Nobel Laureate Praised For Not Attending US Summit
NOBEL LAUREATES, 23 Apr 2012
Antonio C. S. Rosa, TMS Editor
Mairead Corrigan Maguire, who was awarded the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize for her work in Northern Ireland, invited to attend the Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Chicago, has canceled her trip because of a statement by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that the State Department is an Active Partner in the summit. The Nobel Summit is hooked up to the NATO Summit in Chicago.
You May Watch Clinton’s Video Here
Critics of the Nobel Prize and of NATO applauded Maguire’s decision:
Fredrik Heffermehl, author of The Nobel Peace Prize: What Nobel Really Wanted, and a member of the TRANSCEND Network said,
“I take the Mairead Maguire boycott of the Chicago event as a rising awareness of how far the Peace Prize has wandered from the original peace vision of Alfred Nobel, a world peace order based on global law and disarmament. Nobel wished to help a development in the direct opposite direction of what the U.S. and NATO are pursuing and it is particularly pertinent to abstain from participation in a Nobel event hosted by the U.S. State Department. The Norwegian parliamentarians entrusted with the award have transformed it to suit their own political ideas and led Swedish authorities to initiate an investigation of the peace prize awards. The probe ended last month with an order to the Nobel Foundations to do a major overhaul, checking the purpose Nobel had in mind and giving clear instructions to ensure that all awards comply with the purpose.”
Francis Boyle, a professor at the University of Illinois College of Law and author of Tackling America’s Toughest Questions, and a leading lawyer defending protesters against apartheid in South Africa, noted that a video was also released of former apartheid South African President Willem de Klerk about his participation and interaction with students in Chicago. He said,
“de Klerk avoided testifying before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. So from him there was no truth, no accountability, no prosecution. It is well known that the so-called Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by Norwegian politicians and that Norway is a member of NATO. In other words, the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by NATO politicians in order to further their own political interests. And now we have the Nobel Prizers finally come out of the NATO closet. Nobel Peace Prize? Tell that to millions in war after war: Vietnam, Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and now threatening Syria and Iran.”
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Mairead Corrigan Maguire is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace, Development and Environment. She won the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize for her work for peace in Northern Ireland. Her book The Vision of Peace (edited by John Dear, with a foreword by Desmond Tutu and a preface by the Dalai Lama) is available from www.wipfandstock.com. She lives in Belfast, Northern Ireland. See: www.peacepeople.com.
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 23 Apr 2012.
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It is good step indeed. Mairead Corrigan Maguire’s, decision must be applauded. But who cares, in this materialistic world nothing, but , only “ might is right”. Nonetheless, it is silent agitation of a peace lover against violent policies of US and NATO who are responsible for the multitude of crisis around the world and misunderstanding among civilizations. And every sensible citizen of world who believes in non-violence, “beauty in diversity” and peaceful co-existence must support this!!!!