WHAT'S NEW IN INES?

No.36/2001

Dateline: September 13, 2001

Special Issue on the Terror Attacks in America

Editor: Tobias Damjanov, e-mail: 
WNII is archived at: http://inesglobal.org/archive.htm    
INES homepages: http://inesglobal.org       http://www.inesglobal.com/
INES International Office   
INES Chair: Prof. Armin Tenner    [Please note that the first "1" in q18 is the number one, while the last "l" is an "L"]

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction....The chain reaction of evil--hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars--must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation."
Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength To Love, 1963

Dear WNII readers,
After the horrible terror attacks in the USA on 11 September, it was clear to me that I could not continue working on the WNII on a "business-as-usual" basis. The least I can do is to publish this special issue of WNII which aims to assist you in getting information mainly with regard to statements, assessments and impressions about what might be in the offing now. It goes without saying that here, you will not find yellow press-style articles or references; also, due to limited space and time, documentation were not available to me to the extent I wished they were.

This Special Issue is divided in three sections:

I] Statements closely related to INES (published here in full):
-- Statement on Terrorist Attacks by David Krieger
-- Statement and Call by the International Peace Bureau
-- Hague Appeal for Peace: Justice Not War

II] Website references to articles

III] Articles and statements available from the WNII editor upon request

Tobias Damjanov
Editor

P.S.: Note that you will not find any articles or statements from Germany because so far, they are all in German language, and I do not have the time (and only limited ability) for translating. However, I can send to those readers who are German speaking a list of articles available from me upon request.

Part I


Statement on Terrorist Attacks by David Krieger

September 11, 2001.  Today the people of the United States were viciously attacked by as yet unknown assailants. Our hearts go out to the victims and families of these premeditated terrorist attacks.

These attacks make clear that people everywhere are vulnerable to fanatics, propelled by hatred, who are determined to inflict terrible injuries, even at the cost of their own lives.

President Bush has vowed to bring the attackers to justice, but revenge is not sufficient. It is also not effective in dealing with people who are suicidal. We are faced with the dilemma of how to prevent future attacks by suicidal people without becoming a police state.

Not military strength, nor nuclear weapons, nor missile defenses can protect us from such attackers, willing to die in the perpetration of their terrorist acts.

Since we cannot end our vulnerability, we must find new policies that will restore an atmosphere free from violence in our world. The challenge we now face is to find the wisdom to develop new policies, based on justice and human dignity, to end the threats before us.

(Dr David Krieger is President of the US-based Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, an INES member organisation, and Vice-Chair of INES)

Statement and Call by the International Peace Bureau

Geneva, Sept 13, 2001. The International Peace Bureau shares the worldwide shock and sadness following the appalling terrorist acts of 11 September in the USA. Our hearts go out to all those who are suffering and those who have been bereaved. At this time solidarity - practical, emotional, political - should have no frontiers. No political, social or ideological objective can justify mass murder in any part of the world. We urge that those responsible for these unspeakable crimes be brought to justice in courts of law or before an international tribunal.

At the same time, peace and human rights movements everywhere must raise their voices now to urge restraint and to forestall a US over-reaction. The repeated use of terms such as 'war', 'vengeance' and 'Pearl Harbour' only serve to increase public acceptance of military strikes. These could well cause untold damage to civilians, provoke more terrorism, and risk spiraling into a dangerous international war. While terrorism must not be tolerated by anyone, anywhere, more violence is never the answer. The justice we rightly seek must be satisfied through the rule of law and international cooperation. This event offers an opportunity to try a different way, rather than resort to the too-frequent formula of more bombings, more grief and more resentment.

Many believe this unprecedented tragedy marks the opening of a new era. IPB insists that the US administration and Congress must face the stark reality that nuclear weapons and missile 'defense' systems offer no security for anybody in this new context. We urge an immediate high-level review of defense policies, in order to move rapidly towards a human-security approach and a totally different set of spending priorities.

Everyone needs to take time to reflect on the root causes of these terrible events, and to find new ways to resolve them. This must involve a new and more equitable partnership between the USA and the rest of the world - dialogue, humility and social justice will make a surer path to improved security than the 'quick-fix' of military force.

We must not allow the atmosphere to be filled with an air of revenge, retaliation, nationalism, and war. If we care about the lessons young people in particular will draw from these events, we must find ways to turn the anger and hurt into creative solidarity with victims everywhere. This is a crisis that cries out for new thinking. If it was indeed 'an attack on human civilisation', then the United Nations is the correct institution through which to organise the response.

Media speculation is intensifying about the likely perpetrators. Let us not leap to conclusions that could have the gravest consequences. Whichever community the violence came from, inside or outside the USA, there are bridges to be repaired. Let's not destroy any more.

"An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind" Martin Luther King

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**Call or email the President immediately and ask him to take a stand - to find the courage and resolve not to take violent retaliatory action, and stop the spiral of violence now. White House phone: +1-. E-mail:

**Peace workers in other countries are encouraged to urge their governments not to cooperate with any military action not specifically sanctioned by the Security Council.

(INES is a member organisation of the IPB)

Hague Appeal for Peace: Justice Not War

September 11, the UN International Day of Peace, Anniversary of the Camp David Agreement, mayoral elections in New York City, became instead the worst day of murder and terror this country has ever known. To the families and friends of those killed, missing, wounded or traumatized, we extend our loving sympathy. We urge that those responsible for these heinous crimes be brought to justice in courts of law or before an international tribunal.

"The Hague Appeal for Peace urges the US administration to use the greatest possible restraint. It should give careful consideration to the response: an eye for an eye only leads to blindness," said Cora Weiss, president. "Numbers have led to names. We call for a national day of healing. It is dangerous to call terrorism by non state actors, no matter how horrendous, an act of war that triggers a war like reaction," she added.

This past century started with a war and the new century is starting with war talk. In between humanity has learned a great deal about conflict prevention and resolution. We have seen that acts of violence and terror tend to beget further violence.

We fear the political and military consequences of this murderous terrorism. We must guard our liberty and not allow fear to restrict our hard-won freedoms. We must not allow the atmosphere of hatred to justify acts of war against unidentified enemies. We cherish the force of law, not the law of force.

While we support and work at healing and holding the mourners in our thoughts, we must consider the problems that lead to this madness...issues of the economic gap between north and south; between the Muslim and the western world ; the gap between people of color and white people; and caused by the misallocation of resources with its resulting inequity between funds designated for health and education and the $1 trillion allocated world wide for the military. Finally, we must look at the gap between men and women that leaves only men at the tables of negotiation, and make successful efforts to include women at every table where the fate of humanity is at stake.

We urge Mr. Peres and Mr. Arafat to sit together immediately; we urge people of conscience to make every effort to set tables for those who are in conflict, and to facilitate those meetings; we urge all teachers and school principals to institute peace education as an integral part of their primary and secondary curricula; we urge the US to support the International Criminal Court in prosecuting crimes against humanity , war crimes and genocide. We urge the US to respect and work with and through the United Nations, including the anti terrorism conventions which the US has so far refused to join, as it works at solutions to this and other problems of violence in the world.

Hague Appeal for Peace  

(INES is affiliated to the Hague Appeal for Peace)

Part II

Website references to articles (in alphabetical order of the authors / the website owners)

Articles and statements available from the WNII editor upon request:

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