USA – Public Security and Human Rights – Finding Nonviolent Paths

USA – Public Security and Human Rights – Finding Nonviolent Paths

“The time is always right to do what is right.” When it comes to large-scale violence among crowds, the United States of America faces complicated issues, but they are not impossible to mitigate, and to choose a path with respects law enforcement, public security, human rights, and works to find nonviolent paths for de-escalation of violence.

I. Recommendations:

  1. DHS and U.S. Government must identify law enforcement activities performed under Homeland Security Act of 2002, specifically, as codified in the U.S. Code, at 40 U.S. Code § 1315, “Law enforcement authority of Secretary of Homeland Security for protection of public property.”
  2. Federal facilities under attack in conflict zones must prioritize de-escalation for a period of six months, including the use of teleworking where possible. The U.S. Government should relocate personnel and resources to facilities outside of conflict zones for their human rights of public security. Court cases need to be transferred to other courts. Steel/concrete barriers must be increasingly implemented outside of federal facilities in conflict zones under attack to reduce damage to facilities owned by the U.S. Government, while reducing the need for physical law enforcement engagement with violent figures.
  3. Community de-escalation in conflict zones must also be a priority. Community leaders need to be engaged to urge a reduction and public rejection of violence and violent acts. Community leaders must be vocally and visibly seen as offering a path respecting shared freedom of expression, while supporting public security and equality (not privilege) under law. If no community leaders are available, then DHS must reach out to identify nationwide humman rights figures to support advocacy for nonviolence as a method of freedom of expression and support for public security.
  4. U.S. Government must use electronic, unmanned vehicle, and non-physical means to report on attacks in conflict zones, limiting the use of DHS law enforcement authorities as much as possible. To discourage violence against federal authorities, those documented in attack federal facilities must be identified and federal criminal charges processed in a court facility outside of the conflict zone.
  5. DHS must recognize that law gives them authority over the federal facilities, not the streets of their host cities. DHS law enforcement authorities must be fully briefed, with documented briefing on non-classified materials available for Congressional oversight, on their authorities and limitations of authority under law. This training must also clearly document education on law enforcement processes, Constitutional protections, Miranda rights documentation, and support law enforcement standard practices.
  6. DHS and U.S. Government must assess effective use of 40 U.S. Code § 1315 in coordination with local/state law enforcement agencies. The U.S. Government must define a clear “perimeter” of federal facilities for movement and action by U.S. Government law enforcement. DHS must assess and document a clear “perimeter management” process to reduce U.S. Government law enforcement going outside authorized law in protecting federal buildings
  7. DHS needs to identify vehicles with DHS Law Enforcement insignia, operating on behalf the DHS Federal Protective Service (FPS), with DHS FPS logos.
  8. DHS needs to identify individual law enforcement personnel with DHS Law Enforcement insignia, operating on behalf the DHS Federal Protective Service (FPS), with DHS FPS logos.
  9. DHS should provide unique identifying badge numbers on a database controlled specifically by the DHS FPS at the highest security classification. Given the ground circumstances of Anarchist extremist insurrectionists seeking to threaten the homes and familes of DHS law enforcement, their actual names should not be on their badges for their safety. But a unique identifying number documented in a federal database is necessary to track and monitor DHS personnel actions, and hold them accountable for their use of force.
  10. The U.S. Government and DHS need to listen to local / state government authorities and law enforcement authorities and remove any members of the DHS FPS accused of abuse of authority from conflict zone law enforcement team, while an investigation into the accusations is conducted.
  11. The U.S. Government and DHS must document and address clear and definable metrics for local and state government authority and law enforcement coordination regarding safety and law enforcement activities on federal facilities and personnel. It must be understood that de-escalation is not equivalent to abanadonment of federal government facilities, federal government personnel, and protections for the general public. Federal, local, state authorities must have agreed to metrics, or if agreement cannot be reached, federal authorities define metrics on public safety of federal personnel and facilities.
  12. The U.S. Government must designate to local and state government authority and law enforcement that division of roles in federalism does abrogate the responsibility of the U.S. Federal Government under 10 U.S. Code § 253 (Interference with State and Federal law) and 18 U.S. Code § 2383 (Rebellion or insurrection). The priority of coordination with local and state authorities are to prevent conflict zones from escalation to a point where such extreme measures are necessary for public security.

II. Background:

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) has posted this message to specifically address the issues in Portland, Oregon among large-scale protests, which have targeted federal facilities. R.E.A.L. has long called for the U.S. federal government to protect the public, and of course, federal workers, from attacks by armed individuals who defy shared law and our universal human right of public security, using FORCE as their voice.

As R.E.A.L. has many times reported, R.E.A.L. rejects the forces of violence and urges the public and our authorities to use nonviolence. Beginning in January 2016, R.E.A.L. reported during the “Sovereign Citizens” Extremists (SCE) group takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon federal refuge, R.E.A.L. urged the U.S. Federal Government to protect the public. The mishandling of this violent attack on law and public security nearly resulted in the deaths of many, with armed figures allowed to takeover federal government facilities, and then to use such facilities as a base to threaten the local public, courts, media, and schools. The SCE, led by Ammon Bundy, then sought to expand their violent takeover to other communities and parts of Oregon. It is nothing short of a miracle that there were not more deaths. The F.B.I. used what was left of its “law enforcement” authority to use F.B.I. intelligence informants to infiltrate the SCE group in Malheur, and give the extremists gun training, at an area of the refuge converted into a shooting range. The result of this disastrous handling of Malheur by its end on February 11, 2016, was that one of the extremists ultimately was killed in a shootout, and criminal charges were essentially dismissed for all of the SCE defendants in court. In simple words, it was a disaster.

But in 2020, the U.S. faces a totally different problem, with legitimate protests on human rights of black Americans as a result of public outrage over police abuse. Anarchist extremist infiltration in such protests that have stretched across the U.S. for nearly two months now has a much more serious and dangerous threat to shared human rights of public security and life. Instead of just one area of public conflict, the U.S. now faces areas in numerous areas of the country, with some extremist seeking only insurrection, not protests regarding human rights and change in public and law enforcement policy.

So four years later, in 2020, as Anarchist extremists infiltrate and corrupt protests on human rights for black Americans, it is no surprise that the FBI has not been brough back into this problem for yet another disastrous approach in handling. But a focus on using the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Federal Protection Service (FPS) authorities has brought new problems.

DHS is using authority granted under the Homeland Security Act of 2002, specifically, as codified in the U.S. Code, at 40 U.S. Code § 1315, “Law enforcement authority of Secretary of Homeland Security for protection of public property.” This gives authority for the epartment of Homeland Security (DHS) Federal Protection Service (FPS). But the DHS FPS was only designated as a small contingency of mostly “security guard” level staff to protect federal buildings, with a handful of individuals per building. The DHS FPS was never designed or resourced to handle massive crowd threats of hundreds, even thousands of individuals.

There is significant political partisan discussion around this implemenation of 40 U.S. Code § 1315, but very little focused on law enforcement and human rights. In fact, the overwhelming number of commenters don’t even seem to acknowledge that this 18-year-old law even exists, and believes that the DHS law enforcement activity is a politically invented creation of the current administration.

R.E.A.L. is not a political partisan organization, and will not address the political debate. But there are real law enforcement and human rights issues that do need to be addressed outside of the political shout fest.

Given that DHS has limited resources under FPS, it has recruited from law enforcement in other DHS components including DHS Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel. These pick-up merger of resources from diverse DHS agencies have not worked together as a team, do not have history in team organization roles and responsibilities, and does not have documented in-place processes to deal with urban crowds involving violence and riots. Predictably mistakes will be made, even if these DHS components are also working with a (relatively small) Department of Justice U.S. Marshals Service (USMS).

The implementation of the DHS “law enforcement” team to deal with crowd crisis aggressively attacking Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Oregon has posed a specific and urgent issue for law enforcement and human rights individuals to offer guidance to de-escalate growing violence, abuse against public security, and abuse against human rights.

While Portland authorities will pretend this is only a federal problem, the reality is that the Portland Police and law enforcement has long had a problem in managing Anarchist insurrectionists infiltrated or taking the guise of “protest” issues to legitimize acts of violence and destruction. This is not a problem that began in May 2020, nor did it begin with the COVID-19 Coronavirus; this has been a problem for Portland literally for years, with a growing number of Anarchist organizations demonstrating with weapons, including automatic rifles in some parts of the nation. Portland has been a regular target for gang violence between Anarchist insurrectionists and white nationalist extremists. For too many years, the Portland Police have been directed to limit their involvement, while video after video after video has shown these violent gangs beating and fighting one another in the street – with NO Portland Police action.

The growing contempt towards public security, shared law, and law and order in Portland, Oregon has been the problem of YEARS of neglect, years of failure of local leaders to discourage and refocus frustration into positive, nonviolent methods of protests, and years of criminal literally finding that they can regularly commit violent crime without consequences. In Portland, this was a dire problem for years before the current U.S. administration came to office in January 2017. Those among the political partisans who seek to believe these problem suddenly appeared in January 2017 have simply decided to ignore facts and history.

As R.E.A.L. has previously documented, the U.S. has a history of over a century of Anarchist extremism and terrorism. Acts of violent anarchism has frequently affected the lives of Americans in terms of public security. In the late 20th century, the Anarchist Black Bloc movements sought to reinvent their identify leveraging the European “Antifa” identity. But despite the new title, the Anarchist Black Bloc violence and goals for insurrection (NOT human rights) have never changed.

So looking at Anarchist insurrectionism as simply another “law enforcement” problem with “protests” ignores what the actual problem is. There may be protesters, and there may be protesters with legitimate human rights causes. But the Anarchist insurrectionist that infiltrate those human rights protests have a completely different agenda, which is more in line with the Soveriegn Citizen Extremist (SCE) separatists, than any human rights cause.

In the current case of Portland conflict, the attacks on the Hatfield United States Courthouse and other federal buildings listed by the Acting DHS Secretary from May 31 to July 15, 2020 demonstrated 91 attacks in 26 days. This is not a problem with “unruly protests.” This is a focused effort by Anarchist insurrectionists.

We do not “protest” for “human rights” with sledgehammers, explosives, metal piples, metal baseball bats. This is not a human right protest, but the actions and tactics of violent insurrectionists. Magnified by the historical inability of Portland law enforcement to manage this local problem, the Anarchist insurrectionists have sought to intice U.S. law enforcement into overreaction to gain further rationalization for rejection of equality under law. The Anarchist insurrectionist goal is not change for human rights, but violent revolution and insurrection, which is a problem most law enforcement organizations are not prepared to address, let alone the DHS FPS, even with some additional resoruces from ICE and CBP.

As documented in detail in recommendations above, R.E.A.L. urges all parties to find a specific and clear path of de-escalation from violence.

It is essential that the U.S. Government and DHS work on a process to de-escalate conflict zones and find method and metrics of agreement with local and state government authorities to reduce the probability of conflict escalating to a point of extreme measures, which will undermine both public security and human rights.

Black Equality Matters Because All Equality Matters

Black Equality Matters, because without equality for all people in a society, we have abandoned the universal human rights, which are the foundation for shared law and democracy.  Such global commitment to equality is a bedrock of the December 10, 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) Article 1: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”

There has been a great deal of focus on abuses and rightful anger and dismay, and calling for changes in addressing abuses. But along the way, we must not lose sight of the real message, which is not only lives, access, economics, but the protection and responsibility of Equality. That is the real goal we must all continue to stay focused on – to prevent rogues who seek to use moments calling for change to divide and undermine our real objectives – into paths for privilege and resentment.

In 2013, public frustrations over deaths of black Americans while involved with police activity spilled out into social media. The frustration was described as the Twitter hashtag “#BlackLivesMatter.” If the life (also part of the UDHR – Article 3) of any group is considered as expendable , our protections for equality are not being met.  Through 2013 through much of 2015, the debate was ongoing in the United States of America (USA) over the “Black Lives Matter” issue with police, and the issues of police violence and concerns about racial systemic violence.

Many fair-minded individuals like to believe that the USA has become “color blind,” when history and facts would tell us that this remains an ongoing “work in progress.” There has been, and R.E.A.L. has been a part of the efforts to make dramatic change in USA society, from racial desegregation, legal protection of rights from abuses, and a longer, more protracted societal effort to bridge the gaps of past divisions and even hatred among some.

Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863 was only 157 years ago.  Yes “only.”  In history, 157 years is actually a very short span of time.  Singer Tony Bennett is 93 years old.  Ringo Starr is 80 years old. Their grandfathers or great-grandfathers may have lived during a time before the Emancipation Proclamation.  While the final implementation of this Emancipation was implemented on June 19, 1865, the reality is that decision was made on January 1. It was a SHARED decision on January 1.  The goal of the Emancipation Proclamation was not only end the crime of slavery, but also to set a milestone in the USA in commitment to EQUALITY.

So yes, in merely 157 years, the USA will continue to have problems in equality, including but not only equality for black Americans.  When we work together for equality, we are working together on a historic path that our nation decided, hundreds of thousands gave their lives as martyrs, and which is the true legacy that the people in the USA must seek as Americans.

In the growth to overthrow the trappings of inequality, law enforcement has been a focus of many protests.  But that is only because it is the most visible.  Quiet inequality that seeks to deny, undermine, and oppress others exist in many areas of USA life. R.E.A.L. has seen this too often and too frequently first hand.  While working for the Department of Justice in a new legal system in 1982, I distinctly recall the shock I had in seeing a crime posted in a U.S. southern state law enforcement system “rape of white woman.” I immediately acted and had this changed.  But the idea that a law enforcement organization in 1982 saw nothing wrong with this, over 120 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, shows there was and has been system legal problems.

What is often forgotten is that thousands upon thousands, millions, of American people have worked tirelessly to CHANGE such inequalities in the legal and justice system.  The fraction of abusers are the ones who get all of the attention and the endless efforts by millions in the law enforcement and legal system over the years, to ensure Equality Under Law, is ignored.

There is no question that there are factual problems in racial disparity in parts of law enforcement and parts of USA society.  But those are parts, not the entire USA nation, not every person, not every police officer, not every organization, not every business, not every government organization.  

There is a very big difference between the “#BlackLivesMatter” hashtag on Twitter began in 2013 to stand in solidarity with those rejecting those instances of abuse and racial disparity and the official Black Lives Matter Network organization, with a number of leaders promoting Marxism, anti-capitalism, and other values.  The BLM Network and some of those involved in some protests have conflated the issue of law enforcement reform and justice with an anarchistic goal to overtake, undermine, and overthrow the institutions in the USA.  These are very different objectives.

It is also obvious that Anarchist and Communist disruptors have sought to latch onto BLM protests to further their divisive campaign against law, democracy, and human rights, as their only real goal is to disrupt – to leverage conflicts for insurrection. To those legitimately concerned about the core mission of law enforcement reform that was the nexus of the initial BLM hashtag protests, you have an obligation to chase away saboteurs of your demonstrations.  

That’s right. CHASE them away. Make it clear they are not speaking for you.  And CHASE away the advocates of violence and “violent revolution.”  Make it clear they are not speaking for you either. It is very common for the Anarchist and Communist to find any discontent to use for disruption. R.E.A.L. recalls an event we had in challenging Iran on a scheduled stoning of a woman, where Communist disruptors showed up.  What did we do?  We chased them away.  This is what you HAVE to do.  They are not your allies. They are not there to help you. They are not advocates for equality. Their only goal is disruption to aid them in keeping us from reaching actual progress, and advocates for violence are there to satiate their hate and lust for violence against their fellow human beings.

If you cannot CHASE the Anarchist, Communist, and advocates for violence away, then follow Dr. Martin King, Jr.’s example and lead with your feet.  WALK AWAY.  Do not let your legitimate issue get hijacked by disruptors and criminals.  Manage your message.

To those being swayed by the Anarchist, Communist, and Violence advocates, the facts remain that the USA is and has made very significant changes on EQUALITY through our history.  The change in equality may not work at the speed and pace that we want.  But we can continue to get it to work. A key factor is to stop taking steps backwards, by allowing advocates of violence, hate, and insurrection to manage the message for equality, because they are NOT equality advocates.

The reality is, and Thank God for it, you do not live in the USA of my childhood, or even the USA where I was a young man. You simply do not. It is a fact.  You do not have to be assaulted with signs that designate only certain racial clientele are allowed to go into restaurants, hotels, bars. You do not see the obscenity of separate drinking fountains and restrooms. The idea that your race decides your future has increasingly been a thing of the past, with people of all races leading major USA business, governments, law enforcement, and other leadership organizations.  This is absolutely NOT the USA of my childhood, with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. marching in the street for a basic Civil Rights Act. USA has gone from having black men protest in front of the White House to black men running the White House.  The USA has many, many serious problems in growing to meet its obligation of equal rights for all of its people.  But let us not deceive ourselves, the USA is NOT the nation where Lincoln had to fight for the Emancipation Proclamation, to end slavery, the USA is NOT the 1960s and 1970s.  

We must continue to find HOPE in the long campaign for equality, by remembering that progress has indeed been achieved. That progress has been achieved largely by changing hearts and minds. But it has always focused on EQUALITY… not on campaigns believing that one part of American people matter or are more deserving than another.

Because let us also be clear, there are advocates who do not want the American people to remember that progress has been made or that hope should exist.  There are advocates whose single goal is to promote violent revolution and to advocate violence against others, no matter what the cost, and no matter which innocents suffer, even children. These are not advocates for equality, and equality is the furthest thing from their mind. There are advocates for violence who are abusing the legitimate concerns of black lives threatened in instances of police abuse. There are advocates for violences whose only real goal is insurrection and power for themselves.  The only “rights” they are concerned about are those that help them profit in power.  Such rogues are a distraction in the long campaign for human equality.

The racist separatists and racial nationalists also seek to take advantage of USA division.  

For decades, people of conscience have worked to reject and denounce the anti-equality views of white nationalist and white supremacist movements, which themselves had come to realize that they represented minority, “dissident” movements. But which white racist movements have gained increasing influence in the past four years, in no small part, due to political activist media figures giving very small minor activities an outrageously overwhelming media coverage. As with all racist groups, it is the responsibility of people of conscience to challenge and protest them.  But political media have worked to link them with legitimate political ideologies, and give them undue credibility. One white nationalist group, Occidental Dissent, which R.E.A.L. has protested and sought to urge change has recently found mockery of equality in a recent commentary, stating: “As the evil oppressors of blacks, the only way to bring about true equality and to establish a just society is to treat White people differently than black people. White people have to be punished for their unwitting sins and the sins of their ancestors.” There is a finite voice promoting equality to challenge such confused vision of white nationalists, because the focus on EQUALITY itself is missing from much of today’s discussion and too much political activism, which focuses on positioning for power and influence, rather than an outstretched hand in genuine equality and compassion.

The National of Islam (NOI)’s Louis Farrakhan has long sought segregationist and black nationalist goals, with a call for black supremacism, with the belief that only black individuals are even actual human beings, and the people of other races are “grafted creatures” created by evil scientist Yakub. R.E.A.L. has regularly challenged the NOI and Louis Farrkhan on this. But how can we expect followers and advocates of this ideology to promote human rights, when they literally don’t recognize the existence of others as actual “human” beings?  Not all black nationalist groups are as visible and documented, but let us be clear, such segregationists and supremacists are not advocates for Equality.

Separatists and Nationalists have a lot in common.  

The main common cause is their REJECTION of Equality. They have no desire to be “equal” in a shared cohesive society. They seek to use conflicts and abusive circumstances to actually turn the public against the very idea of equality itself.

Equality is NOT the Zero-Sum Equality that the racial nationalists and separatists seek to promote. The deceivers want to convince you that division is necessary due to an imaginary lack. The deceivers want to mislead you to believe that the only way you can get a larger slice of the “pie,” is to take someone else’s “pie.” The deceivers want you to believe that equality can only exist when you oppress, and especially violente oppress others not like you.  These are the rogue arguments that have nothing to do with equality and nothing to do with reality. The only goal of these arguments are to divide and spread hate and violence.  The deceivers believe they can manipulate people to fight among themselves sufficiently, so that they can gain power of their own.  

The truth is that in our massive nation and massive global society there is room for everyone, especially there is room for everyone WORKING TOGETHER. We do not have to choose “gridlock” over racial equality. The economic justice that is also sought can be lifting all ships together with improved overall economic conditions, not by seeking to take from others. We can and have found a nation and world with generosity, kindness, mercy, and respect… when those are the values we seek – and we give back.

Equality is about PEOPLE power, not about Privilege, not about being told WHAT to think and WHAT to do.  As the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, written by people of all different ethnicities and races around the world, we have an innate right to “equality” simply because we are human beings.  We keep that state of equality through “reason and conscience” and by acting “towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”

In a cohesive society, that commitment to Equality requires both protection and responsibility. It is not enough only to expect Equality in protection under the law. We must also expect Equality in responsibility under the law. The deceivers, separatists, and insurrectionists want to convince us that we can have a society where law only protects the identity group that they manipulate. They want some to believe that they can have privilege to do what with want with impunity, a false form of equality under law, where there is no responsibility.  But that deception is not for the rational mind.  We must never forget that there are ethical mathematics as there are in practical mathematics.  Two wrongs never make a right.  As we know that such ethical mathematics are true, so we must also recognize that we can not have protection under law, without responsibility under law. It is two-tier justice that we already reject. Giving privilege a different label does not somehow make it equality.  

Equality is Equality.  For Everyone.  Equally.

Equality remains an ongoing work in progress, as we are all born free and equal in dignity and rights. Now the hard work is to build a society that continues to respect such universal human rights. There will always be rogues who seek to rationalize that equality is not a desirable goal. They will seek to claim that human equality is about an attack on financial systems, safety, or there will be those who seek to claim that human equality undermines their own view of supremacism in their identity group.  

Equality will ultimately not be denied.  Despite the fevered passions of the anti-equality advocates, seeking to draw up separatism, their own nations, and legalism to stop equality, the flood of human equality will continue to reach all shores.

The forces of violence, inequality, separatism, segregationism, and racial nationalism are advocates who seek to imitate failures from the past. Those in the past ultimately found these failures would not work. So it will be in the future.  As we must find a new path from the desolate night of violence, so we must also find a new path from the desert and wastelands of inequality, segregationism, and rational nationalism. The future of progress leads to advocates of nonviolence, equality, cohesion, dignity, and mercy. We can find our way to the future with an ethical compass of Equality, Mercy, Dignity, and Nonviolence.  The future waits for us to find the path of progress and hope by looking for values that will bring us together, not bitterly divide us apart.

Too many are focused on the voice of privilege and identity, but not on the concept of Equality For ALL. The scales must be balanced by our restraint, mercy, and empathy. We do not work to build the healing grasp of Equality in hearts and minds with an Upraised Fist, but rather we must offer an Outstretched Hand. That is how we build the trust for a new age. It has been done. It can be done. Let us find ways to build solidarity on the multitude of issues where our common needs outweigh our minor differences to find campaigners for our shared Vision of Equality.  The campaign for Equality will not lead itself. Equality needs drum-majors across the land. We need to find ways to be voices in Equality for the 21st century, when the voices of violence, inequality, and division believe they have won.  It is NOT too late.

“It is always the right time to do what is right.”

Let us also find creative ways to bring USA and our society together.

USA needs a moment of healing that can bring it together.  In addition to July 4th and June 19, perhaps the USA can refocus a common goal, using January 1 as a new U.S. national holiday. We have had a long celebration of New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. But let us also consider focusing on that rededicated January 1 – not only as New Year’s Day, but more importantly as “Equality Day,” and the birth of a new nation, where all people’s right to be equal as fellow human beings is remembered and revered.

Let us all be Responsible for Equality And Liberty.

Terrorism is an Attack on Human Rights of All

If we consistently recognized terrorism as an attack on our shared universal human rights, our campaigns against acts of terror and terrorist’s extremist ideology could have more productive priorities. In recognizing victims and demonizing terrorist criminals, the human rights argument is too quickly lost. Law enforcement, spying, and military solutions are not the only solutions to address terror.

We need a human rights-based approach to rejection of terrorist acts and anti-human rights extremist views; we must recognize such terrorist acts and ideologiesas an assault against the rights, dignity, and security of all fellow human beings.

Terrorism is an attack on ALL.

There are too many individuals who might passively agree with this, but fail to embrace this as a truth, based on our shared universal human rights. The most important campaign to challenge terror begins with recognizing that our fellow human beings truly deserve shared human rights, dignity, equality, pluralism, privacy, freedom of conscience, freedom of expression, religious freedom, and security, as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) – for every individual human being.

When we accept such universal human rights, the tribalist views that some anti-rights extremism is “necessary,” “worthy,” or “deserved,” loses all credibility. We cannot simply challenge terror ideologies and acts only by those who are different from us. We must challenge terror and the extremist views behind such terror from every identity group, nationality, political or religious claim, and ideology.

Rejecting terrorism is more than recognizing that “some people did something.” Combatting terrorism is more than law enforcement, military, and spy agencies taking action. To challenge terrorism, we must commit to a human rights-based approach that consistently challenges the specific ideologies and the acts of terrorism that assault our fellow human beings. We must campaign for our fellow human beings to reject such anti-human rights ideologies, and we must call to our fellow human beings to reject such hate and violence.

Hate and Violence are Not the Answer.

On April 16, 1963, the African-American human rights leader and pastor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. famously spoke of the common cause in rejecting injustice, written from the Birmingham, Alabama jail: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” The U.S.A. and the world miss the leadership of this great human rights martyr. But even in his death, nearly five years later on April 4, 1968, we were taught a lesson, as Dr. King was assassinated during a wave of political violence. Dr. King campaigned for nonviolence. The violence of political terror ended his life. It was a wake-up call for the American public to reject the terror of political violence. Generations of Americans still need to learn this lesson.

In the U.S.A., Americans rightly express sorrow, grief, and continued outrage at the mass-murder terrorism on 9/11/2001, and we continue to grieve for the victims and families of that attack. We also must recognize that the U.S.A. had been experiencing political violence terror attacks for a long time prior to the 9/11 attacks across the nation, including the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

We have seen and continue to see such terror attacks around the world. We must be consistent in our outrage, condemnation, and use of a human rights-based approach to challenging such terror acts and ideologies. Having given his life for nonviolence in human rights, surely we can learn from Dr. King’s sacrifice.

We need leadership that learns from Dr. King’s message.

A terrorist attack anywhere is a terror attack on our fellow human beings everywhere.

Let us START with this foundation.

Not just as words of compassion, but as real truth.

There is no “good” terrorism. There is no “acceptable” terrorism. There is no “deserving” terrorism. There is no “righteous” terrorism. None. Not anywhere. Not to anyone.

Historical fact shows this as truth.

Those who may have supported the acts of Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Taliban, Al-Shabab, Boko Haram, must also face the factual truth of how such terrorist extremism has been attack on all people, including many, many Muslims around the world.

Those who may have supported the acts of other religious extremists, who claimed rationale on their twisted views of Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, must also face the factual truth that such terrorist extremists are responsible for murder and crimes against others of their groups and fellow human beings.

Those who may have supported the acts of white supremacist and Nazi terror must also face the factual truth of how such terrorists have murdered white children, infants, women, elderly, and helpless individuals of every type.

Those who may have supported black nationalist terror must also face the factual truth of how such terrorists have murdered fellow black human beings, left their families with widows, and their children as orphans.

Those who may have supported the acts of Anarchist and Communist terror must also face the factual truth of how such terrorists have led to the death of innocent people, to the death and mutilitation of people of color, to those struggling in poverty, and those who were not the “enemies” they claimed justification for violence.

And the list goes on and on.

Let us uncategorically reject the concept that “terror” can be a force for “good” and for “justice.” Surely, we have seen enough death, destruction, and attacks on fellow human beings’ human rights and dignity to know this is wrong.

But a human rights approach needs more than simply knowing than terrorism is wrong. We need to build an approach to fighting terror among ALL OF US – where we recognize, without exception – that terror is an attack on ALL. Wrong is wrong.

It is natural to be repulsed and angered at terrorist criminals in destroying lives, homes, and property. But to seek lasting progress against terror, our commitment to human rights, equality, freedom, security, and privacy, requires that we prioritize developing a human rights-based approach to challenging terror.

NOT with an upraised fist, but with an outstretched hand.

This is most difficult part. Surely, we want our fellow human beings safe and criminals brought to justice. But law enforcement tactics are only the smallest step. We need to find common cause in universal human rights and pluralism to reject all ideologies of terror. Some regress to hate of those who gone down the dark path to extremist ideologies. But campaigns of hate do not move us one inch closer to stopping terrorism or the ideologies of terror. We need to offer a human rights-based alternative.

We would naturally want people to leave a life of crime, to abandon support for criminal gangs, to rejoin a public that depends on shared trust of one another. So we must also naturally call for those supporting extremist terror ideologies to leave a life that opposes our shared human rights, and join us in the family of human beings that respect such shared rights and dignity. This is the long-term work, the most difficult work, the real challenge to effectively addressing and campaigning against terror and political violence.

Our military, spy, law enforcement tactics do not do this long-term, substantive work; at best they are a short-term patch in an emergency situation. They are only short-term tactics, but too many have chosen to institutionalize these tactics against terror, rather than do the difficult strategic work to campaign for human rights change on terror. Even then, some of the military, spy, police tactics (when used against human rights) can be abused and can become counterproductive. It has become so common in some cases, that some in the public no longer bother to be outraged.

We will never end terror with tactics of torture, intrusive spying, undermining democracy, and ending free expression and debate. We must not give ideologies of terror a victory by abandoning the human rights we must use as a counterargument to terrorism’s extremism. We cannot expect short-term tactics to do the job of long-term strategy. We cannot abandon human rights and democratic values, in the misguided belief that “the ends justifies the means” will somehow keep our fellow human beings “safe.”

If we have learned anything on terror, we have learned there is no “safe harbor” from the extremist terror that lives in the minds of troubled individuals. There are not enough barriers, not enough security measures, not enough police, not enough military, not enough spies, to stop terror. When we abandon our human rights values in misguided belief we will then be “safe,” we only embolden and provide justification to extremist ideologies used to rationalize terrorism. We offer no justice by jackboot, and no public protection through police state tactics.

Dr. King taught that we cannot promote justice through injustice ourselves, and that we cannot end violence through violence ourselves. If he were alive, he would tell us also that we cannot end anti-human rights terrorism by anti-human rights tactics ourselves. Our world misses his public voice of conscience. But the private voice of our own conscience speaks to us in every one of our own lives and minds. We must listen to our conscience.

We know that anti-human rights tactics against terror can undermine credibility to challenge terrorism, when dependent on violence, abandonment of values, and corruption.

An outstretched hand is not an upraised fist. We don’t need to be told the direction that the upraised fist will continue to take our human societies. We have centuries and centuries of recorded history on the lessons of those tactics. Those promoting terrorism / political violence have sought to continue the tactics of the upraised fist.

We have seen the upraised fist on the 9/11 terror attacks. We have seen the upraised fist in terror attacks around the world by extremists. We have seen the upraised fist in the terror of political violence in streets and assassinations of leaders around the world, even of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Yet the disgrace of the upraised fist still does not shame and embarrass many anger activists, whose fevered illusions have rationalized that “this time” the violence against our fellow human beings will somehow be justified, and that “this time” such “ends justifies the means.” We know that there is no call to the “ends justifies the means” in our Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in the laws of democratic nations, and in the conscience of human beings who seek equality and dignity for one another.

We also have painful history of corrupted organizations, who believed that they could challenge terror by becoming like the terrorists themselves, by believing that they were “above the law,” We have sadly seen those that believed they had the power and mandate to attack the human rights of those they designated as “enemies” at their whim. And where does this lead us? Where does this end? To those blinded by power over others, in the interests of “security,” where is the ability to know when they have gone “too far”? To those blinded by a cause that the “ends justifies the means,” the only ones they are deceiving are themselves. Those individuals, organizations, and institutions committed to universal human rights understand the most basic ethical mathematics that wrong is wrong. Two wrongs never equal a “right.”

When we allow ourselves to segment into tribal and identity groups on terrorism, we are consciously blinded to understanding the global problem of terror. Much of the major news media no longer reports on global terror as a problem, especially when the terror takes place in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria, Somalia, etc. Imagine if the Western news media had a level of outrage regarding mass murder of fellow human beings in such nations, that it reserves only for fevered political debate or the latest comment by a celebrity figure. Terrorism is wrong regardless of your race, nationality, religion, ethnicity, or ethnic group.

In 2018, the Taliban terror group was responsible for 1,751 civilian casualties in 2018 in Afghanistan, according to a February 24, 2019 report by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). The tens of thousands of Afghanistan civilians, overwhelmingly fellow Muslims, slaughtered by the Taliban over the past 10-20 years should stagger the conscience of the world. Yet the Western media continue to refer to such Taliban terrorists as “militants,” and bipartisan political figures seek to gain their favor, without a commitment on our shared universal human rights. Challenge to terror groups and ideologies must begin with a human rights-based called for change.

But less than a year before this report (during 2018), we learned of a U.S. law enforcement organization funding an advocate of the Taliban terror group. In the Federal U.S. District Court in Orlando, Florida, on March 26, 2018, the FBI testified in federal court about one of their paid informants, Mr. Seddique Mateen (Case 6:17-cr-00018-PGB-KRS). FBI Special Agent Juvenal Martin testified in federal court that Mr. Mateen was a paid FBI informant for 11 years; Mr. Mateen was also an active and aggressive promoter of the Taliban terror group, internationally promoting videos in support of the Afghanistan Taliban terrorists, who he considered his “warrior brothers.” Mr. Mateen’s activities and his role as a paid FBI informant became publicly known in court, as a result of ongoing public investigations related to his son, Omar Mateen. On June 12, 2016, Omar Mateen led an ISIS-inspired terror attack on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 and injuring 53 Americans. During the March 2018 Orlando federal court proceedings, we also learned that the FBI sought to recruit Omar Mateen as a paid informant.

No one was fired. No one was criticized. No one was held accountable. The story was buried in the U.S. media, and outside of Orlando, most Americans never heard about it. It may be troubling to discover many might not care, and too many don’t see anything wrong with this.

The “ends justifies the means” simply does not work in long-term efforts to challenge terrorism. The path towards the “ends justifies the means” ultimately becomes the path of regret and disgrace.

Double standards are no standards.

We cannot effectively challenge terrorism and the ideological extremism behind terrorism without consistent human rights-based standards.

Only a human-rights based strategy to challenging terrorism can support the consistent values that we need that “A terrorist attack anywhere is a terror attack on our fellow human beings everywhere.”

As Dr. King stated, “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

The world has invested endless billions and billions of dollars and effort into the military, spy, and law enforcement tactics to counter terrorism.

It is time to make a new national and international commitment to finding shared universal human rights standards of common ground, consistency, and credibility for fellow human beings to challenge the ideologies and the acts of terrorism, which are attacks on all of us.

恐怖主义是对所有人的人权的攻击

恐怖主义是对所有人的人权的攻击

If we consistently recognize that terrorism is an attack on our common universal human rights, then our campaign against terrorist acts and terrorist extremist ideology can have more effective priorities.

和妖魔化恐怖主义罪犯时,人权论点太快失去了。执法,间谍和军事解决方案并不是解决恐怖问题的唯一解决方案。

我们需要以人权为基础的方法来拒绝恐怖主义行为和反人权极端主义观点;我们必须承认这种恐怖主义行为和意识形态是对所有人类的权利,尊严和安全的攻击。

恐怖主义是对所有人的攻击。

有太多的个体可能被动地同意这一点,但未能将此视为真理,基于我们共同的普遍人权。挑战恐怖主义的最重要运动始于承认我们的人类同胞真正应该享有共同的人权,尊

Equality, pluralism, privacy, freedom of conscience, freedom of speech, freedom of religion and security, as defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Human Rights (UDHR) – for everyone.

When we accept this universal human right, tribalists believe that some anti-enforcement extremism is “necessary”, “valuable” or “deserved” and loses all credibility.

人挑战恐怖主义意识形态和行为。我们必须从每一个身份群体,国籍,政治或宗教主张以及意识形态中挑战恐怖主义和这种恐怖背后的极端主义观点。

拒绝恐怖主义不仅仅是承认“有些人做了某件事”。打击恐怖主义不仅仅是执法,军事和间谍机构采取行动。为了挑战恐怖主义,我们必须致力于以人权为基础的方法,始终

挑战侵犯我们人类同胞的具体意识形态和恐怖主义行为。我们必须支持我们的人类同胞拒绝这种反人权的意识形态,我们必须呼吁我们的人类同胞拒绝这种仇恨和暴力。
仇恨和暴力不是答案。

On April 16, 1963, African-American human rights leader and pastor Dr. Martin Luther King issued a common reason for rejecting injustice at Birmingham Prison, Alabama: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice.”

The country and the world have missed the leadership of this great human rights martyr. But even after his death, five years later, on April 4, 1968, we still learned the lesson. Dr. King was assassinated.

受害者,即使他为非暴力运动而竞选。政治恐怖的暴力终结了他的生命。美国必须记住政治暴力的恐怖,这是一个警钟。几代美国人仍然需要学习这个课。

In the United States, Americans expressed sadness, sorrow and continued indignation at the Holocaust terrorism that took place on September 11, 2001. We continue to feel sorry for the victims and families of this attack.

9月11日袭击该国各地,包括谋杀马丁路德金博士之前,美国长期遭受政治暴力的恐怖主义袭击。

我们已经看到并继续在全世界看到这种恐怖袭击。我们必须采用基于人权的方法来挑战这一恐怖主义行为和意识形态。我们可以向金博士的牺牲中学习。

任何地方的恐怖袭击都是对各地人类的恐怖袭击。

让我们从这个基础开始吧。

这不仅仅是同情,而是事实。

没有“好”的恐怖主义。没有“可接受的”恐怖主义。没有“值得”的恐怖主义。恐怖主义没有“正义”。不,不是任何人都不是。

历史事实表明,这是事实。

那些可能支持基地组织,伊斯兰国,塔利班,青年党和博科圣地的人也必须面对这样一个事实:这种恐怖主义极端主义如何袭击每一个人,包括世界各地的许多穆斯林。

那些可能支持其他宗教极端分子行为的人声称他们有理由歪曲基督教,印度教,佛教和犹太教的观点。他们必须面对这样的事实,即这些恐怖分子甚至杀害了这些信仰的成员。

那些可能支持白人至上主义者和纳粹恐怖主义行为的人也必须面对这样一个事实,即这些恐怖主义分子谋杀了白人儿童,婴儿,妇女,老人和无助的人。

那些可能支持黑人民族主义恐怖主义的人也必须面对这样一个事实:这些恐怖分子谋杀黑人同胞,让他们的家人失去寡妇,并将他们的孩子视为孤儿。

那些可能支持无政府主义和共产主义恐怖主义行为的人也必须面对这样一个事实,即这些恐怖主义分子导致了无辜人民的死亡,有色人种的死亡和残疾,以及那些在贫困中挣扎的人们。

名单仍在继续。

让我们拒绝这样一种观念,即“恐怖”可以是一种没有分类的“好”和“正义”力量。当然,我们已经看到足够的死亡来摧毁和攻击我们同胞的人权和尊严,以便知道这是错误的。

但是,人权方法不仅要求了解恐怖主义。我们需要建立一种利用人权来打击恐怖的方法。我们毫无例外地认识到恐怖是对每个人的攻击。错了是错的。

对摧毁生命,房屋和财产的恐怖主义罪犯生气是很自然的。但要实现反恐进程,我们必须真正致力于人权,平等,自由,安全和隐私。这要求我们优先采用基于人权的方法来挑战恐怖主义。

我们的方法必须使用伸出的手而不是举起拳头。

这是最难的部分。当然,我们希望我们的人类安全并将罪犯绳之以法。但执法策略只是最小的一步。我们需要找到普遍人权和多元化的共同原因来拒绝所有恐怖主义意识形态。有些人讨厌那些走上极端主义意识形态黑暗道路的人。但仇恨运动并没有让我们更接近恐怖主义或恐怖主义意识形态。我们需要提供基于人权的替代方案。

我们自然希望人们离开罪恶的生活,放弃对犯罪团伙的支持,并重新加入依赖互信的公众。因此,我们还必须自然地呼吁那些支持极端主义恐怖主义意识形态的人将生命置于我们共同的人权之外,并加入尊重这一共同权利和尊严的人类大家庭。这是一项长期工作,最艰巨的任务,也是有效解决和打击恐怖主义和政治暴力的真正挑战。

我们的军事,间谍和执法战略不做这项长期的实质性工作;在紧急情况下,他们充其量只是一个短期补丁。它们只是短期战术,但是太多人选择将这些战术制度化,反对恐怖主义,而不是做出艰苦的战略工作来促进改变恐怖主义的人权。即便如此,一些军事,间谍和警察战略(反对人权)可能会被滥用,并可能适得其反。

We will never end terrorism by torture, intrusive, undermining democracy, ending the freedom of expression and the strategy of debate. We must not renounce the human rights that we must use to combat terrorist extremism. We may not believe that the corrupt means will really make our fellow human beings “safe.”

如果我们从恐怖中学到任何东西,我们就会发现生活在陷入困境的人心中的极端恐怖主义没有“安全港”。没有足够的障碍,没有足够的安全措施,没有足够的警察,没有足够的部队,没有足够的间谍来制止恐怖主义。当我们以误导的信念放弃我们的人权价值观时,认为我们是“安全的”,我们只鼓励和证明用于使恐怖主义合理化的极端主义意识形态。我们没有通过靴子提供正义,也没有通过警察国家战术提供公共保护。

金博士教导说,我们不能通过不公正来促进正义,我们也不能通过暴力来结束暴力。如果他还活着,他还会告诉我们,我们不能通过反人权战术来结束反人权恐怖主义。我们的世界错过了金博士作为公众良心的声音。但是,我们私下的良心声音在我们自己的生活和思想中向我们说话。我们必须听取我们的良心。

我们知道,反对恐怖主义的反人权战术可能会破坏在依赖暴力,放弃价值观和腐败时挑战恐怖主义的可信性。

伸出的手不是凸起的拳头。我们知道暴力的过程。在这些战术的教训中,我们有几个世纪和几个世纪的历史。那些宣传恐怖主义/政治暴力的人正试图继续采取提高拳头的策略。

We saw the rising fist of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. We have seen extremists raise their fists in terrorist attacks around the world. We have seen the horrors of street political violence and the assassination of leaders around the world, even of Dr. Martin Luther King. However, the shame of raising a fist still does not make many angry activists feel ashamed and embarrassed. The fanatical fantasy has rationalized the “this time” violence against human compatriots to a certain extent. We know that in our “World Declaration of Human Rights”, the laws of democratic countries and the conscience of mankind, we seek equality and dignity, and there is no place to use the means of corruption.

我们也有腐败组织的痛苦历史。他们相信他们可以通过自己变得像恐怖分子一样挑战恐怖,相信他们“超越法律”,我们很遗憾地看到那些相信他们有权力和任务攻击他们的人,因为他们希望成为“敌人”。这对我们有什么影响?对于那些被别人的力量蒙蔽的人,为了“安全”的利益,知道何时“走得太远”的能力在哪里?对于那些被腐败策略蒙蔽的人来说,他们唯一欺骗的就是他们自己。致力于普遍人权的个人,组织和机构理解两个错误永远不等于“正确”。

When we allow ourselves to be divided into tribal and identity groups of terrorism, we consciously do not understand the global horror problem. Many major news media no longer report global terrorism, especially when terrorists occur in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Somalia. They did not report the persecution of people in China and other parts of the world. Terrorism is wrong regardless of your race, nationality, religion, race or ethnicity.

根据联合国阿富汗援助团(联阿援助团)2019年2月24日的报告,2018年,塔利班恐怖主义组织在2018年在阿富汗造成1,751名平民伤亡。在过去10至20年间,数千名阿富汗平民被阿富汗杀害。塔利班,大多是穆斯林同胞。被塔利班杀害的穆斯林人数应该错开世界的良知。然而,西方媒体继续称这些塔利班恐怖分子为“武装分子”,而政治家则寻求获得他们的支持而不承诺我们共同的普遍人权。对恐怖主义组织和意识形态的挑战必须始于以人权为基础的变革呼吁。

But less than a year before this report (2018), we learned that US law enforcement agencies have funded supporters of the Taliban terrorist organization. On March 26, 2018, in the US District Court for the District of Orlando, Florida, the Federal Bureau of Investigation testified in the federal court that it paid a supporter of the Taliban, Seddique Mateen (Case 6: 17-cr-00018-PGB) ) -KRS). The FBI testified in the federal court that Mr. Mateen has been a informant for the FBI for 11 years; Mr. Martin is also an active promoter of the Taliban terrorist organization, who promoted international videos supporting Taliban terrorists in Afghanistan, which he considers to be his “Warrior Brothers.” Due to a public investigation related to his son Omar Mateen, Mr. Mateen’s activities and his role as a paid FBI informant were announced in court. On June 12, 2016, his son Omar Mateen made an ISIS-inspired terrorist attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people and injuring 53 Americans. During the Orlando Court in March 2018, we also learned that the FBI tried to recruit Omar Mateen as a paying user.

没有人被解雇。没有人受到批评。没有人被追究责任。这个故事被埋葬在美国媒体中,在奥兰多之外,大多数美国人从未听说过。已经发现许多人可能不在乎,这可能令人不安,而且有太多人认为没有错误。

腐败行为在挑战恐怖主义方面没有取得长期成功。

双重标准不是标准。

如果没有一贯的基于人权的标准,我们就无法有效地挑战恐怖主义和恐怖主义背后的意识形态极端主义。

只有以人权为基础的挑战恐怖主义的战略才能支持我们所需的一贯价值观。 “任何地方的恐怖袭击都是对各地人类的恐怖袭击。”

正如金博士所说,“我们陷入了与命运息息相关的不可避免的关系网络中。无论直接影响什么,它都会间接影响每个人。“

世界已投入数十亿美元用于打击恐怖主义的军事,间谍和执法战术。现在是时候作出新的国家和国际承诺,找到具有共同基础,一致性和可信度的共同普遍人权标准,以便我们的同胞挑战攻击我们所有人的意识形态和恐怖主义行为。

دہشت گردی کا سب سے انسانی حقوق پر حملہ

ایک دہشت گرد حملے کہیں بھی ہمارے ساتھی انسانوں پر دہشت گردی کا حملہ ہر جگہ ہے.

دہشت گردی کا سب سے انسانی حقوق پر حملہ

اگر ہم دہشت گردی کو اپنے مشترکہ عالمگیر انسانی حقوق پر حملے کے طور پر تسلیم کرتے ہیں تو دہشت گردی اور دہشت گردانہ نظریات کی کارروائیوں کے خلاف ہماری مہمات زیادہ پیداواری ترجیحات کا باعث بن سکتی ہیں ۔ متاثرین اور ڈھونڈتے دہشت گردی کے مجرموں کو تسلیم کرنے میں انسانی حقوق کی دلیل تیزی سے کھو گئی ہے ۔ قانون نافذ کرنے والے ، جاسوسی اور فوجی حل دہشت گردی کا حل کرنے کا واحد حل نہیں ہیں ۔

ہمیں ایک انسانی حقوق پر مبنی اندازِ فکر دہشت گردانہ کارروائیوں اور انسانی حقوق کے مخالف انتہاپسند خیالات کو مسترد کرنے کی ضرورت ہے ۔ ہمیں اس طرح کی دہشت گردانہ کارروائیوں کو تسلیم کرنا چاہیے اور تمام انسانوں کے حقوق ، وقار اور سلامتی کے خلاف ادیولوگیساس پر حملہ کرنا چاہیے ۔

دہشت گردی سب پر حملہ ہے ۔

دہشت گردی کو چیلنج کرنے کے لئے سب سے اہم مہم اس بات کو تسلیم کرنا ہے کہ ہمارے ساتھی انسانی حقوق ، وقار ، مساوات ، کثرتیت ، رازداری ، ضمیر کی آزادی ، اظہار کی آزادی ، مذہبی آزادی اور سلامتی ۔ انسانی حقوق کا آفاقی منشور سب کیلئے ہے ۔

جب ہم اس آفاقی انسانی حقوق کو قبول کرتے ہیں تو دہشت گردی قابل قبول نہیں ہو سکتی ۔ ہمیں دہشت گردی کے نظریے اور سب کے اعمال پر چیلنج کرنا ہے ۔ ہمیں اس طرح کی دہشت گردی کے پیچھے تمام شناختی گروہوں ، قومیت ، سیاسی یا مذہبی دعووں اور نظریات میں دہشت گردی اور انتہاپسند خیالات کو چیلنج کرنا چاہیے ۔

دہشت گردی کو مسترد کرنا اس حقیقت کو قبول کرنے سے کہیں زیادہ ہے کہ “کچھ لوگ کچھ اعمال کرتے تھے” ۔ دہشت گردی کی مسترد قانون نافذ کرنے والے ، فوجی اور جاسوسی ایجنسیوں سے زیادہ کارروائی کر رہی ہے ۔ دہشت گردی کو چیلنج کرنے کے لیے ہمیں ایک انسانی حقوق پر مبنی اندازِ فکر کا ارتکاب کرنا چاہیے جو مسلسل نظریے اور دہشت گردی کے اقدامات پر چیلنج کر رہا ہے ۔ ہمیں اپنے ساتھی انسانوں کے لئے مہم جوئی کرنی چاہئے اور انسانی حقوق کے نظریات کو مسترد کرنے اور ہمیں اپنے ساتھی انسانوں کو اس طرح کی نفرت اور تشدد کو مسترد کرنے کی ضرورت ہے ۔

نفرت اور تشدد کو مسترد کرنا چاہیے ۔

16 اپریل 1963 کو افریقی نژاد امریکی انسانی حقوق کے رہنما اور پادری ڈاکٹر مارٹن لوتھر کنگ جونیئر مشہور نے اس بات کا ذکر کیا کہ وہ ناانصافی کو مسترد کرنے کی عام وجہ سے ، جو برمنگھم ، Alabama جیل سے لکھی گئی تھی ، کو ہر جگہ انصاف کرنے کا خطرہ بھی ہے ۔ امریکہ اور دنیا نے اس عظیم انسانی حقوق کے شہید ہونے کی قیادت کو یاد کیا ۔ لیکن یہاں تک کہ اس کی موت میں تقریبا پانچ سال بعد اپریل 4 ، 1968 ، ہم ایک سبق سکھایا گیا تھا ، کیونکہ ڈاکٹر بادشاہ سیاسی تشدد کی لہر کے دوران قتل کیا گیا تھا. ڈاکٹر کنگ مہم عدم تشدد کے لئے. سیاسی دہشت گردی کی تشدد سے ان کی زندگی ختم ہو گئی ۔ یہ امریکی عوام کو سیاسی تشدد کی دہشت گردی کو مسترد کرنے کے لئے ایک جاگ اپ کال تھی. امریکیوں کی نسلوں کو اب بھی اس سبق کو سیکھنے کی ضرورت ہے.

امریکہ میں ، امریکیوں نے 9/11/2001 پر بڑے پیمانے پر قتل کی دہشت گردی میں غم ، غم ، اور مسلسل غم و غصہ کا اظہار کیا ، اور ہم اس حملے کے متاثرین اور خاندانوں کے لئے غمگین ہوتے ہیں. ہمیں یہ بھی تسلیم کرنا چاہئے کہ امریکہ نے ملک بھر میں 9/11 حملوں سے قبل ایک طویل عرصے تک سیاسی تشدد کے دہشت گردانہ حملوں کا سامنا کیا تھا ، بشمول ڈاکٹر مارٹن لوتھر کنگ جونیئر.

ہم نے دیکھا اور دنیا بھر میں اس طرح کے دہشت گردانہ حملوں کو دیکھنے کے لئے جاری ہے. ہمیں اس طرح کے دہشت گردی اور نظریات کو چیلنج کرنے کے لیے اپنے غصے ، مذمت ، اور انسانی حقوق پر مبنی اندازِ فکر کا استعمال کرنا چاہیے ۔ انسانی حقوق میں عدم تشدد کے لئے اپنی جان دی گئی ہے ، یقینا ہم ڈاکٹر بادشاہ کی قربانی سے سیکھ سکتے ہیں.

ہمیں ایسی قیادت کی ضرورت ہے جو ڈاکٹر کنگ کے پیغام سے سیکھتا ہے.

ایک دہشت گرد حملے کہیں بھی ہمارے ساتھی انسانوں پر دہشت گردی کا حملہ ہر جگہ ہے.

آئیے ہم اس بنیاد سے شروع کریں ۔

تمام دہشت گردی غلط ہے ۔ کوئی دہشت گردی قابل قدر نہیں ہے ۔

القاعدہ ، داعش ، طالبان ، بوکو حرام حرم کی حمایت حاصل کرنے والے افراد کو یہ احساس ہونا چاہئے کہ دنیا میں مسلمانوں سمیت کتنے لوگوں کو قتل کیا گیا ہے ۔

جو لوگ عیسائیت ، ہندومت ، بدھ مت اور یہودیت کی بنیاد پر دوسرے مذہبی انتہاپسندوں کے اعمال کی تائید کرتے ہیں وہ یہ تسلیم کرتے ہیں کہ دہشت گرد تمام عقائد کے لوگوں پر حملہ کرتے ہیں ۔

جو لوگ سفید نسل پرستی اور نازی دہشت گردی کی حمایت کر سکتے ہیں اس حقیقت سے بے نقاب ہونا چاہیے کہ اس طرح کے دہشت گردوں نے سفید بچوں ، بچوں ، عورتوں ، بوڑھے اور لاچار لوگ ہلاک کیے ہیں ۔

جن لوگوں نے سیاہ قوم پرست دہشت گردی کی حمایت کی ہے وہ اس حقیقت کا سامنا کرنا چاہئے کہ اس طرح کے دہشت گردوں نے سیاہ انسانوں کو قتل کیا اور اپنے خاندانوں کو یتیم خانے میں یتیموں کے طور پر چھوڑ دیا اور ان کے بچوں کے طور پر بیواؤں.

اراجکتاوادی اور کمیونسٹ دہشت گردی کی حمایت کرنے والوں کو حقیقت کا سامنا کرنا چاہئے کہ وہ غربت میں مبتلا ہیں ، تمام نسلوں کے لوگ ، اور جو لوگ امن کے معصوم لوگوں پر حملہ کرتے ہیں.

اور فہرست پر اور پر جاتا ہے.

ہم انکاٹیگوراکالل کو یہ تصور مسترد کرتے ہیں کہ “دہشت گردی” کے لئے ایک قوت ہو سکتا ہے “اچھا ” اور “انصاف” کے لئے ، ہم نے کافی موت ، تباہی ، اور ساتھی انسانوں کے انسانی حقوق اور وقار پر حملوں کو دیکھا ہے کہ یہ غلط ہے.

ہمارے انسانی حقوق کے نقطہ نظر کو استثناء کے بغیر تسلیم کرنا چاہیے-دہشت گردی بالکل ایک حملہ ہے ۔ غلط غلط ہے ۔

ہم انسانوں تک پہنچنے کی طرف سے حل تلاش کرنا ضروری ہے. ہم انسانوں تک پہنچنے کی طرف سے حل تلاش کرنا ضروری ہے. ہمارے فوجی ، جاسوس ، قانون نافذ کرنے والے حکمت عملی مختصر مدتی حل ہیں. ہمیں لوگوں کو دہشت گردی اور انتہاپسندی کے ترک کرنے پر قائل کرنے کے لئے انسانی حقوق کے طویل المیعاد حل کی بھی ضرورت ہے ۔

El Terrorismo es un Ataque a los Derechos Humanos de Todos

Si reconocemos constantemente el terrorismo como un ataque a nuestros derechos humanos universales compartidos, nuestras campañas contra los actos de terror y la ideología extremista del terrorismo podrían tener prioridades más productivas. Al reconocer a las víctimas y demonizar a los criminales terroristas, el argumento de los derechos humanos se pierde demasiado rápido. La policía, el espionaje y las soluciones militares no son las únicas soluciones para hacer frente al terrorismo.

Necesitamos un enfoque basado en los derechos humanos para el rechazo de los actos terroristas y las opiniones extremistas contra los derechos humanos; debemos reconocer tales actos e ideologías terroristas como un ataque a los derechos, la dignidad y la seguridad de todos los seres humanos.

El terrorismo es un ataque a TODOS.

Hay demasiados inidividuales que podrían estar pasivamente de acuerdo con esto, pero no aceptaresto como una verdad, basado en nuestros derechos humanos universales compartidos. La campaña más importante para desafiar el terrorismo comienza reconociendo que nuestros pares realmente merecen derechos humanos compartidos, dignidad, igualdad, pluralismo, privacidad, libertad de conciencia, libertad de expresión, libertad de expresión y seguridad, como Universal Declaración de Derechos Humanos (UDHR) – para todo ser humano.

Cuando aceptamos estos derechos humanos universales, el tribalista considera que algún extremismo anti-derechos es “necesario”, “digno”, o “merecido”, pierde toda credibilidad. No podemos simplemente desafiar las ideologías del terror y actuar sólo para aquellos que son diferentes de nosotros. Debemos desafiar las opiniones terroristas y extremistas detrás de ese terror de todos los grupos de identidad, nacionalidad, reivindicación e ideología política o religiosa.

Rechazar el terrorismo es más que reconocer que “algunas personas hicieron algo”.

El odio y la violencia no son la respuesta.

El 16 de abril de 1963, el líder y pastor afroamericano de los derechos humanos Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. habló famosamente de la causa común al rechazar la injusticia, escrita desde la cárcel en Birmingham, Alabama: “La injusticia en cualquier lugar es una amenaza para la justicia en todas partes”. y el mundo echa de menos el liderazgo de este gran mártir de los derechos humanos. Pero incluso en su muerte, casi cinco años después, el 4 de abril de 1968, se nos enseñó una lección, ya que el Dr. King fue asesinado durante una ola de violencia política. El Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. fue un activista por la no violencia. La violencia del terror político puso fin a su vida. Fue una llamada de atención para que el público estadounidense rechazara el terror de la violencia política. Generaciones de estadounidenses todavía necesitan aprender esta lección.

En los Estados Unidos, los estadounidenses expresan con razón su pesar, dolor y su continua indignación por el terrorismo de asesinato en masa el 11 de septiembre de 2001, y seguimos llorando por las víctimas y las familias de ese ataque. También debemos reconocer que Estados Unidos había estado experimentando ataques terroristas de violencia política durante mucho tiempo antes de los ataques del 11 de septiembre de 2001, incluido el asesinato del Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Hemos visto y seguimos viendo tales ataques terroristas en todo el mundo. Debemos ser coherentes en nuestra indignación, condena y uso de un enfoque basado en los derechos humanos para desafiar tales actos e ideologías terroristas. Habiendo dado su vida debido a la no violencia en los derechos humanos, seguramente podemos aprender del sacrificio del Dr. King.

Necesitamos un liderazgo que aprenda del mensaje del Dr. King.

Un ataque terrorista en cualquier lugar es un ataque terrorista contra nuestros semejantes en todas partes.

Empecemos con esta fundación.

No sólo como palabras de compasión, sino como verdad real.

No hay un buen terrorismo. No hay terrorismo “aceptable”. No hay terrorismo “merecedor”. No hay terrorismo “justo”. Ninguno. No en ninguna parte. No a nadie.

El hecho histórico lo demuestra como verdad.

Aquellos que pueden haber apoyado los actos de Al-Qaeda, EIIL, talibanes, Al-Shabab, Boko Haram también deben enfrentar la verdad fáctica de cómo tal extremismo terrorista ha sido atacado contra todas las personas, incluidos muchos, muchos musulmanes en todo el mundo.

Aquellos que pueden haber apoyado las acciones de otros extremistas religiosos, que reclamaron razones para sus opiniones retorcidas del cristianismo, el hinduismo, el budismo, el judaísmo, también deben confrontar la verdad fáctica de que estos extremistas terroristas son responsables de asesinatos y crímenes contra otros de sus grupos y otros seres humanos.

Aquellos que pueden haber apoyado actos de supremacismo blanco y terror nazi también deben enfrentar la verdad fáctica de cómo tales terroristas han asesinado a niños blancos, bebés, mujeres, ancianos e individuos indefensos de todo tipo.

Aquellos que pueden haber apoyado el terror nacionalista negro también deben confrontar la verdad fáctica de cómo estos terroristas han asesinado a otros seres humanos negros, dejado a sus familias con viudas y sus hijos como huérfanos.

Aquellos que han apoyado actos de terror anarquista y comunista también deben confrontar la verdad fáctica de cómo tales terroristas han llevado a la muerte de personas inocentes, la muerte y heridas extremas a personas de color, los que luchan en la pobreza y la gente inocente simplemente tratando de vivir sus vidas en paz.

Y la lista sigue y sigue.

Rechacemos categóricamente el concepto de que “terror” puede ser una fuerza para “bueno” y “justicia”.

Pero un enfoque de derechos humanos necesita algo más que saber que el terrorismo está mal. Necesitamos construir un enfoque para luchar contra el terrorismo entre TODOS LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS -donde reconocemos, sin excepción- que el terror es un ataque a TODOS.

Es natural ser rechazado y enojado con criminales terroristas en la destrucción de vidas, hogares y propiedades. Pero para buscar un progreso duradero contra el terrorismo, nuestro compromiso con los derechos humanos, la igualdad, la libertad, la seguridad y la privacidad nos obliga a priorizar el desarrollo de un enfoque basado en los derechos humanos para desafiar el terrorismo en materia de derechos humanos.

NO con el puño levantado, sino con la mano extendida.

Esta es la parte más difícil. Seguramente queremos que nuestros semejantes estén a salvo y que los criminales sean llevados ante la justicia. Pero las tácticas de aplicación de la ley son sólo el paso más pequeño. Necesitamos encontrar una causa común en los derechos humanos universales y el pluralismo para rechazar todas las ideologías del terror. Algunos se remontan al odio de aquellos que fueron por el oscuro camino hacia las ideologías extremistas. Pero las campañas de odio no nos acercan ni un centímetro más a detener el terrorismo o las ideologías del terror. Tenemos que ofrecer una alternativa basada en los derechos humanos.

Por supuesto, nos gustaría que la gente dejara una vida de crimen, que abandonara el apoyo a las bandas criminales, que se reincorporara a una audiencia que depende de la confianza compartida entre sí. Así, por supuesto, también debemos pedir a quienes apoyan las ideologías terroristas extremistas que abandonen una vida que se opone a nuestros derechos humanos compartidos y se unan a la familia de los seres humanos que respetan los derechos y la dignidad universales. Este es el trabajo a largo plazo, el trabajo más difícil, el verdadero desafío para abordar y hacer campaña eficazmente contra el terrorismo y la violencia política.

Nuestras tácticas militares, de espionaje y de aplicación de la ley no hacen este trabajo sustantivo a largo plazo; en el mejor de los casos son un parche a corto plazo en una situación de emergencia. Son sólo tácticas a corto plazo, pero demasiadas han optado por institucionalizar estas tácticas antiterroristas, en lugar de hacer el difícil trabajo estratégico para hacer campaña por el cambio de los derechos humanos contra el terrorismo. Incluso entonces, algunas tácticas militares, de espionaje y policiales (cuando se usan contra los derechos humanos) pueden ser abusadas y pueden volverse contraproducentes. Se ha vuelto tan común en algunos casos que algunos en el público ya no se molestan en indignarse.

Nunca acabaremos con el terror con tácticas de tortura, espionaje intrusivo, socavación de la democracia y fin a la libertad de expresión y debate. No debemos dar victoria a las ideologías del terror abandonando los derechos humanos que debemos utilizar como contraargumento al extremismo del terrorismo. No podemos esperar que las tácticas a corto plazo hagan el trabajo de la estrategia a largo plazo. No podemos abandonar los derechos humanos y los valores democráticos, en la creencia equivocada de que “los fines justifican los medios” de alguna manera mantendráa a nuestros semejantes “seguros”.

Si hemos aprendido algo sobre el terror, hemos aprendido que no hay “puerto seguro” de terror extremista que viva en la mente de individuos atribulados. No hay suficientes barreras, no hay suficientes medidas de seguridad, no hay suficiente policía sin suficiente policía, no hay suficientes militares, no hay suficientes espías, para detener el terror. Cuando abandonamos nuestros valores de derechos humanos en la creencia equivocada, entonces seremos “seguros”, sólo envalentonamos y proporcionamos justificación para las ideologías extremistas utilizadas para racionalizar el terrorismo. No ofrecemos justicia para el robo, ni protección pública a través de tácticas de la policía estatal.

El Dr. King enseñó que no podemos promover la justicia a través de la injusticia nosotros mismos, y que nosotros mismos no podemos poner fin a la violencia a través de la violencia. Si estuviera vivo, también nos diría que no podemos poner fin al terrorismo de derechos humanos con tácticas de derechos humanos nosotros mismos. Nuestro mundo extraña al Dr. King como una voz pública de conciencia. Pero la voz privada de nuestra propia conciencia nos habla en cada una de nuestras propias vidas y mentes. Debemos escuchar nuestra conciencia.

Sabemos que las tácticas de derechos humanos contra el terrorismo pueden socavar la credibilidad para desafiar el terrorismo, cuando depende de la violencia, el abandono de los valores y la corrupción.

Una mano extendida no es un puño levantado. No es necesario que nos digan la dirección de que el puño levantado seguirá tomando nuestras sociedades humanas. Tenemos siglos y siglos de historia registrados en las lecciones de esas tácticas. Aquellos que promueven el terrorismo/violencia política han tratado de continuar las tácticas del puño levantado.

Hemos visto el puño levantado en los ataques terroristas del 11 de septiembre de 2001. Hemos visto el puño levantado en ataques terroristas en todo el mundo por extremistas. Hemos visto el puño levantado en el terror de la violencia política en las calles y asesinatos de líderes de todo el mundo, incluyendo el Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Sin embargo, la desgracia del puño levantado todavía no avergonza y avergonza a muchos activistas de la ira, cuyas ilusiones han racionalizado que la violencia “esta vez” contra nuestros semejantes de alguna manera estará justificada, y que “esta vez” será tal vez “fin justifica justifica” los medios.” Sabemos que no hay llamada a “fines justificalos” en nuestra Declaración Universal de Derechos Humanos, en las leyes de las naciones democráticas y en la conciencia de los seres humanos que buscan igualdad y dignidad de los demás.

También tenemos una historia dolorosa de organizaciones corruptas, que creían que podían desafiar el terror convirtiéndose en como los propios terroristas, creyendo que estaban “por encima de la ley”, hemos visto tristemente a aquellos que creían que tenían el poder y el mandato de atacar a los humanos derechos de aquellos que fueron designados como “enemigos” a voluntad. ¿Y adónde nos lleva esto? ¿Dónde termina esto? Para aquellos cegados por el poder sobre los demás, en el interés de “seguridad”, ¿dónde está la capacidad de saber cuándo “demasiado lejos” se han ido? A los cegados por una causa que “los fines justifican los medios”, los únicos que engañan son ellos mismos. Estas personas, organizaciones e instituciones comprometidas con los derechos humanos universales entienden las matemáticas éticas más básicas que están equivocadas. Dos errores nunca equivalen a un “derecho”.

Cuando nos permitimos segmentar los grupos tribales y de identidad sobre el terrorismo, somos conscientemente ciegos a entender el problema global del terrorismo. Gran parte de los principales medios de comunicación ya no informan sobre el terrorismo global como un problema, especialmente cuando el terrorismo tiene lugar en Irak, Siria, Afganistán, Pakistán, Nigeria, Somalia, etc. Imagínese si los medios occidentales tuvieran un nivel de indignación por el asesinato en masa de otros seres humanos en esas naciones, que está reservado sólo para el debate político febril o el último comentario de una figura de celebridad. El terrorismo es erróneo independientemente de su raza, nacionalidad, religión, etnia o etnia.

En 2018, el grupo terrorista talibán fue responsable de 1.751 víctimas civiles en 2018 en Afganistán, según un informe de 24 de febrero de 2019 de la Misión de Asistencia de las Naciones Unidas en Afganistán (UNAMA). Las decenas de miles de civiles afganos, abrumadoramente conciudadanos musulmanes, masacrados por los talibanes en los últimos 10-20 años deberían escalonar la conciencia del mundo. Pero los medios occidentales siguen refiriendo a los terroristas talibanes como “militantes”, y las figuras políticas bipartidistas tratan de ganarse su favor, sin comprometer nuestros derechos humanos universales compartidos. El desafío a los grupos e ideologías terroristas debe comenzar con un llamado al cambio basado en los derechos humanos.

Pero menos de un año antes de este informe (durante 2018), nos enteramos de una organización policial en los Estados Unidos de América que estaba financiando a un defensor del grupo terrorista talibán. En el Tribunal Federal de Distrito de los Estados Unidos en Orlando, Florida, el 26 de marzo de 2018, el FBI testificó en la corte federal sobre uno de sus informantes pagados, el Sr. Seddique Mateen (Caso 6:17-cr-00018-PGB-KRS). El agente especial del FBI Juvenal Martin testificó en la corte federal que el Sr. Mateen fue un informante pagado del FBI durante 11 años; El Sr. Mateen también fue un promotor activo y agresivo del grupo terrorista talibán, promoviendo videos internacionales en apoyo de los terroristas talibanes en Afganistán. Nos enteramos de las actividades del Sr. Mateen y su papel como informante pagado del FBI convertido a la corte, debido a las investigaciones públicas en curso relacionadas con su hijo, Omar Mateen. El 12 de junio de 2016, Omar Mateen lideró un ataque terrorista inspirado en EIIL en el club nocturno Pulse en Orlando, Florida, matando a 49 e hiriendo a 53 estadounidenses. Durante el juicio de la Corte Federal de Orlando en marzo de 2018, también nos enteramos de que el FBI trató de reclutar a Omar Mateen como un informante pagado.

Nadie fue despedido. Nadie fue criticado. Nadie asumió la responsabilidad. La historia fue enterrada en los medios de comunicación de los Estados Unidos, y fuera de Orlando, la mayoría de los estadounidenses nunca lo saben. Puede ser preocupante descubrir que a muchos no les importa, y a muchos no ven nada malo en esto.

“Los fines justifican los medios” simplemente no funcionan en los esfuerzos a largo plazo para desafiar el terrorismo. El camino hacia los “fines justifica los medios” en última instancia se convierte en el camino del arrepentimiento y la desgracia.

Los estándares dobles no son estándares.

No podemos desafiar eficazmente el terrorismo y el extremismo ideológico detrás del terrorismo sin reglas coherentes basadas en los derechos humanos.

Sólo una estrategia basada en los derechos humanos para desafiar el terrorismo puede apoyar los valores consistentes que necesitamos “un ataque terrorista en cualquier lugar para ser un ataque terrorista contra nuestros semejantes en todas partes”.

Como el Dr. King declaró, “Estamos atrapados en una red ineludible de mutualidad, atado en una sola prenda del destino. Lo que afecta directamente a uno afecta indirectamente a todos.

El mundo ha invertido miles de millones y miles de millones de dólares y esfuerzo en tácticas militares, de espionaje y de aplicación de la ley para luchar contra el terrorismo. Es hora de comprometerse a convertirse en un nuevo compromiso nacional e internacional para encontrar normas universales compartidas de derechos humanos de terreno común, coherencia y credibilidad para que otros seres humanos desafien las ideologías y los actos de terrorismo, que son ataques contra todos nosotros.

Anger Activism Rejects Universal Human Rights

Summary

In a commitment to universal human rights, outrageous abuses against human rights and dignity will shock and outrage many, and bring feelings of anger about such abuses, but we need restraint. Anger is the opposite of the peace we seek in compassion, dignity, and respect for human rights for our fellow human beings. Without restraint, anger can build into hate. Hate becomes a growing pandemic which destroys our trust, our respect, and our cohesion as a society. We must prioritize change on ideas and behavior – not hate against individuals and identity groups. Hate is Not the Answer. Anger Activism is Not the Answer. We build values, communities, and societies with an outstretched hand, not an upraised fist.

We are human beings, with all of the humanity that comes with such an identity, both good and bad. All of us. We cannot see fellow human beings as “enemies” without seeing ourselves as well, as part of that shared human family. Anger is part of our human existence as much as compassion. Our humanity also gives us free will and choices regarding how we use our internal emotions within our external society. Our human free will within our minds and our hearts gives us the opportunity to guide our lives and our actions within our shared human society. We can choose activism and values, which will work to build constructive and lasting change.

We can choose discipline and focus of our efforts, our words, our actions to promote dignity and compassion for all, not just for those like us and those we like. In a diverse and complex world, we do not have to agree with each other on every subject. But we can respect the dignity of all of our fellow human beings, as part of our rights and responsibilities, within our universal human rights.

Seeking societal change to abuses of human rights and dignity requires both determination AND restraint. Discipline and compassion for vital human rights issues teaches us that we cannot have only determination or restraint, but we must use both together.

Too often, many advocates only urge determination, with a determination based mostly on outrage and anger, rather than a set of consistent values. Anger is an easily communicated emotion as a lowest common denominator to be heard to the public. But there is very significant DIFFERENCE between being heard by the public and the message being effectively received, as a message for productive social change.

Some Anger Activist advocates believe that focus on anger will help causes they advocate to be heard across a larger audience, and with a larger audience. They believe that this alone will result in “change.” But history shows that long-term change for human right and dignity requires more. Effective and productive social change requires more than hate and anger, but such meaningful calls for change require a foundation of respect, dignity, equality, compassion, and mercy.

Even in the modern world of social media and continuous (literally 24 hours, 7 days a week) news media coverage, the tactics of using only determined anger – largely do not result in widespread social “change.” The use of anger as motivation can garner an engaged and angry mob, if the topic is “popular” enough. But do such angry mobs truly affect lasting change in human rights and dignity, or do they result in entrenching (even exacerbating) division among people?

Anger feeds more Anger. Therefore Anger Activism feeds upon itself. When there is nothing for Anger Activism to be angry about, it will hunt for need things to feed its anger. With a world of opportunity, mercy, dignity, love, Anger Activism can draw us into a dark path of slavery to it. If we seek to end slavery, we must also end the slavery that Anger Activism has on too many of our hearts and minds.

A. Slavery to Anger Activism

With anger feeding anger, our slavery to our Anger can become the defining purpose in our lives. Our slavery to Anger Activism can become all consuming. It can blind us to our community, loved ones, professional needs, even our own safety. Anger Activism slavery can be the worst slave-master in human history. Human beings enslaved by Anger Activism cannot even imagine freedom to live, love, laugh, without their burden of Anger.

Human beings enslaved by Anger Activism can replace the healthy blood of normal lives with the venom of hate. The greater human beings allow Anger Activism to consume them, the more toxic that venom can become in their lives. When our lives are enthralled to Anger Activism, the vision of the upraised fist can superimpose itself on every thing we see and every part of our lives.

We can rationalize slavery to Anger Activism based on our conscience. We can tell ourselves that it is our conscience that enslaves us to such Anger Activism. We can rationalize that such slavery is necessary to defeat the “enemy” of “the other.” But the only true “enemy” that Anger Activism ultimately seeks out is to trample dignity, compassion, and mercy as foundational concepts in universal human rights of our lives and of the lives of our fellow human beings.

Hate only leads to more Hate. Hate is Not the Answer, in a world so desperately in need of mercy, dignity, and compassion. But to too many, Anger Activism and its symbol of the “upraised fist” become the defining meaning in their lives.

If we work to free others who are persecuted by cruel individuals and regimes in the world, let us first work to free ourselves from the slavery of Anger Activism, which replaces compassion in our hearts with hate.

B. Anger Activism and the Upraised Fist of Hate

The upraised fist is not the symbol of human rights to our fellow human beings. The upraised fist is not the symbol of change through dignity and mercy. The upraised fist (“raised fist”) has come to be normalized as a symbol of “solidarity,” “support,” “strength,” “defiance,” and “resistance.” But what the raised fist truly represents is the closing of our minds and our hearts, and the violence of our hate towards “the other.” The raised fist is a violent symbol that seeks to use hate to rationalize calls for power, and views justice and human rights as a zero-sum struggle. The raised fist depends on “losers” as much as it does on “winners.” But our universal human rights and dignity extend to all people, not just those we like and those like us.

The upraised fist is not a symbol of strength, but a symbol of weakness. It is not a symbol of courage, but a symbol of quaking fear. Let us urge for the strength and courage of dignity, compassion, and mercy to those who seek to campaign for human rights. Let us call for genuine human rights activists to remember our universal rights apply to all, and that our opportunities for change begin with an outstretched hand… not an upraised fist.

The raised fist is not a call for our shared universal human rights of equality and dignity. We do not build long-term change and progress in human rights based on hate-driven Anger Activism of “the other.” Hating our fellow human beings does not free us; it enslaves us, and it becomes a never-ending slavery. Hate is the worst violence of all, as hate is a violence that can never end, and which destroys ourselves as much as it destroys those we oppose.

We will never defeat Hate with Hate. We can win “battles,” but ultimately every “victory” for Hate helps us lose the “war” for Universal Human Rights and dignity for our fellow human beings. The upraised fist of hate should chill our heart more than any other totalitarian symbol of oppression. Unlike the horrible symbols of totalitarian persecution of today or the past, at least those totalitarian regimes had some geographic, ideological, or group boundary and limitation. But the upraised fist of hate has no such boundaries and limitations.

There is nothing celebratory, nothing merciful, and nothing compassionate about the use of our fists to threaten our fellow human beings. The upraised fist is not a defense of dignity, but it is an abandonment of it; it represents the divisive view that dignity is only deserved to “our cause” and not to all of our fellow human beings. In times with mercy, dignity, and compassion are in greatest need, advocates of human rights cannot reach for clenched fists, but offer outstretched hands, including (perhaps especially) to those whose views they reject.

The upraised fist of hate, and its Anger Activism, can be used anywhere, anytime, and against anyone. It is a symbol of hate-based Anger Activism that can be adopted in any societal struggle. But where does this take our society? How do we find progress as human beings, if we retreat to raising our fists in the air in a symbol of hate towards one another?

Our shared Declaration of Universal Human Rights is not built on Hate. It is built on dignity. It is built on equality. It is built on peace. It is built on our “faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women.” It is built on “freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear.” As Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” Such universal human rights are not a foundation of hate. But on its behalf, too many will use the cruel bludgeon of hate and its Anger Activist campaigns to claim that indeed hate is not only necessary, but hate is the answer. We cannot campaign for Human Rights, if we are not campaigning for Mercy First.

Anger Activism ignores these facts as “inconvenient,” and when the factual argument is too difficult, it merely waves away the Declaration of Universal Human Rights altogether. To those can see with context and reason, these should be warning signs. But the red-hot path of hate-fueled Anger Activism can mock societal warnings and boundaries. Indeed, some intoxicated by the venom of Anger Activism can believe that destroying boundaries of trust, safety, and mercy demonstrate the “power” and “influence” of their campaigns. But such super-fueled Anger Activism of hate of “the other” can become as much as a threat to society as the “enemy” they seek to challenge.

Universal human rights are not simply rights and dignity for you and the group or cause you are advocating. Universal human rights are “universal” – they apply to those that you defend and those that you defy. Univeral human rights apply to those you like and those that you do not like, as well as those like you and those not like you. To make lasting change, while we challenge ideas and behavior that abuses such rights and dignity, we must do so with an outstretched hand, not an upraised fist.

Anger Activism and its upraised fist of hate is not simply an attack on “enemies” that outrage us, but an attack on all of our fellow human beings. We cannot stand for universal human rights, dignity, compassion, and mercy for all, and spend our days and nights campaigning against our fellow human beings who we call our “enemies.”

C. Anger Activism and Betrayal

They have betrayed us, we can argue. Or even worse, they have betrayed human rights and human dignity, we can state. This is a common rationale in Anger Activism, which rationalizes that the ends justify the means.

So to those who we believe have betrayed our values, our society, even our human rights, do we believe that we should respond by matching their betrayal by “the other” with our betrayal of dignity, compassion, human rights towards them?

Let us recognize that hate-driven Anger Activism seeks to “punish” those who they feel have betrayed them, society, or our values, by seeking to make the betrayer into “the other.” But what does this demonization of “the other” truly accomplish? Does it promote dignity, mercy, compassion that are foundational in universal human rights? Does it provide a pathway for actual and long-term change, beyond threatening “the other” who we view has betrayed us?

We can find Anger Activism calling for societal “change,” but blocking all pathways to allow for change. Other than continually using and demonizing “the other” as an accelerant to the flame of hate, for an anger feeding anger, what actual opportunity for change does Anger Activism allow?

If the goal for Anger Activism is to “get,” “destroy,” “degrade,” those with whom it opposes, what part of universal human rights is Anger Activism actually supporting? Such tactics of Anger Activism and mass hate are also a betrayal of our universal human rights. Anger Activists may rationalize such hate based on betrayal by those who they believe have done wrong, but promotion of hate-based Anger Activism results in the same betrayal of our values of universal human rights, dignity, equality, compassion, and mercy.

As we have always known in human rights ethical mathematics, “two wrongs do not make a right.”

Betrayal is wrong, no matter who is doing the betraying, even when it is done by the Anger Activists.

D. Blind Anger Activism, Trust, and Isolation

If we were in a crowd, and faced danger to ourselves, our loved ones, and our fellow human beings, the gravest error would be to approach such danger blindly. Those who strike out with their eyes closed would do damage, not just to those they consider “their enemies,” but also to those they consider “their friends,” their loved ones, even those whom they are “fighting” to defend.

The blindness of Anger Activism creates a common threat to all. In striking out in blind anger, no one is safe from a storm of rage. Anger Activism creates a threat not only to their “targets,” but also any others in the way or associated with their “targets.” This includes a threat to those whose actions and ideas we might reject, and other human beings who have the misfortune of being near the target of Anger Activism, which in a crowd of humanity can be anyone.

If we are to look in the social mirror at blind Anger Activism, might we not ask who is the persecuted and who is the persecutor?

What does blind Anger Activism teach our society? It teaches us that we cannot Trust. It teaches that Trust is a social privilege only to a protected few. If any crowd can be the target of blind Anger Activism, what it teaches society that it is safer to be disconnected from fellow human beings, or at least at a distance, where a random storm of rage cannot threaten their dignity and lives.

What is the cost of Anger Activism in smashing societal Trust? Anger Activists can succeed in publicly silencing the views of those it opposes. This does not provide any long-term solutions to societal problems. How does isolating our fellow human beings provide opportunities to change hearts and minds? But the short-term concept of abandoning public trust and further isolating our (already isolated) public from one another is considered acceptable “ends justify the means” to Anger Activism. It simply is not a support for our shared, universal human rights, which depends on equality, dignity, compassion and mercy to all of our fellow human beings.

E. Anger Activism and Zero-Sum Thinking Creates a Lose-Lose Scenario

Modern history shows that the “angry mob” approach to social change rarely makes meaningful and lasting progress in human rights and dignity. Zero-Sum thinking, the idea that one side must “lose” for others to “win,” may seem rational to those with causes that do not support universal human rights. While it may be popular to those who believe they have lost “patience” with society, this is sign of the need for mature thinking on what universal human rights actually mean.

Because if we believe in universal human rights and dignity for all, we believe in them for ALL, not just for those like us and those we like. So Anger Activism, replacing genuine human rights activism, seeks “winners” and “losers” and only results in undermining a culture that understands and respects universal human rights.

Anger activists seek a “martial law” style abandonment of universal human rights — for their campaign. Anger activists may choose to argue that their campaign is so urgent and unique that we simply cannot respect the universal human rights of “the other,” and that a “Win-Lose” solution is the “only choice.” But from a position of universal human rights, this concept of Anger Activism demanding “win-lose” situations for “the other,” ultimately is not a “win-lose” for human rights, but a “lose-lose” for universal human rights.

F. Anger Activism and Violence

Some will argue that anger activism is necessary for the “public defense” or the defense of those described in their campaign. Certainly, we do face real and life-threatening violence is a violent world. But the argument of anger activism and its upraised fist is too readily adapted by those who have differences, but not life and death matters. We have often seen how such anger activism also leads to violence.

The path from “anger” alone to the “upraised fist” to actual social violence is short. That path can accept the dehumanization of “the other” that we oppose, whether it is an individual, a group, an ideology, a government, a nation. The path of mob anger seeks to deny that “the other” is human or deserves the same universal human rights and dignity that we claim for ourselves or those we champion.

Advocates in Anger may argue that zero-sum thinking is the “only” choice. For “our side” to win, “their side” must lose, and must lose completely so that they never have the freedom to pose a threat to society again. But that is not the voice of human rights activism. That is the voice of those promoting war, and frequently those who have no concern for the consequences of war. R.E.A.L. rejects war as a solution for every social problem. Hate and Violence are not the answer. If we respect universal human rights, we must seek a path of nonviolence and compassion, rather than a path of violence and hate.

Anger Activism can normalize both hate and violence as the “reasonable” behavior against our fellow human beings. The Anger Activists will argue that it really just necessary “this time,” until of course, it also really necessary in the next time, and the next, and the next. The self-fueling Anger Activism can go from “defending” our fellow human beings to seeking their violent destruction. This is how far from our shared universal human rights that Anger Activism can drive our public.

G. Anger Activism and Survival

To those whose dignity and lives are in peril, it is normal and natural to be outraged against those whose beliefs and actions threaten their dignity and lives. But can we consistently protect their endangered lives and dignity, based on Anger Activism alone? Will our anger protect the vulnerable? Or will our anger further endanger the vulnerable, with our blindness in anger keeping us from seeing other solutions to their needs?

While it may be a challenge to retain our sense of balance and context, during moments of such endangerment, this heightened moment of danger is when we must maintain focus on human rights values. That focus on human rights values must remind us that we are all, including those whose actions we oppose, fellow human beings. The shared universal human rights within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights apply to all, not just to those we like and those like us.

In a real emergency, how do leaders guide the public? Do they urge calm, restrained, structured thinking and actions… or random, mass panic? So we know that our fellow human beings, when in peril, respond most productively to a calm and centered sense of leadership. Why do we forget this knowledge when it comes to Anger Activism?

If we seek societal change, we must continue to speak a language that will be heard AND received by most of the public, especially if there is genuine danger to dignity and lives. A message of reckless, hate-fueled Anger Activism may be heard by many people, but will it by effectively RECEIVED and ACTED on by our fellow human beings?

Despite a vocal minority that believes its voice demonstrates the effectiveness of hate and Anger Activism, the reality is that these lead to very little meaningful change in society. They lead to fear, distrust, and unfortunately to more anger by others. Anger feeds Anger. That does not make anger a productive fuel. Anger is a fuel that is self-destructive. We would not fuel a vehicle with a fuel that would destroy it, because then the destructive fuel would not only consume the vehicle, but also its passengers. Yet Anger Activists believe the fuel of hate-filled anger will lead to “change.” If self-destruction is “change,” then that is true, but a long term commitment to human rights and dignity must have the discipline to be effective day after day after day.

On a regular basis, most of the public distances itself from hate-filled anger, despite popularity of Anger Activism among a minority of us. A loud, hate-consumed Anger Activist voice may be heard, but that does not make it into “communication” to many of our public. We must consistently and repeatedly speak the language that most human beings are most responsive to: dignity, equality, compassion, and mercy.

The greater the danger to dignity and survival, the more essential it is that we use effective communication on human rights, rather than the wasteful (and counterproductive) noise of Anger Activism.

H. Anger Activism, Ideas, and the Need for Action

Much Anger Activism comes from a frustration in talk and ideas, when we intuitively sense that ACTION is needed instead.

This comes from a failure to understand that discussion on ideas is indeed “action.” We may indeed be frustrated with pace of achieving change in our society. But among the many reasons for this, part of the reason can be a failure in effective communication. Hate-fueled Anger Activism may excite people who agree with the views of the activist. But this does not achieve CHANGE.

Change requires the ability to communicate to those who DO NOT agree with activist, or who need credible, rational solutions to problems. Anyone can shout at someone else or some other group, but the activism to promote change requires a different thinking and different approach.

A common approach is the belief that we can “shame” individuals and groups to “act.” Since there is history that some will act to avoid public shame and pressure, this has become the default position for most Anger Activism. But this approach is not a method for long term social change. Publicly silencing individuals with views that we object to does not provide a long term solution to human rights and social change. It simply makes them less willing to listen to arguments for change in the future.

Long term and meaningful social change comes with a common position of dignity, rights, compassion, and mercy for all of our fellow human beings, including those whose views and actions we reject. If we seek them to change their views and behavior, it is not enough for them to “hear” our shouting, we must communicate in a way that some of them will listen. We have seen well-known figures state that you “cannot change hearts.” Our history has clearly demonstrated that this is NOT true.

We achieve ACTION with dignity, mercy, and compassion to our fellow human beings. Hate-fueled Anger Activism is not the answer.

I. Anger Activism and Difficult Questions for Ourselves

To those in Anger Activism, ultimately war against “the other” is a tactic which must be embraced on a daily, even hourly basis. Let us not confuse anger activism with human rights activism. The zero-sum approach of anger activism is not the cooperative human rights activism needed to make lasting change that respects dignity, equality, and compassion for our human family. Anger activism does not seek to persuade and inform; it seeks to bludgeon and bully. It does not seek change; it seeks surrender. Such activism of anger and hate of others is not activism for universal human rights and dignity.

But with any meaningful social change, real activism for change must begin within us first. Can we find a path of social cooperation without anger, without bullying, without demonizing “the other”? These are difficult questions that we must first ask ourselves, before we ask them of others.

(a) Is anger the only message that we can convey, even if we face difficult times in human rights, oppression, and persecution of our human dignity? For those who seek to make positive change, we must find the discipline to have other choices, beyond anger, to allow us to process information and control our own behaviors.

(b) Who is in control – anger or our conscience and responsibility for universal human rights? Refusing to allow anger to control us as individuals is not surrender to those who would abuse human rights and dignity in society. It is simply a conscious choice that in working to solve social problems, we will refuse to allow our anger to make us part of the social problem ourselves.

(c) Can we work for human rights in society, challenging abusive behaviors of others, of abusive ideologies or regimes, if we cannot control our own behavior? To sincere individuals who arecommitted to human rights and dignity, we must have the courage to honestly have such discussions within ourselves.

(d) If we as individuals are so distant from peace, that we cannot find a place of peace in ourself to consider the challenges of unrestrained anger, how could we be able to work for societal change? If our objectivity, empathy, prudence or thoughtfulness is so damaged that we cannot assess ourselves, how can we help work for change in our larger society involving others? Peace is not simply an abstract concept or idea; peace is also a part of how we choose to live our lives. We cannot work for peace, while constantly being against peace in every facet of our lives; this is the contradiction that Anger Activism creates in our lives.

J. Anger Activism is Too Great a Burden and Too Divisive for Society

Anger is not far from Danger. We must recognize Anger Activism, not as a productive form of protest, but as a real and dangerous mob threat to our shared universal human rights.

Hate-fueled Anger Activism is the opposite of peace we seek in compassion, dignity, and respect for human rights for our fellow human beings. We must prioritize change on ideas and behavior – not hate against individuals and identity groups.

Anger Activism rejects the Universal Human Right of dignity for all. It chooses that only some have such universal human rights, and others do not. This is a foundational rejection of universal human rights.

Anger Activism rejects a central concept for social cohesion: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” which versions of this have been called “the golden rule.” The 1993 “Declaration Toward a Global Ethic” endorsed this concept by 143 leaders encompassing the world’s major faiths. While some will debate this concept, the intent is to promote an awareness of the human family deserves common respect, dignity, and mercy.

In his many lessons on universal human rights, American human rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. warned against hate repeatedly, “Hate is just as injurious to the hater as it is to the hated. Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity… Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

There is no question that outrageous acts and words that we see and hear in the world can inflame our passions and trouble our minds. But we must choose who is in control of our lives, our societies, and our destiny. Will it be controlled by never-ending anger and hate? Or will it be controlled by the dignity and mercy to our fellow human beings?

Human Rights are not built on, and will never be defended by hate.

We can Choose Mercy, Dignity, and Compassion.

Human Rights Call for Women’s March to Reject NOI and Louis Farrakhan’s Extremism

Human Rights begins with Humanity. We cannot support universal human rights, if we do not recognize people different from us as fellow human beings. Human right activists cannot support those who dehumanize others and claim that others are actually NOT “natural human beings.” Yet this foundational issue of respecting fellow human beings, as actual human beings, has become a challenge in the United States of America.

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)’s foundational support is for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). 70 years ago, world leaders called for a new universal human rights to challenge the “barbarous acts” of the past, with a commitment to equality, dignity for all – based on a shared foundation of humanity.

The barbarous acts in the past has also included persecution of people of color denying them rights, and oppression of women and denying them rights. The United States of America (and other nations) must also continue to be accountable and responsible for its role in slavery of African-Americans and others, particularly in the 16th through the mid 19 centuries. Wrong is wrong. Americans must never forget that barbarous acts are not only barbarous, when they are done by some other nation. We are ALL Responsible for equality and liberty, and the shared human rights of dignity for all fellow human beings.

R.E.A.L. and its leaders always have stood for those working for such equality and dignity for fellow human beings. R.E.A.L. is a non-partisan organization. R.E.A.L.’s support for half of the American people, with women’s rights without qualification, has never been viewed as a “political” issue to R.E.A.L.

Women’s Rights are Human Rights. Women’s Equality is our commitment to Equality. We support women’s rights, racial justice, not only because it is right, but most importantly because these are our fellow Human Beings.

On January 14, 2019, the “Women’s March” group President Tamika Mallory again defended her support for Nation of Islam (NOI) extremist leader Louis Farrakhan. For some time, this has been an issue of public controversy when Tamika Mallory publicly (and repeated again today on ABC television) that Mr. Farrakhan was the “Greatest of All Time” (aka “GOAT”). The controversy raised was due to Mr. Farrakhan’s repeated and continuing Anti-Semitic hate statements against the Jewish public. Tamika Mallory indicated that her support for Louis Farrakhan was not for all of his words, but for what Mr. Farrakhan has done for black Americans.  R.E.A.L. is more deeply concerned about the legacy of hate, rejection of equality, promotion of violence, and and rejection of even the very reality of “humanness” to other races, that Mr. Farrakhan has DONE to too many vulnerable black Americans who have needed a voice of hope, love, and dignity.

R.E.A.L. takes unamibuous stands on human equality. Mr. Farrakhan has freedom of expression and free speech; this is not only under the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights, but also a fundamental part the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 19. We do not simply defend freedom of expression for those we like and those like us, but for all of our fellow human beings.

R.E.A.L.’s challenge to NOI’s Louis Farrakhan is not about “freedom of expression” – but about respecting that our fellow human beings actually are “human beings.”  To be responsible for equality, we must accept the foundational equality that we are all, in fact, actually “natural human beings.”  Mr. Farrakhan does not believe this.

Human Rights begins with Humanity.

The long history of Louis Farrakhan’s Anti-Semitic hate statements, praise for Adolf Hitler as a “great man,” and hate comments against Jewish people may be known by many. Yet that is where the challenge to Mr. Farrakhan’s ideology of hate stops. among too many critics. This focus alone completely misses the point, and the issue that women’s rights activists must address with Women’s March President Tamika Mallory. Louis Farrakhan’s ideology of hate is not limited to Jewish people.

NOI leader Louis Farrakhan rejects the very humanity of white, caucasian race as “natural human beings.” These are not some rash “remarks” or statements made in “bigotry” or “anger” by NOI leader Louis Farrakhan. This is a well-organized, well-documented ideology that rejects that people with a white race are actually not “human beings.”

NOI leader Farrakhan expresses an ideology that an evil scientist “Yakub” grafted artificial beings of “white devils” from black human beings. Mr. Farrkhan does not view this as a “myth” or a “legend,” but as a fact, in his NOI teachings.  Mr. Farrakhan has repeatedly expressed such views of dehumanizing individuals who are white, as not “natural” or “real” “human beings.

Human Rights begins with Humanity.

As the NOI leader Farrakhan stated in the Chicago, Illinois Mosque Maryam to his African-American followers, “the white man is not the real man. He’s a MADE human being from you…” and tells his followers that the “white man” is a “grafted” race from “Yakub.” He then views that the “white man” was driven to the caves in Europe, and he dehumanizes them as animals. Mr. Farrkhan dehumanizes white race human beings by comparing them to animals, claiming how white human beings like to crawl on all four like animals, and even “he grew a little tail” and claiming hair on their arms comes from “their days in the caves.”

To the Women’s Rights movement, how can we promote equality for women, with a leader promoting an individual who actively promotes that only people of his race are actually “human beings”?

Human Rights begins with Humanity.

In the debate on the NOI’s extremism leadership, there is discussion on his Anti-Semitism, his calls for violence, support for Adolf Hitlerhate language, death threat against black American journalist, and incitement of those involved in violence and terrorism in the U.S. in Fresno, Dallas, Baton Rouge.

But all of this debate ignores the foundational issue.

If we do not respect others as actually “human beings,” we cannot support their equality, dignity, and human rights.

Human Rights begins with Humanity.

It is past time for the Women’s March to make an uncategorical rejection of Mr. Farrakhan’s views, not just due to his Anti-Semitism, but foundationally on rejecting the racist views of NOI’s Louis Farrakhan in rejecting the very humanity of people of other races.  R.E.A.L. urges Mr. Farrakhan to reject a hate, so terrible and all-consuming, that it would go so far as to reject that people of other races are not even natural human beings.  R.E.A.L. can imagine the pain, bitterness, and frustration that would allow such hate to seem normal and even reasonable.

But the great human rights leader, Martin Luther King, Jr. taught the American people: “Hate is just as injurious to the hater as it is to the hated. Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity…. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

Hate is not the answer.

Our support for our fellow human beings as a part of the natural family of humanity must be a starting point for any movement to improve and enhance human rights.  Human rights activists who accept an ideology that some are “less” of a human being than others, reject our shared universal human rights, equality, and dignity.

Choose Love, Not Hate – for all of your fellow Human Beings.

The Essential of Hope for Humanity

Humanity may believe that its greatest need is for air, water, food for its survival. But meaningful human survival is not truly built on any of these, which most would agree are “essentials.” Rather, our human lives are truly built on the real essential of HOPE. This is more than a simplistic definition of desires and ambitions, but a meaningful hope that guides us in our search for our identity, purpose, and meaning in our lives and society.

Humanity needs a reason to survive, beyond momentary survival instincts. The reasons may differ by individual, their nature, nurture, and values. But diverse human beings share the essential of hope for humanity as sentinent beings who perceive, reason, think, and are aware of our lives and our world.

Society’s efforts to organize led to the creation of many sets of rules and standards from the Magna Carta to modern day ethics and human rights standards. Sentinent beings face struggles and challenges. As they struggle for their identity and meaning in life, it is the power of hope to give them the courage and mercy towards themselves and others.

In the 20th Century, the grave horrors of war and genocide led to a new appreciation for this essential of hope, not just as individuals, but also for our “human family.” On December 10, 1948, 48 nations of the new United Nations agreed on a Universal Declaration of Human Rights, respecting the “dignity” and merciful “brotherhood” for the “human family” as a global need for our societies. This was a historical milestone in human organization in seeking something more than simply rules or codes for one another, but also recognizing that we seek to view one another with mercy and dignity – for all human beings.

This small step in the expansion of societal consciousness led us to another growth in hope itself, expanding individual hope to also respect societal hope, even hope for our shared “human family.” Despite seeing what many would have called the “worst” of humanity, global leaders called for the audacity to hope for change in humanity itself. The expansion of consciousness in hope for ourselves and our society must be founded in jutice, mercy, and compassion, as we have seen too often what the American human rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. described in 1958 as the “glaring reality of collective evil.”

With the essential of hope not only for ourselves, but also for our society, we continue to seek growth and self-determination as individual human beings and in our societies. The world has been blessed with many leaders that have sacrificed to set examples of justice, mercy, compassion, honesty, and nonviolence as pathways in working towards such hope for our “human family.”

This change in the essential of hope is not without challenge or pain. While individuals struggle over hope for their individual identity and meaning, we find an increasing need for hope in our society “human family’s” ability to find a collective identity and meaning. This brings angst to many as society may be beyond individual influence, but many feel the need to still work towards the hope for a meaningful, merciful, and just society.

Many find encouragement and strength in hope by seeking faith-based or value-based aspirations both for themselves and their society. But whatever our path in hope may be, the reality is that the essential of hope is not something our sentinent society can relinquish. Such hope, especially in difficult times, may be the most valuable, most essential part of our lives, to give us courage to continue.

With hope, we also find disappointment, not only individually, but also as a society. Many of our social struggles are based on how to manage and channel this disappointment in our hopes for justice, equality, liberty, and compassion within ourselves and in our societies.

When we find frustration, discouragement, and disappointment in pursuing our path of hope for ourselves and our society, it is vital to reflect on the context of our positive achievements. Our journey deserves the opportunity to remember such achievements. We look to those who have overcome obstacles for inspiration. Most importantly, we must refuse to accept powerless over the challenges to our essential need for hope. The smallest acts, considered “routine” or “trivial,” may be the steps for ourselves and our society that make a difference.

Both as individuals and as a society of a “human family,” we will know that, despite our best efforts, we will find hopes that will be unfulfilled. But we can choose to view such “unfufilled dreams” as either a tragedy, or as the building of a path and opportunity for those who will come after us. The only true tragedy would be to abandon the essential of hope itself. Dreams will live on. Infinite hope will live on. We must continue to choose to be part of that arc of infinite hope, long after our time on Earth is gone.

Over fifty years ago, the great American human rights and nonviolence leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. provided guidance on such struggles with hope and disappointment. He stated: “The answer lies in developing the capacity to accept the finite disappointment and yet cling to the infinite hope.” He continued to share this message with the American public of balancing disappointment and hope in seeking social change, and urging them to reject bitterness, violence, and hate.

The human heart’s capacity to be filled with infinite hope is a shining light, even in our darkest hours.

That hope is essential in defining who and what we will become.

We must recognize hope as an essential quality for our survival, and find the courage to accept constant disappointments and unfinished dreams as part of our human experience. Our journey of hope, both as individuals and as a society, is the true accomplishment.

We “keep hope alive” because it is hope that keeps both our soul and body alive. The human persistence on hope for progress, peace, justice, and compassion is what gives our human family its greatest definition and it’s most noble history.

Our essential journey of hope is also our greatest destination, as human beings and as a society.

(…for dearest RH)

Universal Human Rights and Pride versus Dignity

Our Universal Human Rights of Dignity for our “human family” are not based on arrogant pride, but on the compassionate respect for dignity of the individual as a fellow human being. Such human rights must also include mercy, not just for those like us and those we like, but also an outstretched hand of mercy for our human family. Conceitful pride is not dignity, and superiority is not equality.

In our challenge to those whose cruel actions, ideas, and even anti-freedom regime defy our universal human rights, let us not use our own cruel arrogance and pridefulness that we are superior to other members of our human family. We seek to urge change, not because of pride of our “superior” knowledge, but because of the need for respect and mercy in our human family.

Seventy years ago, the nations of the world made a decision to take a different stand on the “barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind.” In Article 1 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, world leaders stated: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”

Too often, the lack of mercy in society impacts our language and how we communicate. But let us be clear, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights does not speak to our “pride,” on which so many activists base campaigns. Instead, it speaks to “dignity.” This declaration begins with the “recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.” It is not a recognition of superior pride or conceit. Dignity is primarily defined as “quality or state of being worthy.” Pride is primarily defined as “inordinate self-esteem : conceit.” We have allowed the words pride and dignity to become interchangeable, but they have very different primary meanings as words.

This misunderstanding of dignity has a tremendous negative impact on campaigns for human rights. We can endlessly and pridefully have those pointing their finger and with upraised fists against “the other,” who is “wrong” and must be challenged. But if we accept our universal human rights of a “human family,” we must also realize that those who reject our shared human rights are also part of our same “human family.” They ARE us. We are shouting at a mirror of who we are or who we could be as well. While we may choose our friends, we cannot choose the members of our shared “human family.” Our human family is our greatest and our most ignoble, our strongest and most vulnerable, and our most compassionate and most cruel – all together.

The concept that they ARE us, must give pause even to our most fervent activist opposed to “the other.” While we may reject ideas, acts, and organizations, prideful rejection of human beings is a rejection of our human family. Some find this impossible to accept, and instead allow their pride to redirect their blind rage from “the other” in their human family to humanity itself. Conceitful pride can blind us to not only human rights, but also to our shared humanity. Conceitful pride can actively call for hate as “the answer” to challenges in our society. But we know that hate only leads to futher hate. Our Declaration of Universal Human Rights calls for us to act with merciful “brotherhood” to promote such human rights and equality. We can not do so in a spirit of hate, superiority, and contempt for the members of our “human family” with whom we disagree.

Hate is Not the Answer. But to too many, Hate is not only the answer, it has become normalized as a solution to our human rights challenges in our world. This is how blind pride can damage our vision on universal human rights.

It is the “non-conformance” of rejecting pride, hate, and selfishness, which is essential to pursuing consistent equality and meaningful respect for dignity for our human family. The great human rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., often warned about pride, which is often forgotten. He warned that “dangerous passions of pride, hatred, and selfishness are enthroned in our lives.”

The anti-human rights threat of pride has been lost in the shouts of rage and frustration of billions. This message of this human rights leader on pride has been lost in a world with billions shouting in megaphones all at the same time, and we forget that to respect dignity, we must also shelve our conceitful pride to listen occasionally.

The blinding sun of pride and rage does not outshine every word of wisdom from the past on mercy and restraint. I have a handwritten note from the human rights leader Dr. King on “Pride.” On it, he had two remarks: “Augustine said sixteen centuries ago, ‘What could begin this evil will but pride, that is the beginning of all sin?’.” He also wrote C.S. Lewis in our day declares: “Pride leads to every other vice; it is the complete anti-God state of mind… Pride is spiritual cancer; it eats up every possibility, of love, on contentment, or even common sense.”

Let us look forward beyond Dr. King’s comments and spiritual notations on pride, and reflect on our human family and the call for mericful brotherhood as part of our Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Let us consider the damage that such conceitful pride does to both our human rights, and very dignity of our human family we seek to defend. To reflect on these quotes documented by Dr. King, let us also consider the challenge of pride in human rights terms.

Pride is a human rights cancer. It corrupts the best hopes and best intentions of campaigns for dignity of the individual through mercy and compassion. It is a superiority that rejects the equality that so many work to achieve. It is contempt for the humble understanding that our universal human rights begins with respecting our shared human family.

A commitment to equality is not one of arrogant pridefulness and superiority. Prideful superiority is the opposite of our equality. We cannot work to be both superior and equal. We must choose. Let us choose support for true equality, and find the courage to seek humble solutions by changing hearts of those who are part of our human family, even (especially) for those not like us and those we may not like. Responsible human rights activists do not merely stand with upraised fists of pride against others in their human family, but they must find the courage to speak to and offer compassion to those in our human family who have lost their way in human rights.

R.E.A.L. Human Rights Volunteers Offer an Outstretched Hand, Not an Upraised Fist – to White Nationalism and Anti-Semitic Group Leader – Choose Love, Not Hate

Do we believe infant children are born with contempt towards our shared human rights? We know better. While there are those born with illness, the idea that our new life is born with inherent contempt towards such universal human rights rejects the very words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” Not “some,” but “all.” Not just those we like or those like us. But “all.”

But we see those willing to reject humanity altogether, if they cannot guide members of their fellow human beings in the path they believe is right. Where in our Universal Declaration of Human Rights, are we called to abandon our fellow human beings, when we do not get our way? How are we working to promote freedom and equality in dignity and rights, by turning our back on humanity itself?

The cancer of conceitful pride can rationalize such illogical concepts. Such pride can rationalize hate, when we are called to show compassion. Such pride can rationalize inequality, when we are called to work for equality. Such pride can rationalize contempt for other members of the human family, when we are called to promote dignity and brotherhood. This is the destructive power of pride. It can even corrupt the logic of the values we claim to support.

Not only does such pride allow for hate against our fellow human beings, but also such conceitful pride will rationalize hate against humanity itself. Calls for human extinction can be rationalized by pride, as for the “common good.” For who? It allows for the public calls that human beings should be ruled by machines, as humanity should be allowed to make decisions on its own future. It even calls for human beings to be altered to be more like machines, and less like human beings. This is the destructive power of pride.

Conceitful pride can rise to a level that not only destroying human rights for “the other” is acceptable, but also calling for the very “extinction of humanity” can become a normalized and acceptable concept, even published in a major newspaper. This week, the New York Times (“Would Human Extinction Be a Tragedy?”) published a column stating “the extinction of humanity would make the world better off.” This is the destructive power of pride that can harden the hearts even of those who believe they are doing “good,” to accept that the very destruction of human life itself would be a noble accomplishment.

Early in R.E.A.L.’s human rights campaigns, I came across a man who I spoke to, who seemed to have great concern for human progress. When I mentioned the word “human rights,” he spit on the ground in contempt. This is the alienating damage achieved by the association of pride and superiority of too many campaigns that claim they are for human rights, but which are really for group superiority. The concept that universal human rights are only deserved to selected few is the very antithesis of the meaning of “universal human rights.” We do not work for equality by demonizing members of our shared human family.

In R.E.A.L.’s human rights campaigns, the idea of “universal human rights” is difficult for some to understand, even in 21st century America. In New York City, I had serious difficulty explaining to a police detective who had to approve a R.E.A.L. request for a freedom of speech demonstration, because the demonstration application was for “universal human rights.”  He couldn’t understand the point of this demonstration.  But “universal human rights for who, exactly?,” he asked.  “For all people,” I replied.  But “for what people?” he asked again. The concept that human rights campaigns are only for selected groups is so ingrained in public thought, that the very idea of supporting universal human rights, even in the city where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed, is inconceivable.  This too, is how far away from shared human rights, that too many prideful-based campaigns have  led us.

In challenging human rights abuses, we must remember those who are lost travelers in our human journey need our guidance, as must as their anti-human rights actions or concepts deserve our outrage.  Hate-filled pride is provides no guidance for change.  Our campaign for humanity and human rights must be a lighthouse to the lost in the seas of life, not a flaming torch to destroy those who actions and ideas reject our universal human rights.  If our Universal Declaration of Human Rights challenges the “barbarous acts” of the past, we must not seek to change with our own “barbarous acts” of the future. Hate-filled pride is not the answer.

The challenge of allowing pride to overtake our campaigns for humanity, and our individual lives is not a struggle for only for a few. It is a widespread problem for society, and we would be deceitful if we did not say it was a struggle for us as well. R.E.A.L. has worked to mitigate such challenges, with a moral compass of compassion and mercy.

To those who seek to defend the path of pride and hate as righteous responsese to abuses against human rights, pause and consider.  Without the uplifting strength of compassion and mercy to our human family, where will this path take not only our humanity but also our world?  Mercy is our greatest strength.  Love and Compassion is our greatest power.  If you consider yourselves to be in a human rights “war,” would you use the weakest “weapon” of pride and hate, and leave our greatest strengths behind?  This is how much hate and pride can blind our reason.

We do not offer an outstretched hand of human rights out of weakness, or lack of outrage in recognizing abuses. We offer an outstreteched hand of human rights to all, especially to those we challenge, because we know that an upraised fist of pride and hate will only bring more of the same. If we believe in our human family, and the merciful brotherhood and conscience we are called to show, we must seek the reunion of all of our family to share equality, liberty, rights, dignity, and mercy.

Our Universal Human Rights of all – for every individual – begins with the humility and compassion that, in our human family, the human rights and dignity of every member matters equally.

We urge all to be Responsible for Equality And Liberty – for All.