Deryk’s statement of the events on September 11th, 2001.
After the tragedy of Tuesday September 11, 2001 in the United States, I was like millions of others from all regions, all walks of life, all religions; that is, I was shocked and grieved by the horrific loss of life resulting from terrorist attacks.
As you visit my website, designed as a place to share my art, please know that my heartfelt prayers go out to the thousands of bereaved families, friends and co-workers of the victims.
It will take wisdom and tolerance to guide us through the years ahead.
You may wish to read some of the information that I have found to be the most rational in the midst of all the anguish, starting with an excerpt from the following speech delivered by General Smedley Butler in 1933. (General Butler was one of the few Americans to be twice awarded the congressional Medal of Honor.) Click here for the transcript of “War is just a Racket.”
Other readings include:
Uri Avnery, who states that the only remedy for terrorism is to remove its cause: http://www.avnery-news.co.il/english/main.html
and Noam Chomsky, who has said that we have a choice: “we may try to understand, or refuse to do so, contributing to the likelihood that much worse lies ahead.” http://www.zmag.org/chomnote.htm
Clare Short, British International Development Secretary, spoke on the BBC to urge the US not to do anything to make life worse for the ordinary people of Afghanistan and there are many others speaking out with messages of tolerance and pleas that the “democratic” world will not add to the number of innocent victims.
My friend Pauline, from Yorkshire England, wrote a song of peace based on the actions of the cellist of Vedran Smailovic, the man who played cello to promote a message of peace during the shelling of Sarajevo. Smailovic has been an inspiration to my family as well and is the inspiration for a children’s book that includes my paintings.
Here are the words to Pauline’s song: Prayer For Peace
Don’t want to sing about suffering or images of war,
I wanna sing about the lovely things and not the pain he saw,But then I heard about the cellist, how he played for those who died
While they queued for bread upon the streets; targets of shellfire…
He played a day, for each life lost.Music on the streets of war, to count the cost…
He played through pain,
Played of joy,
Played through anger–
All those little girls and boys,
Played for mother, lover,
Father, sister, brother…
For the broken hearts and the fallen tears..
Played his prayer for peace for tomorrow.Let your heart sing his song ’til his gentle music echoes clear and strong.
While Vedran played his cello, soliders fired their guns!
But for twenty-twodays he played for peace.And his music was his talent but his courage brought him fame,
And a painter caught up on the Web learned all about his name.
Painted his portrait in the history book.
Where the story’s told for young and old to take a look…How he played through pain,
Played of joy,
Played through anger–
All those little girls and boys,
Played for mother, lover,
Father, sister, brother…
For the broken hearts and the fallen tears..
Played his prayer for peace for tomorrow.Let your heart sing his song ’til his gentle music echoes clear and strong.
While Vedran played his cello, soliders fired their guns!
But for twenty-two dayshe played for peace.For twenty-two days… for twenty-two lives… His prayer for peace!
Copyright Pauline Bate, 2000. All Rights Reserved
I will conclude with a quotation from Thomas Jefferson, and pray that our leaders will keep in mind that decisions made in the heat of anger and despair could become the cause for enormous regret in the future: “No nation can behave without a decent respect for the opinion of mankind.”