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June 16, 2023 (EIRNS)—The second meeting of the International Peace Coalition, launched on June 2, was held today with 29 participants from peace-oriented organizations from about a dozen countries. The two-and-a-half-hour discussion generated enthusiastic support for the idea of uniting the growing sentiment of the people across the world against the war policy now dominating the Western governments, which is being fed by mainstream media outlets.
Helga Zepp-LaRouche opened the event, emphasizing the successful Schiller Institute event of June 10, “The World Needs JFK’s Vision of Peace!” honoring the famous JFK peace speech of June 10, 1963 at American University in Washington, D.C., which called for a “paradigm of peace for all nations of the world and for all generations,” and “a treaty to outlaw nuclear [weapons] tests.” She said the world is devolving into two opposing systems, with a greater division and greater danger than the conflict during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, with the push to expand “Global NATO,” targeting as enemies the BRICS nations and others of the Global South, while most of the world is working toward a final end of the colonial system and a new architecture based on development and security for all nations. She called for investigations into the acts of terror which destroyed the Nord Stream pipelines and the Kakhovka Dam and hydroelectric power plant.
Speakers from Argentina, Australia, Germany, Guyana, India, Italy, Sweden, Spain, the United States, the UK and more, offered numerous proposals on how to awaken the conscience of people internationally, on both the extreme danger of global war, perhaps nuclear war, but also the potential to bring the world together in ending the war policy and building a new understanding of cooperation for a better system of human civilization. Helga Zepp-LaRouche took note of the many proposals, encouraging everyone to take them up both within their own countries, but also speaking out in international fora.
It was agreed that these meetings would continue to be held, and expand, on a weekly basis. It was also agreed to establish a new platform which would be established for discussion and reporting on developments among the participants of the Coalition. A new Day of International Activation was proposed, with various dates proposed, including Nov. 22 (the 60th anniversary of the JFK assassination) and August 6 (the anniversary of the nuclear destruction of Hiroshima). Further discussion and deliberation will follow.
Following are excerpts from some of the participants in the discussion:
Helga Zepp-LaRouche (Germany), Founder, Schiller Institute
“I have from the very beginning, at least since the war in Ukraine broke out, made the point that we have to urgently move to a new paradigm. That is ‘the coincidence of opposites’, where you can arrive through philosophical reflection in the tradition of Nicolus of Cusa, on the idea of the one humanity. That the ‘one’ which has a higher power than the many. That’s a method of thinking that was the basis of the solution of the Peace of Westphalia, which I think can be the model of arriving at peace today…
We have a number of proposals that we should highlight from the discussion and have an agreement coming out of this discussion on these suggested initiatives.
1. Platform of daily accessibility with new developments, documentaries, initiatives which coordinates all parts of the Peace Movement…
2. Suggest that we have this meeting on a weekly basis…
3. Interventions…
4. Look at the constitutions in every country and see if there are legal basis to forbid weapon sales to war areas…
5. Urgent documentaries. Idea of a mistake leading to Nuclear War. Also, exposing the Romanticism of the EU.”
6. We need our own media. Like an internet radio or TV station. We actually have a network of correspondence on this discussion.
7. White House Demonstration suggested by Martin Schotz.”
Sam Pitroda (U.S./India) Telecom and IT Innovator
“At times I feel frustrated. I feel that our voices are not heard, and we need to find a new way to start a conversation. We need to find a new way to have a conversation with power brokers, with the defense lobby. Killing people is not about economy… We spend $2 trillion a year on defense, and we know we only need $200 billion a year to eliminate hunger.”
Prof. Enzo Pennetta (Italy)
“We have a total detachment between the will of the population and the will of the government, which is the problem. … Sixty percent of Italians are against sending weapons to Ukraine, but only 10% know of the referendum we are doing (to stop Italy from sending weapons to Ukraine) because the mainstream media is not reporting on it! We are clashing with the control and manipulation of the population…”
George Koo (U.S.) International business advisor, retired
“It’s becoming increasingly obvious to everybody in the world that the prestige, the credibility, in the United States has been going downhill. More and more countries around the world are disillusioned by the leadership of the United States. So if we are really hoping to achieve World Peace, we need to change the attitude in the government in Washington…”
Dr. Balkrishna Kurvey (India) President of the Indian Institute for Peace, Disarmament and Environmental Protection
“Our main aim is to work toward Peace at the grassroots level, get more collaboration of peace-loving people around the world. Peace in one country will not do. Peace should be normal… We must try our best to successfully work on the Mahatma Gandhi Non-Violence principle, the Jesus Christ principle, so there may be Peace in the world. I’m optimistic.”
Johan Nordquist, (Sweden) Publisher against Nuclear Weapons:
“How can we inspire and get people engaged? That’s the question. Only the heartfelt sincerity of people on the street demanding change from politicians, telling them what to do … Scott Ritter wrote about near incidents that almost escalated into nuclear war. We need to highlight these mistakes into a documentary…so people will understand.”
David Macllwain (Australia) Peace Activist
“I would just like to say a little about Peace groups… They are filled with many good people; they take a good stand against NATO, but they don’t understand Russia… Also, I see the UK as a major force for evil against the Global South and against Russia. They have been for decades”
Juan Carrero, (Spain)
“I want to thank you (everyone here) because I feel at home after many struggles and feeling very lonely… We have had in Spain two million people in demonstrations, but they are not listening to the people… This meeting is even more important than the demonstrations in the streets… I think the fundamental part of what we need to do is to show the real face of NATO. Expose everything that is behind the romantic image of the EU… Gandhi would say that ‘the truth will lead us.’”
Ray McGovern (US), former senior analyst, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); founding member, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS):
“I’m serious folks, it’s not just a time for young people, but a time for old people, like me, like many of you. To stand up and speak out at every venue we can we possibly can. The only way that we are going to change this is if we recruit enough people together with us who see the light and understand what’s at stake and will be able to act on it. Gandhi was not only a non-violent idea person, but he was a man of action.”
Ruben Dario Guzzetti (Argentina) international affairs analyst, Argentine Institute of Geopolitical Studies (IADEG)
“I think we have to consider what each of us has in our countries. Each one of us has a historic point that can be transmitted to society. We have in my country the Malvinas topic, the Human Rights topic, and we can access that to promote this idea to save humanity.”
Jimmy Gerum, (Germany) LightHouse Media:
“I think there is one weak spot, and that is the public opinion. In Europe we have a special situation where part of the Main Stream Media is paid for by the normal citizens because we have quite a good working public broadcasting system. It is quite influenced by international powers… Our strategy is to network with German and international initiatives. We want to work with other independent journalists. Just imagine if we would challenge this hypocrisy by applying this pressure.”
Martin Schotz, (US) author, “History Will Not Absolve Us: Orwellian Control, Public Denial, and the Murder of President Kennedy”:
“I propose a demonstration be held in front of the White House demanding that Biden, Blinken and Nuland look at President Kennedy’s American University Speech and return to the policies President Kennedy was advocating.”
Jack Gilroy (US), Organizer, Pax Christi, NY State/ Pax Christi International; Board Member, New York Veterans for Peace:
“I wanted to follow up on an appropriate day to bring people together (for the demonstration), this was demonstrated today by a number of speakers about a need for a grassroots movement. I think that November 22nd would be very good, but we probably should be moving much faster on that. August 6th and 9th are momentous days of the beginning of the nuclear age (bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki). August 6th would be a Sunday and a day that people would have an easier chance to get to Washington DC.”
Dennis Small, (US) Executive Intelligence Review Magazine:
“I think some of the frustration around getting things going against the war comes from not fully taken into account that the vast majority of humanity, 80-85% of it, is already in a state of advanced, not just rebellion, but rejection of the entire global security and economic architecture which is producing wars — the underlying cause.”
Jose Vega, (US) Interventionist, Organizer Schiller Institute:
“If you want people naturally manifesting in the streets, is you need more people recruited to do interventions. The more people we have doing these interventions, the more the manifestation in the streets will become natural… Here (in the US) we have an idea called ‘take back your government’ where we want people in every district to stand up for the truth, at least 1 person each of the 435 congressional districts.”
H. E. Donald Ramotar, (Guyana) former President of Guyana:
“I think that when we are talking about world peace, we cannot divorce it from immediately demanding nuclear disarmament. I believe it has to be the center of what we do. The old theory that justified, particularly during the old Reagan period and Thatcher, that argued nuclear weapons were keeping the peace is something I always had problems with. I believe more with Einstein’s position, that ‘you cannot prepare for war and hope to have peace.’”
Rev. Dr. Terri Strong, (US):
“I love the concrete things that you can do that Helga brought up. I came up with the ‘The Truth and Peace Network of Independent News’ while she was speaking, because if you can capture the news you can herd the news consumers to your truth platform. There should be a partnership with news outlets if they are independent, to create our own documentaries. And when you put those things together, you have a way of marketing your truth and your network that you will herd the masses of news consumers to your platforms.”
Others in attendance:
Nick Brana, (US) Chair, People’s Party and Rage Against the War Machine Organizer
Angela McArdle (US), Chair, Libertarian Party and Rage Against the War Machine Organizer
Reverend Robert Smith (US) New Bethel Baptist Church, Detroit, MI, Chair, Foreign Mission Board, National Baptist Convention
Diane Sare, U.S. Senate Candidate, New York
Joyce Hall (US) Pax Christi
Karen Ball (US) Pax Christi
Chris Fogarty (US/Ireland) Irish American Leader
NO2NATO UK Representative
Frank Kartheiser (US) Catholic Workers
Mari Correggio (Italy), No to Nato Italy
Alessia Ruggeri (Italy) Trade Unionist
Anastasia Battle (US) Organizer, Interventionist and Editor-in-Chief, Leonore Magazine, USA
**Affiliation for identification purposes
