Why we need this meeting
Earlier this year, after extended preparations and preliminary discussions, the European Network for Peace and Human Rights was established. It had been formed during a noticeable upsurge of militarism in world affairs. The Network brings together non-governmental organisations concerned with peace and human rights from all across the European continent. The 300 participants at the founding conference included several voices from the West Asia region; notably, of course, from Palestine and Israel, but also from the Gulf area and Turkey.
One of the tasks which the new Network set itself was to open a dialogue with organisations that share similar concerns in the Middle East / West Asia region. In pursuance of this objective, an agreement was negotiated with the City of Cordoba, where the Mayor, Ms Rosa Aguilar, has agreed that the City will jointly sponsor a small conference to bring together representatives from appropriate peace and human rights movements. We are very happy to work in partnership with the authorities in Cordoba, which embodies a unique inheritance of civilisation and tolerance, dating from times which were more than usually troubled.
The need to open this dialogue is urgent. The whole West Asian region is now in danger of becoming involved in conflict, as parts of it become the target of direct military threats, either immediate or in the middle term, while others suffer more indirect menaces. We fear that these countries may be among the next victims of war.
This is all the more the case as the United States pursues what it calls "Full Spectrum Dominance" through new military doctrines and technologies. The past year has seen a war led by the United States in Afghanistan, and before that other conflicts in Somalia, the Sudan and Yemen. Now we have the looming threat of a "pre-emptive" attack against Iraq in pursuit of "regime change".
Today, the United States threatens war not only on Iraq, but also on Iran; two parts of the "axis of evil" in the region. These two states, together with Libya and Syria, figure centrally in the priorities of the recent US examination of its nuclear arsenal and targeting policy, the so-called "Nuclear Posture Review". This has rescinded the most important taboo which has hitherto ensured that nuclear weapons have universally been seen as weapons of last resort. US threats to use nuclear weapons in the West Asia region exacerbate the acute tensions already caused there by Israel's large arsenal of nuclear weapons.
Of course, there are already many serious conflicts present in Western Asia and North Africa, not only in the Israeli offensive against Palestine, but in Cyprus, in Turkey, in North Africa and Western Sahara. Large-scale war will exacerbate these conflicts even more.
Human rights do not prosper in such circumstances. "War on terrorism" has been distorted and exploited to discourage dissent and to curtail civil liberties in Europe, West Asia, and elsewhere in the world. Humanitarian international law is increasingly often applied selectively, when it is not simply set aside. Increasing world-wide inequalities provoke discontent, sometimes culminating in violence.
In these difficult circumstances, we think it vital that peace and human rights movements in Europe and West Asia should meet together. We need to give urgent consideration to what we can do to reverse the deadly descent into war. There are many pressing questions which confront us. Amongst the most immediate issues are:
Outline Agenda