Paris Attacks: Violence is the problem, never the solution

The terrorist attack that took place on November 13th in Paris is another act of violence against civilians, another act of violence against all Humanity. It clearly shows that anyone and in any place in the world can become the victim of brutal violence powered by hatred, intolerance, discrimination, fanaticism and vengeance.

This new massacre cannot be treated in isolation because it is connected to others of a similar nature; those carried out a few years ago in New York, London and Madrid, among others; nor can we say that these events are unrelated to the invasions and wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria where the dead and those affected can be counted in the hundreds of thousands. Today it is being demonstrated that the responses to these wars, mainly caused by western countries, cannot be limited to the conflict zones themselves because globalization means that these responses can appear in any point of the planet. Today, there are no longer any “safe” places in front of this escalation of violence.

We absolutely denounce the hypocritical behaviour of those who feed the culture of war and violence; those who, on the one hand, sell weapons and invade countries, while on the other one, invite our support for the victims of the terrorist acts which they themselves finance (even if indirectly); those who put more attention on the victims of their own region, and who forget those they create in distant lands…

Violence can never be the solution to violence. Violence is the problem, and there is only one way to solve it: place human beings and our basic needs (education, culture, equal opportunities and a fair distribution of wealth) in the centre of our actions and our politics.

It is more than clear that humanity cannot bear any more violence and needs a real culture of peace and nonviolence.

That’s why in World without Wars and Violence we express our solidarity not only with the families and friends of the victims of the terrorist attacks in Paris but also with the families of the terrorists, those young people who felt that they have no future and who are turned into puppets in the hands of dark interests.

We call on all human beings to learn to resist the violence in oneself and in human society by practicing active nonviolence and nonviolence by any means. From World without Wars and Violence we shall therefore continue to organise forums, events, workshops of awareness and training in all possible points of the planet and in all cultures to help to create a nonviolent consciousness.

We call on governments to stop their escalation of institutional violence, which is outside the bounds of national and international law: provoking, invading, interfering and, promoting coups d’état in other countries with cynical attitudes in defence of the “freedom”, “democracy” and “human rights”.

The temptation to enter an increasingly hard spiral of actions/reactions will open the path towards disaster. From many places, we are starting to hear that a third World War is on the way. If we have governments that are so stupid and irresponsible as to add fuel to the fire, it is down to us, the citizens, to make them see reason.

It is time for human beings to finally emerge from prehistory to start our true humanization, and the only way is through nonviolence!

Our support and solidarity for all the victims in Paris!

Our support also for all other victims of the barbarity of terrorism and of wars in the world!

World without Wars and Violence
World Coordination Team
November 14th, 2015