At the Yongstorget - an open air plaza in Oslo

February 15, 2003 at 2 PM

Bishop Gunnar Stålsett

Dear friends of Peace!

It is good to see you

We are standing at a turning point.

The world is standing at the edge of war.

We are showing our will for peace.

Therefore we are mobilizing the in strongest way we can: The human strength of fellowship, the peace of the soul and the strength of conviction.

Therefore, the churches around the world are mobilizing to pray for peace. Therefore Christians and Muslims are standing together.

Around the world people of good will are forming a chain for peace. We are a wagon of a train – a train for peace and righteousness. We are together with more than five hundred other peace trains around the world. We are many millions in the train for peace.

A peace train can not follow the steps of the United States. The peace train follows the steps of the United Nations, the steps of the United Nations where human rights are taken into account and where the United Nations’ founding resolutions on peaceful solutions to conflict are esteemed highly.

This is about Iraq:

We have no illusions about Saddam Hussein’s regime of terror. It must be disarmed of weapons of mass destruction; it must be pressured to respect the worth and rights of the people.

One cannot remove the threat of Saddam Hussein by giving him a reason to use the weapons he has.

We do not remove the threat of Saddam Hussein by targeting tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians.

We cannot create peace through a far reaching war with untold suffering.

It is about more than Iraq:

We are here to say to those who believe peace can be created in the Middle-East through an attack against Iraq:

You are wrong. There is still time to turn around.

Peace in the Middle East demands respect for human rights, also for the human rights of Palestinians and their legitimate demands. Peace in the Middle East demands that the terror from both sides ceases. Peace in the Middle East demands that peoples of the world create a ring around these partners. Only this way can real conversations about peace start again.

We are here to say to those who believe that the integrity of and one’s ability to believe the United Nations can only be shored up by an attack on Iraq:

You are mistaken! There is still time to turn around.

One’s ability to believe in the UN and the integrity of the UN can only be saved by our standing up to all attempts to make the UN and the Security Council into a tool for the super powers. War is not a tool of the UN. The UN does not go to war to punish. The UN does not go to pre-emptive war to prevent something more terrible from eventually happening in the future. The UN uses force only when the military aggression already is taking place and must be stopped to protect people from greater suffering.

The path of the UN involves steps for peace, not an aggressive war. The UN must not be forced into the footsteps of the US, on a collision course with other nations of the world.

We are here to say to those who believe that international terrorism can be erased by using terrorist methods themselves, by increasing use of force and weakening human rights, by taking the force out of democratic rights.

You are mistaken! There is still time to turn around.

International terrorism can only be stopped by lovingly developing tolerance, strengthening democracy and pushing forward human fellowship despite religious and cultural differences.

We are here to say to those who maintain that the possibility of a solution is over and war is inescapable:

You are mistaken. This is not a game. And it is not over.

There are alternatives to war. Another strategy is possible.

The road the UN has charted for arms inspections is an alternative to war. The proposals from Germany and France with support from Russia, show that it is possible to think differently from how the US and Britain do.

We are here to say to those who believe that peace and security in a new millennium can only be achieved through armament, attack and preventative warfare:

You are mistaken! Peace and security must be build on fairness and good will, with mutual respect. Not mutual fear.

It is not us, who are protesting war, who are bringing the world to an abyss.

That is done by those who have decided for war no matter what.

That is done by those leaders who passively are waiting for the Security Council to make up its mind.

That is done by nations who are not actively formulating alternatives to war.

We are at a turning point. We can make this into a turning point for peace. That is why we are here. It is possible. Your efforts at peace are decisive.

 

 

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