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 radio
U 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 rjeenja
Istodobno, 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
smjenjivanje
dvadeset 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 zdravstvo
Nai 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."
[Back to top of page]

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.
[Back to top of page]

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 reenactment 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 taxation
History of tax resistance
Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Act
Tax resistance Tax resisters
The Cold War and the Income Tax: A Protest

Organizations
National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund
National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee
Northern California War Tax Resistance
Peacemakers
Women's Tax Resistance League

Campaigns
Beit Sahour Champaran and Kheda Satyagraha
Salt Satyagraha

Related topics
Christian anarchism Civil disobedience
Conscientious objection Direct action
Divestment Economic secession
Nonviolent resistance Peace churches
Religious Society of Friends
Tax avoidance and tax evasion
Tax 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 noninterference 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
http://almaz.com/nobel/peace/1987a.html
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
http://almaz.com/nobel/peace/1991a.html
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
http://almaz.com/nobel/peace/1952a.html
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
http://almaz.com/nobel/peace/1979a.html
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
http://almaz.com/nobel/peace/1984a.html
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
http://almaz.com/nobel/peace/1976a.html
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 2002
The 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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Seeking the Next Generation of Peace

Makers May 2006