to reflect on sept 11th 2001 interesting Rant from http://www.veganforlife.org/rantravedir.htm

May 9, 2005

23 - Blessed are the Peacemakers

The events of the past few weeks in the United States have shaken the entire world. We're all at a standstill, staring in disbelief, unable to comprehend how anyone could commit such a terrible crime.

Thousands of people are dead. Thousands more are scarred for life. The trauma of being left partnerless or orphaned will not easily heal. The horror of seeing people leaping hopelessly from windows to escape a scalding heat and pain is something I never want to see again.

Now we have reached a time of analysis. At Jewish New Year last week with my husband, his relatives and in-laws, views varied widely on what the next step should be. What do we do when everyday, non-military people are attacked in a time of peace? How do we deal with a nameless, faceless enemy? How do we cope with the fear of the next attack looming like a grey cloud over humanity?

My father-in-law was of the opinion that the US should strike hard against the Taliban, who are sheltering the most likely suspect, Osama bin Laden. He likened the situation in which we now stand to the attacks on the Jewish people in the 1930s and 1940s. Europe was afraid to act, the Nazi regime marched on unheeded, and millions of lives were lost. He argued that only by striking immediately can we even attempt to halt what must surely follow - yet more attacks and more peaceful lives lost.

I can see his point. I can understand where he is coming from, and why he feels the way he does. My husband's family tree is a graveyard of missing cousins, families who disappeared, and lives that were taken in perhaps the worst expression of racial hatred humanity has ever seen. My father-in-law is afraid - he has seen the consequences of uncontrolled fanaticism. He doesn't want to see it again.

I can see his point, but I do not agree with it. Military strikes inevitably result in civilian casualties. Should the US strike Afghanistan, more innocent lives will be lost - people who have done nothing save being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I sit and think - how would I feel were it my husband killed by the US in retaliation? And I wonder how I would feel had it been my loved ones falling from windows, or terrified by hijackers and knowing they were soon to die? Would I honestly feel the need for yet more killing to justify the needless suffering of those I love?

Violence truly does beget violence. A person who kills intentionally is a murderer, no matter what the motive.

The US is screaming for blood, for vengeance. But how many innocent lives is it acceptable for them to take in order to mete out that vengeance? Ten? Twenty? A hundred? Thousands? And surely any attack the US makes is yet more likely to result in more terrorist attacks, with more lives lost.

Violence is not justice, for violence can never be just. Vengeance is not justice either. Nor are terrorist attacks in response, or sending in ground troops, or missile strikes. Justice only occurs when a person, guilty beyond reasonable doubt, is sentenced - NOT punished. Sentenced to remove them from a world in which they will possibly cause more harm, more pain, more suffering.

I do not believe that this is a case where violence is the only solution. I am not sure that there is ever a case where violence is the only solution. But one thing I do know is that murder is wrong. Murder is always wrong. To take life intentionally is a murderous act, and to do so one becomes what one is attempting to eradicate.

So what is the solution? I believe that thoughtful, active resistance is the only response. Increase airline security. Heighten security checks and safety measures in US and allied cities. Infiltrate Afghanistan and attempt to capture bin Laden, or bargain for the man and his supporters with humanitarian aid. Seek the assistance of the Afghan people, and offer them aid and assistance of a humane kind in return.

It's time to build relationships, not walls and barbed wire fences.

25 September 2001.