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Feeding the debate about peace
Here are some articles and texts to feed this debate. Peace is here defined widely as: peace in the family, in school and social environments, between persons of different cultures and religions, between different geopolitical regions and so on.
There can be no lasting peace without a reconciliatory thrust
Signing a peace agreement is not enough to ensure peace. There must be a true thrust and spirit towards reconciliation.
A reconciliation process can begin only if both sides succeed in putting aside their wounded egos. Such a beginning also requires much more than a few solitary efforts: each of us needs to contribute his part to create a group effect. A reconciliation process can be all the stronger and more credible if thousands of efforts join up and accept to do the seemingly impossible - extending their hand to « the others ».
For instance, if people around you talk about justification, revenge, « cold » peace or 3rd intifada, help them aim much higher. Help them accept a new goal: reconciliation. Especially following an umpteenth violence - and indeed because of these acts. Tell the skeptics that reconciliation is the only path that can reverse the spiral of mutual violence which distresses and humiliates them so much. Help the most skeptical to accept an obvious truth: that reconciliation is utopian only for those who have abandoned the very concept of peace.
Delia Mamon