Seeing the President of Ukraine last Tuesday, April 5th, touched me deeply. Volodymyr Zelensky, go to the Spanish parliament. He denounced the war crimes committed by Russia in his country, thanked Spain for its help and asked for support to continue the fight against the occupation. He said that although we are in April 2022, we are in the same month of 1937 and we are planning the German aviation to bombard the city of Gernika. The horrors of war strike and destroy world peace. For more than forty days we have been witnessing bombings, demolitions, crimes, the migration of millions of refugees… The destruction of the city of Bucha has made us witnesses of the greatest atrocities.
The standing deputies applauded. The Spanish president thanked the people of Ukraine for their courage and struggle in defense of freedom, democracy and human rights, guaranteeing the continuity of aid and even supporting Ukraine’s accession to Ukraine. European Union.
Zelenski, who was offered to leave the country, says he wants to stay to lead his army and people. And he needs weapons and tools to stop the invasion. He is shown to be brave in the face of the power of an army that is close to his people, loyal to his rights and superior.
In addition to the war in which weapons are used, there is another war, which is the war of disinformation. Whoever made the decision to invade unilaterally is filling the media and networks with lies. Fake news is multiplying without the slightest humility. Wrong photos, wrong descriptions, wrong numbers… War perverts everything.
For over a month we have been listening to the sound of bombs and seeing images of destruction in Ukraine. More than four million refugees, thousands of dead and wounded, destruction of public and private property, countless psychological damage to those who lived through the war and all who followed it. War only produces victims. Even the victors eventually become victims of war. Because they have to endure the pain caused and the destruction created.
How to stop this disaster? How can I prevent it from happening again? I know my position may seem naive, but I believe the long-term solution is education for peace. In the face of this terrible massacre, in the face of this nasty occupation that disregards international law, in the face of this horror that we watch helplessly and in amazement, we must intensify our education strategies for peace. Peace is built every day through education. In the short term, laws that guarantee world peace should be enacted, those who defend themselves should be helped, sanctions should be applied, genocide should be prosecuted, and Russia should be expelled from these institutions, just like Russia is. defending human rights.
Bob Marley says, Jamaican anti-war singer: “If we all shake hands, who will draw their guns?” His commitment to peace is like, “People trying to make this world worse don’t take a day off, how can I?” she said. I’m going there too. Asking how we can move towards a more livable, more supportive, more compassionate, more peaceful world. To say that we cannot enjoy a day’s rest as countless victims die, suffer and go into exile in Ukraine.
Peace is not just the absence of conflict. Nowhere is there more peace than a cemetery. No one bothers anyone there, no one hurts anyone. This is not the peace we want. Nor is peace sustained by injustice, inequality, misery and oppression. We must seek a peace based on justice and solidarity.
Education for peace helps prevent the danger of war, puts an end to the looting of poor areas of the planet, teaches non-violent and non-violent; resorting to violence, involving students in the transformation of society towards justice and harmony
in 1960 Johan GaltungHe introduced the concept of structural violence and positive peace by stating that although there are injustices and dissatisfaction of basic human needs by people, there is no peace. Positive peace is not only the absence of structural violence, but also the presence of nonviolent and egalitarian cooperation. Galtung said, “The positive duty of the worker for peace is the construction of justice and development so that all people can meet their basic needs.” And also: “A cognitive appreciation of the values of peace is not enough, an emotional commitment to these values is also necessary”.
It is necessary to train people who can transform the world in schools and make it a place where we can all fit in. Paulo Freire said: School doesn’t change the world, it educates people who will change the world. A positive peaceful future is the product of hope in the search and construction of a new order, a new man and a new woman. […]in search of liberation”, said Paulo Freire in 2005.
We can all be architects of peace. We must all commit ourselves to the struggle for a world where peace reigns in nations, institutions and families.
I disagree with the old Latin adage: si vis pacem, para bellum (if you want peace, prepare for war). No. If you want peace, build peace. The so-called Ministry of Defense does not have a very precise name. If all war ministries were called Defense, from whom would they defend themselves? Even in order, it should be called the Ministry of Attack.
In Webel’s words, peace, like all human ideals and needs, is desirable and desirable, it is always potentially within us, but it seems difficult to discern and impossible to achieve. The pursuit of peace may seem quixotic, but that’s part of its appeal.
Feminist peace (macro and micro level) is an important part of peace education. During the 1970s and 1980s, feminist peace researchers expanded both negative peace and positive peace to include the study of micro-social violence.
Education for peace is soothing the development of skills and the acquisition of tools that enable people and peoples to live together peacefully or equally free from violence. This process implies the assimilation of values such as social justice, equality, cooperation, solidarity, respect and autonomy. School is the living space and workshop of peace.
Therefore, an effective way to become citizens committed to social change and peacebuilding is to Promote and develop an education system that institutionalizes Education for Peace in the life of schools. In my autonomous community for years there has been an interesting program called “School, space for peace”. This network of Andalusian centers operates in an open, sequential, collegiate and effective way in education for peace.
Was Vladimir Putin a child raised for peace? Obviously not. A person instilled in the values that build a just peace will never declare war. And I could not bear the sight of so much horror that had been caused. It is one thing to see the victims of an earthquake, a tsunami, or a pandemic (which is very bad anyway!), but another to see the deaths caused by the will of a person who has the right to decide the lives of others. The war must be stopped. We must train for peace.