Martin Bell and war veteran address MAW on UN Day of Peace

Bruce Kent - image ICN

Peace campaigner Bruce Kent was the inspiration for a lively discussion: 'On Peace', marking the United Nations International Day of Peace last Wednesday, September 21st, held in Conway Hall, London, when former MP and BBC war correspondent, Martin Bell, joined ex SAS veteran Ben Griffin to explore Paths to Peace.

Tribute was paid to Bruce Kent for founding The Movement for the Abolition of War (MAW), which hosted this event. The Movement is part of an ongoing world-wide uprising, challenging the inevitability of war, guided by the Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations signed in 1945; a vision of a world in which conflicts are resolved without resort to violence, to "save succeeding generations from the scourge of war" which continues to bring untold suffering to humankind as well as deepening the climate crisis. Martin Bell and Ben Griffin elaborated on the indescribable suffering caused by war, in the carnage, waste of lives and damage in mind, body and spirit left in its wake.

Ben Griffin described his experiences in the SAS, including in Northern Ireland, culminating in Iraq, where he said smashing his way into houses in Basra in pitch dark in the middle of the night, dragging out men, whether they be fathers or brothers, separating them from their families and handing them over to the Americans to be tortured was so evil that in 2005 he resigned from the army in protest. He was not alone, and now campaigns and now campaigns with other veterans for peace.

Martin Bell, MAW vice-president, said how honoured he was to be at the funeral of such an ardent peace campaigner as Bruce Kent, emphasising Bruce's firm support of the United Nations.

"In terms of encouraging peace, the United Nations is the only game in town," said Martin, who described how the BBC sanitised war reports.

"When television changed from black and white, there were sudden limits on the amount of blood which could be shown, just one or two drops in any report," he said, which glossed over the intense suffering of so many innocent people in mediaeval barbarity in the wars he had covered, from Vietnam, which he called a brutal repression of a people who wanted to be free, to Angola, Zambia and Bosnia Slovenia, where 40 per cent of the country is contaminated by land mines, and unusable, and 98,000 people were killed.

Ben Griffin spoke of the incongruity of workers in one country making weapons to kill the workers in another country, and the MC of the event, satirical artist and artist, Darren Cullen, whose Anti-Army recruitment comic "Join the Army" was added to the Victoria and Albert permanent collection in 2014, observed: "As long as we have our economies dependent on arms manufacture, wars will continue and peace will be impossible." He challenged the meeting to define "What is Peace?" "Does it exist or does it evade definition?" The turmoil of war is a distraction from peace work, and we need a change of heart to stop clinging to identity, whether it be to nation, tribe, family, religion or culture, which people fight for. "This is necessary as a step towards peace," he said.

"Our need to control is a denial of peace, whether that be in our personal lives, our politics or the army, and we need to look at our own actions and motivations which make us want to control others, even within the peace movement," he warned.

He described the propaganda of war as the repackaging of violence "as an exciting adventure for heroes".

Martin Bell added that the propaganda machine of the world aims to make you forget the horror and suffering of war, and gloss over the wastefulness and uselessness. "We are all threatened by war - even the bankers," he warned.

"No one has ever told me they enjoyed war," he said, "but now, we must bash on regardless, to promote peace, and overcome the battlefield's dark arts. The peace movement has never been more important than at this moment," he said.

MAW Vice Chair, Hilary Evans added that a culture of militarism was deeply embedded in this country, shown in the glorification of the armed forces by the huge part they played in the Queen's funeral rituals, with the dazzling display of military presence demonstrating the link between the armed forces and our state and the subliminal propaganda on show.

The Movement for the Abolition of war aims to: Raise awareness of constructive alternatives to war for resolving national and international disputes, develop research-based materials and strategies to educate pupils, students, the general public and members of local and national government work with other people and organisations who are already active in the creation of alternatives to war, and spread the belief that the abolition of war is both desirable and possible.

War and climate emergency. A day school for climate and peace campaigners Registration, Saturday 29 October 2022 at 10:30 | to attend see: Eventbrite

If you are between 18 and 34, with a project promoting peace, reconciliation and/or environmentalism, do apply for a grant from the Becky Garnault fund, closing date October 31st. Information (and delightful photos of Becky who used to be Vice Chair of MAW) can be found at www.beckygarnaultfund.co.uk

Movement For the Abolition of War - https://abolishwar.net