The Archbishop of Canterbury:...The factors that motivate violence
are always immensely complex, and our solutions must reflect that.
That is why reconciliation, with its arsenal of tools, is so
effective. It is a unique approach to each situation. It does not
simplify, generalise or, indeed, idealise. Rather it empowers a
community to find ways of living harmoniously, offering tools for
disagreeing well—for peaceful disagreement. The formation of a
joint reconciliation unit would be...Request free trial
The :...The
factors that motivate violence are always immensely complex, and
our solutions must reflect that. That is why reconciliation, with
its arsenal of tools, is so effective. It is a unique approach to
each situation. It does not simplify, generalise or, indeed,
idealise. Rather it empowers a community to find ways of living
harmoniously, offering tools for disagreeing well—for peaceful
disagreement. The formation of a joint reconciliation unit would be
fundamental in making reconciliation an integral part of our
international policy. It would save money, time and, ultimately,
lives. The Book of Genesis takes us on a journey from violence to
reconciliation through the stories of brothers. These are great
iconic stories, from the fratricide of Cain and Abel to Joseph and
his brothers, on the back of whose reconciliation the 12 tribes
become no less than the nation of Israel. We must adopt foreign, defence and
international development policies that enable societies to
reconcile and flourish together to bring about the prosperous,
diverse and joyful world that is within our grasp...
(CB):...What can be done? Most importantly, we must avoid
lumping any advocate of religions other than our own together into
a single category, as if to be judged by the crimes committed by
the small minority in their ranks. We must realise that there are
many hundreds of millions of devout Muslims who bitterly condemn
the crimes committed in the name of their religion by IS, al-Qaeda
and Boko Haram. The manifestations of islamophobia in this country—and,
alas, occasionally even in this House—will only serve to strengthen
the fringe movements to which I referred...
(Lab):...Perhaps also the Arab-Israeli conflict may fall into this
category. Much valuable work has been done at a micro level and I
applaud the work of the noble Lord, Lord Stone, and bodies such as
Tracks of Peace. The best efforts of President
Clinton—and what US President has spent so much effort on a
particular foreign problem as he—and the shuttle diplomacy of
Secretary of State Kerry failed even though there is, among most
people of good will, a broad consensus over the outlines of a
solution. Bottom up, yes, and top down. Solomon would no doubt have
found a solution but, even if the effort is worth while, alas, our
diplomats cannot find one...
(Con):...I will very
quickly remind your Lordships of the role of Norway in negotiations
in a great many crises of this sort. It has extraordinary tenacity.
It has been involved in Sri Lanka for 20 years, maintaining what
peace there is. It is not for me to describe Norway’s methods,
except, as your Lordships have already been told, that it is not in
any way aligned to force because it does not act as a superpower.
If your Lordships want a good example and have a computer you
should listen to a speech by its then Foreign Minister, Børge
Brende, at Brookings Institution in Washington in June 2014. It
lasts an hour, so you need to have time on your
hands, but there is no printed version, otherwise my task would
have been easier because I would be reading large chunks of it.
Instead, I suggest that those who have the time and inclination go
and watch the play “Oslo”, which ran in London. It shows the
about-to-retire ambassador from Norway to this country playing a
key role at the Israeli-Palestinian conference held in
Oslo some time ago...
(CB):...My
final point is closer to home. It is of course possible to conduct
a foreign policy purely on the grounds of perceived self-interest
without any moral imperative behind it—at the moment, look at
Russia in Syria or China’s detention of Canadian citizens—but if,
as I think we should, we seek to incorporate moral values into our
foreign and security policy, we need to follow, and be seen to
follow, those values at home. That is especially challenging just
now, but we need to remember that our authority and our influence
abroad would be weakened by, for example, reports of anti-Semitism,
Islamophobia and lack of tolerance and generosity. The role of the
faith communities will be crucial in showing that we are at least
striving for real tolerance in our own society, which is why I
welcome this debate...
(Con):...I met
Bashar al-Assad on three occasions before the Syrian war started.
It was not the nicest place in the world—no one is pretending it
was—but the Christian and Jewish communities had a certain amount
of stability there. I always believed that there was some prospect
of nudging him forward—more so than in some other Arab states,
incidentally. The heavy-handed way we dealt with it has
destabilised the region and the border with Israel. It has brought an enormous influx
of refugees into Turkey—another country we are prone to
misunderstand when it suits us—and it will be with us for many
years to come...
(Lab):...I
have also been part of the Tracks of Peace campaign in the Middle
East, which my noble friend Lord Anderson mentioned, where
Palestinians and Israeli people are coming together to
build viable economic communities. That is people coming together;
it is organisation at the bottom...
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