COSMO POLITIQUE

It may be due to my number of years or the burden of the number of horrors this past quarter of a century but I fail to rejoice as much as I used to.

I haven’t recovered from the shock experienced on October 7th, the first day of Sukkot, almost day for day a year ago in the Hebrew calendar.

My position on Israel and Palestine hasn’t changed and I still support a two states solution despite the present turmoil and predicament and you may find on my dedicated pages my views and inclinations.

About two years ago, I had the immense privilege to meet to exceptional individuals.

Thanks to my dear JCall activists, the ever young Massia and Leo Kaneman, I was asked to moderate a debate with the two fathers who inspired Colum McCann for his masterpiece Apeirogon.

We are still in touch to this day and my meeting Bassam and Salwa Aramin and Rami Elhanan remains memory I will always cherish.

If they still fight so that their little daughters’ lives weren’t robbed in vain, just as I do in memory of my uncle Isaac, it means the fragile light of hope keeps flickering, no matter how weakly.

My recent reacquaintance with the extraordinary Léonie de Picciotto, with whom I was involved in JCall for a while, and whom I rediscovered when she shared a fascinating conversation with her childhood friend Evelyne Askolovitch, has meant a new involvement I will deal with later.

Suffice to say here that she received an invitation to attend the Geneva Peace Week which I gladly attended on October 16, 2024 at the Maison de la Paix. Moderated by Sarah Noble and Dany Diogo, the event focused on the meaning of peace for several activists.

After a beautiful rendition of Imagine by Valeria, a young Moldova singer

the first and quite impressive speaker was Mehra Rimer member of the B8 of hope Executive Board

After expressing her sympathy to all suffering from unbearable situations, Mehra explained where she spoke from, born in Teheran, her father who was a general in Iranian army was executed and she was sent to be educated in a Catholic boarding school where “Sharing pain was our common ground”.

She went on explaining how empathy was a crucial element for her peace of mind and heart. Marked by a trip with her father to Israel in “old Iran times” to broaden her horizon 1977, she was invited again by the same Israeli general  who had welcomed her the first time in 2014, enabling her to renew old friendships and visits of occupied territories. Her acquaintance with Ali Abu Awad determined a turning point in her peace and dialogue involvement with B8 of Hope which supports “all those living between the river and the sea” where she keeps meeting Palestinian and Israeli heroes “daring to step out of their comfort zones”. She concluded her talk bye inviting us “Support them to be pro-both”

The following speaker was Shad from Sudan. Educated in UK, she shared her love for her country of origin, where she returned not to leave it anymore, in 2020, working with super grassroots sudanian women in a company composed of different backgrounds who “left their weapons in the morning to collect them again in the evening and who contributed to support of rehabilitation of ex combatants” the Coup meant for her that she had to leave Khartoum, grieving loss of her country with the feeling that peace had been stripped from her homeland. However, she brings back the message that “Conflict Zones are not dead zones where little pleasures are still shared and enjoyed by the population and during their predicament”.

Agnieska explained how war in Ukraine happened after a major escalation with profound ripple effects and implied the total reshaping work and  lives. This meant a climate of confusion, disbelief and helplessness. 

She explained her experience in 20 different conflict zones which led her to believe that the meaning of Peace varies: “it’s different things to different pax among Ukrainians and peace builders. In Ukraine it means the suspicion against demilitarization but the recognition of the necessity of dialogue (humanitarian with safe passages and exchanges of prisoners. )”. She went on to state that “Peace is more than an absence of war” and need of nurturing care for dialogue on the part of Ukrainian activists defined and conducted on the terms of Ukrainian people. She also insisted that economic recovery isn’t enough as well as her wishes for solidarity and care. However, what struck me was that she didn’t once utter the name of Russia or mention the Russian counterpart. For a peace activist, I believe this is a major flaw.

The following talk was definitely more enlightening. It involved Hiba Qasas, Founding Executive Director, Principles for Peace Foundation and the aforementioned Abu Ali Awaad,  prominent Palestinian peace activist and proponent of nonviolence.

Hiba : “for so many of us there is so much dehumanization of settlers and soldiers- trapped in a vicious circle of loss and violence. Civilians are paying the highest price. it’s high time to be pro solution. The status quo isn’t sustainable. We have to learn to live together or die together like idiots”

Ali chose life, trying to find dignified life. His mother was a leader of PLO who supported the Oslo initiative. He went on explaining how he lost his brother shot by Israeli soldiers:

“It’s easy to lose your mind and humanity. I had been trained to shoot with Kalashnikov at the age of 15. He spent 17 days Hunger strike in a prison yet grew up feeling that Jews have humanity: “The other side is human too. Peace to Palestinian is first a description of the problem: If the war keeps taking sides, it’s at the expense of our blood. Peace isn’t justice but fairness and to be able to have a dignified life in order to heal the past in a 2 state solution”

For him , “As long as hatred continues we’ll keep into the this vicious circle ( kids in Gaza and sderot experience the same feelings). There is a common ground for the future despite diverging perspectives of the past. Distrust is not the problem, you simply need to identify with peace initiatives. The problem, however, is that although we have politicians, neither part has leaders serving a vision, which is a big problem…and sharing hummus isn’t enough to resolve our two conflicted identities”

The last speaker was Fawzia Koofi who advocated for a culture of tolerance, unity and non violence: “ there are more wars and conflicts today than ever before affecting world order and our current Human Rights crisis reflects deeper issues of inequality”. She underlined the cruel irony of the oxymoron “Fighting for peace”!

As a former member of parliament, who had sat at the negotiating table with Taliban, she goes on explaining that “for women and people of Afghanistan, peace isn’t isn’t D absence of war but The presence of equality. She challenges the Taliban narrative of Islam which is creating Islamophobia and fostering an absence of education. “I sat at the negotiating table with 3 other women but that that peace talk failed and I was deposed”. She reminded the audience that her country hadn’t always been as backwards as it is now depicted : “Women in Afghanistan got their rights to vote before Switzerland and continue to resist through education and demonstrate their resilience. We want to craft our own narrative with your support!”

She rightly stated that education is the first target for any despotic regime and that the wrong policies of the international community led to our moral failure. She urged us to help reverse the status quo: 

“Every war is ugly but the war against a whole gender is the worst. Why is the world creating laws selectively?”

She concluded by stressing the ineffectiveness of world rule of order and the necessity to make international mechanisms effective: “Let’s stop before it goes beyond our borders”

Despite the very low level of Hope anyone can feel on this gloomy days prior to the US presidential 2024 elections, let’s remember Shad’s words that we should preserve our little pleasures and Ali’s advocacy for a dignified life for all.