Peace
שלום - ﺴﻠﺎﻢ ﻋﻠﻴﻜﻢ
SHALOM! - SALÂM ALAYKUM!
Peace! - Peace be upon you!
Pacon! - Paco estu kun vi!
Salâm! - Shalom aleykhem!
Shalom: Hebrew greeting, literally: "Peace!"
Salâm alaykum: Arabic greeting, literally: "Peace be upon you!",
Reply: Wa alaykum salâm, literally: "And upon you be peace!"
(below are the literal translations in English, Esperanto and the second
of these two closely related Semitic languages)
Let's not talk of war now, but of peace!
The media feed us up with reports about wars. But usually no word is found about how to avoid wars, what we can do even in our small surroundings to give peace a greater chance. Avoidance of war, nonviolent ways of solving conflicts - no topic for the media?
First of all, of course, we need to be in peace with ourselves. Create yourself a beautiful surrounding, take a look at your own beauty, then go on. Here come some proposals what you can do, partly especially with respect to the wars in the Near East:
- When talking about the delicate topics of the Near East wars with people from the area or even with Jews or Muslims from elsewhere: Take the people's worries serious. Do not rate and judge the people too quickly for their opinions. When you are in the Near or Middle East and meet with prejudices, you can try to release much of the tension by simply using the Hebrew or Arabic peace greeting, respectively.
- Take a clear and courageous position against violence. That does not only mean: no armed violence. It also means: do not make people outsiders, do not cling to power over others. The relevant point about violence is not whether it is illegal or sanctioned by the state, whether it is monopolized or divided according to different powers. The relevant point is the suffering it causes. And the suffering does not distinguish between state violence and non-state violence. Make sure to avoid euphemistic speech like calling the minister of war "minister of defense".
- In our email age contacts around the Globe, which help to reduce prejudices, are no more problem. There are different organisations which let people of different nations make contacts on an equally righted base. Examples for this are the Rainbowfamily and the Esperanto movement, in the latter of which the learning of the easy and expressive language Esperanto is necessary to take advantage of what it has to offer. Such movements link nations so that friendships even between Israelis and Iranians do not just stay wishful thinking.
- Make the experiment and show yourself as a Jew or Muslim (e. g. with a turban or a headscarf) in order to experience what prejudices you will be haunted by, so that you can more easily understand the corresponding people.
- Be a critical consumer. Do not support companies like Daimler, Coca-Cola and McDonald's. That may be very clear for experienced promoters of the peace movement, however must be mentioned for unexperienced people.
- When thinking about boycotting products from particular countries, do not be too quick. For often you do not know whom you really boycott. In most cases the boycott misses the main actors of the conflicts. If for example you boycott agricultural products from Israel, you will mainly effect the kibbutzim. The only thing that is always clear, is that local products are ecologically more advisable than products that have been carried around half of the Globe.
- An example for a project that can give hope: A Palestinian and an Israeli are working together in the marketing of olive oil and so give a silver lining of hope in the old conflict between those two peoples. Supporting this project sure is a small, yet worthy step into a promising direction.
- Do not hold every Muslim responsible for the acts of some violent men which fill the media. Many Muslims distance themselves from those acts. Likewise do not hold every Jew (nor every Israeli) responsible for the things the Israeli state is doing, rather think of the Israeli peace movement*. I guess you do not want to be held responsible for all that is done in the name of Christinism or Atheism.
- If you have criticisms about Islam or Judaism, there is nothing to say against occasionally mentioning them, but do not overrate them. Give more emphasis to the positive aspects of these religions. That releases tensions in the human interactions. And you improve the chances of the people themselves to give more emphasis to the positive aspects of their beliefs and religious groups. If you associate Islam only with violence, you will support the more violent tendencies in Islam. If on the other hand you associate them with respect, with hospitality and other pleasant qualities, you will support these very aspects.
- Take efforts to act nonviolently even in your every-day life. Suggestions to do that you may find in the manifesto of nonviolence.
- Do not let yourself be confused by the propaganda assertion, the pacifism of the 30s made Auschwitz possible. Pacifism is neither just another word for laissez-faire nor for unconditioned loyalty to the law, let alone for the belief in authorities that really made Auschwitz possible. Pacifism does not mean to look away from unjustice, as the author of this propaganda assertion seems to have thought. Pacifism does not mean to leave conflicts unnoticed and unsolved, but to solve them nonviolently.
Coming to an end, an old saying of the peace movement shall be called to mind again:
"For the case that the state I am living in declares war to another state human beings are living in, already today I declare peace to those human beings."
Salâm! Pacon! Shalom!
* Notice: Links marked with an asterisk are not under my control, nor under my responsibility!
