Moderates All Over The World, Unite!

by Johan Galtung

MODERATES ALL OVER THE WORLD, UNITE!

Speech to 25,000 from the German Peace Movement, Köln, 14/09/02

Johan Galtung, Director TRANSCEND: A Peace and Development Network

We, the peoples, are hostages to three fundamentalisms.

One is Muslim: the Wahhabite Sunnis, from Saudi Arabia, responsible for

the criminalSeptember 11 attack a year ago.

One is Christian: the Puritan Protestants, from England who set the

tone for what became the United States. Both think they are Chosen

People, by their God. Both think they inhabit a sacred, Promised Land.

Both think "he who is not with me is against me". Both take the lives of

others easily, like in capital punishment. In fact, they are so similar

that George bin Laden and Osama Bush could exchange speeches. One

killed thousands on September 11; the second followed up with more

thousands on October 7 2001.

But the United States of America is ridden by yet another

fundamentalism, market fundamentalism. There is a Chosen People, the

CEOs, chief executive officers, of their corporations. There is a

sacred land, the Market, and they struggle for their share. Anyone

who does not believe in the "unfettered" Market but has other economic

ideas and ideals is to be handled as a traitor. And they take the lives

of others easily, like the 100,000 dying every

day mainly because the Market cannot satisfy their basic needs for food

and health, a quarter of them from hunger alone.

The world has many problems, but one is bigger than the others. That

problem has a name. The name is the United States; geo-fascist, some

democracy on the inside, fascist on the outside.

They think they are above the law, so directly under God that there is

no space for the UN, international law and human rights. Like Israel,

today also ridden by fundamentalists,they defy systematically the will

expressed in United Nations resolutions. They defy generations of work

for world rule of law.

Iraq suffers from the same syndrome, seeing itself as chosen by History

and the Arab nation, for suffering and redemption. And Iraq itself broke

international law August 1990.

So we are against any Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and in favor of

UN inspection and control. But that applies in the Middle East not only

to Iraq, but also to Israel.

And we are in favor of regime change in Iraq if the people of Iraq

should wish so in free and fair elections, supervised by appropriate

election monitoring. But that applies also to the

USA, badly in need of international monitoring to guarantee free and

fair elections to elect, not select, a president.

There is a formula for peace: equality, equity, symmetry. Equality for

the law is one expression of this. Any country, any people that think

they are above the law is a threat to peace. In their own interest step

down before others force you to do so.

We are against war in Iraq mainly to satisfy the unsatiable greed of

the present US regime for oil and pipe-lines, like in Kosovo, like in

Afghanistan. We hail Gerhard Schröder, the only Western statesman to

stand up and say what most of them think: not with us. And like him I

say this because I love the USA as much as I hate its foreign policy: as

a friend, whose duty it is to warn when his friend errs. Today we are

all Germans.

A Conference for Security and Cooperation in the Middle East with

Israel-Palestine, Iraq and Kurdistan on the agenda is the way There is

a clear model: the Helsinki Conference 1973-75. And an actor: the

gigantic East-West peace movement, the civil society. The

European Union now has an historical chance to play a similar role for

peace, taking the initiative to a Middle East conference.

Moderates all over the world, unite - in a gigantic North-South peace

movement! You have only your fundamentalists to lose.

TRANSCEND PEACE UNIVERSITY:

A DREAM COMING TRUE

Some Welcoming Words

By Johan Galtung, Rector, TPU

On February 3 2003 TPU opens with six 15-weeks courses,

Conflict Transformation by Peaceful Means; Nonmilitary Aspects of

Security; Global Conflicts and Nonviolence; Peacebuilding and

Empowerment; Peace Journalism; The Roles of Arts in Peace-Building

Please consult www.transcend.org/tpu, or write tpu@transcend.org.

Registration by 23/01/03. TRANSCEND in general: www.transcend.org.

But now, let us focus on the future of this dream coming true!

And please give us advice, more of this, less of that etc. We are

entering fairly unexplored territory so we need your help.

The general purpose so far is to provide people who work for

peace by peaceful means, development by developmental means and

environment by environmental means with more knowledge and skills.

Thus, at the present stage our primary concern is to be useful to

practitioners of all kinds and ages; including students. Later on

TPU will also launch more theoretical courses in peace, conflict

and development theory, preparing participants for MA and higher

level, all the time combining our on-line and on-site courses.

The next batch of six courses will be launched this coming

September and will probably include Reconciliation; Peace

Operations; Peace Business; Peace Zones; Deep Culture; Dialogue.

Possibly the first six courses will be repeated, meaning we will

be offering a dozen courses. Hopefully; I am sharing with you our

visions. There is a lot of work behind all this so do not be

surprised if there are some changes.

And there are other courses now being conceived, close to

birth. Maybe within five years fifty courses? Qui vivra, verra!

So let us continue hoping and visioning. To start with, all

these courses are offered in English; and we shall continue doing

so, from TRANSCEND International. But TRANSCEND has already

national chapters in Japan, Rumania, Austria, Canada and Norway

(possibly adding Korea, Denmark, Russia, USA, Germany, Spain). And

regional chapters for Central America, South America, South Asia,

Southeast Asia are being developed. Our hope is within five years

to be able to offer courses in a score languages; not all courses

in all, but many in some - with plenty of national variations.

Ambitious? Certainly. TPU will give substance to that ambition.

We live in a world where governments desperately defend their

monopoly on violence, fighting wars by belligerent means. And the

NGO opposition is often limited to a language with one word: NO!

Important, but not good enough. We are among those who show both

government and non-governments that there are so many other

possibilities, so much that should, must, can be done. If you are

looking for "peace by belligerent means", do not try TPU. If you

are looking for analysis and critique only, do not try TPU. But

if you are looking for constructive, well thought-out

alternatives, based on analysis and experience, come to TPU.

And help us make a dream come true.

Registration fee is E500, payable in full to participate.

TRANSCEND PEACE UNIVERSITY GLOBAL CENTER

Web-site: www.transcend.org/tpu

E-mail: < tpu@transcend.org >

Tel: +40- 744-776-797

Fax: +40-264-180-988

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Læs også

2) “Another World Is Possible”, But Only If We Act Together!

http://www.arnehansen.net/030112Galtung-Moderate-foren-jer.htm

3) Globalisation And Europe-Asia: Risks And Opportunities

19.09.02Globalisering - Europa og Asiens muligheder http://www.arnehansen.net/030112Galtung-Glob-Europa-Asia.htm

TRANSCEND

web-site at www.transcend.org .