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| Special Report - Pacific Action |
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| Peace Boat activists showing their opposition
to a war against Iraq |
As a million Britons gathered in London, over half
a million anti-war Spaniards marched in Madrid; 200,000 in New York
and Paris, several hundred Peace Boat participants onboard the M/V
Olvia in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of Chile did not let
the opportunity to join the worldwide rally against war against Iraq
pass. Despite our isolation and inability to demonstrate our solidarity
with others supporting a peaceful solution to the current hostilities,
over four hundred participants and staff onboard the ship voiced their
opposition to the impending war. |
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| `Don`t Attack Iraq` and other banners held up
by Peace Boat activists on February 15 |
Peace Boat's International Division utilised the
global day of protest on February 15 to inform participants as widely
as possible about why we should adopt the position of opposing a war
on Iraq. By making use of a combination of resources from the Internet
as well as periodicals collected in ports of call, we assembled several
poster boards of easy to comprehend pointers about the current international
crisis. Of particular value was information from a primer entitled
'Understanding the US-Iraq Crisis' by former Peace Boat guest speaker
and fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies, Phyllis Bennis.
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| Old and young, from all over the world: We Want
Peace! |
In summary form in Japanese and English, we listed
reasons to oppose a war as: 1) US strike on Iraq violates international
law; 2) Controlling oil and expanding military and economic empire
are US self-interested motives for wanting war; 3) Beneficiaries from
war in Iraq include US arms manufacturers, US oil companies and other
big business; 4) War would generate many civilian victims in Iraq,
as well as more indirectly in the Middle East region, especially Palestine.
War will fuel tension and further anti-American sentiment; 5) War
solves nothing! There are legitimate alternatives to war. It is not
inevitable. Diplomacy and truly international initiatives need to
be pursued; 6) Serious regional instability will result from a war
against Iraq, and a protracted situation of international conflict
is certainly possible; 7) Opposition to a unilateral war with Iraq
is widespread among the international community. Millions of people
are turning out to public rallies to show their governments that they
do not wish for war! |
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| International Division Coordinator Hanna Jongepier
lists reasons why we should not support a war on Iraq |
Hanna Jongepier, the Coordinator of the International
Division spoke succinctly about the above-mentioned anti-war reasoning
to the crowd of participants, which included people from over 15 different
countries. Several Global University students then spoke out about
the importance of making our voices heard to our own governments,
especially when we return home in mid-March and become able to continue
our peace activism in the streets, in the media, in our homes and
workplaces, and importantly - directly to our politicians. The afternoon
session came to an end when we all joined hands and formed an enormous
circle around the outside of the ship and chanted 'Peace' in unison.
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| Peace Boat's
40th Voyage index |
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PEACE BOAT is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. |
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