By Anthony Barnett
Can the killing be stopped? In an age of global democracy it is essential to attend to arguments and passions that one disagrees with fundamentally and even regards as vile. There will be no peace without this kind of engagement.
But in a world where the means of violence are becoming every more sophisticated and terrible, it is essential to ceasefire as well as thinking hard and deep. Whatever one’s views on the conflicts across the middle east, from Gaza to Basra, we should join in support of Kofi Annan's call for an immediate ceasefire in the Lebanon and Israel.
A calm and excellent statement has been drawn up by Ricken Patel of ceasefirecampaign.org. It is reproduced below. It calls for a million signatures immediately, from around the world, to be delivered to the Security Council. This is the least we can do. I urge you to sign it.
Dear friends,
For more than three weeks now we've watched the bloodshed in the Middle East with horror. All the while, global and regional leaders have stood by and failed to take the necessary action to stop the violence. Finally, this weekend, the US and France reached agreement on a plan. But this compromise plan fails to call for a full ceasefire and is so weak that the violence has not - and will not - stop.
This is unacceptable. Hundreds of innocent civilians have already been killed, thousands have been wounded, and almost a million people have been made homeless.
The UN Security Council will be meeting early this week to try to resolve the crisis. They need to know that the world is watching them, and that anything less than an immediate ceasefire is not good enough. Click here to sign this petition demanding that the members of the UN Security Council take immediate action to end this bloodshed.
Please sign the petition today, and then spread the word by forwarding this email on to all your friends and family. Our goal is to deliver a petition to the Security Council with 1 million signatures this week, and to publicize the petition in major newspapers in the capitals of the US, UK, France and other Security Council members.
Thanks so much for your help,
Ricken Patel
CeasefireCampaign.org
P.S. Groups and leaders from across the world and from diverse perspectives agree that an urgent ceasefire is an important part of resolving this crisis. Most countries of the world, from Lebanon to Tanzania to India, have called for a ceasefire, and have been joined by major international NGOs such as Oxfam and Amnesty International. Christian leaders such as Pope Benedict XVI, and the World Council of Churches have also called for a ceasefire. Arab and Muslim organizations such as the Organization of the Islamic Conference have also been joined by Israeli and Jewish groups such as Meretz Israel, Degel HaTorah, and Brit Tzedek v'Shalom in calling for a ceasefire.
