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| A real tonic |
Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans (Eds) , Stop The Next War Now: Effective Responses to Violence and Terrorism (Inner Ocean Publishing, 2005; ISBN 1 930722 49 4, US$14.95)
Reviewed by: ELIZABETH CAMPBELL
In an effort to prevent the war on Iraq, millions of people around the world took to the streets and demonstrated their own passion for peace. The war still happened. The occupation of Iraq continues. But why couldn't we stop that war? What more could we have done? What have we learned through all of this? And might we be able to prevent future wars? Stop the Next War Now is a book dedicated to exploring those questions.
Edited by CodePink cofounders Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans, with a forword by Alice Walker and an introduction by Arundhati Roy, the book comprises articles, essays and quotes from over 70 contributors. Many have experienced the effects of war first-hand.
US soldier Camilo Mejia writes, from prison, about "regaining his humanity" and finding the courage to put down his gun. Naomi Klein outlines the illegality of the "economic colonisation" of Iraq. Jennifer Krill challenges our oil addiction. Wangari Maathai talks of the need to protect and manage natural resources and prevent further "resource wars". Israeli activist Nurit Peled-Elhanan, whose only daughter was killed by a Palestinian suicide bomber, demonstrates extraordinary insight and compassion by rising above her grief to see that the suicide bomber is also a victim: "My little girl was killed just because she was born Israeli, by a young man who felt hopeless to the point of murder and suicide just because he was born a Palestinian..."
Although aimed primarily at a US audience there is still much here to engage the reader on this side of the Atlantic. This book paints a vivid picture of a global peace community. It reminds us that peace activism needs to be pre-emptive as well as reactive, and gives many ideas for action. It also reminds us that the route to peace is, as John Dear has said, both an inner journey to a disarmed heart and an outer journey to a disarmed world.
This book would make a perfect gift for tired or jaded activist chums. A real tonic.