Press release on the terrorist attacks of November 13th 2015 in Paris
UNIVERSAL PEACE FEDERATION – France
Faced with the unprecedented violence which pummeled our country last night, in the name of the Universal Peace Federation, we offer our prayers for the many victims and we express our pain and our sympathy to their families. We are profoundly thankful toward our fellow citizens who are on the front line to protect our population and toward those who provided medical care to the injured, often at the risk of their life.
This brutal violence has struck not only France; it has recently struck other countries, Turkey, Russia and Lebanon, to cite only the most recent. This spiral of violence threatens the entire world. If we are profoundly shocked as French citizens, it is as human beings that we have been aggressed. This terrorist attack reinforces our solidarity not only with our fellow citizens, but also with the citizens of every country in the world.
How and in the name of what can acts so barbarous be committed? No nationalism, no religious belief can justify this blind violence, which randomly eliminates precious lives and shatters families. It matters not that the assassins claim to act on behalf of a nation or invoke the name of God.
Terror plunges its roots in hatred and the denial of another’s humanity. While all the means are given to us to make of our planet a shared home, while in a few days the world will gather in Paris to try making our world more livable for everyone, let us react to terror by reaffirming the absolute value of each human life and the profound, indivisible unity of human beings, beyond cultures and religions. If the suffering inflicted by the terrorists can serve as a means to destroy prejudice and deepen our vision of others, they will only have sown the seeds of their own destruction.
The Universal Peace Federation encourages a deeper dialogue between politicians and religious leaders, encourages the media, teachers and the entire civil society to lead a deliberation on the essential values of a democracy that allow the integration of everyone’s values, without discrimination. With the aid of the Ambassadors for Peace, we renew our determination to support these efforts in our nation and in the world.
Paris, November 14, 2015
Jacques MARION
President, FPU France
Email : jmarion@upf.org
www.france.upf.org