Proclamation against the war

White Ribbon
Civil Movement for Solidarity and Peace

The initiators of the White Ribbon civil movement are deeply perturbed by the tragic events in Yugoslavia, and consider both the Kosovo genocide and the bombings, taking the lives of innocent victims, as yet another breakdown of 20th century civilisation.

1. We view all massacres, for whatever reason, as unacceptable. We renounce the ethnic cleansing that has been a long-established policy of the Milosevic regime. We demand that all activities against ethnic minorities, and all other acts against the law, be stopped. We consider all previous attempts at conflict resolution erroneous, as they have been comprised of "solutions" that could only create more animosity.

2. The aim of our movement is to express solidarity with all those who have been forced to leave their homes during the Balkan conflicts, as well as with the innocent victims of a cruel war waged in the name of human rights. We are convinced that for ten years, the Western powers have committed, without exception, a gross injustice by making the wrong decisions in trying to resolve the Yugoslavian conflicts, inflicting punishment on those Serbs who have not merited punishment, while also remaining unable to defend the Kosovo Albanians.
Our movement is meant as an attempt to evoke public concern for those who have, during the last ten years, opposed the governments obsessed with national mythologies; that is, to direct public concern to the more than half of the Yugoslavian population who have not contributed in any way to the election of Milosevic and the radical nationalists.
We aim to achieve that those in power be held up to public obloquy - those who do deserve it, instead of the people and communities who do not - and we wish to arouse sympathy for all the Albanians, Serbs, Rroma and other nationalities who have become homeless or "culprits" under the present circumstances.
We ask all benevolent citizens to surpass the mere feeling of sympathy, and to do everything that falls within their capabilities to offer support to the refugees arriving from Yugoslavia, without regard to which nationality they belong.

3. We hope to witness the predominance of solidarity within the strategies of conflict resolution. Conclusions must be drawn from the attempts at resolving the Kosovo conflict in order for peace-making attempts not to divert from the original intention. Let us join forces so that the present method of "resolving" the conflict will never serve as a model for any power in the future to come.

If you agree with the above statement and would like to act against meaningless violence, pin a white ribbon to your clothing as of today, and please distribute this statement in photocopies or via e-mail.

The white ribbon is a lucid symbol of mourning and a symbolic message for those who are ready to think and reconsider.