Nobel Watch seeks Peace as “Brotherhood of Nations,” “Disarmament,” “Champions
of Peace”
|
T
|
he Lay Down your Arms Association was incorporated and registered in
Gothenburg, Sweden, in 2014; its main inaugural project: Nobel Peace Prize
Watch. Following are excerpts with minor edit from The Nobel Peace Prize Watch http://nobelwill.org/.
Lay Down Your Arms Association’s founding Principles
Peace is a common wish for all humanity.
It must become our common demand.
Peace is a binding legal obligation for all nations.
It must become their common practice.
If we prepare for war, we get war.
To achieve peace, we must prepare for peace.
|
Y
|
et all nations continue to spend astronomic sums and incur extreme risks
on a flawed concept of peace by military means. What the world most urgently
needs is a common, cooperative security system to replace weapons and endless
preparations for violence and war.
For centuries peace activists have claimed that peace through
disarmament is necessary and, indeed, the only road to real security. Alfred
Nobel decided to promote and support this idea when, in his will of 1895, he
included
‘the prize for the champions of peace’ and entrusted the Norwegian Parliament with a key role in the promotion and realization of his purpose.
The Norwegians proudly undertook the assignment, further described in the will by language on ‘creating the brotherhood of nations,’ ‘disarmament,’ and ‘peace congresses.’” (Italics added)
|
N
|
obel´s plan for preventing future wars thus was that nations must
cooperate on disarmament and commit to solving all differences through
negotiation or compulsory adjudication, a culture of peace that would free the
world from its current addiction to violence and war.
Imperative Urgency
With today´s military technologies it is a matter of imperative urgency
for the world to seriously consider committing to the idea of Alfred Nobel and
Bertha von Suttner.
|
S
|
uttner was the leading champion of peace at the time and it was her
entreaties that led Nobel to establish the prize in support of the peace ideas
that need a fresh restart.
Nobel Peace Prize Watch’s Role
NPPW holds to the principle that “All peace movement efforts for
reduction or abolition of armaments depend on arguments in a democratic
mobilization of public opinion.”
NPPW makes the argues not only “that humanity must, for the sake of the
survival of life on the planet, find a way to eliminate weapons, warriors and
wars” but that “the prize (today) is in the hands of its political opponents” to
the “legal entitlement” stipulations in Alfred Nobel’s will; and
NPPW wishes “to use legal means to get back the money that once was given to the cause of peace by way of demilitarization of international relations.
Nobel Peace Prize Watch’s Plans
NPPW seeks “to induce political decision-makers to address the
imperative urgency of a new international system by ….
Disseminating information (e.g., articles, books, lectures, public debates; proposals and requests in appropriate fora including submitting issues to adjudication in administrative agencies or courts of law) and
Seeking to increase public awareness of how all the nations of the world continue to be locked in power games and a never ending race for superiority in military forces and technology— an approach that consumes astronomic sums of money, wastes resources that could serve human needs,” and gives the “illusion” of “security.”
Modern weapons represent an imminent threat to the survival of life on
the planet. We live in a constant emergency.
|
“T
|
he answer must lie in a deep change of attitudes and an international
system where international law and institutions lay the ground for trust and cooperation
in a demilitarized world.
News and Current Affairs link
|
T
|
his week’s edition of “Doubling Down” at PressTV raises a question I
have long considered—the meaningfulness, meaninglessness or credibility of Nobel Peace Prize awards.
In-Studio panelists were Ben Ryan, head of research at ‘Theos’ Think Tank; Lynda
Smith, broadcast journalism lecturer at Bournemouth University; Richard
Phillips, author and blogger; and, via video, panelist Fredrik Heffermehl, co-founder of Nobel Peace Prize Watch. With presenter Henry Bonsu, the panelists attempt to
answer the question “Has the Nobel Peace Prize been discredited?”
Sources
News peg feature
PressTV “Doubling Down” September 20, 2018 edition “Has the Nobel
Peace Prize been discredited?” Lead narrative: “Since 1901, 585 Nobel prizes
have been presented to 923 outstanding achievers drawn from the arts, sciences
and politics. But of all the Nobel categories it is the Peace Prize that is most
celebrated. While some (Nobel Peace Prize) laureates such as Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev and Muhammad
Yunus have received almost unanimous approval; others such as Henry Kissinger,
Barack Obama and Malala Yousafzai have attracted derision for being totally
inappropriate or ludicrously early.” Given her current leadership in Myanmar
and the country’s treatment of Rohingya, the Aun San Su Kyi Nobel Peace Prize
is being questioned: “the 1991 award to Aun San Suu Kyi threatens to tarnish
its legacy.”
Presenter/Host: Freelance journalist and Broadcaster, Henry Bonsu
In studio Panelists: Ben Ryan head of research ‘Theos’ Think Tank; Lynda
Smith, Broadcast journalism lecturer Bournemouth University; Richard Phillips,
author and blogger
Video conferencing panelist: Fredrik Heffermehl cofounder Nobel Peace
Prize Watch
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/09/20/574646/Has-the-Nobel-Peace-Prize-been-discredited
Nobel Peace Prize Watch Board
The Association was incorporated and registered in Gothenburg, Sweden, 2014;
with founding members and board in the initial phase: Tomas Magnusson (Sweden)
and Fredrik S. Heffermehl (Norway). http://nobelwill.org/
Fredrik S. Heffermehl, Oslo, Norway, lawyer and author
Former member of the IPB, International Peace Bureau, Steering
Committee, 1985 to 2000
Vice president of IALANA, International Association of Lawyers Against
Nuclear Arms. Former president of the Norwegian Peace Council 1985 to 2000
Published Peace is Possible (English IPB, 2000 – with 16 translations).
In 2008 published first known legal analysis of the content of the
Nobel peace prize.
In a new book two years later, The Nobel Peace Prize.
What Nobel Really Wanted included a study of Norwegian politics and the
repression of his views (Praeger, 2010. Exists in 4 translations, Chinese,
Finnish, Spanish, Swedish) website: http://www.nobelwill.org
Tomas Magnusson, Gothenburg, Sweden
After 20 years on the IPB, International Peace Bureau, Steering
committee, was President from 2006 to 2013.
Earlier President of SPAS, the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society
Journalist by education, he has spent most of his life by working
voluntarily and professionally with peace, development and migration issues.
International Advisory Board
Richard Falk, Professor (emeritus) of International law and
organization, Princeton University, USA
Bruce Kent, President MAW, Movement for Abolition of War, ex President
IPB, UK
Dennis Kucinich, U.S. politician, former Member of the U.S. Congress
Mairead Maguire, Nobel laureate (1976), Northern Ireland,
Norman Solomon, Journalist, anti-war activist, USA
David Swanson, Director, World Beyond War, USA
Scandinavian Advisory Board
Erik Dammann, founder “Future in our hands,” Oslo, Norway
Thomas Hylland Eriksen, professor, University of Oslo, Norway
Erni Friholt, Peace movement of Orust, Sweden
Ola Friholt, Peace movement of Orust, Sweden
Lars-Gunnar Liljestrand, Chair of the Association of FiB lawyers, Sweden
Torild Skard, Ex President of Parliament, Second chamber (Lagtinget), Norway
Sören Sommelius, author and culture journalist, Sweden
Maj-Britt Theorin, ex President, International Peace Bureau, Sweden
Gunnar Westberg, Professor, ex Co-President IPPNW (Nobel peace prize
1985), Sweden
Jan Öberg, TFF, Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research,
Sweden
http://nobelwill.org/
http://nobelwill.org/index.html?tab=1
Insight Beyond Today’s News, CLB - © All Rights
Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment