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Pacifist talks
Bill Hetherington
During the war, the Peace Pledge Union embarked upon negotiations of
its own, with the object of obtaining a joint statement from British and
Argentinian pacifists condemning the war.
Regrettably, this proved impossible, as the most accessible Argentinian
pacifist, Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Nobel Peace laureate of 1980, whilst
prepared to condemn the military action of both parties, refused to sign a
statement that in any way set aside the Argentinian claim in favour of
self-determination for the islanders.
The PPU, therefore, joined with the Fellowship of Reconciliation in a
statement opposing military action by both sides and questioning whether
historical arguments about legal sovereignty were more important than the
wishes of the inhabitants. "We are more concerned with the wishes of the
people to organise their own lives than with which flag happens to fly over a
particular area of land."
This statement, issued, on 7 April, was given a global aspect by being
countersigned by War Resisters' International (WRI) and the International
Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR).
Note: PN sought an Argentinian pacifist comment, but none had
arrived by the time we went to press.
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