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The
programme was started by a special visit to Leeds on Sunday 19 October.
The Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the two Japanese cities devasted
by nuclear bombs at the end of World War II were visiting.
Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba, of Hiroshima, and Mayor Iccho Itoh, of Nagasaki,
planted a peace tree in Park Square and addressed a mayoral reception
at Leeds Civic Hall.
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Tim
Jones gives his personal testimony 'Why IÂ’m involved in
Together for Peace'.
"Peace is the most basic of all desires.
"Life
is all about the search for freedom - freedom from those who would
block your happiness, freedom to achieve all that you're capable
of. Freedom is impossible without peace.
"But
have we any real conception of what peace is? Internationally, peace
has become a relative term. We fight wars in order to end oppression.
But the oppression doesn't end, the perpetrators just change.
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| Tim
Jones - Together for Peace |
"We
go on anti-war marches to demand peace. But our demands become arrogant
and hate-fuelled.
"We respond to the basic inner voice of peace, but interpret
and express it as a message of violence. All sides of every conflict
say they just want peace. But selfish human pride stops the true
voice of peace from speaking.
"Peace
can't be quantified- it either exists in all of its justice, mercy,
love and freedom, or it doesn't exist at all.
"But some actions, some people, some music, some feelings,
some thoughtsÂ… just touch on, just point to the altruistic
beauty that the word 'peace' embodies.
"But
we see this as a dream. Is true peace just idealistic, or are we
just too lazy to try and follow Gandhi, who told us to 'be the change
you're trying to make, to follow the feminists who said 'the personal
is political', to follow Jesus who said 'love your neighbour'..?
"Peace
doesn't begin in Iraq or Israel. Peace won't be found when we find
Bin Laden. Peace won't be 'won' in a war.
"Peace
begins when enough people make the decision not to live for themselves.
Peace begins when we allow ourselves to dream of a world in which
no-one seeks to knock others out of the way in order to get 'to
the top'. Peace begins when we learn to forgive, rather than looking
for revenge. Peace begins when we help the poor. Peace begins with
love, respect, appreciation and celebration of difference.
"Together
for Peace will bring Leeds' voices of peace together for the first
time. No empirical evidence will ever prove a theology. No argument
will ever conclude the debate. Only a focus on peace can bring together
the different communities that make up the city of Leeds.
"Only when these communities see each other in the light of
respect, love and understanding, will we be able to find the remnants
of peace and freedom that are still available to us.
"Only
when I accept that I don't have all of the answers will I become
a voice of peace."
Tim
Jones
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