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Beyond War (distinct from World Beyond War) is a movement founded in 1984. It seeks to end war, on the premise that, in the broad view, the continued practice of war will ultimately lead to a global catastrophe.
Beyond War aims to end war by addressing the psychological and philosophical roots of human war making behaviors in preference to political causes. It is based on the observation credited to Albert Einstein: "With the unleashed power of the atom, everything has changed, save our modes of thinking, and thus we drift towards unparalleled catastrophe". [1] Beyond War sprang into being during the early 1980s in the Palo Alto area of California, among a group drawing primarily from academia, the computer industry and marketing. From the very start, the Beyond War group strongly held the conviction that "Life is at a crossroads. One direction leads to death, destruction, and possibly the extinction of life on earth. The other direction opens new possibilities for the human species; a world where all people have the opportunity to satisfy their basic human needs, where life has meaning and purpose." [2] Due to this sense of imminent, climactic danger, the principle of commitment is foundational to the movement, in which leaders and serious volunteers have taken time off from their work to give a year or two of full-time volunteer help.
Fanning out across the United States and a number countries including Canada, England, Sweden, Israel, and Germany, the Beyond War volunteer coordinators brought with them the "Interest Evening" and "Orientation" presentations. Employing an array of video, literary, philosophical, religious and marketing psychology approaches, the introductory "Interest Evening" culminates with the famously simple but effective "BBs demonstration". In this, the presenter, having described in graphic detail the devastating effect of a single thermonuclear detonation on a modern city, asks the participants to close their eyes and listen as 10,000 BBs, representing each of the 10,000 thermonuclear devices in the world, are poured into a large tin bucket. [3] Participants, often visibly shaken, are typically asked to commit to a six-part vow "to build a world beyond war". The vows are divided into three guiding principles and three core practices. [4]
The guiding principles are:
The core practices are:
In all these principles, the Beyond War movement remains notable for its ability to remain staunchly non-partisan politically, and non-sectarian in the religious sense. In keeping with its global perspective, it attempts, with varying but generally substantial degrees of success, to avoid identification with any nation, political ideology, religious creed etc. The aim is to be inclusive due to the guiding principle #2—"We are one on this planet".
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the widespread perception that the threat of nuclear war was no longer imminent and the essential goals of Beyond War had been met, the founders met and decided to radically expand the goals of the movement. It was to become even more inclusive and the name was changed to Global Community, with a very philosophical and internationalist leaning, also embracing environmental and social concerns not originally found in the single minded concern with war and weapons of planetary scale mass destruction. This meeting was held without consulting the 24,000 membership worldwide, who were spectators on the sidelines of the momentous events of the years between 1989 and 2001, which included the breakup of Soviet communism, the first Gulf War and the September 11 attacks.
However, with concern mounting about the direction of the "war on terror", and boosted by a certain amount of outrage at the second U.S. led assault on Iraq, taking place in March 2003, a group of long time Beyond War/Global Community members based in Portland and Eugene, Oregon, were roused to action. [5] They had come to the conclusion that the goals of the original movement had not been met and that the danger of a global Armageddon had actually increased since the rise of the "war on terror" and the failure of the U.S. and Russia to continue to dismantle nuclear weapons below the level 7,000. With the full cooperation and assistance of the Global Community Board, the curriculum was updated and the use of web based technology adopted. By 2009, the membership had returned to approximately 2,000.
The Beyond War Foundation and Stanford University Center on Conflict and Negotiation [6] worked together to bring to the California redwoods Palestinian and Israeli citizens leaders who then forged and signed the historic Framework for a Public Peace Process document. [7] By 1993, government negotiators were clarifying their own plea for mandatory citizen relationships and creativity of People-to-People Programs in Annex VI of the 1993 Oslo Accords. [8] The 1991 Framework immediately inspired the 1992 birth of the sustained Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group in the United States.
The Beyond War Award [9] was created in 1983 and ran for eight years (1983-1990) to honor the great efforts of humankind as it moves to build a world beyond war. The award attracted national and international attention through the nominating and selection process.
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the status of Jerusalem, Israeli settlements, borders, security, water rights, the permit regime, Palestinian freedom of movement, and the Palestinian right of return.
World government is the concept of a single political authority with jurisdiction over all of Earth and humanity. It is conceived in a variety of forms, from tyrannical to democratic, which reflects its wide array of proponents and detractors.
The Camp David Accords were a pair of political agreements signed by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on 17 September 1978, following twelve days of secret negotiations at Camp David, the country retreat of the President of the United States in Maryland. The two framework agreements were signed at the White House and were witnessed by President Jimmy Carter. The second of these frameworks led directly to the 1979 Egypt–Israel peace treaty. Due to the agreement, Sadat and Begin received the shared 1978 Nobel Peace Prize. The first framework, which dealt with the Palestinian territories, was written without participation of the Palestinians and was condemned by the United Nations.
The 2000 Camp David Summit was a summit meeting at Camp David between United States president Bill Clinton, Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat. The summit took place between 11 and 25 July 2000 and was an effort to end the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The summit ended without an agreement, largely due to irreconcilable differences between Israelis and Palestinians on the status of Jerusalem. Its failure is considered one of the main triggers of the Second Intifada.
The Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs is an international organization that brings together scholars and public figures to work toward reducing the danger of armed conflict and to seek solutions to global security threats. It was founded in 1957 by Joseph Rotblat and Bertrand Russell in Pugwash, Nova Scotia, Canada, following the release of the Russell–Einstein Manifesto in 1955.
Intermittent discussions are held by various parties and proposals put forward in an attempt to resolve the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict through a peace process. Since the 1970s, there has been a parallel effort made to find terms upon which peace can be agreed to in both the Arab–Israeli conflict and in the Palestinian–Israeli conflict. Notably the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel, which included discussions on plans for "Palestinian autonomy", but did not include any Palestinian representatives. The autonomy plan would not be implemented, but its stipulations would to a large extent be represented in the Oslo Accords.
The Arab–Israeli conflict began in the 20th century, evolving from earlier Intercommunal violence in Mandatory Palestine. The conflict became a major international issue with the birth of Israel in 1948. The Arab–Israeli conflict has resulted in at least five major wars and a number of minor conflicts. It has also been the source of two major Palestinian uprisings (intifadas).
Jeff Halper is an Israeli-American anthropologist, author, lecturer, and political activist who has lived in Israel since 1973. He is the Director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) and a co-founder of The One Democratic State Campaign (ODSC). He is a Jewish Israeli.
This article examines Israeli views of the peace process that is ongoing concerning the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. There are a multitude of opinions and views of the peace process elicited at various points during Israel's history and by a variety of people. A popular understanding of the origins of the conflict from the Israeli point of view is that it began following the 1967 Six-Day War with Israel's occupation of the territories and consequently the peace process negotiations should stem from this. However, there are other understandings of the conflict and therefore the solution for peace, including some Israeli academics' and peace activists' understanding that a much longer history is involved, differing from the popular narrative often recited. Suggestions for how to achieve peace in the region include a two state solution where an Israeli sovereign state and a Palestinian sovereign state exist side by side, or the suggestion of a one state secular solution where power is shared by Israelis and Palestinians. Hardliners believe that Israel should maintain sovereignty over the land it currently occupies and give no concessions to Palestinians, others believe keeping up the military campaign, occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and separation from Palestinians is the only current way forward. There is also a note of despair and uncertainness as to how to proceed among some, particularly following the failure of peace summits in the 1990s and early 21st century and the second Intifada, as Kaufman et al. have stated; "there is a growing consensus that the current political leadership are not able to build a stable peace and resolve the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people". As Cowen says "almost everyone wants peace [but] on his or her terms" and this is the crux of the problem.
A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world peace. Some of the methods used to achieve these goals include advocacy of pacifism, nonviolent resistance, diplomacy, boycotts, peace camps, ethical consumerism, supporting anti-war political candidates, supporting legislation to remove profits from government contracts to the military–industrial complex, banning guns, creating tools for open government and transparency, direct democracy, supporting whistleblowers who expose war crimes or conspiracies to create wars, demonstrations, and political lobbying. The political cooperative is an example of an organization which seeks to merge all peace-movement and green organizations; they may have diverse goals, but have the common ideal of peace and humane sustainability. A concern of some peace activists is the challenge of attaining peace when those against peace often use violence as their means of communication and empowerment.
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The Madrid Conference of 1991 was a peace conference, held from 30 October to 1 November 1991 in Madrid, hosted by Spain and co-sponsored by the United States and the Soviet Union. It was an attempt by the international community to revive the Israeli–Palestinian peace process through negotiations, involving Israel and the Palestinians as well as Arab countries, including Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
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