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LONG ISLAND LODGE No. 1353, B'NAI B'RITH
P.O. BOX 51, WOODMERE , NY 11598-0051
516-374-2958 Mobile
15 Elul 5711 September 14, 2011
Give Peace Another Chance Initiative Observed
Pursuant of a United Nations General Assembly Resolution 36/37, enacted on November 30, 1981 --- a visionary idea by Dr. Young Seek Choue, president of Kyung Hee University --- and further enhanced by the UN Academic Impact (UNAI) by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, a videoconference attracting thousands academics in the UN's New York Headquarters and Seoul.
The extensive program featured the Kaleidhaphonic musical performance by K. Nathaniel, S. Suso, T. Dudley, and J. Ragusa; the singing of Beth Nielsen Chapman who, together with the ensemble and the audience in the two cities participating in a chorus of John Lennon's Imagine! Sandwiched in the speaking parts was the live concert of Dvorak, Piano Quartet in E-flat Major Mov. 4, and Magnolia Blossom.
In his opening remarks, Secretary-General Ban noted the power of education to advance contacts of people, and, through scholarship and academic activity, become another chance to boost the possible success for peace. Keynoter Dr. Inwon Choue, also president of Kyung Hee Cyber University, emphasized the evolution in world politics from the Cold War to a series of conflicts --- Gulf, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Somalia, to list a few --- that continue to pose threats to peace and stability; reiterating that to build a more permanent International Day of Peace "we must ponder how to build human consciousness that promotes peace in collaboration with our neighbors." In the new challenges universities face, "they must go beyond the ivory tower to narrow the gap between 'destitution and affluence,' 'alienation and tolerance,' and 'suffering and compassion.'' He ended by calling for "the harmonious bonding of academe and global practice."
There ensued a roundtable discussion with moderator Ramu Damodaran, UNAI's chief; Aftab Seth, chair for of India Global Link; the aforementioned country and pop singer Beth Nielsen Chapman; Eduardo Ulibarri, Costa Rica's UN Permanent Representative; Francis Deng, the Secretary-General's Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide; Yersu Kim, philosopher and emeritus professor of the Graduate Institute of Peace Studies at Kyung Hee University; and Norhan Basuni, a CUNY graduate, and recent participant in the tumultuous Tahrir Square events in Cairo, Egypt.
Then, there were emitted a series of platitudes --- already begun yesterday, as the 66th session of the General Assembly convened, and depressingly familiar for being hypocritical --- about interdependence, human dignity and rights, growing intolerance, the advent of insistent democratic aspirations in places heretofore alien to the concept, Internet's growth as a bane and blessing, and the symposium's stress on intellectual social responsibility. Flashes of insight were occasional, as when a speaker finally mentioned the Holocaust, its denial in some quarters, and when another assented that anti-Semitism was an inherent form of racism.
The last point was voiced by me, as our crowd at the UN's CR-4/NLB joined the 3,000 at the university's Grand Peace Hall in Seoul
Mindful of the current attempt of the Palestinian Authority to unilaterally coerce the United Nations to recognize its independence, I pointed out that the Partition Plan contained the germ for a two-state solution then, 1947, that we so earnestly yearn today; the majority said yes, the other side rejected it, with warfare in the region becoming a staple of life. Further, it is specious sophistry to be against anti-Semitism while remaining rabidly anti-Zionist; indeed, friends of Israel
In his magnum opus, 713-page tome, The Prime Ministers, An Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership, former diplomat and adviser Yehuda Avner alludes to the accord envisaged by all realists: " … the notion that Israel's integrity as a Jewish and democratic state could be assured only by dividing the land between its two peoples --- Jew and Arab --- embodying as they did two faiths, two separate languages, two separate nationalities, two separate narratives, and two separate destinies."
Leaving the premises in advanced darkness, to catch the train to Astoria, then to take my stationed automobile in front of Mom Nina's house for Woodmere, I began to reflect on the chasm between contradictory impulses in attaining world peace while harboring age-old prejudices, even murderous design (Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) to eliminate a member of the United Nations (Israel). He, along with billions afflicted with the twin eveils of ignorance and intolerance, can learn to be both sensitive and compassionate, by enrolling in vigorous Holocaust studies! Still, ever the optimist, I began to hum, "when will they ever learn, when will they ever learn?"
Sincerely, and with fraternal affection,
Asher
Prof. Asher J. Matathias, Lodge President
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