October, 09 2009, 02:00pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
Nobel's Will
FREDRIK HEFFERMEHL
A Norwegian lawyer, Heffermehl is author of the book Nobel's Will,
which argues that "since 1948 the parties in the Norwegian parliament
have misused the Nobel Committee seats to reward party veterans lacking
insight in the peace politics that Nobel wished to support. Over half
of the awards since 1946 have not conformed with the intention of
Nobel, who wished to change the international system in order to end
wars and armaments."
WASHINGTON
FREDRIK HEFFERMEHL
A Norwegian lawyer, Heffermehl is author of the book Nobel's Will,
which argues that "since 1948 the parties in the Norwegian parliament
have misused the Nobel Committee seats to reward party veterans lacking
insight in the peace politics that Nobel wished to support. Over half
of the awards since 1946 have not conformed with the intention of
Nobel, who wished to change the international system in order to end
wars and armaments."
Heffermehl said today: "When Nobel called upon the parliament of
Norway to give his prize to 'champions of peace' he had in mind those
who work for a fundamental change of the world where nations could
safely abolish national military forces. Obama is light-years of
improvement after Bush, but still I do not see him having any intention
of abolishing his own or other military forces.
"In my book Nobels vilje (Nobel's Will, 2008) I
argued that the Nobel Committee has a fantastic chance to make a
relevant and useful contribution towards the world's most urgent
problem, if they would only understand and use the prize to support the
fundamental change of international relations that Nobel had in mind.
They still have a great chance to improve. ..."
MIKE FERNER
President of Veterans for Peace, Ferner
said today: "Now you can promise change and international cooperation
while ordering more drone bombings that kill innocent civilians -- and
still get a Nobel Peace Prize. There's something wrong with this
picture. ...
"I've seen what happens to people at the receiving end of bombs.
For two years I took care of hundreds of wounded and dying soldiers
coming back from Vietnam and Cambodia. Sadly, President Obama continues
to rely on violence to carry out foreign policy." Ferner was arrested
in front of the White House with 60 others on Monday protesting the
wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"Past Peace Prize awardees include Nelson Mandela and Desmond
Tutu, major forces in eliminating South African apartheid; Lech Walesa,
who, as leader of the 'Solidarity' union, defied the power of the
Communist Party to win rights for Polish workers; Mikhail Gorbachev,
who presided over the end of the Soviet Union and helped end the Cold
War; Rigoberta Menchu Tum, campaigner for human rights in Guatemala
during the reign of the death squads; Jody Williams and the
International Campaign to Ban Landmines; Dr. Linus Pauling, early
leader in the movement to oppose the nuclear bomb; Doctors Without
Borders; Mother Teresa and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
"Others have been nominated, sometimes more than once, like Kathy
Kelly, coordinator of Voices in the Wilderness. This Chicago-based
group organized over 70 citizen delegations to Iraq to report how
sanctions were affecting people in that country during the 1990s. In
addition, Kelly twice led delegations that literally camped out in the
way of the U.S. invasions of Iraq in 1991 and 2003."
A nationwide consortium, the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) represents an unprecedented effort to bring other voices to the mass-media table often dominated by a few major think tanks. IPA works to broaden public discourse in mainstream media, while building communication with alternative media outlets and grassroots activists.
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