CSC Danilo Dolci condemns Russia’s act of war, supports and stands close to the heart of Ukrainian citizens who are now facing a brutal attack that puts their survival at risk. We appeal to millions of Russian citizens who refuse and disapprove of the military operation launched by their government and ask them to join the non-violent initiatives aimed at stopping the ongoing conflict.
At the same time, we would like to share our concern regarding the arms race that some States and the European Union are engaging in to respond to the aforementioned military actions. In particular, the European Peace Facility seems to be turning into an instrument to finance arms production. Thus, it reflects an idea of peace that is not coherent with the concepts of peace and non-violence this instrument should be inspired by. We are worried about the path some European States have undertaken since it might lead to a future where weapons are the only tools supposed to guarantee peace.
In Inventare il futuro (Inventing the Future), Danilo Dolci wrote, “Violence, even if used to generous ends, still carries the seed of death in itself”. Diplomatic solutions, negotiations, dialogue among parties are powerful tools in the hand of the International Community. We hope that the future of European peacebuilding strategies will not focus on the arms industry but aim to promote dialogue and the construction of bridges between people. In particular, we want to stress the importance and power of Education and its long-lasting value for human communities. Only Education can generate a world that is aware of the connections and networks between humans, and it is conscious of how actions and individual wills can become fundamental pieces to contribute to the creation of a non-violent and peaceful future.
“We depend on structures, but those structures depend on us as well. Can our creative forces, generated from within, crush destructive forces? An immense strength would grow if only each of us could verify the cost of each choice.
Our world may become a little ball of burned glass floating in space or a living creature made of creatures. If each of us asked ourselves: on whom does this choice depend? Doesn’t it also depend on me? We would generate an immense force, a political one. Doesn’t it depend on each of us? How can we overcome, step by step, the tremendous gap between our actual reality and the reality as-it-might-be?”
(D. Dolci, 1985, Palpitare di Nessi, MESOGEA, p.112)