Against war in Iraq
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Once again, I find myself in the streets of Paris demonstrating against war on Iraq. Unfortunately, the demonstrators are not very many but they are there, testifying that peace is in our frail hands. The demonstrators go down into the streets to be heard. On a banner, it is said : " We declare that war is outlawed ". |
It is a pleasure for me to find myself with young demonstrators who fight for peace just by their presence. They have not resigned themselves like so many who say: " What's the use? Anyway war against Iraq is already decided ". No. It is not fate. Peace is a combat. It is everybody's business.
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War is being globalized not peace. |
Social progress, respect of human rights, development, health, protection of the environnement, cultural diversity are put to the test of globalizing economic relations with no other rules than competition and market. From everywhere in the world, many youths are rising up to contest this unjust order. It can be said that they hold peace at arm's length!
- Questions from the youth
Before I gave a speech in a Belgium college, I had received the questions the youths had sent me. I was greatly interested by their expectations expressed simply. 
- Of course, a few questions were addressed to me, like: " How long are you going to continue what you are doing? " or about the Church : " Do we really need the Church ? ". Most of the questions were about their concerns: " What is life? ". " What does happiness consist of? ". " What is the most important to do to live a happy life? ". " Can you tell us something about friendship, love, the feeling of being in love? ".
Therefore, the two hundred youths listened carefully and were concerned above all with: being well with themselves and happy, living in a human manner, experiencing who they were and also love and being loved. Their desire is to live and love now.
It is this experience that will undoubtedly prepare them to open up to the human family and to solidarity with the less fortunate of our society.- During almost two hours, we lived in an atmosphere of joy and frienship, happy to be together, experiencing the relations between their questions and what the group was living.
Support to a cyberdissident
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Some Tunisians, militants of human rights, have asked me to preside over a committee for the support of Zouhair Yahyaoui. This I cannot refuse. The best-known Tunisian webmaster is a true rebel who prefers giving everything up rather than being an accomplice with a system he does not adhere to. His humour is quite popular. But it is a powerful weapon. President Ben Ali who is the victim of his humour, does not support being made mockery of. |
When arrested, his web site was closed, his material confiscated and Zouhair sentenced to two years imprisonment without remission. All that for having criticized the Ben Ali Regime in his forum " Tunezine " on the Internet.
Our friend is in prison where the conditions are very hard. For his anniversary, he received a flood of postal cards addressed to his name. It was one way of showing to the authorities that a large number of persons were supporting him.
| Like him, one thousand Tunisians or so are in prison, deprived of their liberty because of their opinions. Tunisia has become a large prison with invisible bars. |
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Expelled from Choisy-le-Roi
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In the dark and cold night, we were a few thousands, on the outskirts of Paris, at Choisy-le-Roi where Roms and Romanians were expelled from a shantytown. We were protesting against the disproportional brutality exerted by the police. |
The police separated and dispersed these poor people and destroyed the shantytown. Governmental and municipal authorities have violated the truce prohibiting expulsions during wintertime.
In turn, we spoke to show our support to the Rom families and to denounce the brutality against the poorest among the poor. It is not by destroying the shantytowns and dispersing those who were living there that misery would disappear.
| When we are not respecting the fundamental rights of the Roms, our society dishonors itself and becomes more fragile. Whose turn will it be tomorrrow? |
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