Peaceful Solutions

By Neda Jafar

It's beginning to seem as if the age-old method of fighting fire with fire only leaves us with bigger blazes. Fighting a war against terrorists who are holed up in remote places is a challenging proposition even for the best military powers. While some would argue that the world is a safer place as a result of the war in Iraq, others like Metta Spencer disagree. ¦ spencer, who coordinated the Peace and Conflict program for 13 years at the University of Toronto believes that desperation seems to be the likely consequence of war. "Look at Iraq," she said. "We have the most powerful army that was ever created on the face of the earth and what's it doing? How effective is it? What's happening in Afghanistan? How much good is happening there. Let's try something different."

Despite the bloody history of the Middle East, Spencer contends that dialogue is necessary before the situation spins out of control. "I guess the question is what happened before you got to war?" she said. "It isn't so much a matter of negotiating - negotiating sounds like a trade off kind of thing and I certainly don't condone anything that [the terrorists] are doing - but it does amount to a dialogue that is necessary."

Spencer realizes that her stance may not be popular. "[However], if you look at the history of nonviolence over many, many centuries and the way it's really been increased in the last century with Gandhi, Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement, and nonviolent resistance in Serbia and Georgia (Russia), peaceful resolution has proven itself to be a viable alternative to war."

Why do we resort to violence? Spencer believes it's a direct result of our culture. The source is our instinct to place blame. "Blame is only the first step that leads to a situation of increasing violence," she said. "If you undercut that first phase and get people in the habit of looking for solutions then we have a chance of heading the thing off before it erupts into a full fledged war."

Sound na•ve? Spencer doesn't think so. As an active participant in the peace movement in Canada for more than twenty years, Spencer is quick to remark that while terrorists create conflict, fear and violence, "they are nonetheless not born ten feet tall with arms of steel," she said. "They are born human beings and they have emotions and backgrounds and friends they care about."

So if we don't fight our battles militarily, how do we solve the issues we face and where do we begin? First on Spencer's agenda is the resolution of the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. "That's the big thorn in the flesh that just seems unsolvable," Spencer said. "Muslims around the world have felt the issue of the Palestinian and Israeli situation for generations now. Unless that's resolved, they feel persecuted. They feel that there's an unfair imperialism that has been imposed on them. If the US simply said they wouldn't give any more money to Israel until this thing is resolved, there would be a resolution instantly, in five minutes practically."

Next, Spencer would reduce the gargantuan sums of money spent on weaponry. If we spent a mere fraction of that amount on building infrastructure, developing agricultural methods and building schools in countries that need our help we would build relations and help people to help themselves live a better life. "All the efforts and investments to prevent war are far cheaper in the long term than allowing the war to happen," Spencer said. In seconds, Spencer argues, the US would regain its reputation around the world and anti-American sentiment would instantly plummet.

Lastly, Spencer says our culture has to change. She believes it's insidious that video games, movies, even our news shows desensitize us to violence. Spencer contends that while entertainment products can have a strong impact on public opinion the media should consider producing shows about peacekeepers and peacemakers or environmental activists who have to handle development questions. "Showing what you would do in a place where there is a catastrophe looming or where there has been a war or there's environmental destruction could be very constructive," she said.