Simon Fisher
Quakers have a strong history of working for peace. Since WW2 this has included support for international mediation interventions in a range of countries, including Zimbabwe, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, and Nagaland in India.
More has happened at the people to people level. But Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW) seems to have rather lost its appetite for international peace work these days, even as many other organisations are now involved in peace-building.
However, the urge to do something pro-active beyond providing help to victims of the violence – itself vital of course– is still strong amongst us, as was shown in a special Afterwords session on 20 March at 43 St Giles.
I believe there are a number of things that are open to us, here in Oxford, at the level of both principle and action. Others will I hope add to these.
At the level of principle, we need to keep challenging the assumption that armed struggle is the only way to address the violence unleashed by Putin, or anyone else. The peace testimony gives us the ground to stand on, but how do we make it relevant in this war?
We need to think outside the militarist frame, which accepts horrendous destruction, dislocation and loss of life as the price of “victory”, even as weapons manufacturers lick their lips in anticipation of future profits, and international corporations – often linked to them – make equally profitable plans to rebuild what has been destroyed.
Certainly it is always better to resist oppression with violence than submit abjectly to it, as Gandhi himself accepted, but maybe there was, and still is, a better option: systematic peaceful civil resistance.
In fact we are hearing every day how many Ukrainians are resisting non-violently and very creatively wherever they are. And it is evident too, how deeply affected Russian troops are by this. It may seem hard, but one thing we can do wherever we are, is to make this alternative case and continue to assert, sensitively, in private conversations, and publicly where we can, that this war, like all wars, is a crime against humanity and the planet of course.
If you want to explore this more, one excellent place to look is the Rethinking Security website, and a recent blog by two Quakers: (https://rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2022/03/23/to-the-victor-go-the-spoils-a-heap-of-ashes).
At the level of specific actions, we could look at three options:
Would it be useful to contact Russians and Ukrainians living nearby and invite them to meet each other, and maybe participate in a reflection in the Meeting House? This might lead to longer, deeper interaction, and possibly other kinds of engagement – or not of course.
Would it be possible for the Meeting to pick up communication with some of the people in Perm, Russia, now Oxford City Council has suspended the official link? If we could develop genuine relationships with them, maybe we could understand more what they are going through, and in turn share some of our insights and views. The clerks to the Meeting are, I believe, already considering this.
Might it be possible to develop communication with Quakers in both countries? Several of us are already attending meetings for Worship in Moscow and in Kyiv. And in Kyiv, to my knowledge, they have welcomed this kind of personal exchange, which hopefully might be a source of encouragement and perhaps more.
Even as we consider these ideas, it is important not to forget, and challenge where we can, our own war machine in the UK – a secretive composite of arms manufacturers, the military and individuals slipping between politics, the media and business – which thrives on fuelling other people’s wars (not forgetting Yemen as we speak) and is always hungry for more resources.
And, a final thought, we can be aware how, even as our attention is drawn to the horrors of Ukraine, those of Afghanistan, so recently top of the list, have been largely eclipsed. Yet some of those who have suffered there are now living close by, without proper housing or adequate support. Could this be the moment to look more actively in their direction?
Whatever we do, let’s reject the role of despairing bystander, so easily created by an endless diet of bad news. There are always creative options available to us to build peace with justice here, in Ukraine and elsewhere.
Simon described his experience and hopes for Quaker peacebuilding in the Swarthmore Lecture of 2004: Spirited Living: Waging Conflict, Building Peace.
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Forty-Three Newsletter • Number 516 • April 2022
Oxford Friends Meeting
43 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LW
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