reed writes

Stefan Zweig was a mild-mannered Austrian writer, political philosopher and literary historian. He was also a lifelong pacifist.

In the spring of 1914, Zweig, who was visiting France, sat in a movie theatre in Tours. A newsreel was shown and there was a brief image of Wilhelm ll of Germany. "Everybody yelled and whistled – men, women and children, as if they had been personally insulted," Zweig wrote.

"The good-natured people of Tours, who knew no more about the world and politics than what they read in their newspapers had gone mad for an instant."

It frightened Zweig.

"The incident lasted only a few seconds but it showed me how easily people anywhere could be aroused in a time of crisis, despite all attempts at understanding."

Zweig lived through that war and then lived through the first years of the scourge of Nazism. He fled the naziification of Austria and Germany in 1934. He went first to England, then to the United States and finally to Brazil, carrying his pacifist views with him.

Zweig and his wife despaired of the future of Europe and its culture. They both felt the world was more inclined toward war than peace.

In 1942, they committed suicide together.

The suicide note contained the following statement:

"I think it better to conclude in good time and in erect bearing a life in which intellectual labour meant the purest joy – and personal freedom the highest good on Earth"

Terrorism Gets Dressed Up In New Clothes

The government of Israel is engaged in a new "War On Terror" – against Jewish settlers in The West Bank.

This week a pipe bomb exploded outside the home of Professor Zeev Sternhell, a critic of settler behaviour. The professor was wounded.

Recent weeks have seen an increase in both the number and severity of violent incidents by right-wing extremists. The attack on the professor follows a settlers’ rampage  and attacks by settlers on soldiers. 
Settlers distributed pamphlets offering a quarter million dollar reward to anyone who kills a member of the "Peace Now" movement, an Israeli peace advocacy group.

How Crazy Can It Get? (See links below).

New York Times

Toronto Globe and Mail

Something is not quite kosher about the "official" story of Dr. Aafia.

I posted about her earlier, when I first heard about her. I did so because something about the official American account of her arrest in Afghanistan and her appearance in a New York Court this past summer, just did not ring true.

If you have a minute, take a look at that earlier post here.

She was to have appeared again on September 4th., but refused to undergo the mandatory "cavity" search before being taken to the courtroom.

A second hearing was then scheduled for Tuesday. It didn’t happen either…perhaps for the same reason. And who could blame her for refusing to undergo the intrusive and unnecessary body search.

Ms Siddiqui is a woman in limbo today.

Her American lawyer says she is in a state of psychosis, induced by more than 4 years of torture in an American-controlled prison.

Now her American prosecutors say she may not be mentally fit to stand trial.

The American judge in the case has re-scheduled her courtroom appearance for some time in December.

You can read more about that happened on Tuesday by clicking here.

Curiouser and curiouser

On this International Day of Peace, Reflections on War.

The real causes of World War One (The Great War), are still unclear. But we do know this:

The roots of World War Two can be found in the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, signed after Germany’s defeat in 1918.

My own long-standing and firmly-held belief is that actions carried out in a spirit of vengeance and revenge almost always have unforeseen consequences, often of the most catastrophic nature. (We see that today in Afghanistan).

The Treaty of Versailles

It was designed to punish Germany for its aggressive behaviour, which resulted in The Great War.

But when nations go to war, it is the leadership that bears responsibility, not the people as a whole. Nevertheless, the Versailles Treaty  meted out punishment that affected the entire German population.
Germany was required:

• to give up large pieces of its territory to Poland and other nations.

• to give up all control over its economy and economic decision-making and-

• to agree to unspecified and unlimited economic reparations.

These provisions contained within them, the seeds of discontent, which eventually gave rise to anger, resentment and hostility across Germany. Those seeds of resentment grew into full-flowered hatred, setting the scene for Hitler’s anti-European and anti-Semitic rhetoric. Many Germans supported Hitler’s demand for the return of severed parts of the German nation and many cheered his unfounded allegations that the country’s troubles were caused in part by Jewish interests.

The United States and Europe both ignored the Versailles prohibition against German re-armament and Hitler took full advantage of that.

The international community failed to act when the warning signs of a new and even more aggressive Germany became apparent.

The world ignored the brutal and vicious anti-Semitism and stood by while Hitler built a military machine.

The League of Nations failed to take the necessary steps required to stop Germany from re-arming. In fact the United States, France and Britain actively assisted the rebirth of the German military.

It was the beginning of what General Eisenhower called the modern "military-industrial complex.

Following is part of the text of the message from Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann
( Nicaragua), President of the United Nations General Assembly, on the
International Day of Peace, tomorrow,  September 21:

The growing number of communities celebrating the International
Day of Peace attests to peoples’ deep yearning for a world at peace
with itself. As a priest, I aspire to be both a messenger of peace and
a peacemaker.

As I assume my responsibilities as President of the
United Nations General Assembly, I am acutely aware of the hopes and
expectations that billions of people around the world place in the
United Nations to put an end to war and senseless, man-made violence.

You can read more about the International Day of Peace Here.