Stop the Aggression on Lebanon
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The “Objection for Peace” Regional Network, throughout the last four years of its existence, has opposed any type of war and violence, has worked on prevention and termination of ongoing wars, and remains dedicated to principles and values of pacifism and non-violence in its work to demilitarize public awareness.
On the latest conflict in the Middle East, and especially the current escalation of violence in Lebanon, the Network appeals:
As we all know, lamentably, the bombardment of Lebanon has now escalated in full-scale invasion, with the current losses estimated, for the time being, at about 1,000, mostly civilian lives. We believe that the destruction of Lebanon, at the hands of Israel, will not lead to lasting peace. Quite to the contrary, it will spin the spiral of violence further and deeper – that is the inevitable outcome of the law of violence. Military action aimed against terrorism that result primarily in mass civilian “collateral damage” suffering, don’t even come close to providing a realistic answer to terrorism. Violence only bears new violence. We should see the proof of this in the history of Israel: 58 years of violence had not brought the country neither peace nor security. We don’t support Hizbullah incursions and raids into Israel, just as we don’t support the protracted action of Israel in Mazrea' Shiba'a in Lebanon. We strongly oppose and condemn Hizbullah revenge action, just as we oppose any killing. We refuse to accept the logic of war based on the principle of retaliation of each attack with another attack. We do support the right of people under occupation to resist the occupier. It is the very principle of non-violence – to oppose every injustice. We are aware of the dangers of vengeful actions when a nuclear power uses its military superiority to occupy the Gaza Strip, construct a wall that further isolates the occupied Palestinians and ultimately invade a neighbouring country. The very differences in military capabilities prevent us to name this invasion a conflict of equal adversaries; in any case, we can’t call it self-defence. Israel attacks a whole country, destroys civilian infrastructure, expels and kills civilians. We also need to take into account the U.S. interests and their involvement in this war, especially in the context of the ongoing occupation of Iraq and the statements issued by U.S. officials on Syria and Iran. The inability of the international community, the UN in particular, but also the European Union, to use the existing mechanisms to stop the military action and destruction, again proved a key factor of encouragement of violence all over the world. The inefficiency of these mechanisms is a product of selfish interests of individual governments and multinational corporations who use wars to achieve their geostrategic, political and economic interests. Through our participation in the global WarResistersInternational network, we are familiar with the work of non-violent groups who are not led by “politics of higher interests” and can lead to just, peaceful and non-violent solutions. We also use this opportunity to express our support to Israeli conscientious objectors who refuse to participate in the aggression on Lebanon and were jailed (Aviv Sela, Maayan Padan,Omri Zeid, Amir Pastar, Itzik Shabbat,...), as well as the Israel peace movement that works permanently on creation of conditions for lasting peace. We Survived a War, We Don’t Wish It Happens to Other People! For the Regional Network “Objection for Peace” B&H Conscientious Objection Campaign Croatian Anti War Campaign Peace Action Macedonia Vojvodina Regional Centre for Conscientious Objection |
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