues,
She drinks water from the fountains
And she feeds the ducks on the lakes.
But on returning home,
When the flight captain commands to shut the belts
And refrain from smoking,
The dream vanishes -
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The music of the fountain stops
The ducks' white feathers fly up in the air And she enters the coop
Like all the other hens.
Soad Sabah's protest against the lack of freedom of women in
countries restricting their rights, is obvious. The Arab woman mentioned
in the poem enters the "coop" or cage, because she must, but she would
have much preferred to remain free, like a flying dove. It is obvious that
restriction of women's rights and violence against them, arises from
ignorance – the failure to understand such fundamental realities as the
oneness of the human race and the mistaken notion that force is the only
way to resolve conflicts.
Creative women all around the globe are
eloquently expressing these thoughts and facts through powerful works of
literature, poetry and art, as we saw above. By doing so, they are
contributing to the building of the peace culture.
One of the essential ways to encourage equality and cooperation, is
through a democratic and peace culture education. Any attempt to curb
societal or religious violence that does not educate individuals to overcome
gender prejudice will certainly fall short. Ironically enough, the place
where women and girls are most subject to violence and neglect is within
their own homes, at the nerve center of the family. If families educate
their daughters, and the community systematically encourages the
education of both girls and boys, both the family and the community
benefit. Mothers are the first educators of the next generation, and where
resources are limited priority must, therefore, be given to education of
girls.
But the problem of violence cannot truly be resolved unless men are
also educated to value women as equal partners.
All attempts to
understand the causes and consequences of violence against women, which
do not involve men are bound to fail. Likewise, any effort to protect
women against male aggression, which does not involve the early training
and education of boys, will necessarily be short-lived.
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This includes the violent toys boys are attracted to and play with, under
the general ambience that a toy gun makes them manly and "macho." In a
pertinent research on this subject, entitled: "Children's Perceptions of
Aggressive and Gender-Specific Content in Toy Commercials," by Klinger
LJ, and Cantrell PJ ( Social Behavior and Personality, (29 (1): 11-20 2001,
Tennessee State University), the results suggest that boys are particular
targets of aggressive marketing of guns and other violent toys, and are
more desensitized to aggressive content than are girls.
Since children's
programming is saturated with toy commercials, young viewers are
inundated with violent content, reinforced by stereotypic sex-role
behavior. All this has to be drastically changed, and peace culture toys
should replace violent toys on the market, as well as in schools and homes.
How can we achieve such a tremendous feat? Only through a colossal
system of peace culture that would build such an ambience where boys
would want to hug teddy bears, instead of guns. Then the market too
would change and produce teddy bears instead of guns.
In conclusion to this section, if women succeed to reach peak positions in
relation to their fates, and hold equal key positions in governments,
municipalities, educational institutions, and in the new peace culture
system - the violence against them would totally disappear and become
something of the past. Their contribution to the culture of peace through
their creative power, would then freely flourish and be a benefit to the
whole of humanity.
10 PEACE CULTURE EDUCATION
"He playfully showed with a smile and a wink, and a Teddy Bear hug - it
could be the beginning of a honey-laden decade in a brave new world - by
wisely trading guns for Teddy Bears"
You and I Can
Change the World
Education provides an important channel for the creation and
establishment of a powerful and effective peace culture. It is desirable
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that education systems give appropriate attention to the teaching of peace
education, which can include contacts with people of various cultures,
using modern developments in
telecommunication technology. Peace
educators throughout the globe have established new dimensions of
networks, websites, and e-mail group lists, to advance various aspects of
peace education, including respect for other cultures, conflict resolution
through non-violent means, and concern for the local and global
environments.
The growing boom and expanding dimensions of the communication
technology indeed offer various new opportunities and directions for the
promotion of peace education. International co-operation and crossdisciplinary research, promoted by electronic technology and information
services,
have
indeed
somewhat
enriched
peace
education,
but
unfortunately, they have not paid enough attention to the possibilities of
the arts and literature, as efficient vehicles of peace culture.
Recognizing the importance of this new trend, UNESCO convened a
conference on
“The Impact of Information and Communication
Technologies on Teaching and Teachers," (Khvilon, Patru, 1997), in order
to strengthen international co-operation in the pursuit of peace and
international understanding. More conferences of this kind should be
convened, and special attention should be paid to the possibilities of the
arts in the pursuit of peace . The links and partnerships that are created
through such conferences, promote multicultural views, based on
understanding and cooperation. Teachers and youths participating in such
intercultural projects, acquire the potential to move beyond narrow ethnic
and group identities, and to assume a wider knowledge and identification
as global citizens, and as promoters of peace culture.
Peace culture should become a crucial part of education, as literature
and the arts are important factors for the promotion of ethical and liberal
values. Peace culture is a means of fostering consciousness and sensitivity
to lacks and deficiencies in the world around us, as well as a willingness to
take creative action to build a better world. Even in the few schools were
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peace education is taught, the curriculum in peace studies does not give
due attention to the possible contribution of literature and the arts. The
subject of peace studies in general, has received relatively little attention in
education, and no serious research has been conducted on the role that
literature and the arts can play in peace education. Ministries of education
globally and regionally would do well to correct this, and to include both
peace studies and peace culture, as a required subject, at all levels of
schooling.
Schools and colleges are suitable forums where culture, values, ideals,
identity as well as world views are formed. Curricula should pay attention
to the central events that mark our era, such as wars and terror, and
address the necessity of the building of a peace culture to counteract them.
Peace educators need to organize and carry out programs and agendas
that would give young people and children, as well as adults, a vision of
what could be, a future view that would draw on their imaginations to
create new visionary dimensions of a world beyond war and poverty.
These subjects have been tackled by peace researcher Elise Boulding in
her "Image and Action in Peace Building" workshops (Brock-Utne, 1995).
An additional example is the work carried out by Ian Harris with the
teaching of non-violence, conflict resolution, and peace education in the
Milwaukee Public Schools, and at the University of Wisconsin (Harris,
1995)
Attention should be given to the transition between tradition and
modernity. The traditional view of education is that it principally
represents a vehicle for the transmission and reproduction of established
values, and the passing on to the young of the accumulated wisdom and
knowledge encapsulated over the years in the cultural heritage. However,
there is a need at the start of this new millennium, for a different, modern
view of education which would include creation of new values and norms,
in addition to transfer
and transmission of knowledge from one
generation to the other.
In this new modern framework, peace should be considered as a
16
central value and should inspire and influence all aspects of education.
Violence in most cases, arises from the mistaken notion that force is the
only way that can solve conflicts. The study of peace culture would
demonstrate that it is otherwise, and it should be applied to all subjects. In
the teaching of history, for example, due attention should be given to the
policies that lead to the successful conclusion of peace treaties, and not
concentrate mainly on the waging of the wars, as is often the mode in the
present. The two sides of the conflicts should be presented in a lively and
convincing way, and historical novels are a good means to present this.
One of the books that presents the two sides of the Second Exodus of the
Jews from Egypt, in the twentieth century,and gives an inside view of the
Arab -Israeli conflict, is: From The Nile To The Jordan ( Lachmann, Iflac:
POB 9934, Haifa 34342, Israel).
In the study of literature, furthermore, lives of heroines and heroes
who have advanced the cause of peace, and the creation of the culture of
peace, should be extensively studied, and presented as models, both in
educational curricula, and to the wider public.
One of the possible
examples, is the peace heroine, Thea Wolf, who was a woman of many
admirable qualities, and who bravely showed how to promote relations
between Jews and Arabs. Her biography and extraordinary story, can be
emulated by young people, and the book could be studied as an example of
a heroine who advanced the cause of peace, Not In Vain: An Extraordinary
Life: Ladybug Press, California, 1999).
The attitude towards peace in education programs in various parts of
the world, often reflect the tension between preservation of traditional
values and the need for change. Established ideological and religious
influences, attempting to maintain their leading positions, are not always
for peace, or the teaching of peace, and prefer to assert their national
identity. Universities in some parts of the world, are unfortunately ideal
recruiting grounds for fundamentalism and extremists. However, if
colleges and universities become open to other cultures and attuned to
developing and adopt a" Peace Culture" curriculum, fundamentalist
influences and violent trends could be abated, and in time would
17
disappear.
The attitude towards education has an important effect on society as a
whole, for the dilemmas that confront the education system are a
microcosm of the contradictions and struggles of the whole of society. The
promotion of a Culture of Peace through education is therefore of central
importance in trying to establish the dynamics that mark the interplay
between society and peace.
Culture is important at all ages and to all classes in our global village,
and even when the cultures vary widely, there are many desirable features
which apply to all of them. One of the most important is understanding
the necessity of establishing an educational and cultural agenda that
excludes violence and promotes a culture of peace that would ensure the
sustainability of the earth.
Departments of Literary Peace Studies should be nationally and
internationally established and empowered. These could promote the
publication of periodicals and journals, including Electronic Peace
Journals. It is also important to establish "peace museums," as part of the
educational system, all over the world, which would organize, exhibit and
present to the wide public the fruits of peace research, art, and literature,
as well as hold public lectures and symposiums on the development of the
global peace culture.
Peace grants for research and the encouragement of the writing of
peace literature, film-scripts, and plays, as well as the organizing of
competitions, awards, and prizes, could have an advantageous and high
payoff. Books, cassettes, and videos displaying various aspects, including
entertainment based on peace literature and the arts, for all, should be
produced. These should present in an attractive manner the various
themes and aspects of peace, as well as its advantages. Peace literature and
peace culture educational resources should be collected, researched and
studied in global and regional educational institutions, and disseminated
through telecommunications and the electronic media all over the world.
18
11. THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENTS IN BUIDLDING THE CULTURE
OF PEACE SYSTEM
“I’m sure that someday children in schools will study the history of the men
who made war as you study an absurdity. They’ll be shocked, just as today
we’re shocked with cannibalism.” Golda Meir (Prime Minister of Israel)
Our major challenge at the beginning of this new millennium is to
search out new strategies and adopt fresh models capable of eliminating
wars as a means to solve conflicts, and encourage a more peaceful, equal,
healthier, and democratic society. The building of an effective culture of
peace system can facilitate these important goals. The role of governments
in developing this needed new system is primordial. There should be a
thorough rethinking and reform of governance, and financial support of
culture regionally and globally. The function of culture in society and in
our daily lives, as well as the power of a peace culture to counteract war
and violence and to create an atmosphere conducive to peacemaking, have
become so important, that governments should urgently take it upon
themselves to build the required new system of peace culture.
A multi--layered framework of governance for building and
propagating a whole system for the development of the culture of peace,
globally and regionally, will need to be designed and implemented.
Perhaps ministries of "Peace Culture," should be founded globally, with
appropriate budgets that could indeed accomplish such a huge task, as
changing the culture of violence and terror to one of harmony and peace,
based among other elements, on peace literature and peace arts. It should
be ensured that it is paralleled by involved organizations in the various
countries, all operating in an interconnected fashion.
The process of building a new peace culture system could be connected
to ongoing initiatives of the United Nations, educational and economic
institutions, civil society, NGO's, and the public at large. The new culture
of peace system should have intra-state as well as inter-regional and
19
international dimensions, and it should be based on solid and thorough
research of all its various dimensions and implications.
Governmental bodies and institutions, should take urgent and crucial
steps to curb the growing violent culture in our global village, replacing it
with a peace culture system. Governments today, all around the world,
should invest in developing the culture of peace, and save in armaments.
The creation, organizing, and the spreading of a culture of peace system,
could be the best investment for defense. As in preventive medicine, a
systematic spread of the culture of peace can prevent the negative and
dangerous influence on society caused by a widespread violent culture and
rise of crime. The desired culture of peace system should be implemented
at all the levels of education, from kinder gardens to schools, colleges and
universities, where it should be made a regular subject of teaching, as
reading and mathematics.
In addition, a wide network of peace education through the arts by
means of the electronic media and telecommunications: satellite, television,
radio and video, as well as through the press, should be implemented,
regionally and globally in mass education and mass entertainment.
Furthermore, radio and television networks of the culture of peace system,
giving new directions and future lights, should be installed by every
nation, in every region, as part of the new system.
There are several benefits to be reaped from the development of a
culture of peace system. These can be grouped in three major stages:
before, during, and after, the occurrence of a conflict or a war.
1) Before: Peace culture can function as "preventive medicine". After
coming into contact and communicating with "the other" or "the enemy",
and listening to his side of the "story", and finalizing an arrangement
acceptable by both sides, he may cease to be a threat. There is a popular
saying that says, "An enemy is someone to whose story we have not
listened to." One of the basic rules in conflict resolution, is that there are
always two sides of the grievance, and to be able to resolve the conflict
both sides have to be satisfied.
20
2(During:
An open, pluralistic culture of peace, based on values of
tolerance and moderation, can help in disentangling conflicts that have
erupted. Conditions for a settlement may develop, but attainment of peace
can be delayed by the mistrust created by the conflict situation. The
building of bridges of understanding of the "other's" view, and respect for
the other's culture and identity can be of help.
3) After: A culture of peace can also help in building renewed trust
between people and nations after the conflict or war is over. During a war
not only buildings are destroyed, but also the image of the "enemy" who is
usually portrayed as a demon, by each of the sides. Deep residues of fear,
hatred, and mistrust linger in the hearts of former opponents. These
sentiments cannot be overcome merely by the signing of a peace treaty by
leaders, but only by a thorough re-construction of a positive image of each
other, by the people themselves, and by acquiring
knowledge,
understanding, and respect of each other's views, ethnicity, and culture.
The best vehicle for this required "reconstruction," are the arts: literature
and poetry, for they have the ability to penetrate the deep psychological
layers of mistrust and hatred built over the years in the hearts of enemies,
in an effective way, and the power to dissipate them.
Another aspect of the building of a new global peace culture system,
which governments should take care of, is the founding of "peace
museums." This recent innovative development has recently been
established in various countries to help propagate the peace culture
heritage of nations, and to make it accessible to the whole of humankind.
Peace museums have been founded in various countries, including Japan,
England, Samarkand and other countries. Japan is a leading figure in this
new trend, and it has already founded more than sixty peace museums.
This demonstrates the great yearning of the Japanese people for a peace
culture, after having suffered the atrocities of the atomic bombs on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Peace museums are a great aid in promoting and presenting national
and global cultures of peace. They represent a new conception of what a
21
museum should be, they are "alive" and full of vital activity, and are
becoming increasingly popular. School children and students regularly
visit them, and use their materials for their works and research on the
culture of peace. In addition, public lectures, exhibitions of arts, peace
literature and poetry, are organized and presented to the wide public.
Ideally, peace museums should become a "must" in every major city and
town in our global village. They should replace "horror museums", as for
instance the bottom floor of "Mme Tusseaud," in London, where Jack the
Killer is almost a hero. Those kinds of museums - like the television films
and videos that expose and adulate war, murderers, violence and
armaments - should be discouraged and eventually closed, as part of the
activities of the new system of the building of a peace culture. Such a huge
task as the building of peace museums globally and regionally, can only be
accomplished by a well-financed governmental budget.
It is a question of prerogatives and choices. The US for instance,
spends an estimated $50 billion on maintaining the fifth fleet in the
Persian Gulf and the American presence in Saudi Arabia. All the aid to all
peace NGOs in the region together, from private as well as government
sources, would barely amount to $100 million. The various NGOs staffed
by underpaid or mostly unpaid volunteers, cannot possibly compete with
the flood of hate propaganda from government sponsored media and from
extremist and fanatical political groups.
Anti-peace organizations are
always well funded and staffed by professionals. They have their own
radio stations and all the amenities to spread their violent hate
propaganda. There is no culture of peace radio or television station in the
Middle East, or in other conflicted regions. The Radio for Peace from
Porto Ricco, backed by the UN, is doing fruitful work in spreading the
culture of peace, and it should be a model to emulate, especially in
conflicted areas. A massive effort in the framework of the new peace
culture system is needed to make institutions, leaders, educators and the
public - peace culture conscious, and to accept and promote its values and
norms. The efforts to uproot violence and hatred and to build confidence
measures could be greatly facilitated by a network of satellite, television
and radio stations, as well as Internet programs and videos on the culture
22
of peace.
This network should be objective and balanced, and follow the Code
of Ethics of the Media (described above), by bringing objective news
coverage and peace - oriented information and artistic programs and
entertainment. It could also include a popular "open university" based on
peace studies and conflict resolution, at all levels. Furthermore, it could
be of help in instituting culture of peace programs for schools and
universities, especially throughout conflicted areas such as Ireland,
Kosovo, and the Middle East. A fully functioning culture of peace system,
could also establish a Peace Culture Internet Network, which would
include aid in setting up Internet facilities and peace websites all over the
world.
The struggle for the creation of a peace culture system must be waged
on a large scale, comparable to the efforts for obtaining petroleum, and
with as much perseverance and tenacity. That is the only sure way to do it
if we are serious about creating a culture of peace system and bringing
about change in conflicted areas like the Middle East. These efforts could
be helped and could gain momentum by involving the World Bank and the
private financial sectors. Finally, works of multicultural peace art and
literature could be widely published to hasten and promote the foundation
and implementation of this new culture of peace system. However, only
the governments of the world, can accomplish the colossal task of founding
and implementing this new, recommended culture of peace system.
12. NGO's AND THE CULTURE OF PEACE
How can governments be convinced of the necessity to found a large
and influential culture of peace system? The need and the will to change
from a culture of violence to a culture of peace should come mainly from
the people and from NGO's: non governmental organizations.
Have NGO's the power to influence governments? Their influence is
growing in importance, and they are sometimes regarded as the third
power, after governments and the financial sector. The role of a great
23
number of non-governmental organizations, reflect agendas and a possible
reality, in which peace, freedom, and rights, can be achieved. In
establishing voices that encourage the free expression of the individual's
yearnings and demands as well as that of society, non-governmental
organizations provide outlets and channels that can set the tone and scene
for new developments and approaches. This could include organizational
help with the creation and promotion of a peace culture system, especially
in the case of organizations that have similar goals.
NGO's could also help in the collection of the various pluralistic
cultural contributions of peace literature, poetry and the arts, from the
best that is available, thus reflecting the many "Voices of the Earth" for a
peaceful world without violence or terror. This new vital and pluralistic
peace culture could be made available to governments, as part of the
needed peace culture system.
These multicultural works of art and
literature based on peace values, could promote powerful components of
BCM's: "Building Confidence Measures," among people and nations,
including the values of understanding, appreciation and respect for the
culture of "the other". This is especially important among neighbors and
conflicting parties, or "enemies," as for instance, in Israel and Palestine,
Bosnia and Serbia, India and Pakistan, North Korea and South Korea,
and Turkey and Greece. NGO's can play an important role in facilitatig
encounters of opponents.
To have a successfull partnership between governments and NGO's in
the building of a peace culture system, the
non governmental
organizations, groups, and people who support the culture of peace, as
well as people-to-people projects, should be suitably financially supported.
Of the huge sums expended on aid, nationally and globally, usually, only a
tiny fraction is earmarked for the promotion of NGO"s, peace education
and peace culture, as well as “people to people” projects. The money spent
on a few tanks and aircrafts could, for example, build a whole network of
peace culture and schools in conflicted areas such as Palestine and Israel,
and fund a satellite television station that brings objective peace news to
24
the Middle East, and to other conflicted areas, both in English, and in
native languages.
NGO's need to be more supported to go on developing their important
work.
Financial support for NGO's should be earmarked for specific
projects that promote the culture of peace and coexistence of different
ethnic cultures. These should include, for example, peace culture
education not only for children but also for adults. Often, unfortunately,
when the children go back home - after they have been exposed to various
peace education projects and assimilated them - they are profoundly
influenced by their parents, who may not necessarily agree with their
peace views.
That is why peace culture education for parents too is
primordial.
Why are some peace projects continuing while others have ceased? The
NGO's built on strong ties, respect and knowledge of each other's culture,
including literature, art, customs and history, continue to share active,
harmonious and fruitful meetings, symposia and conferences, as for
instance "IFLAC: The International Forum for the Culture of
Peace,"described further down.
Peace research has developed considerably during the last decade.
Departments of peace studies and peace education have been founded in
various universities, and peace research institutes have been established
internationally. However, the specific discipline and research of "peace
culture," based mainly on literature and the arts, as described above, has
to be more developed and propagated. It is mainly NGO's that have
developed the ideology and conception of the culture of peace. The
International Peace Research Association, (IPRA), has been a pioneer in
propagating this required new discipline. The PCL: "Peace Through
Culture and Literature Commission," was established at its General
Conference held in July 1996, at Queens University, in Brisbane,
Australia. The title of this conference was: "Building Non- Violent
Futures," and the founding of the PCL commission added a new
perspective and angle to the deep meaning of what building non-violent
25
futures means and entails.
On this occasion, IPRA also inaugurated its peace culture Internet
magazine "Horizon: Pave Peace." Four issues of this yearly electronic
magazine (available on the IPRA website), have been published, and
various peace studies programs and universities around the world use
them. Each contains research, articles, literature, and poetry from many
cultures, and collectively they have contributed a significant effort toward
the building of an international peace culture. The main aims of
publishing this Internet peace culture magazine, which is in cooperation
with Iflac Pave Peace, is to create a new cultural peace vision and horizon,
and to pave the road toward a global cultural climate of peace and
harmony, through research of creative literary and artistic works.
CASE STUDY 2 - IFLAC: PAVE PEACE
The main goals of IFLAC: Pave Peace, are:
To strive toward the promotion of peace and mutual respect between
people and nations.
To promote social, cultural and religious tolerance, in all its forms,
between people.
To eliminate violence in all its forms.
To organize peace culture researchers, writers, intellectuals and friends of
literature.
To encourage creativity that promotes culture and peace.
History
Before the foundation of IFLAC, the organization was named: " The
International Friends of Literature and Culture", which was founded and
registered in Haifa, Israel, in 1985.
IFLAC: PAVE PEACE, The
International Forum for the Culture of Peace, in Memory of "Anat,", is
the continuation of the "Friends of Literature and Culture," as not only
people who were interested in literature wanted to join, but also people
from various disciplines: teachers, journalists, psychologists, sociologists
and students. It was registered in Tel Aviv, in December 1999, as a non26
profit association.
Basic Platform
"IFLAC: Pave Peace" maintains that culture and literature can promote
peace, freedom, and the enrichment of the quality of life. Its main goal is
to help build a Middle East and a world beyond war, at the
commencement of the twenty-first 21st century, by means of bridges of
peace culture, literature, and art. This endeavor is in harmony with the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights embodied in the Charter of the
United Nations.
IFLAC strives for freedom of speech and expression, and for freedom
from hostile and oppressive violence, whether it be war, gender, physical,
mental, or moral oppression. It believes in the right of people everywhere
to live in peace and freedom, and in their rights to pursue their various
cultures, as well as human endeavors, and in their right to obtain equal
civil justice.
Activities
There are ten branches in Jewish, Arab, and Druze sectors in Israel,
actively and harmoniously working together. Regular literary and cultural
meetings are held, including: lectures, poetry readings, story-telling, New
book launches, celebrations of common feasts: Jewish, Muslim and
Christian, interviews, literary weekend seminars, cultural festivals,
symposiums, congresses, Jewish and Arab/ Palestinian students’ meetings,
various leadership workshops, and exchange of visits by school children
from both sectors.
There are ten branches in Israel, five in the Jewish sectors and five in the
Arab / Palestinian sectors, all working together harmoniously for paving
the culture of peace.
Number of members: 345 full members, 620 affiliates, and more than a
thousand supporters.
27
World Branches
In 1998 IFLAC opened its international branches. To date there are 17
international branches, all actively working together to create: "One
World, One Hhumanity, All Lliving in Peace". The international branches
are in: Israel, America, Australia, France, Romania, Brazil, India, Japan,
Norway, Jordan, Mexico, Finland, Sri Lanka, Bosnia - Herzgovina,
Turkey, Haiti, and China.
The Tent of Peace
In 1996 IFLAC's Bedouin Tent of Peace was set up in the Druze village of
Ussfiya, in which inter-cultural meetings, lectures, discussions, as well as
poetry readings and book launches of New Books are organized. There
are celebrations of new research and works, at which Israelis, Arabs,
Palestinians, Bedouin, and Druze writers and poets, both women and men,
present their various creative works. In addition, cultural festivals, are
regularly held, where Jews, Moslems, and Christians, all feast together.
Major Activities in Years 2000 - 2001
- “IFLAC: Peace 2000” Conference held at Taba, (Egypt), 27 February to
1 March, 2000.
- Opening of the World Center at the Haifa Branch of "IFLAC - PAVE
PEACE," on May
21, 2000, in Haifa.
- The Organization of "Creative Women Conference," in conjunction
with Lena- The Bridge, May, 2001.
-
One of the recent common feasts took place at the New Year 2001,
where Hannoukah, Id El Ahda, and Christmas, were all celebrated
together.
-
The latest event took place in October 2001, at the Haifa Municipal
Hall, to celebrate two years to Iflac, at a Peace Symposium. It was opened
by the Mayor of Haifa, Mr. Amram Mitzna, and was attended by
28
representatives from all major sectors, including a representative from the
Bahai Community in Haifa. The Panel of 6 lecturers consisted of 2 2 Jews,
2 Arab / Palestinians, 1 Christian and 1Druze, half were women and half
men.
-
IFLAC organizes
yearly International Conferences on "Conflict
Resolution Through Culture."
The latest IFLAC PAVE PEACE
International Conference was in Sydney, Australia, in September 2001.
- The next one is in London, England (March 14 to 17, 2002, at the Royal
National Hotel, in Russell Square), where researchers will discuss their
works and findings, and will suggest new creative ways how to develop a
new needed peace culture system , and how to resolve conflicts through
culture.
The Ban - War Project
The International Ban-War project, campaign, and petition, is Iflac's
major current project. This project if widely and effectively spread, can
prevent waste of resources. The worst waste of resources in the world is
the vast sums that governments spend maintaining arsenals of armaments,
and an ability to destroy all people on Earth. Approximately, less than a
quarter of those immense sums of money, if spent on promoting a global
peace culture, could pave a world beyond war, famine, and environmental
disasters in this new millennium.
The IFLAC Pave Peace Petition is a major step forward for the
Abolition of War. It is a citizens' campaign for a treaty for the total
elimination of war by state against state, or by part of a nation against
another one. Millions of citizens of our global village, including prominent
leaders from throughout the world, have signed the Ban-War Petition. It
has been translated into several languages and circulated all around the
world, including through E-mail and other electronic means. Various
NGO's have adopted it and are circulating it. Iflac invites every
conscientious human being to take part in spreading the following
petition:
29
The International Ban-War Petition and Campaign
To the Governments of The World,
And to the UN Secretary General, Mr. Annan Kofi
United Nations, New York 10017, USA
We the undersigned citizens of the world, who abhor war, call for the
banning of war from the world. We suggest that any nation, or part of a
nation, that practices war, will be ostracized by all the other nations of our
global village.
NAME
ADDRESS
EMAIL
Please write your name, and ask your friends and families to do so too.
When you have 20 signatures send them to the UN and to your
government.
The whole concept and practice of war should be made anachronistic in
the third millennium. 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. Please let us know how many
signatures you have sent. IFLAC:Lena, P.O.Box 9934 Haifa 34341
Israel.
End of Case Study 2
A related campaign: IFOR, suggests year 2000 to 2010 for the building of
a world of non-violence. The UN Decade for a Culture of Non-Violence
campaign was launched on July 1, 1997 by 20 Nobel Peace Prize
Laureates, and “IFOR: Partage avec les Enfants du Monde”; Share with
the Children of the World, and other organizations, such as IFLAC:Lena.
The major goal is to have the governments of all the countries at the
United Nations to adopt a resolution declaring: The years 2001 to 2010
“Decade for a Culture of Non-Violence”. Iflac - Lena supports this
commendable project.
30
13. NEW LIGHTS AND DIRECTIONS: RECOMMENDATIONS AND
CONCLUSIONS
"The power of creation seems to favor human beings who love life
unconditionally, and I am certainly one who does!" Arthur Rubinstein
The
colossal task of building a global "Culture of Peace System",
should be considered one of the major goals of humankind and of world
governments today. When a virus attacks our computers it is clear to us
that we have to clean it or to delete it, and we use appropriate tools to deal
with it in an effective manner. However, when our world is infested by a
culture of violence and terror, it is still not clear to many of us, including
our governments, that we have to use the same methods as with our
infested computers.
One of the best tools to accomplish this needed reconstruction of the
world is through the establishment of a resourceful and effective new
global and regional culture of peace system. The feelings of distrust and
hatred by certain nations and ethnic groups of different cultures toward
each other, cannot be overcome by guns or bombs, but only by a basic
and resourceful peace culture system, that thoroughly penetrates the deep
roots of the conflict, uses effective conflict resolution through culture
methods, and builds confidence, understanding and respect of each
nation's entity, identity, ethnicity and culture. This should be applied both
nationally and globally.
Governments, city councils, the UN institutions, universities and
research institutes, as well as peace NGO's, and writers' and artists'
associations, should closely cooperate to set up this needed new global and
national peace culture system. Various international and national peace
culture programs could be set up, as part of the new framework, making
use of the best national and international literary and cultural
masterpieces of artistic works.
It is likewise vital to set up effective institutions which would explore,
coordinate, promote, and spread such works, and the peace culture system
31
in general. It is recommended that governments and national institutions
around the world should make it a priority to fund this suggested peace
culture system, which could be part of existing ministries of culture in the
various countries, or ministries of education, or a separate and
independent new administration.
The suggested innovative peace culture system would replace the
culture of violence rampant in many places around the world, and would
shed new lights and point out new directions. It would consist of, among
other various factors and elements:
1. The foundation and organization of a wide and resourceful Peace
Media and Telecommunications Network, that would function regionally
and globally, to support the culture of peace system.
2. The peace culture system assisted by the peace network, would research,
develop and promote literature and the arts in the pursuit of peace.
3. It would promote programs on equal opportunity for women to create
works of literature and art, and equality in all other fields.
4. It would introduce peace culture as a required subject in schools and
colleges, just as for instance, the teaching of reading or mathematics.
Through the Peace Network, it would cover the teaching of peace culture
at all levels, including adult education through popular open universities,
and encourage entertainment based on peace literature and various arts,
including music and dance.
5. It would cover, encourage and promote the establishment of a wide
network of peace museums, and organize it as a functional platform for
the presentation of peace art with lively activities for school children and
adults.
6. It would present and promote the peace projects and works of the UN,
UNESCO, and various peace culture NGO's.
7. It would establish global and regional "Peace Culture Research
Institutes and Centers", which should be substantially funded, if possible,
not less than war research institutes.
8.
It would present the findings of peace research in various branches,
including peace literature research, through satellites and other electronic
media.
32
9.
Special attention should be paid to explore and promote a
multicultural approach. It would be translated in various languages, and
made available globally.
10. Foundation of a global interconnected Peace Internet Network, that
would make the building of websites and discussion groups for peace
available, and would diffuse natioal and global peace developments and
information.
The Roman saying: "If you want peace— prepare for war," should be
replaced today by: "If you want peace-—prepare for peace." The new
pluralistic peace culture system delineated above, could spread into
various new directions, and it could generate a climate of peace, that
would have a preventive influence on impending danger of conflicts and
wars. All wars and conflicts have at their roots ethnic and cultural causes,
and they should be thoroughly researched and treated.
Some of the
recommended research and projects follow:
Recommended Peace Culture Research and Projects
1. Literary and Artistic: Would include research and programs on peace
literature, poetry, drama, and the plastics arts, as well as music and dance,
as basic determinants of how we interpret the world. It would also include
the organization of courses on creative peace writing and art. "Paving of
Peace," Literary and Movie Script Contests," should be established, to
enhance the writing, producing and publishing of films, stories, poetry,
legends, and myths
on the various themes of peace.
Awarding of
prestigious Peace Prizes for outstanding achievements in all literary and
artistic fields, including special awards for peace programmers and
directors of the electronic communications.
2. Ethics and responsibilty: It is likewise vital to research ethics and
morals, and promote a culture based on constructive values of tolerance,
peace, harmony and responsibility toward humanity and our world. The
organizing and spreading, nationally and internationally, of the "Turn Off
Violence on TV Project," which discourages sponsors, directors and
editors from producing violent films and programs, as well as the
spreading and promotion of the Ban-War project (described above).
33
3. Conflict Resolution: "Conflict Resolution through Culture" programs,
symposia, and international conferences should be organized. This could
help to disseminate a conflict resolution view of life, and the belief that a
positive and open view of "the other", and of humankind, can help in
solving conflicts, instead of the culture of despair, cynicism, and the selfish,
ego-centric and self-pitying ethos and attitudes often rampant nowadays.
4. Culture and Gender: Institutes of research and peace culture creativity
for the empowerment of women, and centers for the promotion of women
as equal partners in the creation of a world beyond war. Promotion of
"Eliminating Violence Against Women" productions, studies and works of
arts.
5. Translation Institutes: It is recommended to establish an "International
Translation Institute and Foundation," for the promotion of the
translation of multicultural works of art, and the awarding of prestigious
International and National Peace Prizes for outstanding works, to be
allocated to outstanding international writers, poets, playwrights,
dramatists and movie script-writers, as well as journalists and electronic
media producers.
6. Popular Peace Awards: To encourage the various popular multicultural
"Voices of the Earth" to be heard and enjoyed, "International and
National Peace Awards" should be allocated as well to outstanding mass
media directors and journalists, folklorists and story tellers, oral
historians, musicians, singers, dancers, artists, sculptors and architects.
7. Peace Museums and Peace libraries which would include peace films
and peace videos and games, should be established in major towns and
cities, globally and regionally, and made freely accessible to people.
8. Cultural economy: Economies and markets for peace culture should be
developed. The production and
marketing of violent films, television
programs and videos should be researched, and shifted to the production
and marketing of constructive and peaceful films and videos. It has been
heard that after the attack on the Twin Towers, Americans do not want to
34
see violent films anymore, this trend if continued could change the whole
market, as it is sensitive to ratings.
9. NGO's for peace: research and support of NGO's working for peace,
and their power to convince governments to invest in the building of the
new culture of peace structure and system.
10. Terror and Suicide Bombers: The atrocious tragedy of the terrorist
attack on the Twin Towers in New York City and the Pentagon, was a
tantalizing warning that the war of cultures is underway. The whole
phenomenon of having young men whose minds have been fed on extreme
fanatic fundamentalism by Islamic terrorist groups, ready to sacrifice
their lives in abominable suicide attacks - should be thoroughly
researched. Possible preventive methods and solutions in the framework of
a peace culture system, should likewise be thoroughly explored.
The solution to the phenomenon of suicide bombers probably lies in
getting to the minds of the suicidal volunteers, with powerful and
influential contents of a culture of peace, before their minds are poisoned.
Research can help in exploring ways how to reach the roots of their
identity, to profoundly understand what their grievances are, and
examining and suggesting directions how these grievances can be
addressed. The differences in cultures should also be examined, as well as
what all human cultures have in common. The results should be presented
in powerful and convincing ways, that could influence candidates of
suicide bombings to change their behavior. They should be made to
understand that life is more precious than all, and that they are not heroes
but barbarians of the worst kind, when they kill themselves as well as
innocent people.
Is humankind at the beginning of our third millennium, able to selforganize culturally, ethically and legally, in such a way that it can generate
the banishing of conflicts, wars, terror, and mass destruction? I truly
believe that if the above recommendations are implemented, the seeds for
true peace would be planted, and it would indeed give a fair chance for the
many "Voices and Cultures of the Earth" and their yearning for peace, to
be heard. Furthermore, it would be a serious and important step toward
35
the building of a world beyond war, that most of the people from the many
lands of our global village yearn for.
END
Keywords: Peace culture, literature, art, plastic arts, music, cultural and
literary research, peace media, peace culture system, sustainability, ethics,
education, violence on television, film effects, viewing violence, aggressive
behavior, telecommunications, Internet, NGO organizations, women and
peace,
equality,
globalization,
global
citizen,
global
governance,
governmental budgets, peace museums, United Nations, global war, civil
society, cultural norms, conflict, terror, suicide bombers, environment.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Books in English by Ada Aharoni (1979 - 2001)
Aharoni A. (1979). From the Pyramids to Mount Carmel, Eked, Tel Aviv.
Aharoni A. (1983). The Second Exodus, Bryn Mawr: Pennsylvania, ISBN
0-8059-2862-6.
Aharoni A. (1984). To Alexandria Jerusalem and Freedom, Bryn Mawr,
Pennsylvania, ISBN 0-8059-2922-3. (Published also in a Hebrew edition,
and an Arabic edition, M.Abassi, Shfaram, Galilee).
Aharoni A. (1985). Shin Shalom: New Poems (A Bi-Lingual edition), Eked,
Tel Aviv.
Aharoni A. (1987). Metal et Violettes. Caracteres, Paris, France (Poems in
French).
Aharoni A. ed. (1992) and Cronin G., Goldman, L., Saul Bellow: A Mosaic.
New York: Peter Lang, ISBN: 0-8204-1572-3.
Aharoni A. ed. (1993). A Song to Life and to World Peace., ed. A. Aharoni
et al. Jerusalem: Posner and Sons., Jerusalem (Jerusalem Books:
jerboooks@netmedia.co.il), ISBN 965-219-013-6.
Aharoni A. (1995) Peace Flower: A Space Adventure, 119 pp. Haifa: M.
Lachman (Iflac: POB 9934, Haifa 34341, Israel), ISBN: 965-9013930.
Aharoni A. ed. (1997). Galim 8: Waves of Peace, In Memory of Yitzhak
Rabin., Shfaram Galilee: Hatichon (Jerusalem Books: Tel. 972-2-6426576),
ISBN 965-222-774-9. (In Hebrew, English and Arabic).
Aharoni A. (1998). The Theory of Peace Culture, in: Not in Vain: An
Extraordinary Life, 218 pp. CA: Ladybug Press, ISBN: 1-889409-18-9.
36
Aharoni A. (1998) Not In Vain: An Extraordinary Life, 218 pp. CA:
Ladybug Press, ISBN: 1-889409-18-9.
Aharoni A. (1999). From the Nile to the Jordan, 146 pp. (Jerusalem Books:
JERBOOKS@NETMEDIA.CO.IL), ISBN: 965-9013981
Aharoni, A. ed. (1996-1999). Horizon: Pave Peace, Peace Culture Online
Magazine, nos. 1–4, IPRA: The International Peace Research Association.
HYPERLINK
"http://tx.technion.ac.il/~ada/home.html"
http://tx.technion.ac.il/~ada/home.html
HYPERLINK
"mailto:adah@matav.net.il" adah@matav.net.il
Aharoni A. (2000). Peacemaking Through Culture: A New Approach to the
Arab/Palestinian–Israeli Conflict, in Peace Studies from a Global
Perspective: Human Needs in a Cooperative World, ed. Ursula Oswald
Spring,
pp.
252-280.
Delhi:
Maadhyam
Book
Services,
maadhyam@india.com
Aharoni A. ed. (1999-2000). Women, Children and Peace. Horizon: Pave
Peace, no. 4 IPRA: HORIZON PAVE PEACE: The Online International
Peace
Research
Association
Anthology.
HYPERLINK
"http://tx.technion.ac.il/~ada/iflac.htm"
http://tx.technion.ac.il/~ada/iflac.htm
Aharoni, A. ed. (2000). Galim 9: New Waves 2000 Peace Culture Anthology,
IFLAC: International Forum for the Literature and Culture of Peace,
Haifa:M. Lachman,
ISBN: 965-902-900-4. (Jerusalem Books:
JERBOOKS@NETMEDIA.CO.IL)
Aharoni, A. (2000). You and I Can Change the World:, Peace Poetry, 99 pp.
Haifa: Micha Lachmann. ISBN 965-901-399X ((Iflac: POB 9934, Haifa
34341, Israel)
Aharoni A. (2001). Women: Creating A World Beyond War and Violence,
120 pp. (Jerusalem Books: POB 26190, Jerusalem, Israel, 91261), ISBN:
965-7204-00-3
Aharoni A. (2001). Du Nil Au Jourdain, Stavit: Litteratures d'Israel, Paris,
France (Historical novel in French), ISBN 2-911671-75-9
Other Authors:
Adams D. "From A Culture of War and Violence to A Culture of Peace and
Non-Violence (Aggressive Behavior, 27 (3): 153-154, 2001), Institute for
Scientific Information, Wiley-Liss, New York. sponsored by the bureau of
programming and evaluation of the "International Year for the Culture of
Peace, UNESCO, Paris, France.
Aharon K. (1999). Constructive Ambiguity in Middle East Peace-Making.
Tel Aviv: The Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research, Tel Aviv
University.
37
Annan K. (1999). On Humanitarian Intervention. The Hague Appeal for
Peace Conference. The Hague: Holland.
Balkwill LL. and Thompson WF. (1999)A Cross-cultural Investigation of
the Perception of Emotion in Music: Psychophysical and Cultural Cues,
Music Perception, 7 (1): 43-64 FAL 1999.
Bellow S. (2000). A Talk With Saul Bellow. IFLAC: New Waves Galim
2000 Peace Culture Anthology, 9,: 14–15. ISBN: 965-902-900-4.
Bellow S. (1976). To Jerusalem and Back, The Viking Press, New York,
N.Y. ISBN 670-71729-0.
Brock, B. (1999). Multicultural Education and Development Education, in
Peace Education: Contexts and Values. UNESCO/IPRA, pp. 229–261.
Calleja, J. and Perucca A. eds. (1999). Peace Education: Contexts and
Values, 436 pp. Lecce, Italy: UNESCO/the Peace Education Commission
of International Peace Research Association.
Coelho P. (2000). Statutes 2000. Galim 9: IFLAC: New Waves 2000 Peace
Culture Anthology, 9,: 14–15. Amazon.com ISBN: 965-902-900-4.
Deif M. F. (1995). Deif. The Significance of Peace in the Poetry of A.
Aharoni, 200 pp.Cairo University, Egypt:The Nile Publications. (In Arabic
and Hebrew).
Galtung J. (1999) Not A Question of When, but How -- Some Roads to
Cultural Integration for Peace," (Biography - An Interdisiplinary
Quarterly, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, 22 (1), 104-112, winter 1999.
Griffiths M. (1999)Violent Games and Aggression, Aggression and Violent
Behavior 4 (2): 203-212 Summer 1999, Trent University, Nottingham,
England.
Haessly J.(1993). Values for the Global Marketplace: A Quest for Quality
with a Difference, in When The Canary Stops Singing, ed. Pat Barrentine.
San Francisco: BK Publishers. pp. 119–33.
Harris, I.an (1995 - 1999). What Culture of Peace? IPRA Peace Education
Commission, 2 (2), July 1999, 36 pp, and Teachers’ Response to Conflict in
Selected Milwaukee Schools, in Peace Education and Human Development.
Malmo, Sweden: University of Lund.
Hinitz, B. F. and Stomfay-Stitz, A. M. (1999). Cyberspace: A New Frontier
for Peace Education, in Peace Education: Contexts and Values, pp. 383–
407.
Khvilon, E. V. and Partu M. (1997). UNESCO’s Mission in the Promotion
of International Cooperation. T.H.E. Journal 24 (6).
38
Nimer, N. (1996). Meourav Aravi—Arabic Pot-Pourri: Chosen Literary
Pieces: Soad Sabah, Nazareth: Dept. of Arabic Culture, Ministry of
Education.
Pennell AE and Browne KD. (1999). " Film Violence and Young Offenders'
Aggression and Violent Behavior on Television," SPR 4 (1): 13-28 1999,
Elsevier Science Ltd. Oxford.
Peres, S. (2000). On the Way to Peace. Galim 9: IFLAC: New Waves 2000
Peace Culture Anthology: 13 - 14. Amazon.com ISBN: 965-902-900-4.
Reardon , B. (1998). Educating for Global Responsibility: Teacher Designed
Curricula for Peace Education. New York: Teachers College Press.
Rokem, F. (1995). Postcard from the Peace Process: Some Thoughts on the
Palestinian–Israeli Co-production of Romeo and Juliet. Palestine–Israel
Journal, 5 , 112–117.
Singer MI (1999) "Contributors to Violent Behavior Among Elementary and
Middle School Children ( Pediatrics, 104 (4): 878-884 October 1999),
Women In Conflict (1995). Palestine–-Israel Journal: Politics, Economics
and Culture, 2 (3). Jerusalem.
Yamane K. (1998). A Peace Museum as a Center for Peace Education.
Peace Environment and Education. 14 (Winter), pp. 23– - 35.
Zann M. (2000) Children, Television and Violence, Archives de Pediatrie,
Paris, 7(3): 307-311, March 2000.
Biographical Sketch
Professor Ada Aharoni is a peace culture researcher, writer, poet, and lecturer. She
writes in English, Hebrew, and French, and has published twenty five books to date that
have been translated into several languages. She believes that culture and literature can
help in healing the urgent ailments of our global village, such as war, conflict, famine,
and environment. The themes of peace and conflict resolution toward the sustainability
of our fragile earth, are major ones throughout her works. She studied at London
University (England), where she earned an M.Phil on English Literature, and at the
Hebrew University (Jerusalem), where she earned her Ph.D. degree on Literature and
Sociology. She taught at the Israel Institute of Technology, at Haifa University, and at
the University of Pennsylvania. She has been awarded several international prizes and
awards, and has been elected as one of the 100 Global Heroines (Rochester N.Y. 1998).
39