HRVATSKI Mirotvorni pokret

HRVATSKI Mirotvorni pokret

Hrvatski mirotvorni pokret

1. Hrvatska utnja: Nemogunost istupa u Hrvatskoj, NYT i IHT, Foreign Affairs

2. Europska krivica i hrvatsko sjeanje

3. Od banalnosti zla do banalnosti povrnosti i bahatosti

6. Eichmann and the 'Banality of Evil'

Published in the same year as On Revolution, Arendt's book about the Eichmann trial presents both a continuity with her previous works, but also a change in emphasis that would continue to the end of her life. This work marks a shift in her concerns from the nature of political action, to a concern with the faculties that underpin it - the interrelated activities of thinking and judging.

She controversially uses the phrase 'the banality of evil' to characterize Eichmann's actions as a member of the Nazi regime, in particular his role as chief architect and executioner of Hitler's genocidal 'final solution' (Endlosung) for the 'Jewish problem'. Her characterization of these actions, so obscene in their nature and consequences, as 'banal' is not meant to position them as workaday. Rather it is meant to contest the prevalent depictions of the Nazi's inexplicable atrocities as having emanated from a malevolent will to do evil, a delight in murder. As far as Arendt could discern, Eichmann came to his willing involvement with the program of genocide through a failure or absence of the faculties of sound thinking and judgement. From Eichmann's trial in Jerusalem (where he had been brought after Israeli agents found him in hiding in Argentina), Arendt concluded that far from exhibiting a malevolent hatred of Jews which could have accounted psychologically for his participation in the Holocaust, Eichmann was an utterly innocuous individual. He operated unthinkingly, following orders, efficiently carrying them out, with no consideration of their effects upon those he targeted. The human dimension of these activities were not entertained, so the extermination of the Jews became indistinguishable from any other bureaucratically assigned and discharged responsibility for Eichmann and his cohorts.

Arendt concluded that Eichmann was constitutively incapable of exercising the kind of judgement that would have made his victims' suffering real or apparent for him. It was not the presence of hatred that enabled Eichmann to perpetrate the genocide, but the absence of the imaginative capacities that would have made the human and moral dimensions of his activities tangible for him. Eichmann failed to exercise his capacity of thinking, of having an internal dialogue with himself, which would have permitted self-awareness of the evil nature of his deeds. This amounted to a failure to use self-reflection as a basis for judgement, the faculty that would have required Eichmann to exercise his imagination so as to contemplate the nature of his deeds from the experiential standpoint of his victims. This connection between the complicity with political evil and the failure of thinking and judgement inspired the last phase of Arendt's work, which sought to explicate the nature of these faculties and their constitutive role for politically and morally responsible choices.

23. veljaca 2005

Slobodan Lang: Banalnost povrnosti dosadanje zdravstvene politike

ZAGREB - U Stajalitima od 17. veljae kao lijenik, politiar i lan Nacionalnog zdravstvenog vijea iznio sam to treba initi ministar zdravstva. Traio sam hrabrost da se u Hrvatskoj nastavi pruati medicinsku pomo na temelju zdravstvenih potreba a ne prema mogunosti plaanja.

Ocjenjujui zdravstvo nadstranakim ali vodeim pitanjem ope politike i dobrobiti graana, predloio sam da se provede cjelovit uvid u stanje i mogunosti, uz sudjelovanje to veeg broja strunjaka, praktiara, gospodarstvenika i graana. A nakon cjelovite analize i provedene javne rasprave, da Hrvatski sabor usvoji strateke ciljeve zdravlja i zdravstvene zatite, naina organizacije i financiranja.

to je ministar dosad radioU Nedjeljnom Vjesniku od 20. veljae objavljen je "razgovor s Andrijom Hebrangom: to sve eka njegova nasljednika" pod naslovom "Konsenzus stranaka o reformi zdravstva ili bankrot".U obrazlaganju takva stanja prof. Hebrang navodi vie uzroka, meu kojima i sljedee: da "trokovi stalno novih metoda poskupljuju deset posto svake godine, a na BND raste samo etiri posto, te nam svake godine fali pedeset posto sredstava; da se participacija, ovisno o imovinskom stanju a ne plai i mirovini, primjenjuje u svim modernim zdravstvenim sustavima; loe zakonodavstvo i dugovi Raanove vlade; organizacijska nespretnost HZZO-a; ucjene proizvoaa i dobavljaa lijekova; korumpirajui letovi trideset ravnatelja na rukometna prvenstva; trideset do etrdeset posto falsificiranja, ukradenog u obraunu plaa..."On smatra da treba smjenjivati ravnatelje, ali "za to nema volje gdje postoje najee stranake, koalicijske, rodbinske, prijateljske i druge veze."to je ministar radio dosad? Kad je stanje tako teko, kako je mogao preuzeti i druge, i to kljune dunosti u Vladi? Zato nije prije na to upozorio? Zato nije pozvao na suradnju strunjake i zastupnike? Zato smo dva mjeseca ekali novog ministra?DC je lan koalicije ove vlade i preuzeo je izravnu odgovornost na tekom podruju (pravosue). Od samog smo poetka ministru Hebrangu dali na znanje da narodno zdravlje i zdravstvo smatramo vanim podrujem odgovornosti cijele vlade i da elimo suraivati na tom podruju. Niti stranka niti ja kao strunjak za javno zdravstvo nismo niti jedanput bili pozvani da nas se informira, pita, predloi, trai suradnju-bilo to!

Plitka i brzopleta rjeenjaIstodobno, duboko svjesni vanosti narodnoga zdravlja sudjelovali smo u odravanju Prvog hrvatskog kongresa preventivne medicine i unapreenja zdravlja, u pokretanju Hrvatskog asopisa za javno zdravstvo i prikazu alternativa razvoja hrvatskog zdravlja i zdravstva. Upozorili smo na kljuna pitanja demografskog zdravlja, na opasnosti od droge meu mladima i na potrebu uvoenja u kole predmeta o zdravlju.Osudili smo olako smjenjivanje i kvalificiranje uglednih strunjaka i neprihvatljivo, neobrazloeno smjenjivanjedvadeset uglednih intelektualaca Vladina Bioetikog povjerenstva. Vratili smo u javnost Sveuilinu bolnicu i traili aktivno meunarodno humanitarno sudjelovanje. Ovih je dana DC ocijenio da Hrvatska drava nema kontrolu nad vanim podrujem medicinski potpomognute oplodnje ' te je pristupio izradi prijedloga zakonskog rjeenja.Dosadanjuzdravstvenu politiku obiljeava banalnost povrnosti,nezainteresiranost i redukcionizam. Sada se olako ocjenjuje, plitko analizira i brzopleto predlau rjeenja. Takvo ponaanje nije izraz ni gluposti ni zloe odgovornih. Uzrok je u nedovoljnomrazmiljanju, suradnji i davanju vanosti narodnom zdravlju i hrvatskom zdravstvu. Standardne fraze, impresioniranje podacima, prijetnje, kvalificiranje i smjenjivanje nisu nain voenja dobre zdravstvene politike.

Nadstranako okupljanje za hrvatsko zdravstvoNai ljudi ive teko, meu nama mnogo je siromanih, stalno smo izvrgnuti kriminalnim aferama, esto nedolinim ponaanju politiara, samoubojstvima branitelja i alosnim povredama nacionalnog i ljudskog dostojanstva. U takvoj situaciji teko je oekivati pozornost graana u zahtjevu za kvalitetnu zdravstvenu politiku, ali molim one koji vole svoju djecu, roditelje i branog druga da razmisle o tome i to javno trae.Kao lijenik i politiar zaotrio sam prikaz dosadanjeg rada i razlike u predloenim stavovima. Bankrot sustava ili pad vlade ucjena je, a ne prihvatljiv dogovor. DC ne prihvaa olako stranaka dogovaranja o prenoenju tereta u zdravstvu na pacijente i graane.Zdravstvo je nadstranako podruje i zahtijeva cjelovito razmatranje, javnu raspravu i koritenje svih resursa u rjeavanju. DC poziva na nadstranako okupljanje za zdravlje i zdravstvo u Hrvatskoj. to se tie planova, uvijek u se baviti brigom za zdravlje i javno dobro. Toliko toga treba jo uiniti.Autor je lijenik, lan Nacionalnoga zdravstvenoga vijea, predsjednik Glavnoga odbora DC-a.

Izvor: Vjesnik

Autor: Slobodan Lang

4. Potreba sada: Bliski Istok

5. Prekid povijesti vlast politike

6. Temelj za 21. stoljee Mir, nenasilje, dobro.

7. Iskustvo 20. stoljea 100 godinji rat, sukob nasilja i nenasilja

8. Hrvatska ponos i dostojanstvo vlastitosti: odnos u sebi, miljenje drugih,

ponuda vlastitih mogunosti, stavovi o globalnim pitanjima.

9. Hrvatsko nasljee: meusobna podijeljenost i nerazumijevanje sve do podcjenjivanja, odbacivanja i sukoba. Nerazumijevanje u svijetu, ne iskazivanje iz Hrvatske.

10. Pisanje povijesti: World History, European History, 20th Century, Nakon 1945, Dunanov san. Tek 50 godina kasnije. Akademija, Sveuilite, Matica.

11. Oblici, uzroci, i razlozi dananjih Hrvatskih podjela.

12. Savjetnik, suradnik i partner Tumana

13. Nema svjetskog mirotvorca nakon Ivana Pavla II Stanje Hrvatske

14. Sukobi na bliskom istoku

15. Hrvatska sada: Haag, Pristupanje Europi, Ocjenjivanje, Podijeljenost Poslunost. Izostavljeno iskustvo Ulaenje u Europu, suenje, usklaivanje, poslunost, ne unoenje bogatstva

16. Postojei Izvori: CMJ, Medicina, ene, Prognanici, Dnevnici i akcije, HJZ, Pruena ruka

17. Narod je branio dravu: glasanje - referendum, stradanje (ubijeno, invalidi, prognani, okupirano, silovano, zarobljeno) obrana, ene, lijenici, kulturni radnici, iseljenici, stranci, duhovno, Tuman.

18. Akcije:

19. idovi,

20. Kosovo,

21. Prije rata (Deklaracija, Petrova Gora, 14 kongres)

22. SAD (posjeti, pismo, Harvard, akcija u Mostaru).

23. Svijea

24. Libertas,

25. Mostar

26. Bijeli Put

27. Banja Luka

28. Spasimo ivot

29. Povratak u Kladuu

30. Jasenovac

31. Neuspjelo: Godinji koncert, logori, bolnice, konferencija CK

32. Zid Boli.

33. Teorijska mudrost: IPU, Council of Europe, Harvard, Zdravi Gradovi, Britanski lijenici, Zavodi,

34. Teorijski koncept prije rata

35. Vlastiti pristup: izvori (Gandhi, Buber, King, Tolstoj, HSS?) rizici (logori, etniko ienje, ubijanje, razaranje, bolnice, mrnja, genocid. Pojedinano obrazloiti. Akcije, pristup konceptu na Harvardu, Ranjeni Krist. Nenasilja

The 1930 Salt March

Gandhi began a new campaign in 1930, the Salt Satyagraha. Gandhi and his followers set off on a 200-mile journey from Ashram Ahmedabad to the Arabian Ocean where Gandhi wanted to pick up a few grains of salt. This action formed the symbolic focal point of a campaign of civil disobedience in which the state monopoly on salt was the first target. Prior to the beginning of the action, Gandhi sent a letter to the Lord Lieutenant "Dear Friend (...) Whilst, therefore, I hold the British rule to be a curse, I do not intend harm to a single Englishman or to any legitimate interest he may have in India (...) My ambition is nothing less than to bring round the English people through non-violence to recognize the injustice they have done to India. I do not intend to be offensive to your people. Indeed, I would like to serve your people as I would my own (...)."

Yet the Lord Lieutenant didn't even reply personally to his letter. Gandhi held his last prayer meeting on the evening of the 11th of March 1930. "There can be no turning back for us hereafter. We will keep on our fight till swaraj is established in India. Those of them that are married should take leave of their wives. We are as good as parting from the Ashram and from our homes.--- Let nobody assume that after I am arrested there will be no one left to guide them. It is not I but Pandit Jawaharlal who is your guide. He has the capacity to lead."

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It was hoped that this action would spread across India. Wherever possible, civil disobedience was to be used to counter the salt laws. It was illegal to manufacture salt, regardless of the location. The possession and trading of smuggled salt (natural salt or salt earth) was also illegal. Anyone caught selling smuggled salt was liable to prosecution. To collect salt from the natural deposits at the coast was also illegal.

Gandhi had a large group of well-trained Satyagrahi available to him; as well trained in observation as they were in spreading propaganda among the masses. They were bound by a joint pledge and by the principles of the "Ashram in Exodus", which encompassed three points: prayer, spinning and keeping a diary. They wore uniform clothing (a sort of Khaki uniform) and wore the headwear of prisoners.

After a 24-hour long march to the Indian Ocean, Gandhi picked up a few pieces of salt - a signal to the rest of the sub-continent to do the same. This raw material was carried inland before being processed on the roofs of houses in pans and then sold. Over 50,000 Indians were imprisoned for breaking the salt laws. The entire protest was carried out almost without violence. Indeed, it was this that annoyed the police.

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A report from the English journalist, Webb Miller, who witnessed one of the clashes, has become a classic description of the way in which Satyagraha was carried out at the forefront of the battle lines. 2,500 volunteers advanced on the salt works of Dhrasana:

"Gandhi's men advanced in complete silence before stopping about one-hundred meters before the cordon. A selected team broke away from the main group, waded through the ditch and neared the barbed-wire fence. (...) Receiving the signal, a large group of local police officers suddenly moved towards the advancing protestors and subjected them to a hail of blows to the head delivered from steel-covered Lathis (truncheons). None of the protesters raised so much as an arm to protect themselves against the barrage of blows. They fell to the ground like pins in a bowling alley. From where I was standing I could hear the nauseating sound of truncheons impacting against unprotected skulls. The waiting main group moaned and drew breath sharply at each blow. Those being subjected to the onslaught fell to the ground quickly writhing unconsciously or with broken shoulders (...). The main group, which had been spared until now, began to march in a quiet and determined way forwards and were met with the same fate. They advanced in a uniform manner with heads raised - without encouragement through music or battle cries and without being given the opportunity to avoid serious injury or even death. The police attacked repeatedly and the second group were also beaten to the ground. There was no fight, no violence; the marchers simply advanced until they themselves were knocked down. (...)"

Following their action, the men in uniform, who obviously felt unprotected with all their superior equipment of violence, could think of nothing better to do than that which seems to overcome uniformed men in similar situations as a sort of "natural" impulse: If they were unable to break the skulls of all the protesters, they now set about kicking and aiming their blows at the genitals of the helpless on the ground. "For hour upon hour endless numbers of motionless, bloody bodies were carried away on stretchers", according to Webb Miller.

What did the Satyagrahi achieve? Neither were the salt works taken, nor was the Salt Act in its entirety formally lifted. But the world began to realize that this was not the point. The Salt Satyagraha had demonstrated to the world the almost flawless use of a new instrument of peaceful militancy.

[Taken from: Gnther Gugel, Wir werden nicht weichen. Erfahrungen mit Gewaltfreiheit. Eine praxisorientierte Einfhrung, Verein fr Friedenspdagogik e.V., Tbingen 1996, 51ff.]

The Salt March To Dandi

The Salt Tax

After proclaiming the Declaration of Independence of India on January 26, 1930, Mahatma Gandhi came to an impasse in his political career focused on freeing India from British rule. A new anti-government campaign was imperative for achieving the secularization of India for its people; it remained unclear, however, to Gandhi what form was most appropriate for this campaign to take (Sheean 152; 156-7). During the period that followed in which he could find "no light at the end of the tunnel,"; it became apparent to Gandhi that non-violent civil disobedience would form the basis for any ensuing protest (Sheean 152; 156-7). Beginning in February 1930, Gandhi's thoughts swayed towards the British salt tax, one of many economic improprieties used to generate revenue to support British rule, as the focal point of non-violent political protest (Ashe 301). The British monopoly on the salt tax in India dictated that the sale or production of salt by anyone but the British government was a criminal offense punishable by law (Ashe 301). Moreso than in more temperate climates, salt was invaluable to the people of India, many of whom were agricultural laborers and required the mineral for metabolism in an environment of immense heat and humidity where sweating was profuse. Occurring throughout low-lying coastal zones of India, salt was readily accessible to laborers who were instead forced to pay money for a mineral which they could easily collect themselves for free (Jack 235). Moreover, Gandhi's choice met the important criterion of appealing across regional, class, and ethnic boundaries. Everyone needed salt, and the British taxes on it had an impact on all of India. Led by an "inner voice" during this period of strategical uncertainty, Gandhi used the British Government's monopoly of the salt tax as a catalyst for a major "Satyagraha" campaign (Copley 46-8). One of Gandhi's principal concepts, "satyagraha" goes beyond mere "passive resistance"; by adding the Sanskrit word "Agraha" (resolution) to "Satya" (Truth). For him, it was crucial that Satyagrahis found strength in their non-violent methods:

Truth (Satya) implies Love, and Firmness (Agraha) engenders and therefore serves as a synonym for force ... that is to say, the Force which is born of Truth and Love or Non-violence.... [If] we are Satyagrahis and offer Satyagraha, beleveing ourselves to be strong ... we grow stronger and stronger everyday. With our increase in strngth, our Stayagraha too becomes more effective, and we would never be casting about for an opportunity to give it up. (Gandhi 87)

Choosing the salt tax as an injustice to the people of India was considered an ingenious choice by critic Judith Brown (1977) because every peasant and every aristocrat understood the necessity of salt in everyday life (Copley 46-8). It was also a good choice because it did not alienate Congress moderates while simultaneously being an issue of enough importance to mobilize a mass following (Copley 46-8).

The March

In an effort to amend the salt tax without breaking the law, on March 2, 1930 Gandhi wrote to the Viceroy, Lord Irwin:

If my letter makes no appeal to your heart, on the eleventh day of this month I shall proceed with such co-workers of the Ashram as I can take, to disregard the provisions of the Salt Laws. I regard this tax to be the most iniquitous of all from the poor man's standpoint. As the Independence movement is essentially for the poorest in the land, the beginning will be made with this evil.

On March 12, 1930, Gandhi and approximately 78 male satyagrahis set out, on foot, for the coastal village of Dandi some 240 miles from their starting point in Sabarmati, a journey which was to last 23 days (Jack 237). Virtually every resident of each city along this journey watched the great procession, which was at least two miles in length (Jack 237). On April 6th he picked up a lump of mud and salt (some say just a pinch, some say just a grain) and boiled it in seawater to make the commodity which no Indian could legally produce--salt (Jack 240).

Upon arriving at the seashore he spoke to a reporter: God be thanked for what may be termed the happy ending of the first stage in this, for me at least, the final struggle of freedom. I cannot withhold my compliments from the government for the policy of complete non interference adopted by them throughout the march .... I wish I could believe this non-interference was due to any real change of heart or policy. The wanton disregard shown by them to popular feeling in the Legislative Assembly and their high-handed action leave no room for doubt that the policy of heartless exploitation of India is to be persisted in at any cost, and so the only interpretation I can put upon this non-interference is that the British Government, powerful though it is, is sensitive to world opinion which will not tolerate repression of extreme political agitation which civil disobedience undoubtedly is, so long as disobedience remains civil and therefore necessarily non-violent .... It remains to be seen whether the Government will tolerate as they have tolerated the march, the actual breach of the salt laws by countless people from tomorrow. I expect extensive popular response to the resolution of the Working Committee (of the Indian National Congress). (qtd in Jack 238-239)

He implored his thousands of followers to begin to make salt wherever, along the seashore, "was most convenient and comfortable" to them. A "war" on the salt tax was to be continued during the National Week, that is, up to the thirteenth of April. There was also simultaneous boycotts of cloth and khaddar. Salt was sold, illegally, all over the seacoast of India. A pinch of salt from Gandhi himself sold for 1,600 rupees, perhaps $750 dollars at the time. In reaction to this, the British government had incarcerated over sixty thousand people at the end of the month (Jack 240-3; all of last paragraph).

On the night of May, 4 Gandhi was sleeping in a cot under a mango tree, at a village near Dandi. Several ashramites slept near him. Soon after midnight the District Magistrate of Surat drove up with two Indian officers and thirty heavily-armed constables. He woke Gandhi by shining a torch in his face, and arrested him under a regulation of 1827.

Aftermath

The effects of the salt march were felt across India. Thousands of people made salt, or bought illegal salt. This period is to be considered the apex of Gandhi's political appeal, as the march mobilized many new follwers from all of Indian society and the march came to the world's attention. After Gandhi's release from prison he continued to work towards Indian independence, which was achieved in August, 1947, but Dandi was a key turning point in that struggle.

Works Cited

Ashe, Geoffrey. Gandhi: A Study In Revolution. London: Heineman Ltd., 1968.

Copley, Anthony. Gandhi: Against the Tide. Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd., 1987.

Gandhi, Mohandas K. "Victory in South Africa." in The Essential Gandhi. Ed. Louis Fischer. New York: Vintage, 1962. 84-111.

Jack, Homer A. The Gandhi Reader: A Source Book of His Life and Writings. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1956.

Sheean, Vincent. Mahatma Gandhi: A Great Life In Brief. New York: A. Knopf, Inc., 1955

Image sources:

http://www.nuvs.com/ashram/gallery/index.html http://www.nuvs.com/ashram/gallery/02.html

Author: Scott Graham, Spring '98.

Links within this site

Postcolonial Studies at Emory

Introduction Authors Theorists Terms & Issues

(Image of an "Homme Carrefour" from Donald J. Cosentino's Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou [Los Angeles: UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, 1995].)

Re-enactment in 2005

To commemorate the Great Salt March, the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation proposed a re-enactment on the 75th anniversary. The event was known as the "International Walk for Peace, Justice and Freedom." Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson Tushar Gandhi and several hundred fellow marchers followed the same route to Dandi and planned to take a similar amount of time to walk it. The start of the march on March 12, 2005 in Ahmedabad was attended by Sonia Gandhi (no familial relations), Chairperson of the National Advisory Council, as well as nearly half of the Indian cabinet, many of whom walked for the first few kilometres. The commemoration ended on April 7, with the participants finally halting at Dandi on the night of April 5.

Background

Tax resistance

Central topics

Civil Disobedience (Thoreau)Conscientious objection to military taxationHistory of tax resistanceReligious Freedom Peace Tax Fund ActTax resistance Tax resistersThe Cold War and the Income Tax: A Protest

Organizations

National Campaign for a Peace Tax FundNational War Tax Resistance Coordinating CommitteeNorthern California War Tax ResistancePeacemakersWomen's Tax Resistance League

Campaigns

Beit Sahour Champaran and Kheda SatyagrahaSalt Satyagraha

Related topics

Christian anarchism Civil disobedienceConscientious objection Direct actionDivestment Economic secessionNonviolent resistance Peace churchesReligious Society of FriendsTax avoidance and tax evasionTax protesters Underground economy

edit this box

At midnight on December 31, 1929, the Indian National Congress unfurled the flag of independence on the banks of Ravi at Lahore. The Indian National Congress, led by Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, issued the Declaration of Independence on January 26, 1930. The Congress placed the responsibility of initiating civil disobedience on the All India Congress Committee. This campaign also had to achieve the secularization of India, uniting Hindus and Muslims. Mahatma Gandhi was convinced that non-violent civil disobedience would form the basis for any subsequent protest.

Beginning in February, Mahatma's thoughts swayed towards the British tax on salt, one of many economic means used to generate revenue that supported British colonial rule. Gandhi decided to make the salt tax the focal point of non-violent political protest. The British monopoly on the salt trade in India dictated that the sale or production of salt by anyone but the British government was a criminal offense punishable by law. Salt was readily accessible to labourers in the coastal area, but they were instead forced to pay money for a mineral which they could easily collect themselves for free. Gandhi's choice met the important criterion of appealing across regional, class, religious, and ethnic boundaries. Everyone needed salt, and the British taxes on it had an impact on all of India.

On February 5, newspapers reported that Gandhi would begin civil disobedience by defying the salt laws.

Led by an inner voice during this period of strategic uncertainty, Gandhi used the British Government's salt tax as a catalyst for a major satyagraha campaign.

One of Gandhi's principal concepts, "satyagraha" goes beyond mere "passive resistance"; by adding the Sanskrit word "Agraha" (persuasion) to "Satya" (Truth). For him, it was crucial that Satyagrahis found strength in their non-violent methods:

"Truth (Satya) implies Love, and Firmness (Agraha) engenders and therefore serves as a synonym for force that is to say, the Force which is born of Truth and Love or Non-violence [If] we are Satyagrahis and offer Satyagraha, believing ourselves to be strong we grow stronger and stronger everyday. With our increase in strength, our Satyagraha too becomes more effective, and we would never be casting about for an opportunity to give it up." --Gandhi

Protesting the salt tax as an injustice to the people of India was an ingenious choice because every peasant and every aristocrat understood the necessity of salt in everyday life. It was also a good choice because it did not alienate Congress moderates while simultaneously being an issue of enough importance to mobilize a mass following.

[edit]

The March

In an effort to amend the salt tax without breaking the law, on March 2, 1930 Gandhi wrote to the Viceroy, Lord Irwin: "If my letter makes no appeal to your heart, on the eleventh day of this month I shall proceed with such co-workers of the Ashram as I can take, to disregard the provisions of the Salt Laws. I regard this tax to be the most iniquitous of all from the poor man's standpoint. As the Independence movement is essentially for the poorest in the land, the beginning will be made with this evil."

Gandhi on the Salt March

On March 12, 1930, Gandhi and approximately 78 male satyagrahis set out, on foot, for the coastal village of Dandi, Gujarat, some 240 miles from their starting point in Sabarmati, a journey which was to last 23 days. Virtually every resident of each city along this journey watched the great procession, which was at least two hundred miles in length. On April 6th, Gandhi raised a lump of mud and salt (some say just a pinch, some say just a grain) and declared, "With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire." He then boiled it in seawater to make the commodity which no Indian could legally producesalt.

Upon arriving at the seashore he spoke to a reporter: "God be thanked for what may be termed the happy ending of the first stage in this, for me at least, the final struggle of freedom. I cannot withhold my compliments from the government for the policy of complete non interference adopted by them throughout the march .... I wish I could believe this non-interference was due to any real change of heart or policy. The wanton disregard shown by them to popular feeling in the Legislative Assembly and their high-handed action leave no room for doubt that the policy of heartless exploitation of India is to be persisted in at any cost, and so the only interpretation I can put upon this non-interference is that the British Government, powerful though it is, is sensitive to world opinion which will not tolerate repression of extreme political agitation which civil disobedience undoubtedly is, so long as disobedience remains civil and therefore necessarily non-violent .... It remains to be seen whether the Government will tolerate as they have tolerated the march, the actual breach of the salt laws by countless people from tomorrow. I expect extensive popular response to the resolution of the Working Committee (of the Indian National Congress)."

Mahatma Gandhi and Sarojini Naidu during the March

He implored his thousands of followers to begin to make salt wherever, along the seashore, "was most convenient and comfortable" to them. A "war" on the salt tax was to be continued during the National Week, that is, up to the thirteenth of April. There was also a simultaneous boycott of British made cloth/goods. Salt was sold, "illegally", all over the seacoast of India. A pinch of salt from Gandhi himself sold for 1,600 rupees, perhaps $750 dollars at the time. In reaction to this, the British government had incarcerated over sixty thousand people at the end of the month.

In Peshawar the satyagraha was led by a Muslim Pashto disciple of Gandhi's, Ghaffar Khan. Ghaffar Khan had trained an army of non-violent activists, called Khudai Khitmatgar. On April 23, 1930, Ghaffar Khan was arrested. A crowd of Khudai Khitmatgar gathered in Peshawar's Kissa Khani [Storytellers] Bazaar. The British opened fire on the unarmed crowd and shot hundreds of Khudai Khitmatgar and other demonstrators. One British Indian Army regiment refused to fire at the crowds. According to some accounts, the crowd acted in accord with their training in non-violence. As people in the front fell, those behind came forward to expose themselves to the firing. The shooting continued from 11 AM until 5 PM.

On the night of May 4th, Gandhi was sleeping in a cot under a mango tree, at a village near Dandi. Several ashramites slept near him. Soon after midnight the District Magistrate of Surat drove up with two Indian officers and thirty heavily-armed constables. He woke Gandhi by shining a torch in his face, and arrested him under a regulation of 1827.

[edit]

Aftermath

Gandhi at a public rally during the Salt Satyagraha.

The effects of the salt march were felt across India. Thousands of people made salt, or bought illegal salt. As the march mobilized many new followers from all of Indian society, it came to the world's attention. Thus, tens of thousands of Indians were arrested for buying and selling salt illegally; however, the Viceroy ordered his troops to arrest Gandhi last. After Gandhi's release from prison, he continued to work towards Indian independence, which was achieved in August, 1947. Dandi was a key turning point in that struggle.

Biographies of Peacemakers

Here you find links to websites for a selected collection of 'Peacemakers.' This biography page is a companion section to the Peacemakers project at eduScapes 42explore. There you can find hundreds of other 42explore projects . . . or you can go directly to the Topic Index or Subject Index.

Index of Peacemaker Biographies

Heroines of Peace: The Nine Nobel Women from Nobel eMuseum

http://www.nobel.se/peace/articles/heroines/index.html#anchor37685

Here you find biographies of the nine women who have been awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.

Other Peacemaker Index Sites:

2) Learn About the Nobel Peace Laureates from PeaceJam

http://peacejam.org:8001/peacejam/laureates.shtml

3) Peace Heroes from Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

http://www.wagingpeace.org/hero/index2.html

4) Peacemakers from My Hero http://www.myhero.com/peacemakers/peacemakers_content.asp

Biographies of Peacemakers

Jane Addams Hull-House Museum

http://www.uic.edu/jaddams/hull/hull_house.html

The Museum, owned and operated by the University of Illinois at Chicago, is a historic site and memorial to Jane Addams, her innovative settlement house programs and associates, and the neighborhood they served.

Related Websites:

2) Introduction to an Exhibit of Photographs of Jane Addams, Her Family, and Hull-House

http://www.swarthmore.edu/Library/peace/Exhibits/jane.addams/addams.index.htm

3) Jane Addams http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAaddams.htm

4) Jane Addams from Women in History http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/adda-jan.htm

5) Jane Addams Biography from The Nobel Foundation

http://www.nobel.se/peace/laureates/1931/addams-bio.html

Emily Greene Balch: The First Quaker Nobel Peace Prize Winner by I. Abrams

http://www.irwinabrams.com/articles/balch.html

This essay on the third woman to win a Nobel Peace Price appeared in the December

1996 issue of Friends Journal.

Other Websites for Emily Greene Balch:

2) Emily Greene Balch Biography from Nobel eMuseum

http://www.nobel.se/peace/laureates/1946/balch-bio.html

3) Emily Green Balch: Peacemaker Hero http://www.myhero.com/hero.asp?hero=emilybalch

Jimmy Carter Library and Museum in Atlanta, Georgia, National Archives and Records Administration

http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.org/

This website has information about Jimmy Carter, his presidency, and career.

Other Carter Websites:

2) Biography of James Earl Carter (1924 -) from The American Revolution

http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/P/jc39/about/jecbio.htm

3) James Earl Carter, Jr. from Infoplease http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0760623.html

4) James Earl Carter, Jr. from POTUS http://www.ipl.org/ref/POTUS/jecarter.html

5) James Earl Carter: Peacemaker Hero http://www.myhero.com/hero.asp?hero=j_carter

6) Jimmy Carter http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/jc39.html

His Holiness The Dalai Lama from the The Government of Tibet in Exile

http://www.tibet.com/DL/

This is a great site to begin research on the life and work of the Dalai Lama.

Other Links for the Dalai Lama:

2) 14th Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso) Biography from The Nobel Foundation

http://www.nobel.se/peace/laureates/1989/lama-bio.html

3) Dalai Lama and His Government in Exile by J.R. Stanmeyer

http://www.s2f.com/stanmeyer/dalai/dalai.html

4) Dalai Lama on China, Hatred, and Optimism with R. Thurman for Mother Jones

http://www.motherjones.com/mother_jones/ND97/thurman.html

5) His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet http://hhdl.dharmakara.net/

6) His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama http://www.dalailama.com/

7) His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet from TibetNet http://www.tibet.net/eng/hhdl/

8) Dalai Lama: Winner of the 1989 Nobel Prize in Peace http://almaz.com/nobel/peace/1989a.html

9) Private Dalai Lama by R. Gluckman http://www.gluckman.com/DalaiLama.html

10) Tenzin Gyatso: The 14th Dalai Lama from Lucid Interactive

http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96jul/dalailama.html

Nickole's Home Page

http://www.y2kyouth.org/nickole/

'How one person can make a difference!'

Related Websites:

2) Nickole Evans: Peacemaker Hero http://www.myhero.com/hero.asp?hero=NickoleEvans

3) Nickole Evans http://www.youthlink.org/us/council_members.php#nickole_evans

4) Nickole Evans at Your True Hero

http://www.yourtruehero.org/content/hero/view_hero.asp?14169

Adolfo Prez Esquivel from The Nobel Foundation

http://www.nobel.se/peace/laureates/1980/esquivel-bio.html

Learn about the Argentine advocate for peace.

Other Websites on Adolfo Prez Esquivel:

2) Curriculum for PeaceJam with Adolfo Prez Esquivel

http://peacejam.org:8001/peacejam/adolfo/

3) Opening the Doors of Hope in the New Millennium by A.P. Esquivel at Letters to

Future Generations http://www.unesco.org/opi2/lettres/TextAnglais/PEsquivelE.html

4) Presentation by Adolfo Prez Esquivel, June 5, 1998

http://www.afsc.org/cuba/esquivle.htm

Official Mahatma Gandhi eArchieve

http://www.mahatma.org.in/

This website contains writings, biography, and an autobiography.

Some Other Gandhi Websites:

2) Mahatma Gandhi: Freedom Hero http://www.myhero.com/hero.asp?hero=gandhi_ul

3) Mahatma Gandhi: His Life, Work, and Philosophy http://www.mkgandhi.org/

4) Mahatma Gandhi: Indian Spiritual/Political Leader and Humanitarian from Lucid

Interactive http://www2.lucidcafe.com/lucidcafe/library/95oct/mkgandhi.html

5) Mahtma Gandhi: Peacemaker Hero http://www.myhero.com/hero.asp?hero=gandhi

6) The Man - The Mahatma (Silver Award, 1999 ThinkQuest Internet Challenge)

http://library.thinkquest.org/26523/main.htm

7) Sacred Warrior by N. Mandela from Time

http://www.time.com/time/time100/poc/magazine/the_sacred_warrior13a.html

King Center

http://www.thekingcenter.org/

The Center is dedicated to the advancement of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., leader of Americas greatest nonviolent movement for justice, equality and peace.

Other Websites for Dr. King:

2) Martin Luther King from eduScapes 42eXplore http://eduscapes.com/42explore/king.htm

3) Martin Luther King, Jr. from The Seattle Times http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/mlk/

4) Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project from Stanford University http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/

5) Martin Luther King, Jr.: Peacemaker Hero

http://www.myhero.com/hero.asp?hero=ml_king2

Ron Kovic

http://www.heroism.org/class/1970/kovic.html

Learn about the Vietnam veteran whose life was featured in the movie 'Born on the 4th of July.'

Other Websites About Ron Kovic:

2) Behind Colin Powell's Legend: A Warning by R. Parry & N. Solomon

http://www.consortiumnews.com/archive/colin1.html

3) Heroism, the Vietnam War, and the Legacy of Peace by F. Shor, Amber Waves of

Green http://awog.editthispage.com/stories/storyReader$32

4) Ron Kovic: Peacemaker Hero http://www.myhero.com/hero.asp?hero=kovic

5) Sgt. Ron Kovic from Military Advantage, Inc.

http://www.military.com/Content/MoreContent?file=ML_kovic_bkp

Peacemaker: Miread Corrigan Maguire from UlsterLink

http://www.ulsterlink.com/article1014.html

Miread Corrigan Maguire is a recipient of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation's Distinguished Peace leadership Award, as well as a Nobel Prize for Peace.

Related Websites:

2) Curriculum for PeaceJam with Miread Corrigan Maguire

http://peacejam.org:8001/peacejam/maguire/index.html

3) Miread Corrigan Maguire by J. Dear from the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

http://www.wagingpeace.org/hero/mairead_corrigan_maguire.html

4) Miread Corrigan Maguire by J. Dear from The Peace People

http://www.peacepeople.com/MaireadByJohnDear.htm

5) Review of The Vision of Peace by Miread Corrigan Maguire by F.P. Brinkman

http://www.peacecouncil.org/rpc2sp99.html#anchor795747

Mandela Page from the African National Congress

http://www.anc.org.za/people/mandela/

Here you find a large collection of Mandela resources.

Other Websites on Nelson Mandela:

2) Facts On Nelson Mandela http://www.facts.com/cd/b94314.htm

3) Long Walk to Freedom http://archives.obs-us.com/obs/english/books/Mandela/Mandela.html

4) Long Walk of Nelson Mandela from PBS Frontline

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/mandela/

5) Nelson Mandela from Time http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/mandela.html

6) Nelson Mandela: Freedom Hero

http://www.myhero.com/hero.asp?hero=nelsonMandela

7) Nelson Mandela: Winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Peace

http://almaz.com/nobel/peace/1993a.html

8) Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela http://www.anc.org.za/people/mandela.html

Rigoberta Mench Tum from The Nobel Foundation

http://www.nobel.se/peace/laureates/1992/tum-bio.html

Over the years, Rigoberta Mench has become widely known as a leading advocate of Indian rights and ethno-cultural reconciliation, not only in Guatemala but in the Western Hemisphere generally, and her work has earned her several international awards.

Other Websites for Rigoberta Mench:

2) Interview with Rigoberta Mench Tum from Global Vision

http://www.global-vision.org/interview/menchu.html

3) Interview with Rigoberta Mench Tum by D. Engle & I. Suvanjieff

http://peacejam.org:8001/peacejam/tum/interview.html

4) Rigoberta Mench Tum http://peacejam.org:8001/peacejam/tum/tum.html

5) Rigoberta Mench Tum: Peacemaker Hero http://www.myhero.com/hero.asp?hero=r_menchu

6) Rigoberta Mench Tum Foundation (En Espaol) http://www.rigobertamenchu.org/

7) Rigoberta Mench Tum, Quiche Mayan http://www.indigenouspeople.org/natlit/menchu.htm

Yitzhak Rabin from Jewish Virtual Library

http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/biography/rabin.html

Here you find a biography of the Israeli leader.

Other Websites for Yitzhak Rabin:

2) Assassination and Funeral of Yitzhak Rabin from CNN

http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9511/rabin/umbrella/

3) Yitzhak Rabin Biography from The Nobel Foundation

http://www.nobel.se/peace/laureates/1994/rabin-bio.html

4) Yitzhak Rabin: Peacemaker Hero http://www.myhero.com/hero.asp?hero=Rabin

5) Yitzhak Rabin: Winner of the 1994 Nobel Prize in Peace

http://almaz.com/nobel/peace/1994c.html

6) World Mourns the Loss of a Leader for Peace from Nando Times http://archive.nandotimes.com/newsroom/nt/morerabin.html

Jose Ramos-Horta from PBS Online Newshour

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/forum/october96/nobel_prize_10-25.html

At this site, the exiled East Timorese resistance leader and 1996 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, responds to viewer questions and comments.

Related Websites:

2) East Timor - Path to Peace http://www.caa.org.au/horizons/h20/horta.html

3) Jose Ramos-Horta: Winner of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Peace

http://almaz.com/nobel/peace/1996b.html

4) Profile: Jose Ramos Horta from Australian Broadcasting Corporation

http://www.abc.net.au/ra/etimor/features/horta.htm

5) Profile: Timor's Exiled Leader by J. Havely from BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/special_report/1999/05/99/east_timor/newsid_378000/378959.stm

Oscar Arias Sanchez from The Nobel Foundation

http://www.nobel.se/peace/laureates/1987/arias-bio.html

Read the biography of the former President of Costa Rica, who orchestrated the peace process in the nations of Central America.

Related Websites:

2) Dr. Oscar Arias Sanchez http://www.arias.or.cr/fundador/bio-e.htm

3) Oscar Arias http://www.incostarica.net/docs/arias/

4) Oscar Arias Sanchez from Latin America Trek

http://www.worldtrek.org/odyssey/latinamerica/oscar/oscarbio.html

5) Oscar Arias Sanchez: Winner of the 1987 Nobel Prize in Peace


6) President Oscar Arias Sanchez from PeaceJam

http://peacejam.org:8001/peacejam/html/oscar.html

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

http://www.dassk.com/

This is the website of the leader of the nonviolent movement for human rights and democracy in Burma (Myanmar), and Nobel laureate.

Related Websites:

2) Aung San Suu Kyi Biography from The Nobel Foundation

http://www.nobel.se/peace/laureates/1991/kyi-bio.html

3) Aung San Suu Kyi: Winner of the 1991 Nobel Prize in Peace


4) Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma by I. Abrams

http://www.irwinabrams.com/books/excerpts/annual91.html

5) Profile: Aung San Suu Kyi from BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_140000/140955.stm

6) 'You Could Start by Convincing a Friend', Interview from the Shambala Sun

http://danenet.wicip.org/fbc/assksun.html

International Albert Schweitzer Foundation

http://www.schweitzer.org/

This site focuses on the life and work of Dr. Albert Schweitzer, the humanitarian, theologian, missionary, organist, and medical doctor.

Additional Websites for Albert Schweitzer:

2) Albert Schweitzer Page http://www.pcisys.net/~jnf/

3) Albert Schweitzer: Philosopher, Physician & Humanitarian 1875 - 1965 from Lucid

Interactive http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96jan/schweitzer.html

4) Albert Schweitzer: Winner of the 1952 Nobel Prize in Peace


5) Albert Schweitzer Biography from The Nobel Foundation

http://www.nobel.se/peace/laureates/1952/schweitzer-bio.html

6) Animals, Nature and Albert Schweitzer http://www.awionline.org/schweitzer/as-idx.htm

Looking Back: Samantha Smith, the Girl Who Went to the Soviet Union

http://wwwsmi.lkwash.wednet.edu/Samantha_Smith.htm

Think that one person cannot have an impact? This website is dedicated to Samanthas memory and her message of peace to the world.

Additional Websites for Samantha Smith:

2) Samantha Smith by K.L. Demarest Mayer at Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

http://www.wagingpeace.org/hero/samantha_smith.html

3) Samantha Smith by by M. Bush from Can Do! People http://www.ucando.org/ssmith.html

4) Samantha Smith: America's Youngest Ambassador at Suite 101

http://suite101.com/article.cfm/history_for_children/17086

5) Samantha Smith Story from The Eighties Club http://eightiesclub.tripod.com/id107.htm

Mother Teresa

http://www.tisv.be/mt/indmt.htm

The website is on the life and work of Mother Theresa:

Other Websites for Mother Theresa:

2) Interview with Mother Teresa by E.W. Desmond for Time

http://www.servelec.net/mothertheresa.htm

3) Mother Teresa http://www.albanian.com/main/culture/famous/teresa.html

4) Mother Teresa 1910 - 1997

http://www.catholic.net/RCC/People/MotherTeresa/mother.html

5) Mother Teresa, Missionaries of Charity, Order of Mother Theresa

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2960/mothert.htm

6) Mother Teresa: Winner of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Peace


Desmond Tutu from The Nobel Foundation

http://www.nobel.se/peace/laureates/1984/tutu-bio.html

This is the biography for 1984 Nobel Peace Prize winner, then Bishop Desmond Tutu and General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches.

Other Websites for Archbishop Desmond Tutu:

2) Archbishop Desmond Tutu, October 6, 1999 from PBS Online Newshour

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/africa/july-dec99/tutu_10-6.html

3) Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu http://sunsite.wits.ac.za/histp/tutu.htm

4) Curriculum for PeaceJam with Archbishop Desmond Tutu

http://peacejam.org:8001/peacejam/tutu/

5) Desmond Tutu by M. Landis at Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

http://www.wagingpeace.org/hero/desmond_tutu.html

6) Desmond Mpilo Tutu: Winner of the 1984 Nobel Prize in Peace


7) Profile of Archbishop Desmond Tutu from BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid_142000/142334.stm

Bertha Felicie Sophie von Suttner Biography from The Nobel Foundation

http://www.nobel.se/peace/laureates/1905/suttner-bio.html

This is the site of a biography of the 1905 Nobel Prize winner.

Related Websites:

2) Baroness Bertha Sophie Felicity von Suttner http://almaz.com/nobel/peace/1905a.html

3) Baroness Bertha Felicie Sophie von Suttner http://www.pinn.net/~sunshine/whm2001/suttner.html

4) Bertha Felicie Sophie von Suttner

http://sunsite.bilkent.edu.tr/oldnobel/laureates/peace-1905-bio.html

Curriculum for PeaceJam with Betty Williams

http://peacejam.org:8001/peacejam/betty/

This website summarizes the youth workshop held with Nobel Laureate, Betty Williams.

Related Websites:

2) Betty Williams: Winner of the 1976 Nobel Prize in Peace


3) Betty Williams http://www.acs-england.co.uk/peaceprize/betty_williams.html

4) Nobel Lecture by Betty Williams http://gos.sbc.edu/w/bwilliams.html

Jody Williams - International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) Ambassador

http://www.icbl.org/amb/williams/

This is the website for the Nobel Laureate and her work toward banning land mines.

Related Websites:

2) Curriculum for PeaceJam with Jody Williams http://peacejam.org:8001/peacejam/jody/

3) Interview with Jody Williams, February 4, 1999

http://www.cdi.org/adm/1226/williams.html

4) Jody Williams: Winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Peace

http://almaz.com/nobel/peace/1997b.html

5) Jody Williams: The Woman Who Waged War on Land Mines from CNN

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1997/nobel.prize/stories/williams.profile/

6) Nobel Lecture by Jody Williams from The Nobel Foundation

http://boes.org/coop/lmines/jodyw1.html and http://gos.sbc.edu/w/williams.html

Created by Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson, 2/02.

Are we peace lovers or peace makers?

from SojoMail Thursday 3rd October 2002The following is a speech delivered by Anglican Bishop Peter Price at an anti-war rally in London on Saturday, Sept. 28: I am frightened we are hurtling towards a war that will have unseen and unforeseeable consequences. For we will not only fight a wicked regime but enter a war that could devastate and destroy our friends. My mind goes back to a visit to Iraq in 1999. I was invited with others, including the Bishop of Coventry, to a lunch with a Christian family. At his table our host welcomed us, our Iraqi minders, secret police, and drivers. He took a large unleavened bread and broke it, sharing it with us and saying in Arabic: "Under God, we are all one, as we share this bread."

Before the meal ended he beckoned me for a quiet word in his garden, telling me in a few hastily grabbed moments what life was like. It was not good: His action that lunchtime put him and his family in danger. "I am making this garden for peace," he said. "It is on the site of a bomb crater. Come and sit down with me under this fig tree."

In that moment I reflected on the vision of the prophet Micah. "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, or ever again be trained to make war. But each one will sit down under his own vine and fig tree with no one to trouble him." Today I wonder what will happen to such people, to one who practices "loving his enemy" if war comes.

This march today represents people of all faiths and none. We represent people who believe war can at times be justified, and those who believe that war is always wrong. What unites us is a sense that preparations for war that could begin with a unilateral, pre-emptive strike is illegal, immoral, and unwise.

Let there be no mistake. We regard Saddam and his regime as a real threat to his own people, neighbouring countries, and to the world. Saddam must end the repression of his people, abandon his efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction, and respect the legitimate role of the U.N. as it ensures that he does so. But our nations must pursue these goals in a manner consistent with moral principles, international law, and political wisdom.

We must be guided by the vision of a world in which nations stop seeking to resolve their problems by making war. Within the traditions of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity there is teaching that obliges governments and citizens to work for the avoidance of war.

Today we are demonstrating for peace. But are we peace lovers, or peacemakers? We must not only demand of governments that they work for peace, but that we as citizens so change our attitudes that peacemaking becomes as natural as breathing. Demonstrations rarely change things immediately. What changes things is when people find in their heart a new resolve, a new courage to shape the world differently. War may come. The question is what will we do then? Do we simply shrug our shoulders and walk away, saying "We demonstrated in Hyde Park, but it failed?"

As a Christian, I follow Jesus of Nazareth who said, "Blessed are the peace makers"; not peace lovers. We all love the idea of peace. Today we are demonstrating for a new kind of world, but it will not come unless we work for it. We cannot be peacemakers only when war threatens.

True peacemaking is demanding. It demands new attitudes from governments and citizens; it demands we open our eyes to see all humanity as one and equal; it demands we recognize that a bomb dropped on an Iraqi, Palestinian, or Jew is as a bomb dropped on any of us; peacemaking demands no more unilateral actions by powerful nations; peacemaking demands the dismantling of all weapons of mass destruction.

To build lasting peace we need new international, political, judicial, and financial institutions; the ending of international debt. Peacemaking requires a revitalized United Nations; equality before international law; the ending of discrimination over the application of U.N. resolutions. Peacemaking demands we find common ground by moving to higher ground, rising above old arguments over just war and pacifism.

Today we give a simple message. Stop the war. Contain and disarm Saddam. But building world peace does not happen with slogans or rallies, but through citizens and governments that: Pray peace; think peace; speak peace; and act peace.

Jesus of Nazareth was the greatest peace activist of all, and he said "Blessed are the peace makers, for they shall be called the children of God."

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