Posts Tagged ‘peace’
Palestine, Winter General and Essequibo
04
Dec
The truce unfortunately ended because Hamas
committed an attack on the last day of the truce, killing a rabbi and two women, according to the Israeli press, and the Al-Qassan militia, the armed wing of Hamas, claimed responsibility for the attack.
According to the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) 200 Hamas targets have already been hit, one of them a sumptuous building that housed the Hamas Supreme Court, the scale of the war returns.
Winter General is the name given to the Russian winter during the wars because both in the Napoleonic invasion (1812) when the army of a set of alliances (it is important to remember that some European nations supported it) lost the war due to the winter, also in the second war Worldwide, the winter was decisive for Germany to lose the war.
What to think now about the winter in Ukraine, where Russia has made advances on several fronts, however it has problems in Crimea where there is a large part of Russian ammunition, the winter there lasts until March and Ukraine shows signs of weakness and loses part of its support, now countries like Finland and Poland are already mobilizing in their own defense against a possible invasion.
Finally, a front may appear on the Brazilian border, the army has already sent troops to the region due to the possibility of an invasion of Brazilian territory, which would be strategic for an invasion of Venezuela against the fragile military strength of Guyana (formerly British Guiana).
A referendum held in Venezuela these days, it is good to remember that Maduro controls the entire State apparatus, gave a favorable opinion to 5 questions about a possible invasion of Guyana from Essequibo as the region that today belongs to Guyana is called, one of the questions challenges the International Court of Justice that prohibited Venezuela from any invasion.
Ultimately, a disastrous scenario of civilizational crisis is getting worse, but we believe in Peace.
Life and contemplation
28
Nov
No, it is not about the art of observing nature or the
universe, as the act of observing is also an “active life” as there will certainly not be any interpretation or detail that catches our attention.
It is about other meanings: listening without interpreting, looking with a purified gaze and understanding what is incomprehensible to human reason, so it is not a rational attitude, nor a madness or sensitive delirium, it is an exercise of “inactivity” writes Byung- Chul Han.
The author writes in Vita Contemplativa: ou sobre a inativa (Han, 2023, p. 11): “Inactivity constitutes the Humanum. What makes doing genuinely human is the amount of inactivity in it. Without a moment of hesitation or restraint, acting degenerates into blind action and reaction. Without rest, a new barbarism emerges.”
Therefore, contemplative inactivity is not to be confused with laziness, absence of action, but a rest for clairvoyant action and deep speech, says the author: “It is silence that gives depth to speech. Without silence there is no music, but only noise and noise. Play is the essence of beauty. Where only the scheme of stimulus and reaction, of lack and satisfaction, of problem and solution, of objective and action, prevails, life is reduced to survival, to naked animal life” (idem) and it is not by chance that it is confused with current modern life.
We are not machines always destined to function, the true life of conscious action begins when the concern for survival ceases and the need for raw life is born.
The confusion appeared because of the confusion between history and culture, not the history of ideas (in the sense of the Greek eidos), but that which ignores culture and deals only with the power and oppression of peoples, says the author: “action is, in fact, constitutive for history, but it is not the formative force of culture” (Han, 2023, p. 12) (paint: Contemplation of philosopher, Rembrandt, 1632).
And he adds in the same passage: “Not war, but celebration, not weapons, but jewelry, are the origin of culture. History and cultural do not coincide” (Han, idem).
“Jewelry” may seem strange, but the core of our culture is ornamental. It is situated beyond functionality and utility. With the ornamental that is emancipated from any purpose or utility, life insists on being more than survival” (idem).
The great religions have established the sacred in inactivity: Christian Sunday, the Jewish Sabbath, Islamic Ramadan, these are not just about inactivity, but a day of “contemplation”.
The “active” man searching for an “intense” and unbridled life of stimuli and responses falls into a void of meaning and into merely fighting for survival, little or nothing human resists, and if we want to return to the civilizing process, culture, the ornamental and the party must return to everyday life, time for Christmas and end-of-year celebrations, time to stop.
HAN, B.C. (2023). Vita Contemplativa: In Praise of Inactivity, transl. Daniel Steuer, USA, ed. Polity.
Intense war and freed hostages
27
Nov
Russia stated this Sunday (26/11) that it shot down
drones in the four regions at war, including some near Moscow and two missiles were also intercepted, while Ukraine claims to have eliminated more than a thousand soldiers and 30 Russian tanks in the war regions.
On Saturday there was a strong drone attack against Kiev, according to Moscow the biggest since 2022.
War negotiations continue, but the sanctions imposed by Moldova have created a new zone of conflict between Moscow and the West, Moldova fears being Russia’s next target.
The most serious thing about the Hamas and Israel conflict is the use of civilians as hostages (photo).
In the Gaza strip, the truce between Hamas and Israel continues, the exchange of hostages by Hamas soldiers continues, yesterday was the third day, in total | Hamas released 58 hostages while Israel released 117 Palestinians, in order these were the numbers of hostages released.
First day of truce 24 hostages, second day (Saturday) 17 hostages and third day (Sunday) 17 hostages, although the agreement is only for 4 days, and would end today, the expectation is that it can progress until Wednesday. fair.
Pope Francis, always optimistic, said in his last reference to war that humanity (of course those who make political decisions) chose war instead of peace.
Conflicts are already a major humanitarian tragedy and could become a serious humanitarian and civilizational crisis.
The final examination of conscience
24
Nov
We can be (illusory) building personal happiness (good life in philosophy)
without caring about the Other, society today lives the denial of the Other and pain, but this is the path to disputes, rivalries and in the last stage the wars.
The contemporary world lives with disbelief, a lack of individual and collective awareness, what matters is solving one’s own problem, there is no shortage of literature for this, either for easy success or for individual consolation with self-help books, there are no shortage of recipes considered “spiritual”, but in the exercise society, it is a despiritualized asceticism.
How we treat pain means how we see poverty, neglect of health (not even medical plans can solve it anymore), lack of basic sanitation, public abuses of immorality, not to mention prison systems, the destruction of drugs and the various social marginalizations.
The examination of conscience, as good literature says, is that awareness of something, not that of the comfort of gated communities, of social isolation in refuges, but that awareness of oneself and the Other, which is other than the social group and its illnesses, not forgetting the morals, which seem to have lost all references.
There is no shortage of literature and thought on these issues, but the final question is how do we reverse these issues, how do we avoid growing hatred, fanatical polarization and, at the end of it all, the tendency towards increasingly cruel wars involving diverse peoples?
The examination of conscience is what side we are on, not of public and even political irrationality, but on the side of those who suffer, those who have lost hope, those who, for a certain reason, whether justifiable or not, look at life as a burden. .
The final Examination of Conscience is the one, which is also biblical (Mt 25:34-35): “‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father! Receive as your inheritance the Kingdom that my Father prepared for you since the creation of the world! For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a foreigner and you welcomed me into your home; 36 I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me; I was in prison and you came to visit me’ “.
So it’s about doing this personal and social examination of conscience, which side are you on?
Dialogue perspective and Latin America
20
Nov
Some changes on the world stage give hope for
peace, the 5-day truce and exchange of hostages in Palestine, Germany returns to dialogue with Russia and there is already popular pressure for peace in Europe, in Latin America tension between Venezuela and Goiânia and election of the ultra liberal Javier Milei in Argentina, by a greater margin than the polls showed.
What few or no analysts will say, because polarization goes from the periphery of countries to the most independent journalism, is that there is no single solution for either pole and there are errors in analysis and principles at both poles, polarization itself is already a nonsense.
The dialogue between Germany and Russia is certainly what draws the most attention, the last dialogue that was held between the two countries was on December 2, 2022, and this resumption could be a glimmer of hope for a turnaround in the escalation of war in Ukraine and Russia.
On the other hand, the world’s greatest hope at the moment is a possible peace agreement that could release some of the 240 people taken hostage in a Hamas attack on Israeli territory that killed around 1,200 Israelis, with signs of cruelty and barbarity, Israel also reacted with brutality and force and a large part of the civilian population of Palestine suffered.
Israel’s ambassador to the USA, Michael Herzog, was the one who announced on ABC television that there were “serious efforts” for a 5-day truce in exchange for the release of hostages, and the Qatari government is also working on a possible agreement.
The election of Milei, a 52-year-old candidate, took place by a margin that no survey indicated, he received 55.95% of the votes in the dispute against the government leader and Minister of Finance of the current government Sergio Massa with 44.04% of the votes, indicating that the Argentine people, although Milei is little known, bet on a very radical change, Argentina is in a deep economic crisis.
Several governments recognized Milei’s victory, but the ideological division is deep, and there is tension between Venezuela and Guyana (formerly English Guyana, with a rich history of indigenous peoples and internal struggles for emancipation) and although it is a region that has already been an issue in history, the reason for the dispute now is because oil was discovered in the Essequibo River region, which came to be called Guyana Essequiba, with a strong indigenous presence (figure).
After several agreements, in 1904, 19,630 km2 were handed over to the colony of England and 13,570 km2 were agreed with Brazil and to this day everything that establishes the limits between these three countries, there were several previous agreements, in 1966 Guyana became independent of the Kingdom United.
Wars and narratives
13
Nov
The recently released book, in Portuguese, 
“The crisis of narration” (ed. Vozes, Brazil), by Byung Chul Han, more than a discussion of the crisis of literary aesthetics with Walter Benjamin and philosophical with Hegel, which are the contours of the book, the author comes across the republic of Weimar and its political aspects.
Officially known as the German Reich, it dates back to the period from November 9, 1918 to March 23, 1933, a constitutional federal republic in Germany, but which had nationalist and warlike aspects that led Germany to two wars.
Chul Han’s book is timely due to the war climate that is gradually being established and with different narratives and interpretations that lead to an escalation of war, speaking of peace, the same forces that reinforce the war budget, call for an immediate ceasefire.
It is clear to a good reader that a narrative is implied in each speech that tries to justify the war and the death of innocents, whether in Gaza or in Ukraine.
The narratives disguise their war celebrations, at the same time they justify genocides and the most horrific war crimes, when asked they respond with cynicism: “it’s war”, and thus they think they are justified.
Most likely, all of this was prepared in the midst of the pandemic, an opportune moment for those who imagine that measuring forces will create “a new world” and that peace will come as in the Roman Empire, through the submission or slavery of a people.
The details of the war are, for opportunists, details that can be reviewed by articulating this or that narrative, the death of innocent civilians, the destruction of basic means of subsistence (water, energy and food) must always be condemned and must not be admitted.
They are important humanitarian corridors (photo), but they should not only enter Gaza, they should enter where there is war and in speeches at the UN.
It is necessary to defend peace wherever there is war, so the narrative can be true
Prudence biblical, moral or expendable virtue
07
Nov
In times of war, violence and anger, a virtue
to remember is prudence.
As a philosophical meaning, prudence is seen by Aristotle as intellectual virtues, divided into 5 classes: science, wisdom, intelligence, techniques and prudence, so it can be seen as an ascetic morality, but it has historical and philosophical meaning , thus better dividing morality.
As a biblical virtue, prudence means the ability to judge between malicious and virtuous actions, not only in a general sense, but with reference to appropriate actions in a given time and place, it helps to discern what is good, fair and the means to achieve them.
As a habit, from a philosophical and moral point of view, is considered as knowledge that is acquired through habit, knowledge in general is for Aristotle indicates something that is not possessed simply by custom or conditioning, but rather as a disposition by which something or someone is well or badly disposed, either in relation to themselves, or in relation to something else (ARISTOTLE, Met. I, v. 20, 1022, b, 10-12).
We acquire these through study, demonstration, training and argumentation, so that we obtain a complete notion of a given field, master it masterfully and begin to have stable qualities of the subject that are difficult to lose (TOMÁS DE AQUINO, S.T., Iª. IIae q. 51 to 2 co.).
So it is not simply a matter of taste or will, but of how we understand intellectually and how we process habits, so prudence is a virtue acquired through understanding, practice (habit) and through stable conditions of the subject.
A return to peace and “good dispositions of the soul” cannot be obtained without the practice of these habits, if they are socially valued and without the subject and society remembering them as virtues that must be socially inserted to return to stable conditions of Society.
ARISTÓTELES. (2002). Metafísica: ensaio introdutório. Greek text with translation and commentary by Giovanni Reale, Transl. Marcelo Perine. Brazil. São Paulo: Loyola,. 696 p.
TOMÁS DE AQUINO.(2001-2006) Suma teológica. Brazil, São Paulo: Loyola, 9 v.
Wear in Ukraine and humanitarian crisis in Gaza
06
Nov
While the war enters a stage of attrition in 
Eastern Europe, European governments already want some type of peace agreement and the stage is of attrition for Russian and Ukrainian forces, in the Gaza Strip the land advance of Israeli troops worsens the humanitarian crisis .
The UN, the Arab countries and several Western countries are trying to forge some kind of agreement that could lead to a ceasefire and allow for more effective humanitarian aid, the situation is a humanitarian crisis, there is a lack of food, medicine and water, the situation in hospitals is also precarious, and Palestinians report bombing in nearby areas.
The death toll in the Gaza strip has been close to 10,000 since October 7th, and therefore tomorrow will complete one month, Israel says it has now entered a second phase and there is no desire for any proposal to cease fire, but the pressure West Bank grows, while Hamas seeks Arab allies, in addition to traditional West Bank groups and Hezbollah’s base in southern Lebanon.
All over the world there are demonstrations by Palestinians, one held in Portugal was attended by the president of Portugal, Marcelo was questioned by a pro-Palestinian group or gave his position with the phrase: “Against terrorism, but in favor of a Palestinian State ”, because pro-Palestinian groups do not see Hamas as “terrorist”.
The pope called the leader of Mahmoud Abbas who spoke about the urgency of creating humanitarian corridors, and in return the rabbis scheduled an audience with the pope, who only gave his speech as he was not feeling well.
According to the director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni: “The Pope expressed regret at what is happening and recalled the position of the Holy See, hoping that we can reach a two-state solution and a special status for Jerusalem.”
The fact that Europe has entered a path of peace, even due to the exhaustion and immense effort it makes to support Ukraine, also in the Gaza Strip international pressure is strong and the only problem is Israel’s irreducibility.
This morning (06/11) it was published that the Pope yesterday spoke with the President of Iran, Ibrahim Raisi about the crisis in the Gaza Strip, yesterday 5/11 after the Angelus prayer (at noon in Rome).
Escalation of conflicts, the thought of peace
30
Oct
It is incredible that polarization takes over even
the discourses of peace, such as the question of the Other and the meaning of what “terror” means, whereas anti-Semitic discourse is emptied and so is the idea of “Nazi” forces, polarization has reached a global scale and can grow.
The war between Ukraine and Russia is also getting worse, with new long-range American military equipment and the arrival of winter makes it dramatic and could escalate from now on.
Praise and defense of Hamas have placed the UN itself in a position of polarity, there is also a discourse that tries to mischaracterize the killing of civilians and innocents as that which is carried out by the Other, so there is no space for dialogue and peace, everything can have a reverse narrative.
Humanitarian aid faces difficulties both from those who want to assist the population and from the governments themselves that make it difficult for civilians to cross and open borders. The land war in Gaza will only worsen humanitarian conditions.
Turkey’s position in favor of Hamas could also disturb the region and escalate the war. This position is very complicated because Turkey is part of NATO and has been important in its position on the passage of grains. Let us remember that in the Bosphorus Strait, the Passing through Istanbul, the city with territory in Europe and the Middle East, is strategic.
In war, it is civilians who lose, and the limits of civility are almost always exceeded on all sides, there are no agreements that can establish clear limits that are respected.
A true philosophy of peace must condemn the conflicting sides, each side’s misguided attempt to establish an acceptable narrative, polarization does not allow.
Which forces will be able to sue for peace? What will happen in a growing escalation of war, with Iran involved? and if China and eastern countries get involved, there will already be issues of tension between the countries.
The hope is that a stifled outcry from those who truly desire peace will come, the forces that are of true humanism could recover hope for a less dangerous world.
Ukraine defends itself and Israel attacks
23
Oct
The two biggest war fronts in the world that
threaten world peace, which could enter an even worse cycle, can be summarized as follows: Ukraine defends itself by responding to the only strong Russian advance in the town of Adviivka (photo) and bombing Russian military tactical airfields , while Israel attacks the Gaza strip and opens new fronts against Hezbollah and Syria.
American involvement is already total and unquestionable, which creates a global polarization, in which it could call Iran into the war in the Middle East, the sewing of peace treaties with the Arabs that was being made could fall apart and make the region the epicenter of a war.
Humanitarian forces finally managed to enter southern Gaza to send aid to Palestinian victims, Egypt and Israel finally agreed to open the border crossing at Raffah, which allows for both food and medical aid, but without any hint of peace.
Joe Biden’s flight to Israel helped this agreement, a delay after the explosion of a hospital in Gaza and the sending of more weapons makes its involvement in the war even more dangerous, in Europe there are fears of acts of terrorism, while Palestine, which is not Hamas, becomes the weak and victimized side of the war.
An escalation of the war in the Middle East is inevitable for now and a possible direct entry of Iran into the war, Hezbollah already at war with Israel is an ally and receives help from Iran, could give a dramatic turn to the conflict in the Middle East.
The world situation is getting worse, and despite apparent peace in the East, China and North Korea have conflicting interests with Taiwan, South Korea and Japan.
The security council, which tried two peace motions for the Middle East, appears divided and unable to identify short-term solutions for this war.
