If the President of the United States were somebody else then Libya may have been already invaded and probably Hosni Mubarak would continue in office. Or maybe not…
But the fact is that, although Barack Obama has disappointed those who had the hope of proportional disarmament by the world powers, especially nuclear disarmament; those who saw in him the possibility of immediate withdrawal of invading troops; those who dreamed of a black spokesperson for the discriminated who could generate policies of inclusion; to all those who expected a major change in US domestic and foreign policy; despite the failure of those ideals, at the end of the day this is a politician who has been awarded a prize that highlights his actions to promote peace.
Deserved or not, that award places him in a position to hear the words spoken by Silo at the Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in November 2009 in the city of Berlin,: *”We know that the current situation is critical in all latitudes and is characterized by poverty in vast regions, by the clash between cultures and the violence and discrimination that contaminate the daily lives of large sections of the population. Today there are armed conflicts in many places and simultaneously a profound crisis of the international financial system. To all this we must add the growing nuclear threat which is ultimately the greatest urgency of our times. This is a situation of great complexity. The interests of irresponsible nuclear powers and the madness of violent groups with possible access to modest amounts of nuclear material compound the risk of accidents that could unleash a devastating conflict.”*
*”The urgency is to create awareness for peace and disarmament. But we also need to raise awareness of Active Nonviolence that rejects not only physical violence but also all forms of economic, racial, psychological, religious and gender violence. Of course, we aspire that this new sensibility can be established to inspire the social structures, paving the way for the future Universal Human Nation,”* exhorted Silo to the Nobel Peace Laureates listening to him in Germany.
And along with that Silo committed himself to *”revisit the “Charter for a World Without Violence” proposed by the Nobel Peace Laureates and Nobel Peace Organizations, in order to promote its proposals along the March for Peace and Nonviolence. We are very honoured to share its principles in concrete actions of social activity which surely will lead us into this new world we have mentioned.”*
Together with the text of Silo’s speech, Obama has been sent a copy of the book documenting the epic World March for Peace and Nonviolence, published recently thanks to the work of a large team coordinated by Rafael de la Rubia.
Finally, a few words were added wishing him to be inspired to pursue efforts in favour of a new and better world in these days of social, political and environmental conflicts that leave no one indifferent.
The ceremony to hand over this gift was attended by Karina Blueh from the Laura Rodriguez Foundation (one of the organizations that gave impulse to the World March for Peace and Non-Violence), Mickey Hirsch who travelled the whole world as a member of the March’s Base Team and Pía Figueroa for Pressenza.
