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Zepp-LaRouche Endorses and Calls for International support for UNGA Resolution 377 ‘Uniting for Peace’

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Dr. Chandra Muzaffar Letter to UN Leaders Insists, UNGA Must Act To Stop Gaza Genocide

July 29, 2024 (EIRNS)—Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute founder and initiator of the International Peace Coalition, declares her endorsement of Dr. Chandra Muzaffar’s initiative and calls for international support for it.

Dr. Muzaffar, the President of the International Movement for a Just World (JUST), has posted his letter to the heads of all member states of the United Nations calling for taking emergency action to stop the continuing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied territories. It is worth reporting at length:

“I am writing on behalf of an international NGO committed to human dignity and social justice based in Malaysia. Like many other citizens groups, the International Movement for a Just World (JUST) is deeply concerned about the continuing catastrophe in Gaza and Palestine. In spite of numerous calls made by people everywhere to Israel to implement an immediate ceasefire and to facilitate the unhindered flow of essentials—water, electricity, food, fuel and medicines—to Gaza, the Israeli government is impervious to any suggestion that it should end immediately the wanton massacre of civilians, especially children and women who constitute the majority of those killed, and ensure that famine does not claim any more lives in that narrow, congested strip of land.

“Since it does not seem to be possible to restrain the Israeli government, we are now hoping that the UN General Assembly and Resolution 377 can be harnessed to curb Israel. The UNGA as you know can be asked to act if the UN Security Council has failed to overcome a prolonged conflict. A special session of the GA can be convened and it can take a vote on the catastrophe in Gaza and Palestine in general.

“It is our hope and the hope of many other citizens groups all over the world, especially the NGO World Beyond War, the initiator of this global campaign, that your government will give wholehearted support to the proposal to adopt [Resolution] 377, or the ‘Uniting for Peace’ Resolution. It will give a pivotal role to the UNGA in bringing to an end the genocide in Gaza. Uniting for Peace can not only impose an embargo upon the flow of arms to both Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian resistance group. It can also disarm both parties to the conflict and send a huge number of unarmed peacekeepers to Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. They will ensure that there is no armed clash in all parts of Palestine and even in Israel until a conference of all parties involved directly or indirectly in the conflict reach an agreement on restoring the full rights of the Palestinians, establishing a state where there is equality for all its citizens regardless of religion or ethnicity and the right of return of all Palestinian refugees is recognised and implemented.

“JUST is confident given your commitment to peace that you will bring [Resolution] 377 to fruition in the coming session of the GA and help the land of the three faiths to enjoy tranquility and harmony once again.”

In solidarity, Dr Chandra Muzaffar, President, International Movement for a Just World”

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 377 (V), adopted November 3, 1950, empowers the General Assembly to override the United Nations Security Council—in this case, specifically the United States—under conditions that the world deems immediate action to be essential, in order to preserve the international peace and security of the world. The United Nations website, regarding Emergency Special Sessions, says that Resolution 377 “resolves that if the Security Council, because of lack of unanimity of the permanent members, fails to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security in any case where there appears to be a threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or active aggression, the General Assembly shall consider the matter immediately with the view to making appropriate recommendations to members for collective measures, including, in the case of a breach of the peace or active aggression, the use of armed force if necessary, to maintain or restore, international peace and security.”


A Council of Reason, Not a Council of War!

Aug. 25, 2024 (EIRNS)—This emergency statement is issued by the International Peace Coalition.

Whatever the Doomsday Clock may now say—at last check, it was 90 seconds to midnight—the truth is, that we have now “crossed the red line” to World War Three. Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder of the Schiller Institute, and convener of the International Peace Coalition, has said that “the next six months may be the most dangerous in all human history.” In fact, we don’t immediately come to our senses, history—if there is any—may well record that Thermonuclear World War Three started, and the Doomsday Clock stopped, on August 6, 2024, the day that “Ukraine launched a surprise attack on Russia.”

But it was NATO—not Ukraine—that invaded Russia, under the guise of the “Ukrainian Kursk offensive.” NATO personnel from Great Britain, France, Poland, the United States, etc., are in this “up to their eyeballs.” More media, like the New York Times, have recently reported that this “surprise” attack was devised at least a year ago, with the full knowledge of British and American intelligence. This means that the United States and the nations of NATO are no longer at the doorstep of war with Russia, but have opened the door—and in that war, thermonuclear weapons can, in fact, be used. This means that we, you, must act in the next few days to prevent that from happening, even if you don’t think you know how.

Russian Akhmat Special Forces Commander Major General Apti Alaudinov stated from the battlefield that the invasion of Kursk “was prepared directly under the American leadership. These forces invaded the territory of the Kursk region…. The initial task was to take control of the nuclear power plant, as well as the Kursk and possibly Belgorod regions. We have quite credible information about these intentions. After this, they intended to put Russia to the negotiation table with ultimatum conditions.”

Commander Alaudinov then issued a direct appeal to the people of America and Europe: “You probably do not see or hear that your leadership is doing all it can to launch a nuclear war … as you’ve been trying with all means to make Russia cross the red line and start protecting itself using all these nuclear weapons. I don’t think this is something you really want. If you don’t want this to happen, speak out! Go to the streets and stop your government!”

Then, ominously, he concluded: “In any case, if you want Russia to lose the war, you have to understand: the Russian nuclear state will not lose the war. After all, why do we need the world if there is no Russia? That’s why I’m saying: you either wake up and go to the streets to stop your government, or you all (will) appear … in the Third World War zone. This is the issue of the nearest future!”

There are sane voices from the United States and elsewhere that have spoken out about the ugly truth about this war. Former Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich (also an Independent candidate for Congress in 2024), responding to Joe Biden’s crazed remarks at the Democratic Convention, has said that “NATO is an anachronism that should have been disbanded years ago. It has outlived its usefulness. NATO has no purpose, other than as an arms bazaar. And NATO’s purpose right now, is to keep growing to rattle the sabers with Russia.” Diane Sare, LaRouche Independent New York candidate for United States Senate, has campaigned for years to shut down NATO. Both Presidential candidates Kennedy and Trump have called for an immediate end to the Ukraine conflict.

This, however, is not enough—far from it. The people have to be heard and seen. Demonstrations and rallies, yes—but also interventions at public meetings, banners on highways and other public displays, petitions and letters are needed. Hundreds of public officials, clergy, doctors, etc. must make statements and call for no more funding of the war; denunciation of NATO’s war with Russia; admission of the truth of the Nord Stream bombing; and negotiations for a new security and development architecture worldwide. Out of these actions can come a Council of Reason that can move the world away from the precipice of self-destruction.

There is still time to act, but this is no time to run, to flinch, or to “choke.” All of human civilization that has been, and will be, may hinge on what we—what you—choose to do in these next hours, days and weeks.


French Schiller Institute–FAACA Conference: ‘China-Africa Cooperation in the Fight To Eliminate Poverty’

[Print version of this article]

May 9—The Schiller Institute–France and the Fédération des Associations d’Amitié Chine-Afrique (FAACA) held a three-hour, international zoom conference May 4, on China-Africa cooperation in poverty reduction. The FAACA is a multi-nation association, with an office in Dakar, Senegal. The event was a platform for diplomats and experts to confer, sharing a common interest in economic development and peace.

The premise underlying the presentations and discussion is that, with concrete infrastructure projects and related education, mutually beneficial trade, agro-industrial expansion, and humanitarian and health assistance in the interim, poverty can be eliminated. The context for this was the sober acknowledgement and discussion of the dangerous reality that the warfare in Southwest Asia, in Ukraine, and conflict in the Indo-Pacific, can escalate to regional, and to even world war, risking nuclear annihilation.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder and leader of the Schiller Institute, went through the dangerous global situation at the beginning of her presentation (pre-recorded on video), which opened the forum. Today is an “historic crossroads,” she said, with the positive choice for humanity to take the road toward a new economic and security architecture, in particular, the “Oasis Plan” approach to development. Her presentation was titled, “The Role of Europe in the New Multipolar World.”

Assane Mbengue, the President of FAACA, then followed on the topic, “The Contribution of Chinese Enterprises in the Battle Against Poverty in Africa.” Diplomats from China and Senegal took part in the deliberations. These were His Excellency Ibrahima Sory Sylla, Senegalese Ambassador to China; and Zhang Hangbao, First Secretary to His Excellency Xiao Han, Chinese Ambassador to Senegal.

Some 50 people attended the event, moderated by Sebastian Périmony, of the Schiller Institute–France, with very lively discussion. The other speakers, from Africa and China, brought experience and expertise to bear on development and strategic questions. These included Boubacar Tiemoko Diarra, of the Commission for the Diaspora in China, and Vice President of FAACA, speaking on “Studies of the Project for MTC (Traditional Chinese Medicine) in the Fight Against Poverty in China and its Application in Africa”; Edmond Moukala N’Gouemo, representative of UNESCO to Ghana, addressing “The Implication of the Diaspora in the Establishment of Basic Social Services for Development”; and Jimmy Yab, from the School of Economics, Social and Political Sciences, speaking on “The Geo-Economics of the Belt and Road Initiative in the Fight Against Poverty in Africa.” Also participating were Professor Liu Haifang, the Director of the Center for African Studies at Peking University, and Zhang Yun Simon, the CEO of SOMETA SA, Senegal’s leading iron and steel company.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche, on behalf of the Schiller Institute, co-sponsor of the event, endorsed the anti-poverty, economic development efforts underway between China and Africa, and made an additional call for action, saying:

There is an epochal change taking place, and reason for absolute optimism that the plan of the African Union for 2063 will be fully realized. It will mean that the vision of statesmen who fought for the development of Africa, and several of whom paid with their life, is coming true, such as Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt; Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana, the father of the Non-Aligned Movement; Cheikh Anta Diop in Senegal; Thomas Sankara in Burkina Faso; Nelson Mandela in South Africa; and foremost, Lyndon LaRouche, who had made a measuring rod for the moral identity of humanity [of] how Africa is treated.

Now the moral leadership role is already being taken over by the South African government, because it was they who brought the case of genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza to the International Court of Justice. It was not the collective West. It was South Africa, and they did so in evoking the tradition of the fight against apartheid.

The Global South, the Global Majority, is actually the key today, in my view, to overcome the strategic crisis and the danger of nuclear war. Because the relationship between NATO and Russia, and NATO and China, is already so much poisoned and slandered, that it definitely requires the addition of the Global Majority to come out with a very strong voice. And you must unite. Speak with one voice. Because as Prime Minister Nehru and President Sukarno said in Bandung in 1955, if it comes to nuclear war, the Global South, the developing sector, will die as well, even if they die a few days or weeks later.

So therefore, the Global Majority has the absolute moral legitimacy to demand that the countries of the Global North cooperate, that they must stop confrontation, and they must work with the BRICS-Plus.


Copenhagen Diplomatic Seminar: Stop the Killing and Start Rebuilding Gaza and the Region with The Oasis Plan: The LaRouche Solution for Peace Through Development

Read the Invitation

The Schiller Institute’s Copenhagen seminar is designed to further the crucial dialogue held during our international online conference on April 13, 2024 entitled, “The Oasis Plan: The LaRouche Solution for Peace Through Development Between Israel and Palestine, and for All of Southwest Asia.” (See the full videos, and an hour-long summary video.)

Among the speakers from five continents were two of our guest speakers. Helga Zepp-LaRouche, the founder and international leader of the Schiller Institute, presented the dangers facing the Middle East and the world, and the hope for the future. 

H.E. Prof. Dr. Manuel Hassassian, Palestinian Authority Ambassador to Denmark, presented the ongoing tragedy of the Palestinian people, and the need for a political solution based on Palestinian sovereignty and equal rights, supported by economic development. There can be no military solution, he stated. 

Helga Zepp-LaRouche began her speech by highlighting the urgent need to inject a perspective of hope to show the way out of the catastrophic situation in Southwest Asia, warning of the potential for a full-fledged regional, and even global war.  She stressed the need for a totally new approach that considers the combined economic and security interests of the Palestinians, the Israelis, and all the countries of the region.

While immediately after the October 7th Hamas attack, the sympathy of much of the world was with Israel, that changed day after day, week after week, month after month, as the world watched, not a measured counter-reaction, but relentless ethnic cleansing, with 40% of the 33,400 deaths being children, and an entire population threatened with starvation. (See and read more at the links below.)

Now, the killing must stop, and the rebuilding must begin. 

Massive humanitarian aid must flow in. 

An international conference must be convened to find a political solution, including full international recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state. 

But where can the light come from amidst the current darkness? The Schiller Institute is convinced that a future vision of economic development for the whole region, now including a reconstructed Gaza as the first step, is needed to light the path to peace. 

This vision is the Oasis Plan, first proposed by the American economist and statesman Lyndon LaRouche (1922-2019) in 1975 after a trip to the region. The Oasis Plan addresses the greatest barrier to development in the region — the shortage of fresh water — through the construction of a network of desalination plants, ideally nuclear powered, along the Mediterranean coast and along two new canals: a Red Sea-Dead Sea canal, and a Dead Sea-Mediterranean canal. An overview can be seen in the LaRouche Organization’s 14-minute video, The Oasis Plan: LaRouche’s Solution for the Middle East. 

“[W]ithout economic development,” the video states, “without a viable and meaningful path of progress into the future, political agreements in themselves are unsustainable….This is what Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin came to realize — there is no purely military basis for peace or security; development is essential…. By cooperating to fight the desert, rather than each other, the people of the region will better be able to recognize the humanity in each other …There are no human animals.”

But how can the Israelis and Palestinians ever make peace after what has happened? While the history of Southwest Asia has been devastated by the British Empire policy of divide and conquer, Helga Zepp-LaRouche urges us to rise above the level of the conflict – of despair, hatred and vengeance, to find a common interest in increasing the welfare of all the people through economic development of the region as a whole.

This has to be accompanied by ending geopolitics and designing a new international security and development architecture.

Death, destruction and starvation have been used as weapons of war; economic development must be used as a weapon of peace: to turn swords into plowshares. We must all act now to stop the killing and start the rebuilding.

The Schiller Institute Copenhagen seminar will be an important contribution to the dialogue about how to bring peace and prosperity to this long-suffering part of the world, and initiate a new paradigm of international relations.

We sincerely hope that the Ambassador, and/or other diplomatic representatives will be able to attend.

Additional links:

The Oasis Plan: Peace Only Through Development 

Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute founder and international leader, and American economist and statesman Lyndon LaRouche’s (1922-2019) decades-long collaborator. (Spoke online). 

Stop the Killing, Start the Rebuilding: Palestinian Ambassador to Denmark H.E. Prof. Dr. Hassassian

H.E. Prof. Dr. Manuel Hassassian, Palestinian Authority Ambassador to Denmark. 

Formerly ambassador to the U.K. and Hungary. Master’s degree in international relations from the University of Toledo, Ohio, and Ph.D. in political science from the University of Cincinnati. Was Executive Vice President of Bethlehem University on the West Bank, and professor at the University of Maryland where he developed a course on Israel-Palestine conflict resolution. Was the PLO’s chief advisor on the status of Jerusalem.

The Impossible is Self-imposed: Peace Through Economic Development is the Only Way Forward in West Asia

Hussein Askary, Schiller Institute Southwest Asia Coordinator.

Co-author of “Extending the New Silk Road to Southwest Asia and Africa.” 

May 9—The Schiller Institute in Denmark held a seminar May 8 in Copenhagen, for the diplomatic community and other guests, on the theme, “Stop the Killing and Start Rebuilding Gaza and the Region with the Oasis Plan: The LaRouche Solution for Peace Through Development.” Four ambassadors and many other diplomats came in person from twelve embassies, which represented Southwest Asia and North Africa, nations elsewhere in Asia and Africa, and Western Europe.
The audience was intensely engaged over a three-hour period, in hearing the engaging presentations, and participating in the dialogue, whose focus was intended both to contribute to an immediate end to the death and destruction in Gaza, and to outline a development path.
Tom Gillesberg, Chairman of the Schiller Institute–Denmark, moderated the event, noting the current efforts by the Schiller Institute in many nations, to promote dialogue on the concept of “peace through development,” in Palestine, Israel and globally, to contribute to a new world economic and security architecture.

On April 13, the Schiller Institute internationally held a day-long online conference, now available in video-archive, titled, “The Oasis Plan: The LaRouche Solution for Peace Through Development Between Israel and Palestine, and for All of Southwest Asia.” Since February, a 14-minute video has been circulating on “The Oasis Plan.”

In brief, the concept is that development of infrastructure to provide reliable water, power, transportation, health care, housing, and other basics in support of modern agro-industrial activity, is the basis for mutual-interest security. In the Trans-Jordan, this involves building new water conveyances and nuclear desalination; new high-speed rail lines, interconnecting Africa, Asia, and Europe; plentiful power, and more.

In 1975, statesman-economist Lyndon LaRouche (1922–2019) presented this approach as the “Oasis Plan” for Southwest Asia, when he visited the region, and also issued that year his “International Development Bank” funding proposal.
The invitation statement from the Schiller Institute, addressed to the entire Copenhagen diplomatic community, called for discussion of a new paradigm in this spirit:

“Death, destruction and starvation have been used as weapons of war; economic development must be used as a weapon of peace: to turn swords into plowshares. We must all act now to stop the killing and start the rebuilding.
The Schiller Institute Copenhagen seminar will be an important contribution to the dialogue about how to bring peace and prosperity to this long-suffering part of the world, and initiate a new paradigm of international relations.”

Speakers, Peace through Development

The three principal presentations began with Helga Zepp-LaRouche, by video link from Germany. She is founder and leader of the Schiller Institute, and decades-long collaborator in development diplomacy with her husband, Lyndon LaRouche (1922–2019). Second was H.E. Ambassador Prof. Dr. Manuel Hassassian, Palestinian Authority Ambassador to Denmark. These two continued in dialogue their exchanges begun at the earlier, April 13, international Schiller Institute conference, including on the pressing question of whether “political” differences must be solved before “economic” development can proceed.

Speaking third was Hussein Askary, Schiller Institute Southwest Asia Coordinator, who co-authored the Schiller Institute 2017 book, Extending the New Silk Road to Southwest Asia and Africa, and made the Arabic translation of the EIR book, The New Silk Road Becomes the World Land-Bridge.
Helga Zepp-LaRouche began her presentation, titled, “The Oasis Plan: Peace Only Through Development,” with the horrifying news of the start of the Israeli attack on Rafah. She gave a global strategic analysis of the danger of regional and world warfare, describing the threat of even nuclear war from the escalation in Southwest Asia, and as an outgrowth of the NATO-Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Zepp-LaRouche called on the diplomats to collaborate to promote the “Oasis Plan” as a lever to get to a new paradigm and a new international security and development architecture, the only way out of the existential crisis the world is undergoing. She described her ten principles for a new security and development architecture, which she issued for international discussion in 2022. The transcript of her remarks in full is available in this issue of EIR.

Stop the Killing, Start Rebuilding

H.E. Amb. Prof. Dr. Hassassian spoke on the theme, “Stop the Killing and Start the Rebuilding.” He gave a very polemical speech about the ongoing tragedy of the Palestinian people, the history of the conflict, and what is necessary to stop the genocide. The Ambassador called on the 12 countries represented at the seminar, and the international community, to act to stop the killing, and he stressed the need for a political solution based on Palestinian sovereignty, supported by economic development. The discussion included the question of a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.
Amb. Hassassian speaks from long experience and commitment. He is a former ambassador to the UK and to Hungary. He was Executive Vice President of Bethlehem University on the West Bank, and a professor at the University of Maryland, where he developed a course on Israel-Palestine conflict resolution. He was the PLO’s chief advisor on the status of Jerusalem. His Master’s degree is in international relations from the University of Toledo, Ohio, and his PhD is in political science from the University of Cincinnati, Ohio.

See his interview March 15, 2024, with the Schiller Institute.

The LaRouche Oasis Plan

Hussein Askary presented concrete aspects of the economic geography and principles of development of the Oasis Plan approach, under the topic, “The Impossible Is Self-Imposed: Peace through Economic Development Is the Only Way Forward in West Asia.” He especially challenged the axioms behind the zero-growth movement and its political expression. He explained that principles of development are based on the reality that humanity’s creativity transforms nature.
Askary used examples from his recent trip to Xinjiang to show the Chinese development policy to green the desert. In the discussion periods, wide-ranging questions came up, including whether there are too many people in the world, and what to do about terrorism in West Africa, where he emphasized the need for economic development as an antidote.

Promote a Global Oasis Plan Discussion

During the discussion period, Helga Zepp-LaRouche answered one question that came up, by appealing to the Global South to make their voices heard.
A concrete proposal among the discussants is that the Oasis Plan should be on the agenda of certain of the symposia on security held annually by foundations and nations. Palestinian voices might formally request this. H.E. Ambassador Prof. Dr. Hassassian added getting the discussion going in the universities, and emphasized the importance of the Oasis Plan as a catalyst for economic development, and the work of the Schiller Institute and LaRouche movement in promoting it.

The immediate opportunity for speaking out at a formal international platform comes just two days after the Copenhagen meeting, when the United Nations General Assembly has on its May 10 agenda, the question of statehood for Palestine, for debate and, likely, a vote.
The general reaction to the seminar itself, from the diplomats, was that they were grateful for the ideas, which are very different from what is routinely presented. As one Asian diplomat said, “My mind is blown. It will take me days to think about all of the new ideas presented.”

Helga Zepp-LaRouche reported to the International Peace Coalition, “It was an extremely important follow-up meeting on the level of diplomats and ambassadors, and out of this meeting came a complete commitment to continue the organizing, kick it up to a higher level by trying to get a big international conference with the participation of states on the need to put the Oasis Plan, the development plan for the entire region of Southwest Asia in earnest on the agenda.”


Leading Palestinian Doctor and Peace Activist Gives Interview to Schiller Institute: ‘I Shall Not Hate’

COPENHAGEN, March 19, 2024 (EIRNS)—Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, the Gaza Palestinian author of the book I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor’s Journey, who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five times, granted the Schiller Institute an hour-long interview yesterday. Dr. Abuelaish gave a very moving video interview to Vice President of the Schiller Institute in Denmark Michelle Rasmussen.

Interview transcript

MICHELLE RASMUSSEN: Hello, I am Michelle Rasmussen, the Vice President of the Schiller Institute in Denmark. Thank you very much, Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, for granting us this interview. You are here in Copenhagen on the occasion of the premiere of a documentary film based on your book, {I Shall Not Hate; A Gaza Doctor’s Journey}.

You are a Palestinian gynecologist/obstetrician and infertility expert from Gaza, now living in Canada. You chose that field because you want to bring life into the world. You have experienced deep tragedy in the Israel-Hamas war of 2009, and now, also, in 2024. Yet, you are travelling around the world with a message of hope and reconciliation, and have even been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize several times.

What is your personal tragedy, and what is the tragedy of the Palestinians?

DR. IZZELDIN ABUELAISH: Thank you so much. I’m coming to Copenhagen for the premiere of the film, {I Shall Not Hate}, which is my life story. The stories are not something to read in the book, the stories are about the living experience, in order for people to learn from it, and to live it. There are lessons behind it, and to know, who are the Palestinian people. As a Palestinian people, for me, and as a Palestinian refugee, and that’s important, if we want to know, we need to dig deeper and to ask what is going on, what is happening. To learn, to connect, and then to act. Because most of the challenges in our world stem from ignorance, arrogance, and greed. So, as a Palestinian refugee, we need to ask, and that’s what I learned, what is the meaning of being a refugee? Someone who has a home, who has a country, has dignity, and is suddenly kicked out by force, to be naked in the world, deprived of dignity, of privacy. Home is not for wars, home is culture, is life. It means a lot. The only thing I don’t want to accept in this world, is to see someone homeless, because when someone is homeless, he becomes disclosed to the world. There is no privacy, there is no life. As Palestinians, we have experienced that; during the Nakba [“The catastrophe”: the violent ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in 1948 after Israel declared independence], and even now the Palestinians are experiencing it in the Gaza Strip. No nation has been tested as we have been tested as Palestinians.

My life was war. We, as Palestinians, are fighting on a daily basis. Not because we want to fight, but in order to survive, to be recognized in this world. We love life, and we want to live and to give life to others, even in times of disaster, during the war, the current war, the Palestinians are smiling. They got married, there have been marriages, because they want to continue their lives. This is a message to the world to know who the Palestinians are. That’s why I came here, for this message, from where I came as a refugee.

And nothing stopped me from achieving my plans and dreams. From Jabalia refugee camp when I was a child, I dreamed of becoming a medical doctor. But the dreams are not just dreams and then they will happen. You need to have confidence. You need to have hope. When you speak about hope, hope is not just a word. Hope, you need to believe in it, and you need to work hard to achieve it. Nothing is going to change spontaneously; you need to take action to make the change. So, I dreamed of becoming a medical doctor, and I worked very hard for it.

Life taught me that nothing is impossible in lifenothing. I don’t believe in impossible things. The word impossible is not in my dictionary. The only impossible thing in life I believe in, is to return my daughters back to life. But they are living with me; they are moving with me everywhere.

As I said, from Jabalia camp to Cairo University to get my MD [certification], to specialize in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of London, to come back, to work in Saudi Arabia and in many countries. To be the first Palestinian doctor to practice medicine in an Israeli hospital. That message is important. When I worked in Israel, I worked there because I believed in the mission I have. Medicine and health are human equalizers, stabilizers, socializers, harmonizers, and sustainizers. When I deliver a baby, no one can discriminate or differentiate between the cry of the newborn babyPalestinian, Israeli, Muslim, Jewish, or Christian. The only cry in life, which means life, is the cry of the baby; it’s a cry of hope, and we are happy when we hear the baby crying. It means the baby is alive and doing well. They are born free and equal. Why don’t we take this message to equalize between people outside the borders of the hospitals? Even the woman in labor — no one knows who is in labor, from the labor pains; if she is Palestinian, if she is Israeli, if she is Danish, American, Canadian. That’s what I learned, and that’s what I continued.

So, I specialized in infertility and IVF [in vitro fertilisation], and then, another sub-specialty, fetal medicine and genetics. I always want to achieve things that match the needs of the people. With genetics, because of co-sanguinity [blood relationships/ relationships between close relatives] among the Palestinian people — I wanted to do something that helps the community. That’s medicine; that’s academic education. The academic education should have a human, social, healthy, peaceful impact on the community. It’s not just that we teach math and science. We teach people to be human and to behave as human.

The last thing is that of which I am proud, because I wasn’t born with a golden spoon. My parents are simple farmers; they were kicked out of their homeland, but they believed that their children are the hope. They invested everything in their lives for education. So, you see the Palestinian people are one of the most literate people in the Middle East, and even in the world. And we are determined, because someone can take anything from you, but no one can take the education away from us, or prevent us from being educated. The last thing is, for a Palestinian refugee, how I got to go to Harvard? I was lucky to get a scholarship to go to Harvard. The only thing which was consoling me when I graduated from Harvard, when I saw my colleagues, their families at the commencement, all of them were there, but my family couldn’t join me, but what consoled me was the Palestinian flag, which was raised among other flags. It said, “I am here. I am Izzeldin Abuelaish. I am the Palestinian; proud of being a Palestinian among those who are there.”

And what I achieved now. I am at the University of Toronto, a full professor, teaching graduate students, doing a lot of research, writing, with a mission in life. That is what we need the people to have; to ask themselves “Why are we here?” We need to have a sense of purpose. By the end of day, we have to leave this world, but we want to leave a legacy behind. That’s my main goal; to have an impact and do my part as a human to think of others in a positive way. Because I suffered, and I will never accept the suffering of any human being. Humanity should prevail. We should humanize, not politicize. I don’t have an agenda; the agenda that I have is a human one, not a political agenda, economic or any personal agenda.

In order, also, to send a message to my loved ones, to my daughters, that your holy souls and noble blood wasn’t wasted. It made a difference in others’ lives, because in my life as a Palestinian, as a faithful person, I am accountable only, and just only, to God and to my daughters, who live with me. As you see, I see them. They ask me all the time, “What did you do for us?” I am determined to inject their holy souls and noble blood into a vein of hope and humanity in this world, which is corrupt humanely, morally, and ethically.

RASMUSSEN: What happened to your daughters?

DR. ABUELAISH: My daughters — it’s happening now, for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The same as in 2009, the [Israeli army’s] Cast Lead Operation. I don’t accept calling it as an “operation,” because the medical term for surgical operation, we use to heal and to help the patients; not to kill, or destroy, or damage. Operations, ethically and morally in medicine, must be to improve and heal the wounds of the people; not to damage and destroy. So, the 16th of January 2009, at 4:45pm, an Israeli tank shelled my house, and killed three of my daughters and one niece, and severely wounded others. I didn’t believe it; they were innocent people. I told them, my daughters, to be peace activists. I sent them to peace camps, to the States, everywhere. And the propaganda and the myth …

RASMUSSEN: They went together with Israeli children.

DR. ABUELAISH: With Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians. I believed in the role of young women and the importance of their efforts and activities. They were not human shields; they were innocent, studying. If I have 100 of my daughters, I am proud of them. They were focused on their education; the teachers were fighting to have them in their classes. They never succeeded in getting grades of less than 97 percent in their school. They had their plans, they had dreams. They planned and worked hard for them. Bessan, who was 21 years old, was about to graduate from university with her undergraduate degree. I promised to send her to the London School of Economics. Mayar, who was 15, was number one in math in the Gaza Strip; who planned to follow my path to be a medical doctor. Aya, who was 14, who planned to be a journalist; to be the voice of the voiceless, to speak to others. My niece Noor, who was 17, who planned to be a teacher.

I don’t want anyone on Earth to see what I saw. I wanted to see Bessan, because I was there with them seconds after I left my daughters’ room, the first bomb came. “Where is Bessan, where is Mayar, where is Aya, where is Noor?” They were drowning in their blood. As the scenes you are seeing now, disfigured, their brains spreading everywhere. Mayar was decapitated. I can’t recognize them.

So, what can I do at that moment? When you see the loved ones are killed in front of you? They are the life, they are the hope. I am a family person; I delivered them. I delivered them with my hands. I gave them names. I wanted always to give them the best names, to be proud of them.

So, at that moment, I lost faith in humanity.

That is what is happening now in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians, on a daily basis, are killed; starved; deprived of everything. And the world is watching. It’s a shame. When, as a medical doctor, when I see a bleeding woman, I rush to stop the bleeding, not to watch what is happening. The world is ashamed of what is happening. If they come to stop the bloodshed, what can they do? Waiting for what? Waiting for what; to have more? Do we bleed as Palestinians? Is our blood different from others? We all bleed the same color; we all love life.

It’s time for the world, for one time, to stand for humanity, and to zoom in and take a positive action. To inspire the world that there is hope; that we are changing. We don’t discriminate based on color, ethnicity, religion, background, or the color of the eyes, or the color of the skin. That’s the test for the international community. Gaza Strip is their test. What are they doing? They are watching it in silence. In terms of injustice, it’s injustice. This is unjust.

At that moment, I directed my face only, and just only, to God as a faithful person, to God to give me the strength, the wisdom to manage the tragedy. And I am blessed to be a medical doctor, to manage emergency situations. So, those who were killed, I couldn’t do anything for them; so, I focused on managing those who were wounded.

And the first message which came to give me support was from my son, Mohammed, who was 12 years old. Why? He saw me screaming, crying, in pain. He said, “Why are you crying? Why are you screaming? You must be happy.” I thought, “What is he talking about? He wants me to be happy? Maybe he doesn’t know.” I said, “How can you want me to be happy? Bessan, Mayar, Aya and Noor are killed.” He said, “I know they are killed, but I know that they are happy there. They are with their mom. She asked for them.”

Because their mother passed away exactly four months before they were killed. I said, “If this Palestinian child, who is 12 years old, believes in that, he can teach these political leaders who are watching what is happening. I don’t need to worry about him. I have to continue my life, because life, as Einstein said, is like riding a bicycle. To keep balance, you must keep moving.” I kept moving faster, stronger, more determined not to give up at all, and not to forget my lovely daughters. And the oath I gave it to them: “I will never rest. I will never relax. I will never give up.” That’s why I am here, until I meet them one day. To meet them one day with a big gift, that their holy souls and noble blood weren’t wasted. It made a difference in others’ lives; not with the bullet, not with the missile. It’s with wisdom; with courageous, kind words and good deeds. These are the means. Because you as a journalist, what are you doing? Words are stronger than bullets. The bullet kills once, but words are more influential. That’s what I’m doing with my life; that’s why I am here.

RASMUSSEN: As you say, the tragic irony is that you had been an agent for peace between Israel and Palestine for many years before your daughters and your niece were killed. As a young man, you worked on an Israeli farm, and you found out that the family was as loving as your own family. Your daughters participated in the peace camps with Israeli children. You were the first Palestinian doctor on staff in an Israeli hospital. You were involved in bringing Israelis to your home in Gaza one weekend a month to break down the prejudices that we have for each other. You even wrote that you hoped that the death of your daughters would be the last. You said “Now I have to choose. Do I choose the path of darkness, or do I choose the path of light? The darkness is poisonous hate and revenge, or the light of taking care of my other five children and the future?” You hoped that out of this terrible tragedy that there would come a way of bridging the divide to find the light of truth that could enable Palestinians and Israelis to live together.

Can you say more about what your mission is now?

DR. ABUELAISH: My mission now, and when I sent my daughters to peace camp, and even when I worked at the age of 14 on the farm, it was the first time, because as I said, my life was the war. War is not the soldier who is going to kill and to be killed. War is far beyond the soldier who is killing or is killed. War is about the human beings; about the women and children. Women and children pay the major price of any war. War is not what we see on the screen. You see what is happening in Gaza; it’s not that that’s war. The invisible cost is far beyond what we see. The wounds in the hearts and minds and spirits which will be trans-generational, continuing; it’s permanent. I am always thinking, what can we do with the consequence of war that the children will carry with them for their whole lives? Until now, for the latest war, more than 32,000 Palestinians were killed. More than 74,000 are severely wounded. The Gaza Strip is the most beautiful for me; Palestine for me is paradise. The Gaza Strip before the war was a Hell, described by the international community. Before the war, four out of five children in the Gaza Strip were mentally ill. Now, the Gaza Strip is a ghost town. You cannot recognize the neighborhoods, the streets. The people are not the people that I know.

A few weeks ago, they sent me a photo of my nephew. He’s 24. I was shocked to see him. He looked 45; he looked 45, 50. The Gaza Strip now is hopeless, helpless, lifeless, foodless, waterless, childless, parentless. The most densely populated area in terms of the population, and the most densely populated area with disabled people, with orphans; 17,000 orphans. Families were erased.

What can we say? How can we send a message that we are in the 21st Century? That we live in a human world? That we want the world to be consistent with human values? To prove that they lived by these values, but this doesn’t prevent me from speaking out. That is what I urge people to do; to speak out. What is happening in Gaza, and the war there. It’s not there; it’s across barriers. The war crosses barriers; you see the impact worldwide. It’s not Palestinian-Israeliit’s universal. We need the universal, the international community to stand, for once, for their own values, that they believe in them—the justice, the equality, the freedom, the dignity, and the human rights. Who wrote the Human Rights Conventions? They were written in Europe. Do they believe in it or not? If they believe in it, they have to live by itnot by selective double standards. What is white is white; what is black is black. And that is what we need. We want to resume a trust in our international community. That’s the guarantee for a stable, sustainable world.

That’s what I am trying to do, and will continue to do. I believe that nothing is permanent in life. Nothing is permanent, and nothing is impossible. Everything is dynamic, and life is a cycle. We go up, and then we go down. It’s time for the change.

I urge political leaders who are there representing their people, they are servants and serving the people themselves. They should listen to the people. You see what is happening everywhere in the world? There is a divide between the public opinion and the political leaders. They are there politicizing for their own limited political interests or agenda. So, it’s time for them to have the moral courage to be risk takers. To say, “We are joining the public to achieve the goals of the public.” Because in this way, they will save the Palestinians, and the Israelis, and their people. They will save the Israelis from their extreme destructive leadership of the Israelis. And, also, because any harm — the extreme political Israeli leadership is destructive to their people, and to us as Palestinians. So, we need someone who can say, “This is not good for anyone. We have to intervene immediately; now, not tomorrow.”

RASMUSSEN: You had hoped that the death of your daughters would be the last deaths in this struggle. Now, 15 years later, it continues even on a much larger scale. You said in an interview last month, that 20 members of your extended family had died. What is the cause of this spiral of violence?

DR. ABUELAISH: As a medical doctor, of course, and as you mentioned, I said it: If I could know that my daughters were the last sacrifice to be killed on the way to peace between Palestinians and Israelis, then I would accept it. But they were not; they were just numbers. And I will never accept that any human being is just a number, or what they call “collateral damage.” Human beings are humans; they have names, they have plans, they have hopes. They have parents, they have a future, they have lives. It’s time to speak about the human as a human. Each human being, for their loved ones, is the world. Saving one, as if you saved the world. Killing one, as if you killed the world. That’s why I will never accept it, and will continue to advocate strongly for human life, for equality.

You speak about what are the problems. I learned as a medical doctor, in order to treat a patient, I have to have an accurate diagnosis. The accurate diagnosis is the truth, is the light which guides us in times of darkness. Because once I have the diagnosis, I can set up the right treatment.

So, what do I do in order to have an accurate diagnosis when a patient comes to me? I take the historynot to blame the patientthe history to know what happened, and what’s going on. Then I will do an examination and some investigation. Once I have a clear idea about the diagnosis, I can set up the right treatment.

As I said, it’s the truth, because Jesus said, “Seek the truth, and the truth will set you free.” We want to be free in this world. So, what happened? We, as Palestinian people, we are the Palestinian nation. We are the Palestinian people. Not to deal with it in a fragmented way. When a patient comes to me suffering in his hand, I look at the hand, but this hand is attached to the human body. The failed doctor is treating disease. We don’t treat diseases; we treat human beings, the whole human being. So, I don’t focus on the hand; the hand is attached. Maybe the symptom is here, but the pain or the disease is in the body itself. So, we need to deal in a collective, comprehensive, holistic approach.

There is a Palestinian nation, and there are Israeli people there. One is occupier, one is occupied. One is oppressor, the other is oppressed. One has nuclear [weapon] power, and the Palestinians don’t have that nuclear power. The Heritage Minister [Amihai Eliyahu, from the Otzma Yehudit party, he tried, and he said it, even [Israeli Knesset member for Likud Revital “Tally”] Gotliv said, “Nuking the Palestinians with the nuclear weapon.” And the Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant said, “Palestinians aren’t human, they’re animals.” These are incitements. I encourage the people, if they don’t have a good word, don’t say a bad one. Words hurt; they hurt more than anything else. That’s the diagnosis. We want the Palestinians to be free; and the Israelis to be free. Even the occupier is not free.

RASMUSSEN: But you spoke about the need to break the cycle of violence in terms of revenge —

DR. ABUELAISH: Revenge will never work.

RASMUSSEN: Counter revenge —

DR. ABUELAISH: Action and reaction is not going to help.

RASMUSSEN: And that there is no military solution.

DR. ABUELAISH: I said it clearly, and that’s what my daughter Bessan, God bless her soul, at the age of 14, said to me, “Answering violence with violence doesn’t solve any problem.” Action and reaction, this vicious circle is not going to help at all. We have a negative, we need something positive. We need to equalize between Palestinians and Israelis, not occupier and occupied, but free and free, based on equality, justice, freedom for all, and dignity for all. I said that clearly. We both, as Palestinians and Israelis, are like conjoined twins. No one can turn his back. Any harm to one will affect the other. We live and ride in one boat, and we must not allow anyone to do harm to another; we have to reach the shore peacefully, equally. So, I said it; the future, the security, the safety, the independence, the freedom, the dignity, the life of the Israelis is linked, intertwined, inseparable, and interdependent with Palestinian safety, security, freedom, rights, dignity, and life. That’s the only way, which is a guarantee for a long-lasting, stable, sustainable relationship.

Even the word “peace,” we are talking about it sometimes. Peace is not a word; it’s not a word which we are talking about. We want peace, but no one is asking to dig deeper. What is the peace we are talking about? The people have lost faith in it, because they don’t see it. Peace is a relationship. It’s a relationship between two parts. I have a peaceful relationship with you based on respect, listening to each other.

We need to have peace between us and the environment. Do we have peace with our environment, with the Earth? We do harm to our Earth, we do harm to our environment. We don’t even have peace with the environment in which we live, so we need this peace. There are certain needs. Peace is the goal, but we need the means to achieve this peace.

What are the means? Number one, respect; equality; justice for all; dignity for all; life for all. Once we have these means, peace will be a consequence. And that’s what we need to shift the way, not to start from pieces. Start with the basic requirements, the main foundation for peace, then you build. The building will be peace, but you need to set up the means.

RASMUSSEN: Just to follow up on that, you said in your book, “Whereas the international community, I am against rockets and suicide bombs, but also against shutting the door against the people who are suffering. I ask for a decent life for Palestinians. Instead of building a wall, we need to build a bridge.”

But as a legacy for your daughters, Bessan, Mayar, and Aya, you founded the Daughters of Life Foundation. And on your home page it states, “Hate is not a response to war. Rather, open communication, understanding, and compassion are the tools needed to bridge the divide between Israeli and Palestinian interests. All can live in harmony, and all can reach their full potentials spiritually, emotionally, physically, and intellectually.”

Why did you call your book {I Shall Not Hate}?

DR. ABUELAISH: I called my book {I Shall Not Hate}, because after the tragedy, people used to ask me, and they asked my daughter Shatha — Christiane Amanpour, in an interview, asked her, “Do you hate?” My daughter, Shatha, who is 17 years old, who also I sent to peace camp, she said, the answer was, “Who to hate?” The people were asking me, “Do you hate?” I said, “Why do they ask me this question?” So, I started to learn about hatred; to do a lot of literature review. I came to the conclusion, based on the definition of hatred by the textbooks, they considered it an emotion, or feeling, or a behavior. The reaction to anything, by someone who is exposed to harm, is to hate the perpetrator. So, I said, “As a medical doctor, hate is not a feeling. Hatred is not an emotion or a behavior. Hatred is far behind that. And that is what I published. I did a lot of research about it. Hatred is a self or community contagious destructive disease. It’s the result of exposure.” So, I use my medical education. The public health approach, the immunological approach, to implement it about hatred. So, why do people want me to be afflicted or sick with this disease called hatred?

Hatred is a poison; it’s a poison, which is toxic to the human body. It’s a fire which burns the body; it’s a cancer inside. If we are sitting here, and someone who did you real harm, an existential threat, passes by, how do you feel? Immediately, you become blind; you can’t function, you don’t see. So, I said, “Hatred disturbs the balance of the human body. You are not functioning well; you are heavy, you can’t move. Your mind is always occupied with that. So instead of that, life is still in front of you.” So, I am a victim of the tragedy, and the killing of my daughters, but I will never accept to be a victim of this disease called hatred.

I say to people, “Don’t accept to be a victim more than once.” Instead of staying being a victimbeing a victim is a stigma. Bring all of your energy to transform the tragedy, or the challenge you are facing, to an opportunity. To move from being a victim to a survivor; to be a leader in this world. That’s the message you send to the perpetrator, the antidote of revenge and hatred is success and leading, and moving forward. That’s what I am determined to do. Because my daughters — I also believe, my faith taught me that even this tragedy was for the good. I asked myself why my daughters were selected; why was I saved? Because if I had stayed a few seconds longer with them, I would be gone. There is a mission; God knows, and we don’t know.

That’s why on the second day, once it [the tragedy] was broadcast live, the Israeli Prime Minister [Ehud Olmert] announced a unilateral ceasefire. It saved other lives. This helped me; this satisfied me. It symbolized the war, and that’s the other positive thing that came out of that; the establishment of the Daughters for Life Foundation. Because life is what we make italways has been, always will be. It’s in our hands. You can shape your life the way you want it. Don’t let others shape it for you. Be yourself; don’t underestimate yourself. Without blaming or shaming, take responsibility and keep moving forward.

So, I established Daughters for Life because in my life as a Palestinian, I am in debt to my mother, my wife, and my daughters. A Palestinian mother is the hero, is the one behind the survival story of the Palestinian nation. Women are the ones who give life; women are the ones who nurture life. Women are the ones who sacrifice everything for their children. Imagine this world without women. Women are the ones who wage and spread love, compassion, and life. They can breastfeed the children. The have the compassion, the love, the determination, the kindness. That’s why I believe in women. Name me five women in the history of the world who were behind war. You can’t find five, but how many men can you find? We, in this world, women and men; they were created to complement each other, to support each other. Women are the beauty of the world.

That’s why I established Daughters for Life, for education of girls and young women from the Middle East and North Africa, without any discrimination. If politics discriminates based on race, ethnicity, color, or religion, Daughters for Life includes all. It’s inclusive for all, without any discrimination based on ethnicity, or religion: Palestinians, Israelis, Jordanians, Syrians, Lebanese, North Africans, Muslims, Jews, and Christians without any discrimination. If politics divides, Daughters for Life brings together. That’s the message we want in this world, because achieving a stable, sustainable world is the function and the duty of women, women’s education, and to give women the opportunity, and the ability to practice the role they deserve. I am sure if they don’t succeed, they will never make it worse as it is now. It’s time to try. The more we see women sitting at the table, this is the hopeful thing.

RASMUSSEN: Back to breaking the cycle of violence, your daughter Aya said, “When I grow up and I’m a mother, I want my children to live in a reality with where the word ‘rocket’ is just another name for a space shuttle.” And your daughter Bessan said in a documentary about the peace camp, “We think as enemies. We live on opposite sides, and never meet. But I feel that we are all the same, we are all human beings.” You have also stressed that the Palestinians and the Israelis are more similar than different.

Back to this question about hate, a very extraordinary woman, Amelia Boynton Robinson, who was the Vice President of the Schiller Institute for many years, who was in the American civil rights movement, said that “Hate not only destroys the hated, but it destroys the hater.” As you say, this poison. When you moved to Canada, you spoke in front of a synagogue. You were asked, “OK, Dr. Abuelaish, but what do you teach your children about the Israelis?” Then, what happened?

DR. ABUELAISH: Thank you so much for this question, because this is the perception, and the ignorance. When we don’t know people, we have our own ideas. So, after what I faced, I was invited to that synagogue where there were about 1200 peopleMuslims, Jews, Christians, from everywhere. They even moved the venue from one to the other, because of the numbers; they couldn’t accommodate all. And it was the first time in my life I took my children to an event. After the questions, they asked “What do I teach my children after?” So, my answer to them — which is on the video — I said, “I practice medicine with evidence, so my children are here.” I called my daughter Raffah who was nine years old. “Habibi Rafah, my darling, come here. Tell them, what did I teach you during the war, when the bombardments were from everywhere, the house was shaking, and under fire.” She was shy, and then she started to speak. What she said was, “My dad taught us Hebrew words. The translation for ‘I love you’; ‘How are you?’ ” That’s the answer. That’s the perception. Why this prejudice to think the Palestinians teach their children to hate, or to be angry. We don’t hate anyone, even our Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish said, “We don’t hate anyone; we don’t steal anyone; and we don’t want to delete anyone.” We want to be recognized; we want to have our dignity, our freedom. Because the most holy thing in the universe is a human being and freedom, and we are deprived of the freedom. So, I urge the worldthe world is not the free, by the way, as long as the Palestinians are not. They have to zoom in to understand that the world’s freedom is based on the Palestinians’ freedom.

RASMUSSEN: Our partner, the LaRouche Organization, has recently released a video, “The Oasis Plan: LaRouche’s Solution to the Middle East.” It described what the American economist and statesman Lyndon LaRouche has proposed and developed since 1975. The idea of peace through development between Israel and an independent Palestine, through cooperation to develop water resources, and other infrastructure, because we think that we need to have a vision of a future common interest in mutually beneficial economic development to bridge the divide. A vision where Israelis and Palestinians could live peacefully together, as a way of paving a path to peace. What do you think of this Oasis Plan proposal, and how could a vision of economic development help create peace?

DR. ABUELAISH: It’s an important element, because you speak about economics and development. Economic development is one aspect of the needs of a human life. But we need development in the different sectors, and different aspects. Like a building, I say. The building needs a strong foundation, and the economy and the capital is covered. They, [the international investors] are afraid. You need stability and sustainability, safety and security. Anyone who is going to invest in an economy in the Gaza Strip — can anyone now to go to invest in Ukraine? Can anyone go to invest in Ukraine now? No; no one will invest in Ukraine, because it’s not safe, it’s not secure. If the world were to say, “We will go invest in the Gaza Strip,” what are they going to say? “No, I want safety, I want security.” So, economic development is supportive and strengthens the conditions that we need to prepare. It leads to stability, sustainability, and building trust. Trust is vital in a relationship. So, the first thing you need are the means I was talking about, in order for economic development to thrive. Number one, equality; because if we are not sitting [equally at the same table] at the same time we say development, I am doubting. We need to fill the gap in the equity.

There is a gap; so you need to fill the gap in equity. Then we move together equally towards the goal of economic development that leads to stability, sustainability. To turn the page, the dark page in their relationship, to turn it into a brighter one with the following values: equal, just, free, dignity, and developing. That is, without leaving anyone behind, not to leave anyone behind. And in a collaborative way, and inclusive, not exclusive. That is what I believe can lead to a long-lasting [collaborative relationship], and the people will say, that’s the right, the shortest cut which can help us to move forward.

To turn the page of military means, as I said many times, military means and wars will never put an end [to violence]; it only leads to more bloodshed, more pain, more suffering, more hatred, more violence, and more extremism than any time before. Can we turn the page and understand? Because we say, “Never again, never again, never again.” We have to learn, we make mistakes in life, but mistakes are to learn from. A mistake is a mistake if we learn from it and not repeat it. If it’s repeated, it’s not a mistake. It means we do it deliberately, and we didn’t learn the lessons.

I hope October 7th will be the last that we experience; to learn from it and to use it as an opportunity. We have a moral, ethical, and human responsibility; Palestinians and Israelis and the international community. Those who paid the price: the Palestinian children, the women, the wounded, the destruction, and the Israelis. Our moral responsibility to keep them alive through spreading hope, sending a message to them that you paved the way for this development based on the means that we are talking about, that they shed the light for all of us. They were candles burned for the future generations, not to be burned for political interests. Because in life we have a priority; the priority in life is not the past. The past is to learn from. The priority in life is the present and the future. Who are the present and the future? Our children and the future generations. We are accountable; what legacy do we want to leave them? If we love them, we have to learn the lessons. To allow them to inherit a safe, secure, healthy, peaceful, free future. That’s what we need to work together for. It’s not only Palestinians and Israelis. The international community should step in, because there is an interest for the whole world. Because what is happening there is universal. Solving it, putting an end to it, gives hope to the world. Trust in the international community and the whole world will benefit from it.

RASMUSSEN: There’s also this idea you just spoke of, of having an image of the future. And determining what we do now to reach that future. We have an image — this is our idea of the Oasis Plan — but also, our international chairman Helga Zepp-LaRouche has often used the idea of a Catholic bishop from the Renaissance period, Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa. He called it the Coincidence of Opposites; that you can never solve the conflict on the level of the conflict. That you have to rise above to find that common interest in which then the people can see why they should work together. He even wrote a piece called {De Pace Fidei}, the {Peace of Faith}, to find a unity among the multiplicity of religions.

At the end, you spoke about in your book, that just as Martin Luther King did, you have a dream. What is your dream? And do you have any parting words for our viewers. And just before that, you spoke about your mission, also professionally, to bring life into the world. The Jewish people, when they want to say “Cheers!” Actually say “L’chaim!” — to life. If we could make that into a common principle to bring unity and peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians; to have that as a slogan — “To life!” But what is your dream, and do you have any concluding words for our viewers?

DR. ABUELAISH: My dream, and my hope that I am working for, is to see an end to the suffering of the Palestinians and to be free, side-by-side with the Israelis. I see it in a dynamic world, as I said. Nothing is impossible. No one was expecting one day in 1994, to have a positive agreement between Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin, for them to shake hands. So, nothing is impossible. The world is full of surprises, but surprises are not just words. Surprises and hopes are values that we need to act for; and to see the truth, and to understand without bias. The world will benefit from it.

As I said, we have a lot of commonalities between both. The only guarantee, my hope is to see my next-door neighbor an Israeli Jew; to live side-by-side as equals, as free. To turn the page of anger, of ignorance, of arrogance, occupation, oppression, dehumanization, and to come together jointly. Believe me, I see it, if we put our hands together, Palestinians and Israelis. You see it in Israel, the health system in Israel, it’s built on the Palestinian Israelis; 30%, 40% of the nurses, the doctors when I worked there. How can my dream to see Palestinian children and Israeli children at the same school, at the same university, as equal as any other nations. Believe me, both nations are waiting for this moment. They are resilient; they can turn the page. I am waiting to see this happen. And, personally, when the people say, “It’s complicated,” I say, “Nothing is complicated.” If there is a good will, there is a way. And we have to find our way with the support of the international community. And because it’s the hope and it’s the goal, and the dream of the international community, without being indifferent, biased, selective, or complicit. But to be fair and to work for the rights, equality, and justice for Palestinians and Israelis. I say to you, the Israelis, the Israeli interest is more for and with the Palestinians. They have American Jewish, you are an American Jew. Their close neighbor who is the Palestinian there to be closer to them and connected to them more than the Jews in the States. I live in Canada and my neighbors are Jewish, so when I am in need of help, the first thing I call my neighbor. So, they have to build and to strengthen their relationship as equal, free, dignified neighbors. That’s the guarantee for a good life for all, where I value life, and the Israelis to say “L’chaim!”

RASMUSSEN: Thank you so much. I encourage our viewers to read Dr. Abuelaish’s book, and to see the movie when that is available for you. We will see it this afternoon. I also encourage you to register for the Schiller Institute’s April 13 free online conference, “The Oasis Plan: LaRouche’s Solution for Peace through Development between Israel and Palestine, and all of Southwest Asia.”

Thank you so much.

DR. ABUELAISH: My pleasure, thank you.

RASMUSSEN: Thank you for speaking to us, and we wish you all the best to carry out your mission of peace and reconciliation. We hope that many people will join you in this mission.

DR. ABUELAISH: I need your institute to join us.

RASMUSSEN: Yes.

DR. ABUELAISH: Thank you so much.

Epilogue: On Compassion:

After this interviewer saw the documentary film “I Shall Not Hate,” she asked Dr. Abuelaish a question:

RASMUSSEN: The Schiller Institute in named after Friedrich Schiller, the poet of Freedom. He, as well as Mahatma Gandhi, stressed, that you need to evoke compassion, in order to open the hearts of the people.

DR. ABUELAISH:

I agree with you. Compassion means responsibility, being authentic, sincere, and do it with courage. Don’t wait for someone to tell you to be compassionate. Be the initiator. I am on the advisory board of the Coalition for Compassion. Compassion is vital.

RASMUSSEN: Your story, first in the book, the play about you, and now the film, will open people’s hearts. Friedrich Schiller used drama to evoke compassion. Mahatma Gandhi said, “We cannot commit violence against others…”

DR. ABUELAISH: Violence against violence.

RASMUSSEN: But your suffering will open the hearts of the people.

DR. ABUELAISH: I agree with you, and that’s important.

RASMUSSEN: Now, we must act to stop the suffering.

The book, from 2010, tells the story of Dr. Abuelaish’s life and mission. Despite being born in the Jabalia, Gaza refugee camp, he became a physician of obstetrics/gynecology specializing in infertility, because he wanted to bring life into the world. He became the first Palestinian doctor on staff at an Israeli hospital. Although he and his family were long-term advocates of peace and dialogue with the Israelis, three of his daughters and a niece were killed in an Israeli artillery attack on their home in northern Gaza in 2009 during a previous Hamas-Israel war. His anguished cries for help, made to an Israeli TV newscaster friend, were sent live on Israeli TV. They led directly to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert calling a unilateral ceasefire two days later.

Afterwards, he refused to submit to the poison of hate and the darkness of despair, but chose the light, and chose hope. He was determined that his daughters would not be “numbers,” but that the world would know their faces and dreams, and hoped that they would be the last ones to die. He redoubled his efforts to achieve freedom and equality for the Palestinians and a future in which Israelis and Palestinians can live peacefully, side by side.

Dr. Abuelaish continued his efforts after moving to Canada, where he is a professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health of the University of Toronto.

He was in Copenhagen because a documentary film with the same title as his book premiered at the Copenhagen film festival CPH:Dox. In both the documentary film and our interview, Dr. Abuelaish emotionally appeals to world political leaders to intervene to stop the ongoing killing in Gaza and help build a bridge to peace. LaRouche´s Oasis Plan Solution for Southwest Asia is discussed in the interview as an important element of the peace process.

Here is an excerpt from his book:

“I want this book to inspire people who have lost sight of hope to take positive action to regain that hope and to have the courage to endure that sometimes long and painful journey to peace and a peaceful life. I learned from the Quran that the whole world is one human family. We were created from a man and woman and made into nations and tribes so that we may know one another and appreciate the diversity that enriches our lives. This world must embrace much more justice and honesty in order to make this a better place for all people. I hope my story will help open your mind, your heart, and your eyes to the human condition in Gaza and help you avoid making sweeping generalizations and false judgments. I hope to inspire people in this world, afflicted with violence, to work hard at saving human lives from destructive hostilities. It’s time for politicians to take positive actions to build, not destroy. Leaders cannot be leaders if they are not risk takers; the risk they must take is not sending in the soldiers, but finding the moral courage to do the right thing to improve the world’s human face in spite of criticism from the haters.

“We must work diligently on this journey to peace. Hatred and darkness can only be driven out with love and light. Let us build a new generation, one that believes that advancing human civilization is a shared project among all peoples and that the holiest things in the universe are freedom and justice. If we want to spread peace throughout this planet, we should start in the holy lands of Palestine and Israel. Instead of building walls, let us build bridges of peace. I believe that the disease affecting our relationships—our enemy—is ignorance of one another. Judging others without knowing anything about them is what causes tension, apprehension, distrust, and prejudice. This is a big mistake.”

More about Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, in his biography at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto; and about his Daughters of Life Foundation—Empowering girls and young women through education 

Register for the Schiller Institute free online conference Saturday April 13, 2024 at 11am EDT; 5pm CET: The Oasis Plan: The LaRouche Solution for Peace Through Development Between Israel and Palestine and for All of Southwest Asia:

The Oasis Plan

Online Conference for the LaRouche Solution for Peace Through Development Between Israel and Palestine and for All of Southwest Asia

Saturday April 13, 2024 at 11am EDT; 5pm CET → RSVP Today!


International Peace Coalition Meeting: We Must Not Lose Our Humanity

by Daniel Platt

March 29, 2024 (EIRNS)–The 43rd consecutive weekly online meeting of the International Peace Coalition began today with an acknowledgment of the importance of the recent memo issued by Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), titled “The French Road to Nuclear War”, and it was noted that some of the authors of that report were participating in this IPC meeting, including Scott Ritter, former UN Weapons Inspector in Iraq; Ray McGovern, former analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); and Coleen Rowley, former FBI special agent and whistleblower.

Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche opened the proceedings by recalling the film, “Storm Over Asia”, released by her late husband, Lyndon LaRouche, in 1999. During its first ten minutes, this film describes the ongoing “Great Game” of conflict between the Anglosphere and the Asian powers, why it is happening, and who is doing it. At that time, the active conflicts were in the North Caucasus region, but we see the same dynamic going on in Ukraine now. French President Macron’s threat to deploy 20,000 troops to Ukraine is, said Zepp-LaRouche, “a very tricky situation,” and added that she thought it was of great importance to have members of the VIPS on the call to dialogue with important speakers from France and elsewhere. The recent terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall music venue, located in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, adds another dimension of danger: Russia has compiled substantive evidence that the attack came from Ukraine, including large amounts of money in cryptocurrency deployed to sponsor it.

Zepp-LaRouche reported a number of positive developments, including the decision of the Irish government to join South Africa in its action against Israel before the International Court of Justice; the resignation of Annelle Sheline from her State Department position in protest against U.S. support for the Likud coalition’s genocidal policy in Gaza; and the momentum to free Palestinian political prisoner Marwan Barghouti, the one figure who could unify all Palestinians.

Following Zepp-LaRouche’s remarks, a special statement from Dennis Kucinich was read, who was a U.S. Congressman from Ohio from 1997 to 2013, Mayor of Cleveland, and is now an independent candidate for Congress. Kucinich stressed his support for non-violent conflict resolution through diplomacy.

Scott Ritter, a signer of the VIPS memo on Macron’s threat to deploy French troops to Ukraine, said that such a move “would begin a ladder of escalation” that would lead inevitably to a nuclear confrontation. He described the mind-set of NATO leaders as a “Casino-based addiction,” which leads the afflicted party to follow up on the stupidity of his initial bet by mortgaging his house and spending his kids’ college fund. Russia does not intend to move on to Poland or the Baltics, Ritter said; Russia’s security is threatened by NATO’s “irresponsible expansion.” Russia proposed a new European security framework in 2021–Ritter advised Western leaders to go back and study it now.

Col. (ret.) Alain Corvez, former advisor to the French Defense and Interior Ministries, described himself as “totally aligned” with the views of Zepp-LaRouche and Ritter, and elaborated on his reading of French President Macron’s insane proposal to send French troops to Ukraine. Leader of France’s Solidarité et Progrès party, Jacques Cheminade, described President Macron as “puerile and dangerous at the same time,” noting that he has displayed photos of himself on social media showing his biceps, as well as hugging Brazilian President Lula da Silva: behavior that is “full of contradictions.” Cheminade asserted that the economic and financial collapse of France “explains the flight forward.”

Coleen Rowley, another signer of the VIPS memo, recalled that there have been 70-80 such memos, and they have all been correct. She said that it has been sad to witness continual lies that have led to unnecessary wars, noting that when leaders become desperate to maintain power, they become reckless, and lose their ability to reason. They start believing their own propaganda. Unlike Russians, Americans have not experienced the costs of war on their own soil.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche strongly agreed on this point; the present generation has no idea what war does. For them, war has been reduced to a video game in which you can simply re-start the game when you lose.

Ray McGovern began his remarks by reminding the participants that he has served in uniform, and he knows a bit about war. On the other hand, Joe Biden, Tony Blinken, Jake Sullivan know nothing about war. Biden had “as many deferments as Dick Cheney–five, count them.” Because of the media, Americans have no idea how close we are to a three-front war. McGovern recalled, “I was alive during the genocide of Jews” during WWII. Was there anyone of moral standing who spoke out against it? Very few. He shared the story of Albrecht Haushofer, a German active in the anti-Nazi resistance, and quoted from Haushofer’s sonnet (https://www.prosperosisle.org/spip.php?article985) titled “Schuld”(“Guilt”) which was found after he was executed in prison. He concluded by saying, “It’s Good Friday… I would just remind you that we are not to be discouraged…There are enough of us.”

During the discussion period, people shared problems and successes they had encountered in their efforts to organize. A high point was a report on the previous night’s intervention by Senate candidate Diane Sare at the $25 million fundraiser for Joe Biden in New York, with guest stars Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Sare had devised an ingenious banner of super-thin material, which she was able to smuggle into the event under her clothing. It read “WAR PIGS ALL,” and she unfurled it directly in front of the podium. As she was dragged out, Sare was videoed shouting, “You’re all out of your minds, you’re going to take us to nuclear war with Russia.” This video has gone viral. Sare’s intervention was quickly followed by others, including by members of Jewish Voice for Peace.

Cliff Kiracofe, former Senior Professional Staff Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, made an interesting observation about the Crocus City Hall attack, concerning the Tajik ethnicity of the perpetrators. Russia has suggested that Britain may have played a role in organizing the attacks. During the 19th century, the British were recruiting and manipulating Central Asians for their Great Game. The Islamic Renaissance Party, illegal in Tajikistan, has its headquarters in London.

A Connecticut peace activist, new to the IPC, said that many people she works with want to know if there is the possibility of sending UN Peacekeeping troops to Gaza if Israel continues to disregard the ceasefire resolution. Ray McGovern responded by insisting that contrary to statements by U.S. Government officials, the resolution is binding de jure. He said that the Israelis now admit that the 1967 war was launched without provocation, and UN Resolution 242 is also binding, though no one has enforced it. Things may be different now. It is certainly unconscionable to allow 90 Palestinian children to die every day. Coleen Rowley added that there are options and avenues for further enforcement of UN and ICJ measures. The strongest would be peacekeepers; before that, economic sanctions would be an option.

In closing, Helga Zepp-LaRouche reminded the participants that Easter marches are an old tradition in Europe. She urged everyone to go out and leaflet them. In the U.S., activists can go to churches with leaflets. As an official in Bavaria recently reminded us, you can’t have both guns and butter, so there will be increasing austerity demands which will make people more desperate. We must not lose our humanity, the right to develop and become beautiful souls.


International Peace Coalition Meeting: The War for Humanity Must Be Won Now!

Most people are not thinking that there can be any change, or that they can be part of a change—of changing the entire order of the world. Most people think they’re too small; this is not their job. But we should think as world citizens, because if the world is in disorder, each of us has the right to think of how to make the world better. — Helga Zepp-LaRouche

By Kevin Gribbroek

March 22, 2024 (EIRNS)—The 42nd meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) was convened today with well over 200 participants from 25 different countries. In response to the dire warnings by most of the guest speakers that the danger of world war is intensifying, there was a marked upshift in the number of people participating in a very lively dialogue session, brainstorming on how to “win the war for Humanity.”

A common thread throughout the meeting was the growing psychosis of Western leaders. Exemplary of this psychosis is French President Emmanuel Macron, who recently doubled down on his “incomprehensibly crazy” threats to send French troops into Ukraine, risking thermonuclear war with Russia.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder of the Schiller Institute and initiator of the IPC, began the proceedings by providing a very unsettling picture of the current strategic situation. She warned that not only do we have an increased danger of war between NATO, and Russia and China, but also the humanitarian crises in Haiti, Gaza, Sudan and other areas are causing the unnecessary deaths of massive numbers of people: “To say that humanity finds itself in an extraordinary crisis is a very mild way of describing it.” Discussing the current thinking of Western leaders, she said: “It’s as if madness, sheer insanity has gripped the minds of many leaders in the West”; that they want to go for confrontation against Russia. As a result, “Inch by inch we are moving towards World War III.”

Zepp-LaRouche emphasized the necessity for an intensified mobilization which can succeed, because the majority of people throughout the world do not want war. She informed people of the new IPC statement, “Our Outcry Must Not Come Too Late,”, which she encouraged people to get out everywhere to counter the brainwashing by the mainstream media, which only make known the voice of warmongers. She ended by stressing the critical need for a Westphalian solution based on a new paradigm of cooperation for economic development, which includes the interests of every nation on the planet.

Col. Richard Black (ret.), former head of the U.S. Army’s Criminal Law Division at the Pentagon and former Virginia State Senator, presented his assessment of the current war danger: At the IPC meeting of March 15, he had expressed his suspicion that Macron’s threat of sending French troops into Ukraine was a “carefully orchestrated trial balloon” by NATO designed to see if people in the West would accept a great world war against Russia. Black now believes that this suspicion is “gelling” into reality. He characterized the current situation as a “wag the dog” scenario: With the tremendous unpopularity of Western leaders such as President Biden, war would be used as a way to save their political futures. The revelation that the U.S., France, U.K. and Poland already have troops in Ukraine, as if it’s no big deal, is also part of the operation to condition people into accepting an escalation against Russia—an escalation that could lead to thermonuclear war.

Jacques Cheminade, leader of the LaRouche-affiliated Solidarité et Progrès political party in France, began by asserting that the primary cause of Macron’s increasing insanity is the economy: France is on the edge of a collapse. The danger is that France will be downgraded by the international ratings agencies, such as Moody’s, before the European elections. Psychologically, Macron believes he can escape the pressure of the financial crisis—and his plunging approval ratings—by becoming the “King of Europe” with his hysterical flight forward for war against Russia. The hope is that a number of high-ranking retired French military officers, who had endorsed the Solidarité et Progrès declaration to abolish NATO, are reacting against Macron’s insanity. Although a good development, Cheminade stressed that unless this resistance is international, it will lead nowhere. He closed by remarking that the IPC “must be the international leadership of sanity in the world” and that we must “raise our sense of who we are to the level of responsibility that is demanded at this moment of history.”

Brad Wolf, a lawyer, former prosecutor and full-time peace activist, spoke next on his work as one of the founders and primary leaders of the Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal. The purpose of the Tribunal is to hold U.S. military contractors accountable for knowingly producing weapons used for killing innocent civilians. The principal targets are Boeing, RTX (Raytheon), Lockheed Martin and General Atomics, a major producer of drones. He highlighted the “revolving door” collusion between these corporations and government officials, such as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who sat on the board of directors of Raytheon. By exposing these crimes to the public, the goal is to motivate people to take action.

Well-known peace activist and radio talk show host Garland Nixon stated his belief that, given the gravity of the situation and the irrationality of the ruling elites, we must build and broaden a “rational movement to overwhelm these elites.” What is driving this madness? As Dennis Small of the Schiller Institute had made sharply clear, “This is a lawful consequence of the entire trans-Atlantic financial system being in end-phase. And that’s what we’re witnessing.” He followed up by reporting on a glimmer of rationality in a March 19 Newsweek article listing 13 U.S. cities which would be wiped out by nuclear weapons if war broke out with Russia.

To demonstrate that it is not some abstract possibility, Zepp-LaRouche reported on a chilling development: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced today that Russia now sees itself in a state of war with the West. Prof. Steven Starr, nuclear weapons expert from the University of Missouri, pointed out that for the first time since the beginning of the Cold War, there have been attacks deep within Russian territory using NATO weaponry. He believes NATO troops openly entering the war in Ukraine is the final red line which will trigger war against Russia.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche delivered her closing remarks by stating her belief that the reality of the worsening strategic crisis will increasingly dawn on people, and that we must take advantage of this by getting the new IPC statement, “Our Outcry Must Not Come Too Late,” out everywhere. Then, expanding on Dennis Small’s statement that the war insanity is being driven by the financial collapse, she said that the other factor is the economic rise of the Global South—which increasingly is allied with the BRICS. As long as the “Wolfowitz Doctrine” remains in effect—the idea that the U.S. must maintain its unipolar hegemony—this will be a cause of perpetual war. She concluded by saying: “If the present world order leads to world war, with what can we replace it to create a durable peace for all of humanity to get us out of this danger? And I think a new security and development architecture is the only thing which addresses the underlying, fundamental problems.”


Cracks in the Facade of Western Hegemony – 41st. International Peace Coalition Meeting

by Kevin Gribbroek

While we should not pay less attention to the danger—which is increasing daily, one can say—it is also clear that if there is a decisive action, there is hope that we can turn the situation around.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche

March 15—The 41st meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) convened today, and provided a very interesting contrast—one could call it a “dissonance”—between despair and hope. On one hand, several participants conveyed a sense of despondency due to the impression that the IPC and the peace movement more generally are trapped in an “echo chamber,” with few people in the general population “getting the message.” On the other hand, many participants reported on exciting initiatives designed precisely to break out of the “echo chamber” and build a bigger base of support for the IPC process. Based on remarks from several speakers, it is also evident that there is a growing revolt in the Global South against the arrogance of Western hegemony and the centuries of colonial policies that have impoverished their nations and destroyed the hopes and dreams of their people.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche began the proceedings with a strategic overview that indeed demonstrated this growing revolt by the Global South and the effects it is having on political layers in the West. Of great importance was Pope Francis’ recent demand that Ukraine have the courage to negotiate a peace settlement with Russia. In the United States, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on March 14 spoke from the Senate floor, demanding that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resign and that Israel hold new elections, saying that Netanyahu does not serve Israeli security by making Israel a pariah state. In Berlin, during a joint press conference between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Ibrahim blasted Scholz in regard to the Palestinian genocide, essentially accusing him of racism. In Denmark, the Ambassador of the Palestinian Authority, Prof. Dr. Manuel Hassassian, in an interview with the Schiller Institute, endorsed the LaRouche Oasis Plan for economic development throughout the region.

Zepp-LaRouche emphasized throughout her opening remarks that in no way has the threat of nuclear war diminished. She made it clear that only by changing the underlying axioms that continuously lead to failed geopolitical solutions to the war danger, and adopting a new paradigm of development exemplified by the Oasis Plan, is there any hope for peace.

The next speaker, Colonel Richard Black (ret.), former chief of the Pentagon’s Criminal Law Division, characterized the current historical dynamic as “moving closer to our 1914 moment,” referring to the events which triggered World War I, leading to the deaths of 14 million people. Based on various political moves being made in Europe and the U.S., he sees the emergence of a “war consensus” with the potential of NATO troops entering into direct conflict with Russia. “This is World War III,” he said. Despite the impossibility of Ukraine winning the war, the Western “elites” are determined to “snatch victory from the jaws of defeat … which will inevitably lead to a nuclear exchange.”

Terry Lodge, an attorney from Ohio and long-time member of Veterans for Peace, discussed the open letter he authored warning State Department officials that they are engaged in criminal activity by providing Israel weapons to carry out its genocide against the Palestinians. He aptly expressed the “dissonance” of the current period with his opening statement:

As dark and difficult as the last couple of years have become from an international human rights and war-making perspective, what has happened is that planetary citizens are coming together in gatherings like this, to talk sanely and talk rationally, and kind of reawaken awareness to the fact that humanity is struggling and trying to provide guardrails for the conduct of human behavior at a societal and national level.

He called the Biden administration’s arming of Israel a “ghastly, dark comedy,” but believes that “there are cracks that are occurring in this facade; that people like the numbers of you on this Zoom meeting can take some credit” for having caused those cracks.

Richard Sakwa, Professor Emeritus of Russian and European Politics at the University of Kent in the UK, began his remarks with an analysis of the now-ongoing Russian elections. Prof. Sakwa recounted an interview by well known Russian media figure Dmitry Kiselyov with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which Putin expressed his belief that the “Western vampire ball” is ending and that 500 years of Western dominance is over. Putin believes that a new epoch has started and that Russia—as in the Soviet days—is the leader of the new, anti-colonial era. In regard to Ukraine, Putin stated:

“For us, the Ukraine conflict is a matter of life or death. For them [the U.S. and NATO], it’s a matter of improving their tactical position globally and in Europe…. If the U.S. tries to play chicken, Moscow is prepared to use nuclear weapons and considers its arsenal more advanced than anyone else’s.”

Sakwa’s assessment is that the current strategic situation is far more dangerous than the first Cold War. Essentially, the West is playing nuclear chicken and as Putin made clear, the Russians don’t play that game.

Zepp-LaRouche asked Prof. Sakwa, given the gravity of the situation, What must be done to “penetrate the mainstream brainwashed population”? Sakwa, although not having a definitive answer, pointed to the peace movement of Sahra Wagenknecht in Germany and the election of George Galloway in the UK as a sign of hope.

Zaher Wahab, a prominent Afghan-American and Professor Emeritus of Education at Lewis and Clark College in the United States, began by thanking the Schiller Institute for its relentless efforts on behalf of humanity to promote peace and development everywhere. Prof. Wahab expressed his belief that because of the “deep economic, political-diplomatic, moral and social crises” in the West, while the Global South continues to rise, this heightens the danger of nuclear war. He endorsed the Oasis Plan, and enthusiastically called for its extension into Central and South Asia.

Jack Gilroy, a member of Veterans for Peace and Pax Christi, announced a very important initiative: On March 18, Pax Christi, in collaboration with a coalition called “Christians for a Free Palestine,” are spearheading a national day of action to deliver letters to all U.S. Senators and Representatives on the failure of Christian churches to speak out on the atrocities in Gaza.

In her closing remarks, Helga Zepp-LaRouche stated that the enemy of humanity is not nation states, but what she called “super-national structures”; structures of the neoliberal financial system which rely on war to maintain their existence. She fully endorsed the March 18 day of action and suggested the IPC mobilize for May Day demonstrations in Europe and elsewhere. She also urged everybody to encourage parliamentarians everywhere to endorse Mexican Congressman Robles’ letter against nuclear war.

Zepp-LaRouche concluded by stressing the urgent necessity of implementing the new international security and development architecture, “because it throws out the idea of geopolitics, by putting the idea of One Humanity first, and that the new architecture has to take into account the interest of every single country on the planet.”


40th International Peace Coalition Meeting: ‘In the Foothills of a Third World War’

by Daniel Platt

March 9, 2024 (EIRNS)—The 40th consecutive weekly online meeting of the International Peace Coalition on March 8 opened with a warning from Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche that we are continuing to flirt with nuclear war. She cited the currently ongoing NATO “Steadfast Defender” exercise where 90,000 troops are explicitly rehearsing a war with Russia as an example of the supercharged environment. The mainstream media, rather than looking at the increasing danger of World War III, marked by the recent scandal of the leaked audio in which German military officers discuss covert means of directly entering the Ukraine war, are focusing their attention on speculation over who leaked the audio file.

Turning to the situation in Southwest Asia, she said that the conflict in Gaza is being driven by geopolitical motives and cannot be looked at separately from Ukraine. Several UN Special Rapporteurs are now calling it genocide, calling attention to the growing danger of starvation, and saying that it is intentional on the part of the Netanyahu regime. Investigation of genocide will inevitably bring us to the question of U.S. and German involvement and culpability. The Oasis Plan, as proposed by Lyndon LaRouche in 1975, provides the only way out of this ghastly situation.

Zepp-LaRouche’s strategic overview was followed by military and intelligence experts who expanded on the nature of the war danger.

Col. Richard Black (ret.), former chief of the U.S. Army’s Criminal Law Division at the Pentagon, observed that the Ukraine war was the lead item in President Biden’s “State of the Union” address, underscoring that whenever a President says he won’t send U.S. troops, it’s almost a promise to do the opposite.

German Lt. Col. Ulrich Scholz (ret.), a former NATO planner and lecturer on air warfare, warned: “NATO nations have not trained together for decades, and are not capable of going to war. If the Americans don’t do it, nobody’s going to do it.” Regarding the war propaganda in Europe, he said, “All the war talk is a face-saving exercise. They want out.” His advice? “Look for an area where we have common interests and stop the shooting.”

Helga Zepp-LaRouche interrupted the proceedings to report that the U.S. Embassy in Moscow has now advised Americans that they should avoid large Moscow gatherings for 48 hours, as extremists plan to attack such events. Numerous countries that routinely ape U.S. foreign policy gestures have followed suit.

Former U.S. diplomat, CIA officer, and vice-chair of the National Intelligence Council, Graham Fuller told the gathering: “The fundamental problem of world stability today lies in the inability of the United States to read the tea leaves, to understand the geopolitical shifts in the world today.”

He said that the U.S. is no longer the sole superpower; the U.S. can’t face this reality, and this is the danger. “One of the problems of democracy is that you have to galvanize the entire population to go to war…. You’ve got to demonize the enemy, demonize Putin, make it a struggle between absolute good and absolute evil.” Fuller asserted that advocacy of democracy is being used as a weapon, but we don’t support democracy when it is inconvenient. “We have a United States today which is perhaps the most ideologically driven nation in the world.”

Prof. Richard Sakwa, British Emeritus Professor of Russian and European Politics at the University of Kent, warned: “We are now in the foothills of the Third World War.” He said that we should distinguish between two levels: the world as it was structured in response to the horrors of World War II, with the UN and international law in the spirit of “Never Again”; and the paradigm which replaced this after 1989, or what he termed the “Second Cold War.”

In the first Cold War, diplomacy continued. But when Obama expelled the Russian diplomats in response to unproven allegations, diplomacy was being destroyed. “A political West emerged based on Cold War thinking.” Sakwa said that there is an emerging consensus against this in the “Political East.” They promote an idea of commonwealth, in opposition to the imperialism of the West. “The Global South and Political East can hold us back from moving from the foothills to the peaks of a Third World War.”

Mexican Congressman Benjamín Robles Montoya’s statement March 6 on the floor of Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies, was shown to all assembled. The Congressman emphasized, “We have reached the precipice of nuclear war…. Achieving peace through development, that is the path.”

Prof. Steve Starr, the former director of the University of Missouri’s Clinical Laboratory Science Program and published author in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists warned that the war danger is heightened by the fact that Joe Biden is up for re-election, and can’t be seen to be losing the war in Ukraine. He said that “the danger of nuclear war is greatly exacerbated by false narratives,” such as the one where we can use tactical nukes to make Russia back down. The electromagnetic pulse generated from a single nuclear weapon, detonated above the U.S., could take out our entire electrical power grid, all solid-state circuitry and computers. An 800-kiloton nuclear weapon detonated directly over a target such as Manhattan would ignite a firestorm over an area of 100-150 square miles. Each side has thousands of nukes, and the resulting smoke and soot created from their nuclear detonations would form a global stratospheric layer reducing the sunlight reaching the Earth’s surface and halting agriculture for 10 years, in what is called “nuclear famine.”

George Koo, retired specialist in U.S.-China trade, concurred with Colonel Black: The U.S. has a tendency to say one thing and do the opposite. He said that the U.S. is sending a signal to the Philippines and Taiwan, encouraging them to start proxy wars with China. The P.R.C. government fully recognizes who is behind this. They will take out U.S. naval forces in their neighborhood in response.

Humanity for Peace coordinator Anastasia Battle presented a report on the March 2 meeting in Detroit, “Emergency Conference for Peace in Gaza: The Children of God Cry Out for Justice,” at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, the historic church of C.L. Franklin, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered a speech in 1966. Nine videos of the speakers are now available on YouTube.

Ray McGovern, co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, reminded the participants that President John F. Kennedy, during his June 10, 1963 speech at American University, warned that we should never give an adversary a choice between humiliating defeat, and nuclear war. Now this very choice is being presented to Russian President Vladimir Putin at re-election time. He presented his assessment of Vladimir Putin: “I would say he’s a statesman, and he’s a pretty cool customer.” McGovern went on to wryly quote former President George W. Bush: “Don’t ‘misunderestimate’ the Russians.”

McGovern presented some provocative speculation about the recent resignation of State Department harpy Victoria Nuland. He pointed out that we haven’t seen the entire leak from the German officers. If Russia intercepted it, so did the U.S. National Security Agency. Maybe Nuland was working behind everyone’s back with German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius to transfer Taurus missiles to Ukraine. McGovern emphasized that this is speculation, but as likely an explanation as any.

This was followed by a discussion session in which many new participants introduced themselves. In conclusion, Helga Zepp-LaRouche recommended that the Americans ally with the Global South. “The signs of hope are small, but sometimes when you are in a crisis, even small signs of hope can cause a shift.” She reported, as such a sign of hope, the growing number of leaders who have endorsed Lyndon LaRouche’s Oasis Plan for peace in Southwest Asia.


International Peace Coalition March 1 Meeting Warns, ‘We Are Sitting on a Powder Keg’

by Daniel Platt

March 1, 2024 (EIRNS)—The International Peace Coalition (IPC) met today for its 39th consecutive weekly organizing discussion. Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche warned that “the situation is moving from horrible to worse….” Reviewing the events of the previous few days, she called attention to the massacre where Israeli troops opened fire on hundreds of starving Palestinians who were waiting for food aid southwest of Gaza City, killing 120 and wounding 750 on Feb. 29. In response to Israel Defense Forces statements that their soldiers felt threatened, she said, “I can’t imagine how starving people can be a threat to a highly weaponized army.”

This event occurred a few days after Aaron Bushnell self-immolated outside the front gate of the Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C, in protest against the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Also during the past week, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague heard from 50 nations on the legal consequences of Israel’s “prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation” of the occupied territories, including the West Bank and East Jerusalem, but will not render judgement until the summer.

Discussing the Likud regime’s apparent objective of driving the Palestinians over the border into Egypt, Zepp-LaRouche warned that this violates the tenets of the Camp David Accords and opens the door to a wider war. Under these circumstances, the implementation of the Oasis Plan, as proposed by her late husband, Lyndon LaRouche, in 1975, becomes more urgent than ever before, because if you don’t inject hope into the situation, she said, there is no remedy for the rapidly worsening regional conflict.

Turning to the Ukraine war, she said that the danger there was greatly escalating, bringing us even more quickly to a possible global war. French President Macron has proposed to send NATO troops into Ukraine, while retired German General Harald Kujat recently charged that there are already NATO troops in Ukraine (in the role of “advisors,” as was the case with the initial American involvement in the Vietnam War.) German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has refused to send Taurus missiles to Ukraine, because their 500-km range would enable direct attacks on Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin warns of possible nuclear war, but the Western press pooh-poohs his warnings. Russia Today has released the full text of what is claimed to be a discussion by senior German military officers on how to attack the Crimean Bridge in Russia. Russia’s government press spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, is said to have demanded an explanation.

Zepp-LaRouche concluded by saying that the only good news she could offer was the election victory of George Galloway, who just won a seat in British Parliament on the issue of opposition to the war in Gaza.

Jacques Cheminade, who leads the Solidarity and Progress Party in France, commented on the declaration by Macron on sending NATO troops to Ukraine, saying that it has been judged insane by a majority of French population. “He’s like a little dwarf playing with fire,” said Cheminade. Illustrating the absurdity of the situation, he reminded the discussion participants that Europe is still importing Russian LNG and enriched uranium. According to experts, the French, and probably also the German, armies are capable of fighting a war with Russia for only seven days.

Dr. James Cobey, who shared in the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for the International Campaign to Ban Land Mines, described his project to create a “Palestinian Embassy” in Washington, D.C., which he called a potential “AIPAC for Palestine.” His partner in this effort is Miko Peled, the son of an Israeli general who fought in the 1967 Six Day War, but then became an advocate for an Israeli dialogue with the Palestine Liberation Organization after the Israeli cabinet ignored his investigation of a 1967 alleged Israeli war crime.

Next the participants viewed a video presentation by Nazih Musharbash, President of the German Palestinian Society. He said that the Jan. 26, 2024, ICJ Order of provisional measures to prevent genocide is being rejected by Israel. Israel is pushing the Palestinian population from one place to the next, bombing them, cramming them into impossibly small places. Prime Minister Netanyahu thinks that if UNRWA is cancelled, the Palestinian “Right of Return,” as guaranteed under point #5 of the Oslo Accords, will no longer be a problem. The IDF’s destruction of Hamas means that there is no functioning government. Regarding the massacre near Gaza City, he wryly observed that “warning shots are normally fired into the air.”

IPC Coordinator Anastasia Battle presented a report on the upcoming Interfaith , “Emergency Conference for Peace in Gaza” in Detroit. In the Michigan Democratic Party presidential primary elections, a campaign was launched for voters to vote “uncommitted” rather than endorse Biden’s enabling of genocide in Gaza. This resulted in 101,000 uncommitted votes. The next step being planned is a National Day of Action on March 2, to coincide with the Interfaith Meeting.

Executive Intelligence Review Ibero-American Intelligence Director Dennis Small called attention to Brazilian President Lula’s charge that Israel was committing genocide, and his stalwart refusal to “walk back” this accusation. He read an excerpt from a recent statement by the Brazilian Foreign Ministry: “Even so, the inaction of the international community in the face of this humanitarian tragedy continues to serve as a veiled incentive for the Netanyahu government to keep targeting innocent civilians and ignoring basic rules of international humanitarian law.”

Two activists from the UK explained the significance of the landslide victory of George Galloway and the Workers’ Party, who campaigned in opposition to the genocide in Gaza. The British government is trying to suppress growing public protests, calling them a threat to public safety, but there has been no violence. Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman tried to ban them, saying they are antisemitic. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is saying that the demonstrations support terrorism. One of the activists charged that the UK is “a creeping police state.”

An organizer for Veterans for Peace reported on their campaign to circulate a letter, which demands that the U.S. State Department terminate weapons shipments to Israel, and calls on the Inspector General to investigate alleged criminal acts by senior Biden administration officials.

A ghastly video was shown to the discussion participants, a one-minute animation that is being broadcast on German state public television and is targeted at German children, in which talking cartoon representations of cruise missiles debate which of them would be the most effective weapon against Russia. Helga Zepp-LaRouche characterized it as part of the complete indoctrination of the population to prepare them for a coming war.

In concluding remarks, Zepp-LaRouche said that many people think the Zionist Lobby controls the U.S. But, as her late husband always said, the U.S. establishment uses Israel as a hand grenade to destabilize the region. The reason is geopolitical, a scheme to destabilize the region in order to contain the rising global majority.

Returning to the grim situation in her native land, she said, “Germany is right now like a hermetically sealed country. You cannot say anything…. We are sitting on a powder keg, and the ordinary population has no clue.” She urged all participants to organize prominent individuals to endorse the Oasis Plan.


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