Dennis Kucinich Speech: We Will Create A New World

[Guest guest]

" We will create a new world "

On the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, the Peoples'

Assembly in London heard an inspiring speech by US Congressman and

Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich. (962 words) May 2007

 

 

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On 20 March 2007, the anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq, the

UK's Stop the War coalition held a `People's Assembly' at the

Methodist Central Hall close to the Houses of Parliament, Westminster,

London. Participants came from all over the UK representing 175

organizations. Tony Benn, president of the coalition, told delegates:

" This assembly represents the opinions of the people far more than

those in the Houses of Parliament. " He reminded the audience that the

historic hall was the venue which hosted the inaugural General

Assembly of the United Nations in 1946.

 

As sunshine flooded into the room from the huge windows, Tony Benn

introduced the first speaker, Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich,

candidate for the Democratic nomination for American President in

2008. His inspiring, passionate speech drew enthusiastic applause and

set the tone for the day.

 

" We come together because we understand that the world is truly one.

That the world is interconnected, it is interdependent … We understand

that human unity is in fact an imperative. All those things in our

life which serve to unite us and to confirm the transcendent purpose

of human unity are things that need to be celebrated – such as the

United Nations, such as the UN Charter, which was written with the

anticipation and the hope of ending war for all time….

 

" … if peace on earth is truly to be accomplished, we must be exemplars

of peace. We have to take that challenge into our own everyday lives….

When you realize that every day we can be architects of peace in our

lives, in our communities, with everyone with whom we come in contact,

we realise the transformative power we really have in our hands.

That's why what you represent as members of the Stop the War Coalition

is not simply some kind of a passing response to the failure of

government to respond to this impulse for peace, you represent

something much deeper: not simply rejection of this war, it is the

rejection of war as an instrument of policy. It is to take a stand

together as people of the world to say that war itself must be made

obsolete. It is not acceptable any more to use war and aggression to

solve differences between people and between nations. We are at that

moment in human history where we are called upon consciously to choose

… I submit to you that the choice that we can make right now is a

choice for human unity …

 

" We have proposed to create a Ministry of Peace which looks at the

issues of domestic violence, child abuse, violence in schools, and

creates a structure where we teach our children principles of peace

giving, peace sharing, mutuality, looking at the other person as an

aspect of oneself. We have the power to create structures of peace in

our own communities, in our own homes, in our own lives. When you

think about that then peace in the microcosm becomes peace in the

macrocosm. Then nations who take up arms against nations will realize

that you do not have the legitimacy which only comes from support of

the government.

 

" … we can link parliamentarians all round the world for peace,

parliamentarians for peace and prosperity, because peace and

prosperity are twins. They go together. War and poverty also go

together. When a nation makes a choice for war that means [less] for

housing health and education. We can't let that happen any more. We

have a right as human beings to security and we have a right for

housing and healthcare and education. We have to insist that our

governments take the direction that affirms those rights and stop

spending money on wars that destroy the hopes of people everywhere …

 

" There is a hunger for peace; there is an essential understanding that

we must take a stand to save the world. We are at a turning point in

human history where we will either decide to act on our impulse within

the human heart to create peace, or we will be drawn along by impulses

of aggression and destruction and that's basically the choice we have

been given. How empowering is it to know that we can make our choice

as individuals for peace? How empowering is it to know that we have in

our hands the chance to change the world, not just to end war against

Iraq, not just to stop an attack on Iran, not just to create peace

between the Israelis and the Palestinians, but to make peace a chance

for future generations?

 

" The poet Tennyson once wrote: `Come my friends, it is not too late to

seek a newer world.' By your presence here today, you are acting on

that passion which you have to not just see a newer world but to be a

part of it, of a newer world, a world which rejects war, a world which

votes to eliminate all nuclear weapons, a world which affirms the

biological weapons convention, the chemical weapons convention, the

small arms treaty, the landmine treaty, where all nations participate

in the international criminal court. A world which affirms the primacy

of the United Nations as a vehicle for resolving conflicts between

nations. We can build on that impulse … there is this worldwide

movement that is burgeoning right now. We have to grab it, we have to

ride it, we have to strengthen it, we have to encourage it, and propel

it because we are the way for the future. The way for the future is

peace. Peace is inevitable. We reject war. We affirm the purpose of

human unity, and we will create a new world. "

 

(Source: Share International correspondent)

 

Information: http://kucinich.us/

 

 

 

For those who may not know it, I live in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio

and belong to Dennis Kucinich's Middle East Peace Forum. He started

the group in response to the war in Lebanon last year. We meet once a

week, on Mondays. I have been active in the group for about 9 months.

Activists in all arenas meet. Peace activists of Jewish, Israeli,

Palestinian, Muslim and Christian backgrounds. I am the resident poet

activist who has a Zen/Buddhist/Hindu affinity;-) Seems so does

Dennis. His Peace Cabinet is an idea whose time has come. He has

been scoffed at for many years for being a visionary.

 

Yesterday I ended the meeting with a quote from Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj:

 

" Fear and greed cause the misuse of the mind. The right use of mind

is in the service of love, of life, of truth, of beauty, "

 

from Anetofjewels

 

The interesting thing is Sai from England sent the speech to his

group, where I read it. My bad.

 

Love and Peace,

Anna