“Deterrence leads to war, but there is always an alternative to violence.” When it comes to conflict resolution Franco Vaccari, founder and president of Rondine Cittadella della Pace, where young people from countries in conflict find a space and time to meet, get to know each other and live together, doesn’t mince words. «It is a collective delirium, while we could all build peace»
From Ukraine to Gaza to Iran, violence is rampant. How do you evaluate these days of escalation of attacks in the Middle East?
«We are living in a delirious period, and I use this word as a psychologist, in a professional way. It’s a collective delirium, very worried.”
What worries you most?
«In Tuscany we say “cumbrugliume” to indicate the area where there is light and shadow, at dawn and at sunset. Well, now we are in a dark period, at the end of an era, of a world order and we are witnessing badly organised, badly justified violence: the death count is continuous.”
It seems that there are no alternatives to overwhelm…
«And it is absolutely false. The alternative to war is there, always has been and always will be. Here in Rondine there are people who, despite the bombs and being refugees, even live with the enemy.”
In Europe the voices against the war can be counted on one hand. In recent days, French President Emanuel Macron said that “to be free you must be feared”. Is that so?
«No, not at all. To be free you must know how to defend yourself and defend the weak. Be careful not to confuse the concepts of defense and deterrence: no one denies that we must defend ourselves and that we must defend good and protect life. Deterrence, on the other hand, is the escalation towards war, therefore the denial of peace. Strength is not that which overwhelms the other, it is not violence, but it is the strength of reason, of thought words, of institutions, of human culture.”
Even the Pope expressed himself in favor of “seeking solutions without weapons”…
«We good Christians, or at least those who define ourselves that way, should take the Pope’s words seriously: the principles he enunciates apply to public life. A new political culture of peace, a new vision of peace, is needed. We must all choose to be peacebuilders, building relationships and not digital connections. Peace builders are those who take care of relationships: friends, teachers, professors, catechists. Peace is built by looking into the eyes, developing a clean and strong thought.”
Where is the seed of hope kept?
«Prayer vigils and marches are fine but we must tell everyone that relationships must be lived without running away from difficulties. You can stay within conflicts in a healthy, generative way. I am sure that conscience will awaken. Peace always lives in people’s consciences, while war is a pathology.”
What does Rondine’s experience teach us?
«Every day in Rondine we receive so much pain from all over the world. But every day the wonder is not giving in to pain and its derivative, which is hatred. We stubbornly remain in relationships, we transform hatred. Relationships are built not because you are friends but because you decide to remain human. Then we can differ on orientations, culture, religious choices, but the relationship is the minimum unit of social life.”
Is peace, then, possible?
«Peace, I was saying, begins when people look into each other’s eyes. We need indignation and action, but we don’t have to do who knows what. At the bar, in the office, let’s start saying words of peace, avoiding stupid chatter, poisonous words. War is not inevitable, as President Mattarella also says, the drift is not inevitable. The world is ours, it belongs to those who want peace, not to those who blow the winds of war.”
