Europe

Yesterday a delegation of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence reached Torino to be extremely warmly welcomed by 1600 people gathered in the Regio Theatre where an internationally renowned classical concert was held. Earlier in Novara the marchers endorsed a declaration denouncing the intention of the Italian government to buy 131 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.

The World March for Peace and Nonviolence made a stop in Geneva on Monday. Geneva Mayor, Rémy Pagani, expressed his support for the march and denounced the current global figure of 1.5 trillion dollars in military spending, as well as Switzerland’s own hypocrisy. Dani Horowitz proclaimed “We cannot justify creating employment at the expense of other people’s lives.”

Silo, the founder of Universalist Humanism and the inspiration behind the World March for Peace and Nonviolence, addressed the 10th Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates. His talk, “The Meaning of Peace and Nonviolence in the Present Moment,” spoke to the possibility of constructing a Universal Human Nation founded upon a culture of active nonviolence.

The following is the complete text of Silo’s speech made at the Tenth World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates that took place November 11, 2009 in Berlin, Germany. After an introduction by Irish pacifist and Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Silo spoke as the founder of Universalist Humanism and the inspiration behind the World March for Peace and Nonviolence.

Numerous volunteer organizers promoting the World March for Peace and Nonviolence arrived in Berlin from throughout Europe and the world to attend the Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates. These World March promoters will participate in an international meeting, November 10 from 5 to 11 pm in beautiful Café-Restaurant *Kalkscheune*, at Johannisstraße 2, the city center of Berlin.

After having crossed more than 20 countries, the World March stopped over in Paris. On foot, by bus, by boat, to the cinema and finally to the Ministry of Defence, the international and Parisian Marchers, accompanied by the French spokesman Alain Ducq, made the 5 aims of this world campaign known, as well as their applicability to France.

Coinciding with the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the German capital hosts the 10th World Summit of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates. Under the theme “Breaking Down New Walls for a World Without Violence,” speakers during the plenary session address the need to eliminate the ‘walls’ that still exist in today’s world.

This morning in Milan, sunny skies and over 3000 children and students from Lombardy welcomed the World March for Peace and Nonviolence with a celebratory parade, carrying thousands of blue balloons. Waiting for them on the stage in Piazza Duomo were Ivan Ramiro Cordoba, the celebrity footballer and supporter of the March, and Alessandro Cattelan of Radio 105.

The city of Berlin commemorates the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Wall as guests, political leaders from throughout the European Union as well as the four allied powers that guarded the former divided city have already begun to arrive. The Nobel Peace Prize Laureates are also meeting at their 10th Summit which will take place at Berlin’s City Hall.

After having crossed Oceania, Asia, the Middle East, northern Europe and the Balkans, the World March for Peace and Nonviolence arrived in Italy today, where it will remain until November 12. Trieste, the first Italian stop, welcomed the March with official greetings from the Mayor and the Provincial President, and a huge symbol of peace in the evocative Piazza dell’Unità.