EDUCATION FOR PEACE .
An article from Ici Beyrouth (translation by CPNN)
The World Poetry Movement (WPM), an international organization that brings together poets and poetry promoters from five continents, expresses its concern and opposition to the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, whose two sovereign nations are protagonists, and pleads for a peaceful solution. History teaches us that war is not a solution to conflicts, but a scourge that affects humanity as a whole and it is our duty to warn of the real danger of a nuclear escalation, the possibility of which constitutes a imminent threat to life on the planet. As poets, we embrace the word as a means of sensitive creation, but also as a political and social tool for building a fairer, more equitable and more humane world.
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(click here for the French original of this article)
How can poetry promote a culture of peace?
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Therefore, the WPM welcomes the initiatives of China, Brazil and other countries that have come out in favor of a negotiated solution to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. We join the call of the social movements in dialogue as the only method of resolving this conflict and all other international conflicts. It should be noted that, from the ideological point of view, the World Poetry Movement (WPM) is a plural space that unites poets of all different persuasions and positions.
This plurality has not been an obstacle to uniting to defend the cultural and political diversity to which the peoples of the world are entitled. We know from experience that what we have in common can prevail over small differences: the love of life. To paraphrase Saint Augustine, in the face of war, we ask no one how he thinks, but how he loves.
That is why we cannot and do not want to be indifferent to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine or forget that there are currently many other wars in the world that are ignored by international public opinion. The war in Yemen, the Israeli Palestinian conflict, the crisis in Myanmar, the situation in Syria, Colombia, among others, are painful events that require equal attention and actions from humanity as a whole to reach solutions. fair and peaceful. It is our duty, as poets, to be witnesses and champions of human values, but also to mobilize poetry and citizens for the construction of real solutions.
Combining words with action is the only way we know to achieve the utopia of a world for peace, for justice and for life, everywhere and for everyone.