Today, Schiller Institute Founder and Chairwoman Helga Zepp-LaRouche issued the following statement regarding the vicious anti-China campaign being promulgated in the West, especially in the United States:
April 16—I think this anti-China campaign comes from a deep-seated geopolitical view that the rise of China necessarily means the downfall of the United States and the West in general. And I think that that view is a wrong view. China has at no point threatened to replace the United States as the hegemonic power. They have offered cooperation on the basis of a win-win cooperation. They have offered the United States a special great power relationship. And it is an absolutely absurd idea that one can prevent a country of 1.4 billion people, which has determined that it wants to go forward on the road of scientific and technological progress—and has proven that that method functions, by lifting 850 million people out of poverty, and then, is starting to offer the advantage of such an approach to others through the Belt and Road Initiative—that you can stop that, other than by nuclear war! And that is, obviously, unfortunately, what some people are willing to toy with.
China is not an aggressive force. But naturally, it does threaten the idea of a unipolar world order, which some neo-con and British elements had tried to impose in the period after the collapse of the Soviet Union, through interventionist wars. The Bush Administration and then also Obama conducted all of these interventionist wars, with the idea of regime change and color revolution, and that has gotten us to the crisis we have now in Southwest Asia and the refugee crisis.
But the idea that you have to stop the rise of China is very dangerous. And we see it right now, that this campaign is absolutely led by British intelligence. As a matter of fact, after President Trump, unfortunately, cancelled the U.S. funding of the WHO, by blaming them that they have been responsible for many deaths, because they misinformed the United States—I don’t even want to comment on that, because it’s just factually not correct—then, the former head of MI6 came out yesterday and said that Trump should not have focused on the WHO, but on China. And the Henry Jackson Society [in the U.K.], which is totally neo-con and one of the worst reactionary institutions you can imagine, put forward a proposal that the West should sue China, so that China would have to pay for all the costs which have resulted from the pandemic!
Now, the fact that the German tabloid Bildzeitung published this concept today, on page 2, the full story, quoting the Henry Jackson Society, having a long list of proposed bills—what was the cost for the taxi drivers, the hotel owners, just 20 categories—that China should have to pay. And after yesterday, when they had Pompeo on page 3 listing all the arguments against China—that is the final proof that this Bild tabloid is part of the Integrity Initiative, the British intelligence operation controlling the Western press. Formally or not, I don’t care—but de facto they’re spreading the propaganda of the British Empire. They just proved that in the last days, if such proof was still necessary.
But they are trying to hype up the population against China, and it is factually absolutely not true! I’ll just cite some figures, because, when they say that China was “hiding” information about the virus, it is factually not true.
• The first cases of some new, unknown disease became known in Wuhan on the December 23, 2019.
• Then, on December 30th, they reported a suspicious number of people having pneumonia.
• Then on January 3rd, the Chinese National Health Commission issued guidelines on how to treat these cases.
• And already on January 4th, those medical people in Wuhan contacted their U.S. counterparts and the WHO, and informed them about that.
• Then, only three days later, on January 7th, the medical scientific personnel in Wuhan were able, for the first time, to isolate the coronavirus strain. The extraordinary speed in which they succeeded in isolating this new strain was praised by the whole international medical community.
So, I think that that is the record. And I remember, because we were following this closely when it happened.
At that point, already, given the fact that there had previously been SARS and MERS, the Western governments could have absolutely mobilized their production of masks, ventilators, hospital beds, and so forth; but they didn’t do it! Instead, they kept repeating for weeks and weeks, “No, masks are absolutely of no use.” German Health Minister Jens Spahn said, “Oh, the virus will never come to Germany.” He kept repeating that into February, saying the German health system is perfectly prepared for any eventualities. They really did not take it seriously until March, when the whole thing erupted with a speed which left everybody breathless. And even then, they kept saying, you don’t need masks. They did not say: You do need masks, you do need mass testing, let’s produce everything which is necessary. Instead they kept adjusting the line about what was medically necessary to what their meager resources were. And that is a fact. You can say that for all European countries, and it’s still going on, to a certain extent, now.
So, I think that the attack on China is the most foolish, most immoral, lying operation, because if there is one country which did succeed, at least for now—because it’s a pandemic, you never know what will happen down the road—but they were able to contain and stamp out the virus in the hotbeds of Hubei Province and the city of Wuhan. And rather than thinking: maybe it was the centralized government system which China has, which was the reason why they were able to react so quickly, to gear up the production of the entire country; and maybe it was the extreme liberalism of the West which was the reason why it was not possible; maybe one should think that the liberal/neo-liberal system has some inherent flaws. Rather than discussing that, they go into this deflection and attack China.
I think it’s very dangerous, and it’s very stupid. And I think it should stop, and people should really not be led by the nose by these lying mass media, which have nothing to do with journalism. They’re really just the forefront of the intelligence community, trying to feed propaganda in order to further their aims. But it has nothing to do with honest journalism, at all.
10:00 a.m. U.S. EDT; 16:00 CET. The following times are U.S. EDT.
Panel Moderator: Dennis Speed
10:00 — Opening Remarks & Introduction Dennis Speed, Schiller Institute
10:15 — Keynote Address Helga Zepp-LaRouche Founder and Chairman, Schiller Institute
10:55 — H.E. Dmitry Polyanskiy, 1st Deputy Permanent Representative The Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations
11:10 —H.E. Ambassador Huang Ping Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in New York “For a Better Future: Proposed Principles Needed to Ensure Peaceful and Productive Relations Between China and the United States”
11:25–12:00 — Q&A with Zepp-LaRouche and representatives of Russia and China
12:00 — Jacques Cheminade Chairman, Solidarité et Progrès, former French Presidential Candidate “A Europe Not To Be Ashamed Of”
12:20 — Michele Geraci Economist from Italy, former Undersecretary to the Development Ministry in Rome
12:35–1:15 — Q&A with Zepp-LaRouche, Cheminade, and Geraci
1:15 — Helga Zepp-LaRouche “Introducing the LaRouche Legacy Foundation”
1:30–2:00 — Q&A continued
Panel 2: For a Better Understanding of How Our Universe Functions
3:00 p.m. U.S. EDT; 21:00 CET. The following times are U.S. EDT
Panel Moderator: Jason Ross
3:00 p.m. — LaRouchePAC Science Team: Megan Beets, Benjamin Deniston, Jason Ross “In Defense of the Human Species”
3:40 — Jean-Pierre Luminet, PhD Astrophysicist; emeritus researcher at National Center of Scientific Research “The Role of ‘Free Invention’ in Creative Discovery”
4:00 — Michel Tognini Astronaut; Association of Space Explorers founding member “Friendship Between Astronauts: An Exemplary Precedent for International Cooperation”
4:15 — Walt Cunningham Apollo Astronaut “Apollo 7: An Astronaut’s Reflections”
4:30 — Marie Korsaga, PhD Astrophysicist, Burkina Faso “The Necessity of Science Education for African Youth”
4:45 — Sen. Joe Pennacchio New Jersey State Senator, 2008– “Making Nuclear Fusion a Reality”
4:50 — Will Happer, PhD Professor Emeritus of Physics, Princeton University “The Inside Story of Contemporary Science”
5:05 — Guangxi Li, MD, PhD Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing “Chinese Medicine Treatment of COVID-19”
This concert playlist features artists who will speak on the culture panel on Sunday. Panelist Eugene Thamon Simpson performs Spirituals by Hall Johnson, panelist John Sigerson sings a Schubert song, and the Schiller Institute NYC Chorus performs the Beethoven Mass in C, under the direction of John Sigerson, with a full orchestra tuned to C=256 Hz.
Sunday, April 26
11:00 a.m. U.S. EDT [17:00 CEST]
Panel 3: Creativity as the Distinctive Characteristic of Human Culture: The Need for a Classical Renaissance
11:00 a.m. U.S. EDT; 17:00 CET. The following times are U.S. EDT
11:00-11:15 — Beethoven, “An die ferne Geliebte,” op. 98 John Sigerson, tenor, Margaret Greenspan, piano
11:15 — Lyndon LaRouche “I Have Insisted That Music Is Intelligible!”
11:20 — Helga Zepp-LaRouche Founder and Chairman, Schiller Institute
11:40 — William Warfield “A Poetic Musical Offering”
11:45 — Willis Patterson Bass-baritone, professor emeritus / Associate Dean of the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance “The Presence of the Classical Principle in Folk Music”
12:10 — John Sigerson Music Director for the Schiller Institute, co-author of A Manual on the Rudiments of Tuning and Registration “The Physical Power of Classical Poetry and Music”
12:30 — Dr. Eugene Simpson Professor emeritus of Voice and Choral Literature, Rowan University of New Jersey; Founding Curator of the Hall Johnson Collection “Hall Johnson and the Dvorak Dream: From Spiritual to Art Song”
1:00 — Diane Sare Founder and co-director, Schiller Institute NYC Chorus “On the Employment of Chorus in Politics”
1:25 — Conference Greetings, Gregory Hopkins Founder and Artistic Director, Harlem Opera Theater.
1:30 — Teng Jimeng, PhD
Beijing Foreign Studies University
1:45 — Discussion and Q&A
Panel 4: The Science of Physical Economy
Sunday, April 26, 3:00 p.m. U.S. EDT [21:00 CEST]
3:00 p.m. U.S. EDT; 21:00 CET
The following times are U.S. EDT.
Panel Moderator: Dennis Speed
3:00 — Dennis Small United States; Schiller Institute Director for Ibero-America “LaRouche’s Legacy: Foundation of the Modern Science of Physical Economy”
3:30 — Sébastien Périmony France; Schiller Institute representative “When Africa Looks to the Stars”
3:45 — Cédric Mbeng Mezui Gabon; Author; Financial sector expert; Think Tank FinanceAfrika “Unlocking the Potential of Africa – Ideas by Alexander Hamilton”
4:00 — Phillip Tsokolibane Leader of LaRouche South Africa “Make Africa an Economic Powerhouse to Benefit All Mankind”
4:15 — Ms. Yang Yan Political Counselor, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Paris “Franco-Chinese Cooperation in Africa”
4:25 — Six American Farm Leaders Bob Baker, Virginia; Schiller Institute agriculture co-coordinator Joe Maxwell, Missouri; former Missouri Lt. Governor, co-founder of Family Farm Action Alliance Tyler Dupy, Kansas; Executive Director of the Kansas Cattlemen’s Association Frank Endres; California, member of the National Farmers Organization for 63 years Bill Bullard; Montana, CEO R-CALF USA Jim Benham, Indiana; State Pres. of Indiana Farmers Union, 20 Yr. National Board member, National Farmers Union Mike Callicrate, Kansas; Colorado, Bd of Directors of Organization for Competitive Markets, Owner Ranch Foods Direct “Feed the Future: Eating Is a Moral Right. A Dialogue With American Farmers”
4:55 — Prof. Mario Roberto Morales Professor, writer, and recipient of Guatemala’s “Miguel Angel Asturias” National Prize for Literature, 2007 “The Productive vs. the Speculative Economy: A View from Central America”
5:05 — Jack Lynch Consultant; former Vice-President, First Midwest Bank of Illinois “Reinstate Glass-Steagall”
5:15 — Daisuke Kotegawa Research Director at Canon Institute; former Japan Ministry of Finance official; former Executive Director for Japan IMF “Failure to Address Cause of 2008 Financial Collapse Caused Public Health Collapse”
5:20 — Ellen Brown President, Public Banking Institute (USA) “Productive Credit, not Predatory Debt”
Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder of the International Schiller Institute, called for closing the financial markets to halt the inevitable collapse of the global casino economy and to reorganize it, shutting down the speculative financial operations which have preyed on the global economy.
TRANSCRIPT
This is Helga Zepp-LaRouche speaking. I am the founder and president of the Schiller Institute.
It is absolutely clear, that after the roller coaster, dramatic losses of the financial markets in the recent days, the systemic crisis is spinning out of control. The only remedy to prevent a further devastation of the real economy, a dramatic increase of mass unemployment, and the loss of lives of the poor and vulnerable segments of the population is to close down the financial markets. This is the necessary first step, to then use this banking holiday to implement the reorganization of the financial system, starting with a global Glass-Steagall separation of the banks, exactly as FDR did in 1933.
The measures which were taken by the European governments and the US, such as credits for enterprises, delays in tax payments, and even possible direct hand-outs of money —the so-called “helicopter money”— while intended to keep the functions of industry, institutions, and the workforce going, will not be sufficient, because the system is hopelessly bankrupt. Most of the enormous amounts of liquidity which have been injected into this bankrupt monetary system after 2008, and then in an escalated way after September 17, 2019, have just increased the activity of the casino economy and the frenzy of the speculators. The effort by the central banks to maintain that speculative sector can only lead to a hyper-inflationary blow-out as in Germany in 1923.
The closing of the financial markets must be accompanied by an immediate emergency summit of the most important governments of the world: the US, China,
Russia, and India—supported by others—to determine the urgent reorganization of the financial system and the establishment of a New Bretton Woods System, as it was intended by Franklin D. Roosevelt and called for by Lyndon LaRouche, to restart the physical economy worldwide.
Such immediate steps are indispensable, since the coronavirus pandemic can only be brought under control if the spread of the virus is stopped and an adequate
health system is established in every country.
This is a test, to determine if humanity has the moral fitness to survive.
We are now experiencing the worst international health crisis of the past hundred years. This crisis is so extremely dangerous, because the coronavirus pandemic now coincides with the systemic global financial crisis that was already near explosion before the medical crisis broke out. The pandemic was merely the trigger. A solution exists—but only if western societies are prepared to replace all the axioms of the neoliberal model with an economic policy, which is not guided by monetarist considerations, i.e., to speculators’ profits, but guided instead by the absolute value of human life, the principles of science, and solidarity with the entire family of mankind.
Even President Macron of France has recently mentioned what can no longer be overlooked: The liberal democratic political system is ill-suited to react adequately to existential threats. The sooner Europe and the U.S.A. grasp the fact that we must take exactly the same public health measures that China took in January in the city of Wuhan and Hubei Province, the more human lives will be saved. Rather than making use of the time gained for the world by the Chinese government’s decisive actions—correctly characterized by the WHO as absolutely exemplary—the western governments have wasted priceless weeks. As a result, Europe has now become the epicenter of the pandemic and the situation in the United States is quite unclear due to the lack of testing up to this point.
But the necessary reorganization can’t be limited to the area of human health. We need a completely new paradigm in politics and economics if we are to prevent a collapse of civilization like that of the 14th Century. Many scientists in a number of nations are assuming that about 70% of the population will be infected within the next one to two years, at least until a vaccine can be developed and produced. Prof. Christian Drosten of the Berlin Charité Hospital cites a new study that says we can no longer count on a slower spread of the virus in the Spring and Summer. At the same time, it has to be assumed that the pandemic will spread further throughout the Southern Hemisphere during its Winter, and then come back to the Northern Hemisphere in the Autumn, strengthened and possibly in a mutated form.
This means that we not only have to correct the consequences of the takedown of our national public health system in the recent decades, and equip it in the shortest possible time to treat the expected number of patients. We also have to create the conditions for a global healthcare system in the short term.
Not Unexpected
The current crisis is in no way unexpected. In 1974, Lyndon LaRouche initiated what he called a “biological holocaust taskforce,” tasked to investigate the impact—above all, on the developing nations—of the austerity policy and conditionalities of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. LaRouche and his colleagues presented the results of these studies in a series of reports that warned that the decline in living standards on several continents, which these institutions would be unleashing over the coming years, would lead to the resurgence of old plagues and the occurrence of new diseases and pandemics.
When one considers the conditions in many nations in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and even in the poorer regions of Europe and the United States today, it becomes very clear that only a global change of policy can remedy this. About two billion people currently have no clean drinking water and most so-called developing countries have nothing close to a modern healthcare system. Famine exists at the present time in several southern African countries. A locust plague, against which the international community did not act in a timely way, threatens to lay waste dozens of nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America. As a result of the so-called “wars of humanitarian intervention” and the underdevelopment already referred to, millions of refugees have fled toward Europe and America to escape danger to life and limb.
Therefore, if we want to prevent the coronavirus pandemic from spreading in waves and migrating from the Northern to the Southern Hemisphere and back—thus potentially creating the breeding grounds for additional similar and worse viruses—we must initiate radical changes.
Systemwide Changes Required
Hospitals with isolation wards must be built throughout the world, following the example of the city of Wuhan and Hubei Province, which built a total of 14 temporary hospitals, including the necessary intensive care beds. World Health Organization standards must be observed in doing so. China, for example, built facilities with 16,000 new hospital beds in just one month.
International scientific research centers must be established for research on the COVID-19 virus and other viral and bacterial pathogens. Vaccines must be developed and tested. The results of research in biophysics, nuclear biology and space medicine must be made available immediately to all nations. The point of reference for this is the conception of a Strategic Defense of Earth (SDE) developed by Lyndon LaRouche, in which the protection of human life from pandemics is one focal point.
These worldwide measures require investments that cannot be made under the conditions of the present, collapsing financial system. The current actions of the central banks in injecting liquidity into this financial system by the trillions of dollars, and even the allocation of budget funds by governments, is due to a hyperinflationary monetary explosion, and is unsustainable.
If we are to fight the coronavirus pandemic successfully, and build and equip the necessary hospitals, we need the total package of actions proposed by Lyndon LaRouche a number of years ago:
A system of bank separation must be introduced immediately on a worldwide scale, based exactly on the model of the Glass-Steagall Act signed by President Franklin Roosevelt on June 16, 1933. Commercial banks must be put under Federal protection under this system and completely separated by a firewall from speculative investment banking firms and units, which will no longer have any access to the assets of the commercial banks, nor have the privilege of being saved by taxpayers’ money. The toxic paper of these banks, including their outstanding financial derivatives contracts, must be written off. Legitimate receivables that are connected with the real economy or with pensions and other assets of working people should be classified as valid in the new system as well. Some types of claims for payment must be provisionally frozen and reviewed for validity by Federal institutions.
A national bank must be founded in each country, in the tradition of Alexander Hamilton or on the model of the German Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (Reconstruction Finance Corporation) after World War II. Their purpose is to supply Federal credit for productive investments that will provide the physical economy with the necessary funds. The issuance of these credits must be guided by the principles of high energy-flux density and an optimal increase of the productivity of productive capacities and the powers of labor, through an emphasis on scientific and technological progress.
Among the participating countries, a system of fixed parities must be established, and cooperation treaties must be established among sovereign states for the purpose of well-defined infrastructure and development projects. These treaties together represent in fact a New Bretton Woods system as it was intended by Roosevelt, with the explicit intention of providing credit for the industrial development of the developing sector.
An urgent increase in the productivity of the world economy—to accommodate a world population of presently almost eight billion people —must be facilitated through an international crash program for the realization of thermonuclear fusion power and other advanced technologies, in such fields as optical biophysics and life sciences, in order to find solutions for challenges such as the coronavirus. This increase in productivity must also be enabled through international cooperation in space technology and travel, which can establish the necessary next higher economic platform for the world economy, as this concept has been developed by the economist Lyndon LaRouche.
The only institutions which can carry out such a worldwide program are the leading governments of the planet, which must be representative of the entire world’s population in their composition. Therefore it is in no way sufficient that the governments of the G7 should agree among themselves; these solutions can be implemented only with the involvement of Russia, China and India.
That also means that geopolitics must finally be overcome and replaced by the idea of the common future and goals of mankind. If we do not want to fall into a new dark age, we have to replace neo-Malthusian ideas, the anti-scientific “Green New Deal,” monetarism and Eurocentrism with the ideas of physical economy, guided exclusively by the scientifically provable principles of the laws of the universe.
And finally, perhaps the most important change which we must make in our thinking: We need a new humanist Renaissance, a renaissance of classical culture. For the world has been brought to this point not least by the unbounded hedonism which went along with liberal and neoliberal democracy. The moment has arrived when the ideology of “anything goes” must be put aside. We will overcome this crisis only if we are inner-directed in accord with the love of humanity. But it is for that, after all, that we are human beings!
To the participants in the Berlin Conference on “The Forgotten War Crimes in Yemen”,
The war against Yemen, which the Saudi Arabian-led coalition and the United States have supported in many ways, has killed 10,000 people over the past two years, and now threatens the lives of more than 12 million who have been totally cut off from sustenance and medical supplies due to the systematic bombardment of the country’s agricultural infrastructure, and the air and sea blockade. This war, by the official definition of the United Nations, is a genocide.
There is no case which better exemplifies the insufferable hypocrisy of the so-called “free West,” than the lack of reporting on the war crimes which have been committed on a daily basis against the population of Yemen for the past two years. Where are all the advocates of “humanitarian intervention,” who, under the pretext of defense of human rights, have incited one war after another on the basis of lies? Where is the coverage of the bombardments of funerals and hospitals, of the use of cluster bombs banned under international law, of the deaths of over a thousand children per week who are dying of preventable diseases? Where is the outcry about the systematic destruction of mankind’s magnificent cultural heritage?
International demonstrations against the genocide in Yemen, Sunday, 26th of March, 2017
In the age of the Internet and NSA surveillance, no one can claim that the atrocities against the Yemeni population are not known to every government and all mass media. The decision to maintain de facto silence about them, only because the deeds are being carried out by “allies,” makes them complicit in these crimes.
It is good that the new American Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has promised “unrestricted provision of humanitarian aid for all of Yemen.” But there must be immediate international pressure exerted to end the war against Yemen right away, to rebuild the country, and to restore the destroyed cultural artifacts as much as possible.
One source of hope and consolation for the people of Yemen should be the fact that the BRICS countries and China’s New Silk Road Initiative have made possible the prospect for confronting these challenges. The hopeful signs that a growing number of countries recognize the advantages of “win-win” cooperation, and are ready to break with geopolitics, also mean that the strategic situation for Yemen can soon improve.
In the meantime, everyone is called upon to support the appeal of the Yemeni people for an end to the war, and to direct the attention of the world to this very important and culturally rich country!
Helga Zepp-LaRouche, President of the international Schiller Institute
Urgent appeal to President Trump, President Xi, President Putin, Prime Minister Modi and leaders of other countries for the emergency implementation of the Four Laws of Lyndon LaRouche
Updated March 8, 2020
By Helga Zepp-LaRouche, President of the Schiller Institute
Most health experts are now calling the coronavirus officially a pandemic, and only a few are avoiding this term in order not to rattle the markets and the investments in the “Pandemic Bonds”. It is also apparent that this pandemic will be the deathblow for the otherwise already bankrupt financial system, of which the largest stock market collapse since 2008, the unprecedented plunge in the yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes, and the announcement of Boston Federal Reserve President Eric Rosengren to go for “helicopter money” are alarming and undeniable signals.
Instead of learning from China, which according to the WHO has set a new standard for dealing with such a crisis, most governments (Italy and Japan are exceptions) did not use the three months warning time they gained due to the efficient intervention by China to go into a crisis mode. It is shocking, but not surprising, how completely incapable the liberal establishment has shown itself to be of reflecting on the fact that it is their policies which are the cause of an unprecedented threat to the entire human civilization, and of drawing the conclusions to change their ways.
Already in 1974, Lyndon LaRouche set up an Ecological-Biological Holocaust Task Force, to investigate the effect of the policies of the IMF and the World Bank to slash food and energy consumption, as well as health expenditures in the developing countries—showing that this would lead to biological catastrophes, the emergence of old and new diseases and pandemics. In the following decades, LaRouche and his movement published many more warnings, as well as offering concrete development programs for all continents, the implementation of which would have prevented the present crisis from spinning out of control.
Sure, the so-called industrialized countries may somehow cope with the crisis, but at what price? Due to the privatization—i.e., profit-orientation—of the health sector, there are now far too few beds for ICU treatment. The Belgian critical care doctor and head of the national trade union of doctors, Dr. Philippe Devos, has just warned that this shortage will lead to the triage of old people for the sake of young ones, when the number of cases surpasses the number of available ICU facilities, which he expects will happen. Are we getting back to the slippery slope of ending “unworthy lives,” as condemned at the Nuremberg trials?
And what about the poor countries, which have not even the capacities for tests, let alone treatment? What about countries like Haiti, Nigeria, and Bangladesh? What about Iran, where the sanctions denying medical supplies are clearly already causing the loss of many lives, unnecessarily?
What about the locust infestations in African and Asian countries, a danger which has been known for many months, and where the ridiculously small required financial help of $76 million has not been given, so that now the danger is that the locust swarms develop into a full-fledged plague, threatening millions of people’s lives in a short period of time?
What about the barbaric scenes at the Turkish-Greek border, where police from both sides are using tear gas against refugees, where one side may “instrumentalize” these people who have absolutely nothing, but the other side is no less barbaric trying to keep the “outer borders of the EU” protected? Does the EU establishment really think they can build a new Limes Line around Europe, while Southwest Asia and Africa implode with a coronavirus pandemic, a locust plague, starvation, and desperation?
This establishment turned a blind eye to the interventionist wars by the Bush and Obama administrations, which were, after all, the main cause for the refugee crisis. They have had no interest in building infrastructure in Africa over the last decades, mainly because of their neo-Malthusian ideology. Have they, in reality, accepted the idea to let this pandemic and this locust plague run their “natural course”? Is this not fitting with the Green ideology, which preaches that having fewer people is good for the environment?
There is a solution for this existential crisis, but when the so-called “elites” are morally unfit to introduce the necessary reforms, we need a broad mobilization of the population, who must become “state citizens” (Staatsbürger). There has to be a broad, popular demand that the leading countries of the world—starting with the U.S., China, Russia, and India, supported by others—must implement urgently needed steps in the reorganization of the present financial system. The best way to accomplish that is to conduct an immediate emergency summit of President Trump, President Xi, President Putin, and Prime Minister Modi to initiate the following steps:
There must be an immediate implementation of a global system of bank separation, modeled exactly on Roosevelt’s Glass-Steagall law of June 16, 1933. Under this system, the commercial banks must be put under state protection, and must be completely separated by a firewall from the speculative investment banks, which can no longer be allowed access to either the assets of the commercial banks, or the privilege of bail-outs through taxpayer money. The toxic paper of these banks, including outstanding derivatives contracts, have to be written off. Legitimate claims, which have to do with the real economy or the pensions and other assets of working people, are to be marked as valid in the new system. Some categories of demand for payments have to be frozen for the time being, to be evaluated in terms of their validity by state institutions.
There must be the creation of a national bank in every country, in the tradition of Alexander Hamilton’s Bank of the United States or the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau in Germany after World War II, so that state credit for productive investments can supply the physical economy with the necessary funds. The issuance of these credits must be guided by the principles of high energy-flux density and an optimal increase of the productivity of the productive capacities and the powers of labor, through an emphasis on scientific and technological progress.
Among the participating countries, a system of fixed parities must be established, and cooperation treaties must be established among sovereign states for the purpose of well-defined infrastructure and development projects. These treaties together represent factually a New Bretton Woods system as it was intended by Roosevelt, with the explicit intention to provide credit for the industrial development of the developing sector.
The urgent increase in the productivity of the world economy to accommodate a world population of presently almost 8 billion people must be facilitated through an international crash program for the realization of thermonuclear fusion power and other advanced technologies, such as optical biophysics and life sciences, in order to find solutions for challenges such as the coronavirus; as well as international cooperation in space technology and travel, which can establish the necessary next higher economic platform for the world economy, as this has been developed by the economist Lyndon LaRouche.
The Belt and Road Initiative initiated by President Xi Jinping, which already has been joined by 157 countries, offers a concrete perspective to bring the urgently required industrial development to Southwest Asia and Africa. China has offered to cooperate with all countries on this planet in a win-win cooperation to extend the New Silk Road to Southwest Asia and Africa, and in this way provide a concrete development perspective, which is the only human way to solve the refugee crisis. The United States and all European nations must cooperate with this plan.
We, the signers, are making this urgent appeal to the governments mentioned, to act in this moment of an extraordinary challenge to the safety and existence of all of mankind, to correct the mistakes of the present system which led to this present crisis, and return to the principles of the common good, of sovereignty of the nation-state, and food and energy security, while we adopt a vision for the common aims of mankind and a community of the shared future of humanity.
by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder of the Schiller Institute
Immediate Emergency Summit Among Presidents of US, Russia and China to Save World Peace and Define Cooperation Among the Countries Who defeated Fascism 75 Years Ago!
With the assassination on Jan. 3 of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, Commander of the Revolutionary Guards Quds Brigade and a national hero in Iran, as well as Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces of Iraq, through a drone attack near the Baghdad International Airport, the world is confronted with the danger of an escalation of retaliations and counter-retaliations, which could not only lead to a war in the entire southwest Asian region, but beyond.
The Pentagon issued a statement, accompanying President Trump’s signing of the attack order, that Soleimani “was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.” The statement claims that General Soleimani and his Quds Force were responsible for the death of hundreds of Americans and wounding of thousands more, and that the strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans.
As the spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, pointed out, it was the UN Security Council’s purview to make a legal assessment of attacks on countries’ embassies, and that Washington had not requested an extraordinary UN Security Council meeting on the issue. Obviously the Pentagon did not see a need to do that, since the 2001 AUMF makes it legal for the US military to attack any armed group deemed to be a terrorist threat. The official designation as “terrorist” of the IRGC in April 2019 by the US State Department—a move which was strongly supported by then National Security Adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo—made it “legal” for the US Armed Forces to attack individuals associated with the IRGC under any circumstances that may occur. At that point Col. Pat Lang wrote in his blog:
“The neocon nitwits (Pompeo, Bolton, Hannah, etc.) may think that Iran’s reaction to this declaration of war will be submission to their will, but IMO [in my opinion] that is very unlikely. IMO it is more likely that the IRGC will absorb the new reality and will prepare for war with the US.”
Unfortunately, with the assassination of Soleimani, Col. Lang’s warning that the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designation could lead to a war with Iran has come closer to coming true. So, while Bolton is out of the administration, his confrontational policies have created a very dangerous heritage—a set up for war—for Trump. And, no surprise, Bolton said in a twitter posting this morning: “Congratulations to all involved in eliminating Qassem Soleimani. Long in the making, this was a decisive blow against Iran’s malign Quds Force activities worldwide. Hope this is the first step to regime change in Tehran.”
As would be expected, Iran’s Supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, promised “harsh revenge,” and large crowds assembled in various Iranian cities screaming death threats to Trump and expressing their hatred for Americans. Whatever the views of other forces in the West and in southwest Asia are of Soleimani, it is a fact that he has probably done more than anyone to contribute to the defeat of ISIS, Daesh, al Nusra, al Qaida etc., and represents a national hero in the eyes of the Iranians. As is also to be expected, various Iranian proxies in the region have immediately promised revenge actions, while the Iraqi Government has announced it will introduce legislation in the Iraqi parliament on Jan. 4 to end the legal basis for the American military presence in Iraq.
Given the extreme complexity of the history of southwest Asia in terms of ethnic and religious strife, the century-old manipulations by (primarily) the British Empire with the Great Game against Russia, and with the entanglement in this region of all the world’s nuclear powers, there is no question but that this present escalation has the potential of getting completely out of control, no matter what the forces involved in the coup against President Trump may think. If there is anything one can learn from military history, it is the recognition that wars almost never go as planned. If people would have known how World War I and II evolved, they would not have started them. Before any further escalation between the US, Iran and their proxies occurs, all peace loving people in the world should support an immediate summit among the Presidents of the US, Russia and China, now, in the spirit of the Meeting at the Elbe.
It is clear, that among the three presidents, President Trump—who promised to end the endless wars and has already taken several steps in that direction—and Presidents Putin and Xi, there is the intention and the capability to outflank the maneuvers of the war-mongers and to establish a higher level of cooperation. That potential is the reason that the coup—Russiagate and now the Impeachment—is being orchestrated against Trump. It is now the time for those three outstanding leaders to fulfill the potential that historical providence has bestowed upon them.
In 1999, Lyndon LaRouche warned in a national television broadcast “Storm Over Asia” that the western-backed jihadist mercenary forces unleashed in the 1970s, were created as part of a global strategy to undermine the major powers of China, India and Russia. These mercenary wars, if not stopped, LaRouche warned, would leave these major powers no other option but to defend themselves against these mercenaries and their sponsors, potentially leading to a World War III scenario.
Over twenty years old, this keystone presentation by Mr. LaRouche is still fundamental for understanding the present geopolitical dynamics shaping the planet today.
Scott Ritter is a former US Marine Corps intelligence officer. He served in the Soviet Union as an inspector implementing the INF Treaty, in General Schwarzkopf’s staff during the Gulf War, and from 1991-1998 as a UN weapons inspector.
Mike Billington is a long-time associate of Mr. LaRouche. This excerpt from a recent discussion provides the history of British sponsorship or terror in Southwest Asia.
Larry C. Johnson is a former analyst at the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.
Below is an excerpt from the latest memo from the Veterans Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, a group of former military and intelligence officers founded by former CIA analyst Ray McGovern. The letter excerpted below is posted on Consortium News.
VIPS MEMO: Doubling Down Into Yet Another ‘March of Folly,’ This Time on Iran
January 3, 2020
MEMORANDUM FOR: The President
FROM: Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)
SUBJECT: Doubling Down Into Another “March of Folly”?
“The drone assassination in Iraq of Iranian Quds Force commander General Qassem Soleimani evokes memory of the assassination of Austrian Archduke Ferdinand in June 1914, which led to World War I. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quick to warn of “severe revenge.” That Iran will retaliate at a time and place of its choosing is a near certainty. And escalation into World War III is no longer just a remote possibility, particularly given the multitude of vulnerable targets offered by our large military footprint in the region and in nearby waters.
“What your advisers may have avoided telling you is that Iran has not been isolated. Quite the contrary. One short week ago, for example, Iran launched its first joint naval exercises with Russia and China in the Gulf of Oman, in an unprecedented challenge to the U.S. in the region.”
The name of the German weekly magazine “Der Spiegel” actually means in English, “The Mirror.” And indeed what you see this week on the cover page of the print version of Der Spiegel—a person with a gas mask, goggles, earphones and a hoody—is the mirror image of the ugly face of the racism of its editors. The caption “Corona-virus Made in China” should actually be “The ugly face of the racist monster Spiegel.”
This piece of yellow trash journalism was so bad that the Chinese embassy in Germany issued a formal complaint on their website. The notorious Jylllands-Posten of Denmark had an equally disgusting so-called cartoon putting the corona virus on the Chinese flag. Various American so-called mainstream media use the abominable racist term “The Yellow Peril.” What all of these portrayals demonstrate is the ugly reality of an obviously deep-seated racism under a very thin varnish of “western values.”
The reality of the matter is, that the Director General of the WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,has praised China repeatedly for the excellent handling of the epidemic, noting that China has set a new standard of dealing with such problems. That the Chinese government had published a full genome-mapping of the new variants within days of the outbreak made it easier for scientists in other countries to start working on possible vaccines, but also that China has made significant breakthroughs in the biological sciences over the past 15-20 years. Other health officials stated that the response of the Wuhan regional government and the dissemination of information was “state of the art“ and that an extremely impressive quantity of new information contained in their daily updates had been published since December 31st/January 1st.
To call any virus a “Chinese” virus is as silly as to say that it is someone’s fault if he catches the flu or gets sick in general. It can happen anywhere in the world and it can happen to every person on the planet. The lesson from this recent case of the reaction to the outbreak of the coronavirus is that it shows who in the international community is capable of responding to dangers that threaten all of humanity, and who is a troglodyte, and who is not.
If Europe and the US want to be credible in talking about “human rights” and “western values” then they should join hands with China and cooperate on the fight to defeat the coronavirus. The coronavirus and the fact that every year 100,000s of people get killed by the influenza shows how urgent it is to make new breakthroughs in the fundamental understanding of living processes to overcome what are today, life threatening diseases. Europe and the US should also cooperate with the most future oriented vision on the international agenda, namely the extension of the BRI into south west Asia and Africa and the international cooperation in the Space Silk Road.
For sure we should reflect on the actuality of the judgment of Gottfried Leibniz who said:
“In any case it seems that the situation of our present conditions in light of the growing moral decadence is such that it almost seems necessary that Chinese missionaries are sent to us, who could teach us the application and practices of natural theology….I therefore believe, that if a wise man would be elected not to judge about the beauty of goddesses, but about the excellence of peoples, he would give the golden apple to the Chinese.”
I think Leibniz was a lot wiser than Der Spiegel, Jyllands-Posten and New York Times.
Founder and President of the Schiller Institute, Helga Zepp-LaRouche issued the following message:
Message of condolence to the Alexandrov Ensemble and the People of Russia
In the name of the International Schiller Institute, I wish to express our deep condolences for the tragic loss of the the 92 human beings who died in the plane crash on the way to Syria. This accident is all the more a cause for sadness, as the music and patriotic spirit characteristic of the members of the Alexandrov Ensemble would have brought a message of hope to the people of Syria. This is a population victimized by more than five years of the criminal policies of regime change and treated as the pawns in a geopolitical game in complete violation of their sovereignity.
The Alexandrov Ensemble has been an expression of the highest moral values of Russia and, like classical choral singing in general, speaks to the soul and the creative potential of the audience. It is therefore extremely important that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that he is initiating auditions to pick the best talents to fully restore the Alexandrov Chorus.
The training of the singing voice is important for everybody, since a well-placed voice can express the creative intention of the composer and directly speak to the same faculty in the audience. It represents, therefore, an irreplaceable element of the harmonious development of the character. Let me therefore share with you the idea that, in addition to rebuilding the Alexandrov Ensemble, thousands of Alexandrov choruses be established in schools all over Russia to honor the heroic contribution of Russia in the liberation of Syria and, at the same time, broaden the uplifting effect of choral singing to the young generation.
There is a New Paradigm in the process of becoming as exemplified by the integration of the Eurasian Union and the New Silk Road Initiative, establishing a completely new kind of relations among nations. We need a dialogue of the best tradtions of each culture for this New Paradigm to grow into a new era of civilization—the knowledge of the best of another culture will lead to a love for it, and therefore supercede xenophobia and hatred with more noble emotions. In this new era, geopolitics will be overcome forever and the dedication to the common aims of mankind will establish a higher level of reason. It is a reason for consolation for all of us, that the tragic death of the victims of the plane crash contribute with their immortality to the building of that better world.
Helga Zepp-LaRouche
Chairwoman, International Schiller Institute
Musical Offering to the Alexandrov Ensemble and the People of Russia
Members of the NYC Schiller Institute Community Chorus sing the Russian National Anthem outside the Russian Consulate in New York in honor of the passengers, many of them members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, who died when their plane crashed enroute to Syria, Sunday, December 25, 2016.
On December 28, 2019 the Schiller Institute participated in the third annual memorial in honor of the Alexandrov Ensemble, at the Tear Drop Memorial in Bayonne, New Jersey. In 2016, 64 members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, along with 24 others, perished when their plane crashed into the Black Sea en route to Syria. What follows is a transcript of the memorial including remarks from Capt. Donald Haiber, Father John Fencik, Chief Keith Weaver, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation Mission to the United Nations Mr. Dmitry Chumakov, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic Mission Dr. Louay Falouh, Schiller Institute Founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder and Co-Director of the Schiller Institute New York City Chorus, Diane Sare, and Mr. Kevin Maynor.
Transcript of ceremony:
Capt. Donald Haiber, Bayonne, N.J. Fire Department: First I want to wish everyone a belated Merry Christmas. Secondly, for those of you that have been with us for the last few years, it looks like we lucked out with some balmy weather. I know it’s been cold and snowing in the past, but today looks like a beautiful day, and it’s a nice way for a remembrance.
Some of the people who are here today, we have our Office of Emergency Management Director Mr. Ferantay [ph], the chief of the department Keith Weaver; we also have the Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation Mr. Dmitry Chumakov; and also, I’d like to recognize the Deputy Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic, Dr. Fallouh. And also a very special thank to Mr. Kevin Maynor, who’s behind me. I also want to recognize Father Fencik: He’s been here every year with us, braving the cold. And the last person I want to thank is the Co-Director of the Schiller Institute New York Chorus Diane Sare, who, without her, none of this happens.
On behalf of the Bayonne Fire Department and the City of Bayonne, we welcome you all to today’s ceremony. Father Fencik, would you please do the invocation?
Father John Fencik: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. O Heavenly King, the Comforter, O Spirit of Truth, Who everywhere present through all things, Treasury of Blessings and Giver of Life, come into all within us, cleanse us of all stain, and save our souls, O Gracious Lord.
This is the prayer that is traditionally said at the beginning of any type of function that involves the Russian people. We pray that we who are gathered here today, in memory of those departed members of the Alexandrov Choirs, those who departed with them this life in December of 2016. We pray that God give them eternal rest in His heavenly mansion. We pray that this ceremony retains their memory, and brings them all to life everlasting. Amen.
Color Guard posts colors. Chorus presents the Russian Federation National Anthem and United States of America National Anthem.
Captain Haiber: Thank you all very much. That was beautiful. I’m going to introduce Chief Weaver who wants to say a few words as well. Professionally, he is my chief, he’s my boss, but I’m honored, personally, to say that he is my friend — Chief Weaver.
Chief Keith Weaver: Good morning to everyone in attendance today. I’m grateful for this opportunity to say a few words in honor of the lives lost on Christmas Day 2016. Today, we pause to remember and honor the tragic loss of Alexandrov Ensemble. The loss of this extremely talented group was a loss for the entire globe. I’m honored to be speaking at this fitting site, as this Tear Drop Memorial was donated to our city from our world neighbors in Russia. The gift is a reminder that although we may be separated by nationality, we are united in humanity. As brothers and sisters, we share in your grief, and also share in your hope for a brighter future for all mankind. May the lives lost on that tragic day, three years ago, rest in peace. Thank you.
Captain Haiber: Thank you, Chief. Mr. Chumakov will have a few words to say.
Dmitry Chumakov: Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends: We are very pleased to welcome all those of you who have joined us today in the memory of the Alexandrov Ensemble, and the victims of the plane crash that happened on the 26th December 2016, just a couple of days from today, three years ago. It was a legendary ensemble, media workers from Russian TV channels, and the famous philanthropist Elizaveta Glinka: They were bringing to Syria, the Christmas mood, they were bringing into a war-torn country, and it was a big tragedy and loss.
The Russian Mission is grateful to the Schiller Institute, to the Fire Department of the City of Bayonne: without you, this event would not be possible. It’s becoming a tradition. We are getting together for the third time now, and this is a great honor for us to share these human feelings and share with you the losses and compassion. This memorial event is a great example [inaudible] honor and solidarity between our countries. The Alexandrov Ensemble has been reinstated, and I just want you to know that the new performers [inaudible] we also want you to know that that humanitarian projects started by Elizaveta Glinka are implemented by her followers. And it’s also important to say that we’re still making a lot of efforts to bring peace to Syria, and to help Syria, and to help the political settlement in this country. So, it is only with political settlement that the problems can be solved.
We once again must give tribute to these brave and merciful people who are our modern-day heroes. They are symbols of patriotism and humanity are given to us today: May their souls rest in peace. And thank you very much for joining us today.
Captain Haiber: Thank you Mr. Chumakov. We are here once again to give our condolences and sympathy to the families of the Alexandrov Ensemble and to the people of Russia. Everyone here proves, I believe, that this small remembrance shows our humanity towards one another — and God knows, we could use more of that.
Once again, it’s fitting that we’re here at the Tear Drop, because the creator of this structure was the Russian sculptor Zurab Tsereteli. In the darkness after 9/11, this monument helped to bring peace and the light of hope to the many people [inaudible] here. We now wish to pay that forward, back to the Russian people and the families of the Alexandrov Ensemble.
May the serenity and hope that I feel when I am here be conveyed back to the people of Russia. Music has meaning, and this quote from Billy Joel conveys that better than anything I could ever say: “I think music in itself is healing. It’s an explosive expression of humanity. It’s something we are all touched by, no matter where we are from, everyone loves music.” It is times like this that we are neither Americans nor Russians, nor Syrians, but we are just human beings who genuinely wish peace and happiness to one another.
Once again, I will try to convey my thoughts in Russian. I’ve been practicing and hopefully this gets it through: [Russian remark].
It is now my honor to introduce Mr. Kevin Maynor. He has sung with the Metropolitan Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and many others. Mr. Maynor was the first apprentice artist from the West to study at the Bolshoi in Moscow, where he studied and sang. He will now also share a few words with you.
Kevin Maynor: Thank you. [Sings Russian folk song “Still One Star”] I don’t think anybody can talk about the Alexandrov Ensemble, the great Russian Army Chorus, and not think of the great [inaudible] that was meant to encourage, sung by the Volga boatmen. I think of the Volga boatmen and the Volga River, which I had the pleasure of seeing in the year 2000-2001 upon my return to Russia. My first experience of 1979-1980, and the Russian people embraced me with a certain kind of love that I will never, ever forget. I love them dearly, from the bottom of my heart. There’s no bass in the world — no bass in the world — no singing bass, that does not admire the training and the beauty of the great Russian basses and the great Russian singers. I think these people and the contributions they have made to the world, regardless of the confusions and the politics that might be involved between countries, one thing for sure, music, it is true, it is the healing source. It is the language that we all speak and understand. And when we don’t understand one another, we learn to appreciate, which is the key, actually, to bringing people closer together, appreciation for one another.
I want to take the time to sing for you a spiritual, one that was sung by the great Paul Robeson, who was a great singer, one that many admire — certainly the Russian people admire. He sang this song amongst them, and I want to sing it for you all: It’s called There Is a Balm in Gilead.
God bless the Alexandrov Ensemble. God bless their mission. God bless all of you who are gathered here, today.
Captain Haiber: Thank you Mr. Maynor. I do have to say, that is probably the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard. Thank you.
Helga Zepp-LaRouche: I extend my greetings to all of you gathered today to commemorate the lives of the 92 passengers and crew, who died when the Russian TU 154 crashed into the Black Sea on December 25th, 2016. Sixty-four singers of the Alexandrov Ensemble, plus the crew of the plane, members of the Russian military, Russian journalists and the beloved relief worker Dr. Elizaveta Glinka all perished that winter night, while flying to give Christmas comfort and cheer to soldiers who were battling to liberate Syria from the terrorist scourge of ISIS.
Each of the people on that plane was like the Good Samaritan that Schiller writes about in his Kallias essays On the Beautiful. In Schiller’s story, several people stopped by the side of the road to help the injured man, but some asked for money, some wanted recognition, and to put down others who didn’t stop; but only one person stopped, and very naturally and happily put down his own load, to carry the injured man without a second thought for himself.
In 2020, the world will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the defeat of the Nazi terror in May of 1945. At that time, people vowed, “Never Again!” And now, 75 years later, mankind again is threatened with the danger of cultural decadence and even potentially a great war. As Schiller said, it is only through aesthetic education through great classical art that the ennoblement of man can occur. It is time that mankind grew into a new paradigm where, as Shelley and Schiller proposed, the poets and artists become the natural leaders of the age.
Diane Sare: Good morning, now speaking on behalf of the Schiller Institute NYC Chorus, I would like to say that a chorus is a very special thing. It is a group of diverse individuals, who discover through the art of a great composer that their diversity becomes their strength.
Our chorus had existed for just two years when I received the news on Christmas Day 2016 of the crash of the Red Army Chorus, and it was like getting punched in the stomach. Some of us quickly enlisted the help of a Russian-American chorus member to pronounce the words to the Russian National Anthem, and we went to the Consulate and sang it outside on the sidewalk.
I learned that the NYPD Ceremonial Unit had been deeply moved by the Ensemble at the Military Bands Tattoo in Quebec City in 2011, which had happened to fall on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. A wonderful baritone, Grigory Osipov sang God Bless America, which they performed as a gift to the NYPD Ceremonial Unit, and a young boy came and presented the director, Lt. Tony Giorgio, with a single white rose. You will see Osipov’s name on the list of those who perished in that terrible crash.
The United States, Russia, and Syria have all suffered the devastating effects of terrorism, but I am optimistic that perhaps the warm weather here this year may be a sign of the warmth of the friendship that our nations and peoples may share in our musical dialogue.
Father Fencik: The Church teaches us that as long as we keep a person’s memory alive, they are still with us. It is traditional at the end of any memorial service that the hymn Eternal Memory is sung, and the Russian hymn. So we will conclude this memorial service with the prayer for the departed and the singing of the memorial hymn.
O God of spirits and all flesh, who has conquered Satan and vanquished death, and granted life to your world, Lord give rest to the souls of your faithfully departed servants. in a peaceful, serene place, from which all pain and sorrow and sighing are absent. As the good and gracious God Who loves mankind, forgive all transgressions committed by them in word or in thought, voluntarily as a human frailty. There is no man living who does not sin. You alone are without sin. Your truth is truth for eternity, your word alone reality. For you are the Resurrection, the Life and the Repose for your departed servants, Oh Christ, our God. We rend You glory together, Eternal Father, holy gracious and life-creating Spirit, always now and ever, and forever. Amen.
In blessed repose grant eternal rest, Oh Lord, to the souls of Your departed servants. Make eternal their memories, Vechnaya pamyat! [Eternal memory!]
