Embargo: 00.01 am, Tuesday, October 9th, 2001
Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Noam Chomsky, US feminist thinker Professor Donna Haraway and veteran British peace activist Peter Cadogan are among 200 academics and activists from 28 countries to sign a public statement for peace and justice and calling for action against war.
The statement, which has been signed by researchers and teachers studying human conflicts and activists committed to social change around the world, rejects both terror and war as effective means of pursuing justice or social progress, criticises threatened curbs on human rights and the rise of anti-Muslim racism:
"We do not agree that two wrongs make a right: the atrocities in New York and Washington no more justify devastation in one of the poorest countries on earth than American foreign policy justifies the deaths of thousands of civilians in Manhattan. Similarly, freedom is not defended by the restriction of civil liberties, any more than intolerance is challenged by racism."
The statement notes that opposition to the war is widespread, and calls for more discussion among ordinary people as well as practical support for those at risk from racist violence. It asks other academics and activists to take an active role in working for peace, human rights and tolerance, and notes that public action will be necessary to stop the dynamics of war. The full statement can be read and signed online at http://www.iol.ie/~mazzoldi/toolsforchange/peace.html.
Read the full text in English
To sign the call for peace, go to this page
The full list of signatories is available here
To look at a summary of who has signed
Back to main "Call for peace" page