Declaration of the Peace Movement on the occasion of May 8, 2022
Summary of the statement – abstract
May 8, 1945 symbolizes for us the victory over Nazism and the end of the Second World War, which caused 60 to 70 million deaths, including 45 to 50 million civilians killed between 1937 and 1945 (figures from the Caen Memorial). It is also the date of the massacres in Sétif of Algerians who aspired to more freedom, massacres that constituted the premises of future colonial wars. From this second world war, marked by the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (the first steps towards the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the possibility of a nuclear holocaust), a glimmer of hope emerged through the United Nations Charter signed by 51 countries representing 80% of the world’s population. It marks the emergence of a new international law that brings hope to humanity and constitutes a call to action for peace by declaring: « We, the people of the United Nations, determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind. »
At this moment in the history of humanity, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is generating new fears. Will this war lead the whole world, through the desire of certain states and heads of state, into an extension of the war in time and space with the risk of its globalization with possible millions of deaths, or even, in case of the use of atomic weapons, a humanitarian catastrophe of a magnitude never before known. While we must, of course, continue to condemn Russia’s aggression against Ukraine by Vladimir Putin, who is implementing the same military solutions for Ukraine as those that the USA implemented in Iraq, it is urgent and vital to get out of these logics of power and domination, which intend to resolve the crisis by force and war, but solve nothing. Some Western countries, led by the USA and the NATO, do not seek, unfortunately, to stop the fighting and to find a political solution, but they contribute, by the choices they make, to the amplification of the war, setting it up for the long term, hoping for a hypothetical victory in Ukraine, without caring about the suffering of the populations and the risks of the extension of the conflict, but also about the risk of using (voluntarily or by mistake) the atomic weapons which are mainly in the hands of the 2 main protagonists (Russia and USA/NATO). Let’s listen to the lesson drawn by the people in 1945 after the unspeakable suffering generated by two wars which had caused a total of about 90 million deaths.
The alternative is to unite all the people, the political, social, trade union, pacifist, feminist, citizen and institutional forces, at the national and world level, in order to preserve not only Ukraine but also the Russian people and the whole of humanity (including Yemen, the Middle East, Palestine, sub-Saharan Africa) from unspeakable suffering. Indeed, beyond the considerable complexity of the Ukrainian crisis, there are political and diplomatic solutions, as demonstrated only 8 years ago by the agreements signed in Minsk by Russia, Ukraine and the OSCE, approved by France and Germany and supported by the UN. Such agreements would allow a non-military settlement of this crisis. Wars do not solve any problem and only benefit the enrichment of the military-industrial complex and its shareholders. For our common future we have no other path than peace and the United Nations Charter is a reference that must help us build international relations based on cooperation and friendship between peoples. Let us all stand together for peace, for the total elimination of nuclear weapons and for the ratification by France and all states of the world of the The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) which entered into force on January 22, 2021.
Petition : https://www.mvtpaix.org/wordpress/petition-pour-un-traite-dinterdiction-des-armes-nucleaires/
The Peace Movement – May 7, 2022
The United Nations Charter can be consulted by clicking on the following link https://www.un.org/fr/about-us/un-charter/full-text
Note 1 : https://www.mvtpaix.org/wordpress/guerre-en-ukraine-les-petitionsappels-des-pacifistes-du-monde/
Note 2 : number of atomic bombs by country: Russia: 5977 / USA: 5428 / China: 350 / France: 290 / United Kingdom: 225 / Pakistan: 165 / India: 160 / Israel: 90/ North Korea: 9 (source: libération of May 3, 2022) — Become a member of the Peace Movement: https://www.mvtpaix.org/wordpress/nous-rejoindre / National contact: national@mvtpaix.org
Declaration of the Peace Movement on the occasion of May 8, 2022
What future for humanity?
Globalizing war or stopping wars, first step to globalize peace?
Statement of May 8, 2022 in its entirety.
May 8, 1945 symbolizes for us the victory over Nazism and the end of the Second World War, which caused 60 to 70 million deaths, including 45 to 50 million civilians killed between 1937 and 1945 (Caen Memorial figures). May 1945 is also the horror of the genocide of 6 million Jews. May 8, 1945 was also the day of the Sétif massacres, the beginning of a colonial war that caused tens of thousands of deaths.
Beyond May 8, 1945 was also the full revelation of the passage to industrial war and the use of weapons of mass destruction such as atomic bombs, which were tested through the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the USA on August 6 and 9, 1945. The First World War had already caused 20 million deaths and 21 million injured (source : the Robert Schuman Center).
Less than two months after May 8, 1945, on June 26, 1945, in San Francisco, the United Nations Charter signed by 51 countries representing 80% of the world’s population, marked the emergence of a new international law that brought hope to humanity and constituted a call to action for peace by declaring: « We, the people of the United Nations, determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind. »
On this May 8, 2022, two months after the beginning of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, our leaders, but also we citizens in France and throughout the world, must take the time to consider, inspired by the United Nations Charter, the means to avoid a new globalized conflict, a new global catastrophe in addition to the challenges caused by the climate crisis and by global pandemics
Will the whole world, through the desire of certain States and Heads of State, be dragged into an extension of war in time and space with the risk of its globalization with possible millions of deaths, or even, in the case of the use of atomic weapons, a humanitarian catastrophe of a magnitude never before known, in order to supposedly resolve a crisis that can be resolved in a sustainable manner by means other than war.
Opposing Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, acting for an immediate cease-fire, urgently mobilizing all that is necessary to protect the civilian population and to welcome refugees, is an obvious and necessary duty. On the other hand, the call for an increased militarization of the world and in particular of the member states of NATO, for the sending and concentration of colossal quantities of arms in Eastern Europe without proposing other alternatives and by hiding the fact that there are other solutions, is irresponsible to say the least.
Indeed, beyond the considerable complexity of the Ukrainian crisis, there are political and diplomatic solutions, as demonstrated only 8 years ago by the agreements signed in Minsk by Russia, Ukraine and the OSCE, approved by France and Germany and supported by the UN. While such agreements would allow for a non-military settlement of this crisis, it is not possible to accept the condemnation to death of hundreds of thousands, even millions of people because of the war or the consequences of the war (famines in less developed countries, etc.) and thus to condemn billions of people throughout the world, including in France, to unnecessary physical and social suffering for a war that the people did not want.
The alternative is to unite all the people, the political, social, trade union, pacifist, citizen and institutional forces, at the national and world level, to preserve not only the Ukraine but also the Russian people and the entire humanity (including Yemen, the Middle East, Palestine, sub-Saharan Africa) from unspeakable suffering. If it is necessary, of course, to continue the condemnation of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine by Vladimir Putin, who is implementing the same military solutions for Ukraine that the US has implemented in Iraq, if it is necessary to organize solidarity with the Ukrainians, If we have to organize solidarity with the Ukrainians, support the forces of peace in Russia (see link to our site in note 1), we also have to stop those who do not draw the consequences of the failures of all the wars, including those of NATO in Afghanistan, Iraq (with 800,000 dead), Libya, etc.
It is urgent and vital to get out of these logics of power and domination, which intend to resolve crisis by force and war, but in reality solve nothing but cause death, destruction and war crimes. It is therefore necessary to stop talking about the effectiveness of military engagements, when in fact if wars kill many people and mainly civilians, they do not solve any problem and only benefit the enrichment of the military-industrial complex and its shareholders.
It is urgent to take action to bring this drama to a quick end and to prevent a new world catastrophe by returning to international law and the principles and values of the United Nations Charter. It is necessary to take back the word and the action for peace and to contest the nationalist and warlike speeches knowingly maintained by the forces of the military-industrial complex and its multinationals which dominate the economic, social and media life in the West as well as in Russia, Ukraine, the USA …. Their domination of too many media that are necessary for them to condition public opinion is becoming a real problem for democracy and peace (for example the purchase of tweeter for $40 billion).
Unfortunately, it seems that this is not the path that humanity is taking today. Indeed, the process, started in 2001, of criminal increase of the world military expenses continues at a dizzying speed. In about twenty years, world military spending has doubled from $1,000 billion to $2,113 billion in 2021 (source SIPRI). They are experiencing new astronomical increases after the attack on Ukraine. The majority of European countries have committed themselves to reaching 2% of GDP for their military budget, and even more than 3% for Poland. Germany has just voted a budget of 100 billion euros, and a 40% increase in spending is planned by Finland. In the United States, Biden’s government has announced a proposed budget for 2023 of 813 billion dollars, compared with 782 billion in 2022. In the United Kingdom, spending has risen from 59.4 billion to 61 billion and then 71 billion, while in France it has risen from 52.1 to 54.9 and then 59.3 billion, and in Germany from 48.4 billion to 52.1 and then 56.1 (source : -IDRP). Arms sales or supplies to Ukraine are increasing in most NATO countries, including France. For his part, Biden plans to allocate $33 billion to the country.
These figures clearly indicate that some Western countries, led by the USA and NATO, are not looking primarily for a cessation of the fighting and a political solution but want to amplify the war and settle the war in the long term by promising a hypothetical victory for Ukraine without caring about the suffering of the populations and the risks of the extension of the conflict but also about the risk of using (voluntarily or by mistake) once again the atomic weapons which are mainly in the hands of the 2 main protagonists (Russia and USA/NATO, details in note2).
On this 8th of May 2022, we invite all French people to reread carefully the United Nations Charter which was the answer and the lesson drawn by the peoples in 1945 after the unspeakable sufferings generated by two world wars which caused a total of about 90 million deaths.
We draw particular attention to Articles 1 and 2 of the Charter, which define the purposes and principles for achieving peace, and to Article 26, which provides for “promoting the establishment and maintenance of international peace and security with the least detour for armaments of the world’s human and economic resources”.
For our common future we have no other path than peace. Let us all act together for peace and to ensure that France and the President of the Republic are truly committed to this goal. Let us also act for the total elimination of nuclear weapons and the ratification by France and all the States of the world of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) which entered into force on January 22, 2021. https://www.mvtpaix.org/wordpress/petition-pour-un-traite-dinterdiction-des-armes-nucleaires/
The Peace Movement – May 7, 2022
The United Nations Charter can be consulted by clicking on the following link https://www.un.org/fr/about-us/un-charter/full-text
Note 1 : https://www.mvtpaix.org/wordpress/guerre-en-ukraine-les-petitionsappels-des-pacifistes-du-monde/
Note 2 : number of atomic bombs by country: Russia: 5977 /USA: 5428/China: 350 /France: 290/United Kingdom: 225/Pakistan: 165/India: 160/Israel: 90/ North Korea: 9 (source: libération of May 3, 2022)– Become a member of the Peace Movement: https://www.mvtpaix.org/wordpress/nous-rejoindre / National contact: national@mvtpaix.org
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