BY PAT POWER
Is an Iraqi life of any less value than an American or an Australian life?
A US-led attack on Iraq will lead to inevitable loss of life — hundreds, thousands of innocent Iraqi citizens will perish as a result. These are people who have already suffered a great deal under a repressive regime. They have suffered mightily in the last 12 years as a result of the United Nations sanctions imposed on Iraq.
The Catholic aid agency Caritas Australia has expressed great concern about the effects of a war on Iraq's women and children. It points out that already one in four children under the age of five is chronically malnourished. Caritas tell us that the health service has become quite inadequate through the 12 years of sanctions. It points out that two-thirds of the population are dependent on UN food rations.
In the event of war, the food will be cut off, and water and sanitation systems will collapse. It is obscene when so-called civilised countries are able to devalue the lives of ordinary people in poorer countries.
But those of us gathered here today in such great numbers, we want something different. We want peace, not war. We believe in the sisterhood and brotherhood of all humanity. We believe in the dignity of every human being. We say that instead of preparing for war, we should be searching and building for peace.
For the last year or more, we have heard a lot of rhetoric about the "war against terrorism". I suggest that we should begin talking about a war against poverty.
The so-called war against terrorism has resulted in a building up of hatred, fear and suspicion. It has meant a widening of the divide between "them" and "us". It has done everything to build up a climate of war.
On the other hand, a war against poverty would entail genuine gestures of goodwill. It would mean a real effort to bring about the alleviation of poverty. It would do something to mitigate the debts of the Third World countries, the debts which are crippling the economies of those countries and demeaning their citizens.
Palestine is clearly a key to world peace. I call upon the US and its allies, through the UN, to adopt a more even-handed approach with regard to Palestine. I say it is time that the West called Israel to account.
How outrageous is the spectre of Israel's seizing the land and the homes of Palestinians, disrupting their freedom of movement, impeding them from going about their legitimate employment and most recently destroying their olive harvests. These actions need to be roundly condemned, not to mention the atrocities that have been perpetrated in Jenin, Bethlehem and Ramallah.
I deplore the killing of innocent Israelis in Kenya and the suicide bombings in Israel. Clearly, the cycle of violence and killing must be broken. That can only come about when there is a recognition both of Israel's right to exist and the right of Palestinians to a homeland and to self determination.
Pope John Paul II frequently states that there can be no peace without justice. The Australian Bishops recently put out a statement with regard to the possibility of war against Iraq and that statement was entitled "Build peace, avoid war".
I am proud to be with you all today and in a special way to stand in solidarity with the Muslim, Iraqi and Palestinian community representatives. I know it is the hope of all of us that, what we model today, will become a reality in the wider world, so that there will be genuine peace and a recognition of the dignity and rights of all people.
[Pat Power is the auxiliary Catholic Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn. This is an abridged version of the speech he presented at the November 30 Walk Against the War rally in the Sydney Domain.]
From Green Left Weekly, December 11, 2002.
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