Is the Nobel Peace Prize about Peace, Whistling Dixie or Catalysing Peace by Whistle-blowers?
The conversations that have been catalysed by the controversy over Wikileaks and Edward Snowden come down to the intentions of the whistleblowers – are they noble? The Nobel Peace Prize has been critiqued as inappropriate for some recipients, not necessarily seen as peacemakers but being rewarded by an event they brought about. The central question in my view would be are they true peacemakers? What is peace?
Since 1998, after I dreamed I was teaching peace, I have worked for peace every day and in every way. Most of what I do is for free and there is no accolade in it. Why do I do it? I love peace, I am passionate about it and it inspires me to be the best person I can be. Most of all I feel happy every time I spread positivity. I have tried to give up my peace work and just get a job, but I truly can’t, it is who I am and in my soul. I love to spread peace, I love to communicate about it, I love teaching it and I love doing personal development work to activate it in myself. It is exciting, fulfilling and joyful, that is why I do it. That is what it feels like to be a peacemaker in my world. You constantly question yourself about peace and you constantly feel inspired, it is really a wonderful calling. It brings me enormous joy.
I’ve done many projects but one of my favourite ideas was to create an International Peace & Sustainability Award for Kids to Unite People (SPEAK UP). It is on my website www.worldpeacefull.com. This is what I wrote about peace, as follows:
“What is Peace?
There is a wise Japanese Zen koan which says …
‘In clapping both hands a sound is heard: what is the sound of the one hand?’
Many stop and try to hear the sound, they become puzzled. Peace is a puzzle that has not been solved by humanity as we have approached the problem as two hands clapping. Peace requires each of us to see differently, for in the past we are seeking applause, rather than to pause in the silence to deeply listen to ourselves, for all answers live in the heart of each of us. That is why peace is present in every moment, every day, and expresses in simple ways.
Another question to consider is …
‘Is peace the moment you start thinking about it?’
Can we think about peace or is what we are grasping for universal and inherent within nature?
We are indeed threads within a web of life that is intricately woven and balanced. We did not create this web, we are a thread within it. As we ask questions we open up to possibilities that allow us to see what we cannot see to find peace is not what we think, it is who we are.
For the author of this proposal, teaching peace as a World Peace Sustainability Clown was a dream and that came true. As a World Peace Sustainability Clown travelling the World in 2010, peace was experienced as service when connecting with people on the streets, teaching in schools, healing in hospitals and communicating with many diverse audiences.
The dream of peace is of One World where all the children realise REAL HOPES for the future. REAL HOPES is an acronym for: Responsibility, Empathy, Awareness, Love, Honesty, Oneness, Peace,
Enjoyment and Service. When children integrate natural universal values within themselves, service becomes a natural expression of peace. Peace is service to humanity, it is the light in the darkness.
Peace is life itself that naturally sustains. Perhaps this is the sound of one hand clapping?”
Peace requires deeper contemplation, as the answer resides in your heart.
It seems to me that most of the Peace Prizes are given to those who are of some official standing or internationally well known. For me I see it in the small actions of people, in the tireless work of those unknown, I see it in every action that promotes peace, love, joy and truth, reminding us of the true goodness of our world. I see this goodness every day. There are so many heroes out there – children, women and men – who would be worthy of such a prize. Peace is seeing differently and inherent within it is equality and love. I think all persons across the globe should be able to nominate persons who have shown noble service in actioning peace in our world. They are so needed at this time.
This was Alfred Nobel’s vision (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Peace_Prize):
“According to Nobel’s will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who “shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses…”
I personally would nominate Byron Katie and Eckhart Tolle as real examples of teachers of peace who walk the talk of being peace. They are people who spend all their time activating peace through teachings. In the case of Byron Katie her simple program called The Work (www.thework.com). It is all about questioning negative thinking and turning it around. It understands that all negativity comes from projection, that is unowned thoughts we project onto others. In truth peace is the universal energy beneath our thinking and it is our true nature that leads us to unity, that is how you know it is peace. We are One. Eckhart Tolle speaks of the Power of Now and Stillness Speaks, he refers to the I AM presence within each human, the small voice that knows, it is the silence between the thoughts that leads us to true peace (visit http://www.eckharttolletv.com/).
These are the true peacemakers of our time and they are showing us another way which is to Be Peace. Peace is the way. They are the new gauge of what peace really is and it is inclusive of all beings. It always is moved by love leading us to unity. That is how you know it is real.
Below is the article that triggered this blog. It is about the Nobel Prize and Edward Snowden. I wouldn’t award the peace prize to him but instead would create a new prize that awards truth telling. That would be appropriate. But there is always the challenge – whoes truth? is it the absolute truth? or is it the intent for truth? Yet when it is real, it is the truth that does indeed set us free. Byron Katie leads you to the truth within, this of course is the ultimate truth and you will never again hate another, you will take full responsibility of your thoughts, words and actions.
http://rt.com/news/snowden-nominated-nobel-peace-099/
‘Heroic effort at great personal cost’: Edward Snowden nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
Edited time: July 16, 2013 11:15
Reuters / Brian Snyder
A Swedish sociology professor has nominated Edward Snowden for the Nobel Peace Prize. He says the NSA whistleblower could help “save the prize from the disrepute incurred by the hasty and ill-conceived decision” to give the 2009 award to Barack Obama.
In his letter addressed to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Stefan Svallfors praised Snowden for his “heroic effort at great personal cost.” He stated that by revealing the existence and the scale of the US surveillance programs, Snowden showed “individuals can stand up for fundamental rights and freedoms.”
“This example is important because since the Nuremberg trials in 1945 has been clear that the slogan ‘I was just following orders’ is never claimed as an excuse for acts contrary to human rights and freedoms,” Professor Svallfors wrote.
He emphasized that the decision to award the 2013 prize to Edward Snowden would also “help to save the Nobel Peace Prize from the disrepute incurred by the hasty and ill-conceived decision to award US President Barack Obama 2009 award.”
But Kristian Berg Harpviken, senior researcher and deputy director at the International Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), told Interfax news agency that it is very unlikely that Snowden will become a Nobel Prize laureate.
Harpviken said that all major deadlines have passed, meaning that Snowden will have very little chance of making the shortlist.
When asked whether Snowden deserves the award, Harpviken replied with a “careful yes.”
Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Thorbjoern Jagland (L) applauses as laureate, US President Barack Obama hands the diploma and medal to Nobel Peace Prize, during the Nobel Peace prize award ceremony at the City Hall in Oslo on December 10, 2009 (AFP Photo)
The head of the International Committee of the Russian State Duma Aleksey Pushkov has also argued that the US won’t let Nobel Peace Prize go to Snowden.
“Not in a million years will the United States allow Snowden to get the Peace Prize. But his nomination is significant. Many in the West see him as a champion of democracy,” he tweeted on Monday.
As a sociology professor at Umeå University, which has recently top-ranked among the world’s best young universities, Svallfors is included in the limited circuit of people who can deliver nominations to the Nobel committee. These include members of international courts and national assemblies; university rectors; professors of social sciences, history, philosophy, law and theology; directors of peace research institutes and foreign policy institutes.
Nominations for laureates should be postmarked for consideration in the following December’s prizes no later than February 1 for the advisers to review the short list of the suggested candidates.
Since 1901, when the Nobel Peace Prize was launched, it has been awarded to a hundred individuals who “shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”
Last year Bradley Manning, the US soldier accused of passing secret materials to WikiLeaks, was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. The nomination was proposed by the Movement of Icelandic Parliament, which asserted that revelations produced by the documents Manning allegedly exposed “have helped to fuel a worldwide discussion about America’s overseas engagements, civilian war casualties, imperialistic manipulations, and rules of engagement.”
In 2011 founder of the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks Julian Assange was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by Norwegian MP Snorre Valen.
Snowden’s nomination is expected to be reviewed by the committee for next year’s prize. Should Snowden get the coveted award, he would be the youngest Nobel Peace Laureate in the history of the prize.
The 30-year-old nominee is wanted in the US on charges of espionage after revealing secret NSA surveillance programs and could face the death penalty in his home country. He fled American soil for Hong Kong in May and then flew to Moscow, where he has been stuck in an airport transit zone for three weeks.
On Friday Snowden said he is seeking political asylum in Russia because he cannot fly to Latin America.
A journalist looks at a display with a picture of former CIA employee Edward Snowden (RIA Novosti)
During his meeting with rights activists and lawyers at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, Snowden explained what was behind his decision to leak the secret NSA spying programs. He said he did what he believed to be right and “began a campaign to correct this wrongdoing.” Snowden underlined that he did not seek to enrich himself, or to sell American secrets.
“I took what I knew to the public, so what affects all of us can be discussed by all of us in the light of day, and I asked the world for justice,” Snowden said, adding that he does not regret his decision.
Russian migration officials said that they have not yet received an asylum plea from the NSA leaker.
America has launched a persecution campaign in response, “threatening with sanctions” countries who stand up for Snowden’s rights.
So far, three countries in Latin America – Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua – said they could offer Asylum to the American whistleblower.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had earlier stated that Moscow would grant him asylum if Snowden stopped activities aimed at harming “our American partners.”