There were no headlines about this in our daily newspapers…no feature stories in magazines and nothing on television either and certainly, nothing in The House of Commons.
The picture on the left is what’s left of a United Nations Peacekeeping Post in southern Lebanon.
A Canadian peacekeeper was murdered here in July 2006.
The Israelis bombed it to rubble and killed all four peacekeepers with a 500 kg precision-guided bomb. We mourn those soldiers.
International Peacekeeping Day (Thursday May 29th), was established in 2002. It’s the day we should have been giving thanks that there are still men and women courageous enough to put their lives on the line for world peace. The 29th of May was chosen for the celebration because on that day in 1948 the
first mission, the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), began operations
with a group of unarmed military observers in Palestine under a new flag and a
new mission. "A mission of peace , without
precedent in human history. It was an attempt to counter violence with tolerance, might with
moderation, and war with peace."
It’s also a day to note that support for peacekeeping is declining in the very country that spearheaded the original idea – our own Canada.
The Canadian government no longer cares much about peacekeeping. It prefers instead, to focus on combat operations dedicated not to peace, but to war…and "pseudo war" at that.
When I checked with our government, a very nice person in the Speakers Office had no idea what I was talking about when I asked if there had been anything placed on the agenda to recognize International Peacekeeper Day. "Let me just check", she said. "I’m looking, but as far as I can see there’s nothing."
No one in the PMO knew about it and neither did the parliamentary clerk’s office.
So that gives you some idea how the Harper government regards peacekeeping. It’s a non-starter.
I observed my 3 minutes of silence alone.
I confess my unawareness of this day of Hope and Memory.
Today I will observe it as you did yesterday.
While it is awful that our highest offices know nothing of International Peacekeeping Day and the media simply follows their direction in ignoring it, what about the indifference of our education-systems at all levels?
I saw and heard nothing.
On a retrospective note, perhaps the IPD founders should have opportunistically aligned it with the Celtic feast of Beltane, a lunar month prior on May first, as Christianity has done so many times.
Fires on hilltops, rituals, merrymaking. Prayers for peace.
As an ancient Gaelic festival, Bealtaine was celebrated in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. There were similar festivals held at the same time in the other Celtic countries of Wales, Brittany and Cornwall. Bealtaine and Samhain were the leading terminal dates of the civil year in Ireland though the latter festival was the most important. The festival survives in folkloric practices in the Celtic Nations and the diaspora, and has experienced a degree of revival in recent decades.
My sadness over this issue is intensified by the betrayal at the top. And not just with Harper…but with Dion, Layton et al.
Your thought about a festival resonates because we have a strong celtic cultural flavour in our little corner of the world.
Perhaps a peacekeeping festival could be arranged in future.
All we need is a hilltop, some brush for a fire and a few hearts full of love. (Oh – and some music).
I too, will do as you both have done to honour the day. I totally agree with your column Jim, thankyou for your good thoughts.