Alms for peace, not arms for peace

For those who want the simple explanation, here it is:

Make love not war. Peace Man!

For a more developed way of thinking, here we go…

Thoughts on peace, war, terrorism, poverty, Israel/Palestine and a world where we stop being greedy…

1.     Yes Saddam Hussein is a dictator who oppresses his people, but so are many other “leaders” who the USA and other western nations have supported and continue to support.

2.     Why does the US want to intervene in Iraq? Is it to get rid of a regime with dangerous weapons? Is it to defend human rights? Is it to get forces in power who are friendly to the US (Iraq apparently has either 1/3^rd or 1/4^th of the world’s remaining oil supply). Texan Bush’s team is a who’s who of oil business interests.

3.     Why is Israel funded by the US more than any third world nation and given a free hand to develop weapons of mass destruction (nuclear) and yet when Iraq does this, it is dangerous?

Since September 11, Bush has been big on the fight against terrorism.

He is big on hunting down terrorists, but when is he going to look at the forces of imbalance in the world that have led some people towards terrorist action, or supporting the action of terrorists?

In many countries with large Muslim populations, there has been a lot of sympathy towards terrorist actions such as 9/11.

Terrorism is always wrong, but lets look at terrorism in its full entirety.

The attack on the World Trade Centre should never have happened.

But what about when people in the third world die in a bombing? That doesn’t make the main news. Are some lives not as valued as others?

People in the third world are starving to death every day while various individuals and big businesses, with stockholders largely based in the Western nations, get richer and richer. Is that OK? Bush and his team never talk about that.

Israel has always been an awkward situation to resolve. As it stands now, both Jews & Palestinians have legitimate or historical claims to the land. Yet one group continues to hold it and Sharon says that they will talk returning some land when all terrorism ceases. This gives Israel’s right wing leadership a phony excuse to keep Palestinians down, causes many Palestinians to take up arms, because they see an enemy that refuses to budge. When Clinton ended his leadership and Bush became leader (due to a flaw in the US electoral system), a lot of people thought how different will the world be? Probably no different. How wrong that view was. The news from the US is that more and more, Americans are feeling silenced or intimidated by the Bush government. Many people feel that information outside the US on events and opinion can’t be accessed.

The terrorist movement seems to be driven by a mixture of seeing poverty & oppression, mixed with fanaticism and an ideology that violence can resolve the problems. We particularly see in Israel that terrorism has a groundswell of support from the masses. Israel takes out some terrorists and others take their place. Terrorism will not be stopped just by tough regimes. As long as there is serious injustice, terrorism will emerge.

What a strange situation it is that protection of the Jewish Homeland is guaranteed by an American coalition of mainly anti Semitic fundamentalist Christians. Under Clinton’s leadership the situation wasn’t perfect, but Albright had enough of a clue to know that you won’t get Israel to volunteer to give up land or take other risks towards peace. There is so much fear & distrust that she pushed and heavied them toward negotiation, giving Israel a better chance at long term security. While it is true that the conservative Jewish lobby is also pushing the current ‘soft on Israel’ position in the US, (while progressive Jewish organizations get either silenced or confused), under Albright’s leadership, the safety of the Jewish homeland was actually more assured by pushing a deal with Palestine. Bush has demonstrated his lack of understanding on the whole situation by spending most of his time standing back and watching. Sharon has him hoodwinked. After September 11, Sharon visited WTC and said we know what it is to be victims of terrorism. Lets forget that Sharon’s refusal to try and resolve the Israeli/Palestinian dispute was the reason cited by terrorists for the WTC attack. It would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious to the whole world.

In Australia, it seems that PM Howard and all his team couldn’t care less that most Australians don’t want to be involved in a US lead war. Australia is now third at risk after USA & UK all because they have an idiot desperate to look good with the US.

What the world needs from us all:

A position of tolerance to all cultures & differences

Abandoning ideas that one nation or group is above or superior to others

Pushing for a unified world where we work together rather than individually, for everyone’s good, not the good of a minority

An end to poverty and all oppression that encourages resentment, conflict & war.

For enough revenue from the over profiteering corporations & individuals to ensure survival of all humans and effective education towards population control and environmental concerns.

We must remain positive & optimistic:

Groups in power around the world may generally be committed to war or too scared to oppose it.

But most people in the world are committed to the greater good of all people and living things. We are the majority (5.999,000,000).

Huge numbers have already marched against war, and if the war goes ahead, protests will grow larger. It would be nice to be sure to stop war, but a commitment against war is a start and is part of building something greater: the unified commitment of all humans to the greater good of all people and living things on planet earth

Have a GREAT DAY J