By Alex P. Vidal
“To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.”—George Washington
EVEN in beauty competitions both for ladies and LGBT, some candidates would exclaim, “world peace” in response to the judge’s question about their wish or dream for the world.
In schools, the favorite mantra of elementary and high school pupils has always been “world peace” other than love for the country and parents and respect for the laws of the land.
In the United Nations, state leaders and foreign ministers endlessly tackled “world peace”, the concept of an ideal state of peace within and among all people and nations on Planet Earth.
Everyone wants to wish for world peace; every state pushes for world peace, but world peace has always been elusive.
Different cultures, religions, philosophies, and organizations have varying concepts on how such a state would come about.
“World peace” could be defined narrowly as the end of armed conflict as a way of resolving disputes between states and its replacement with arbitration based on multilateral covenants and treaties 100 years ago. Today “world peace” requires that — and much more besides.
“World peace” today is in peril anew—as has always been since the World War I erupted—now that almost all media networks and newspapers in the world are screaming in their headlines: “Israel is at war!”
Israel is backed by the United States, while Hamas is being supported by Arab countries and Iran, which has vowed to eliminate Israel from the face of earth. So how can we achieve world peace now?
With the recent outburst of violence and brutal war between Israel and Hamas, are we now saying goodbye permanently to world peace?
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Following the October 7 surprised attack by the Palestinian militants or Hamas that killed 250 Israelis (as of this writing), fears of a huge ground invasion of Gaza are growing after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to turn the besieged Palestinian enclave into a “deserted island” in response to the worst attack his country has suffered in 50 years.
The pledge reportedly came after gunmen from Hamas, which governs Gaza, rampaged through Israeli towns and killed at least 250 people on Saturday while retreating with soldier and civilian hostages in the deadliest day of violence for Israel since the Yom Kippur War 50 years ago.
The Israeli military responded with devastating retaliatory strikes on Gaza, killing more than 230 Palestinians in the blockaded strip.
Aljazeera reported that Israeli forces were still bombing Gaza and fighting with Hamas gunmen in parts of southern Israel in the early hours of Sunday and a spokesman for the military said the situation in the country was not totally under control.
Hamas said its unprecedented offensive by land, air and sea was in response to the desecration of the Al Aqsa Mosque as well as Israeli atrocities against Palestinians over the decades. These include the 16-year blockade of Gaza, Israeli raids inside West Bank cities over the past year, increasing attacks by settlers on Palestinians as well as the growth of illegal settlements.
Mohammed Deif, a Hamas military commander, said the time has come “for the enemy to understand… they cannot keep going without consequences”.
Hamas leaders said the assault that began in Gaza would spread to the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.
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THE Philippine men’s basketball team that won the gold in the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia was composed of the following pure-blooded Filipino cagers: Engracio Arazas, Kurt Bachmann, Narciso Bernardo, Geronimo Cruz, Manuel Jocson, Carlos Loyzaga, Alfonso Marquez, Roel Nadurata, Eduardo Pacheco, Cristobal Ramas, Alberto Reynoso, and Edgardo Roque. RP Team whipped Japan, 101-67 for the gold medal. South Korea settled third for bronze medal.
OVERWEIGHT? FEELING HEAVY? Having sex 3 times a week burns 7,500 calories per year. That’s the equivalent of jogging 75 miles (120.675 km). The more intense the sex, the more calories are burnt: up to 10,000 calories annually. (HealthNews)
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Ed)
