On 23 October 2002, Chechen separatists took the audience of the Dubrovka Theatre in Moscow hostage. Russian security forces rushed there to punish the separatists. A total of 170 people were killed by gas, including 130 hostages. The world was stunned by the Russian brutality.
Now it is Western Europeans and North Americans who are brutal. There must be no talk of peace in Ukraine; no, Russia must be punished. Even if it requires hundreds of thousands of unintended casualties (mostly Ukrainans).
Last month, world peace movements held a conference in Vienna to support the peace efforts of China, India, Indonesia, South Africa, Mexico and Brazil. It was not easy. The Viennese media railed against a conference that did not call for Russia to be defeated by force but only for a ceasefire and peace talks. The Austrian Trade Union Central, which had rented the premises, closed its doors two days before the conference was due to be held because of pressure. Anyone who is not with us is against us.
The same thing is happening in Sweden. Peace organisations that until now have never had any problems renting premises at Folkets hus and ABF are now forbidden to do so. Newspapers that have so far been happy to publish peace movement articles are now categorically refusing to do so. By calling for peace and de-escalation, they are seen as doing the bidding of the ’enemy’, i.e. Russia.
In fact, the position of the peace movement today is almost identical to that of the peace movement of the 1950s. Despite the Soviet Union’s occupation of Hungary in 1956, the peace movement demanded that the Cold War parties talk to each other and de-escalate. Eventually they did, the peace movement won, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. And, parenthetically, it became impossible to maintain the harsh repression within the Soviet empire as external pressures diminished.
Even then, there were fanatics who felt that the peace movement was doing Russian business. But that was a minority view, even in the United States. In the end, it turned out that the peace movement actively contributed to the dismantling of the Communist Party regimes.
One might ask why so much of the public is so hateful today. It seems almost neurotic.
It can’t possibly be Russia’s violations of international law that are causing the anger. The USA and Saudi Arabia have both committed the same kind of international law offences, and Denmark, for example, has helped the USA with the matter. Without the same incitement being staged. Yes, as everyone knows, Sweden also helped on a corner in Afghanistan, albeit mostly to do gun-running for the criminals.
In an interview with TV4 on 14 June, Hans Blix believes that those in power are afraid, according to Blix completely unjustified as far as Russia is concerned. Perhaps it is other things that are frightening. For example
– that the North Atlantic world has had poor economic development for decades,
– that the North Atlantic world therefore risks falling behind a successful Asia,
– that the rulers will therefore be seen as a bunch of incompetent fools who cannot better serve the interests of the people; and
– that an opposition will therefore go over their heads.
Raging against an external enemy, and accusing domestic opposition of doing its bidding, is a classic technique of domination to cover up one’s own shortcomings.
But the big mystery is why the independent media go along with this.
Activists for Peace 