The Hague Agenda for Peace and Justice for the 21st Century has emerged from an intensive democratic process of consultation among the members of the Hague Appeal for Peace Organizing and Coordinating Committees, and the hundreds of organizations and individuals that have actively participated in the Hague Appeal process. The Agenda represents what these civil society organizations and citizens consider to be some of the most important challenges facing humankind as it embarks upon a new millenium. Below is the official stamement of the Hague Appeal for Peace following the S11 tragedy.
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 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.
Original: Justice Not War - the Hague Appeal for Peace Statement on S11