Basic Principles for Peacework in Times of War
If there is a name internationally known for committment to peace it is the name of Rosa Luxemburg.
This courageous and knowlegdeable women of Polish-Jewish origin, an economist by profession, was murdered by German militarists in January 1919 after having been released from prison only shortly before. The German military government had kept her in prison custody during the war, in order to silence her voice and to keep her apart from the masses.
In the name of Rosa Luxemburg, the Foundation of the Left Party in Germany held a symposium on „military politics“ in Potsdam as Dr. Lothar Schröder pointed out in his introductory statement on November 9th 2012 in the House of Brandenburg Prussia History Am Neuen Markt 9.
Rosa Luxemburgs name has been desecrated on that historical day of the November Progroms of 1938.
The official titel of the above named event was „14th Syposium on Peace and Security Issues - is the Iranian nuclear programm to be considered as civil or/and militar?“
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With such a header the path is opened to go along with our government policy and to support the attitude of the Western allies who are considering warefare - and as NATO-members and partners - even nuclear warefare as a legitimate means of conflict solution.
But it was to come worse. Dr. Behrouz Kozrozadeh (Exil-Iranian) from the prestigeous university of Göttingen/Germany not only considered the „Iranian attitude of non-cooperation as very, very dangerous“ he qualified the Sha Regimes policies as less problematic because of it secularity and therefore predicatibility. This was not enough for the scholar invited in the name of Rosa Luxemburg. Dr. Kozrozadeh went on with open hate speech and accused the present „Iranian Regime of murder, fraud, lashing, rape of men and women, public executions in the presence of children“ In other words in his speech he accused „the Iranian regime of not knowing any moral or ethic boundaries and due its complete disrespect for international and humanitarian law would strive to achieve nuclear arms“. The climax of his statement in Potsdam on November 9th was to deplore that Pol Pot and Idi Amin, in spite of the atrocities committed in their name, died of a natural death . And he concluded that suchlike human right violaters must not be allowed to live on and die in peace.
Dr. Kozradeh was seconded by Giorgio Franceschini from „Hesse Foundation for Peace and Conflict Studies“ who demanded from „Iran to stop its genozidal rhetoric towards Israel“.
The small association of the German Peace Council which is closely linked with the „Rosa Luxemburg Foundation“ organised recently the 62nd „Peace Talks“ in conjunction with RSL,
titel „Another Syria is Possible“. The minutes reporting on the event which lead to an invitation by the „German Foundation for Sience and Politics“ (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik) an official adviser of the government. The minutes also deplore „an attitude within peace circles that sides with Assad“.
This said, it seems more than urgent to point out some essentials for peacework in times of war.
The basics for peace activism are layed down in the UN-Charta.
Non-Intervention in the internal affairs of souvereign nations are a condition for peaceful cooperation.
The respect for souvereignity is a keynote.
Any call for „regime change“ or a hypocritically assumed „responsibility to protect“ as an umbrella for military intervention are incompatible with international law, see UN Charta and the Conventions based on this precious document.
Peace must be based on justice if it is to last.
Peace workers must have the courage to criticise their own government in the very first place especially when it comes to nucelar arms policies and NATO adherence who claims and eternal right on nucelar weapons.
Peace workers must consequently say clearly no to any threat of war to an other nation.
Peace workers must take sides and inform themselves on global issues.
There doing must be publicly accessible and controllable and accountabiltiy of their leaders whose election must undergo democratic procedures.
