• The blasphemy of war, by the Master —
• Questions and answers
• Letters to the Editor
• The star that heralds Maitreya’s emergence
• Peace - a compilation
• Star Sign
• Star letters from readers
• From our own correspondents
• “We must rise against the injustice in Palestine” — Part 2
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The Master's article for
Share International magazine, September 2009

The blasphemy of war

by the Master –, through Benjamin Creme, 15 July 2009

Twice, last century, the world was convulsed by total war, two terrible phases of one war which cost humanity many millions of lives. Each was meant to be “the war to end war”, but still there are those who plot and plan for yet another trial of strength, with weapons of even greater destructiveness. How long, we must ask, will it take man to realize that war solves nothing, proves nothing and adds only pain and loss to the peoples of Earth?

A major reason for the Masters’ return to the everyday world is, precisely, to remind men of this, to so influence their thinking that they turn away from war for ever. So many nations today possess the nuclear bomb, the most destructive weapon ever conceived and built, that a future major war would be the ultimate horror: the complete destruction of life on planet Earth. For many millions of years Earth would be a dead planet, a toxic waste. Men, themselves, would have to incarnate on some dark, far-off world, and begin again the long, long journey into the light.

Imminently

You may be sure that when Maitreya, imminently, begins His open mission, He will face men with this problem and its outcome, and offer His solution and advice. War, He will remind men, is a blasphemy, a detestation and crime against all men, involved or not. War, He will say, must be considered thus if humanity and the lower kingdoms are to survive.

Sharing and justice alone, He will say, will ensure the future for men. Strive for unity and co-operation for the men of Earth are One. “See your brother as yourself” and take the first step into your divinity. “Take your brother’s need as the measure for your action and solve the problems of the world. There is no other course.”

People of Earth

Thus will Maitreya speak to the people of Earth. Thus will He endeavour to change the direction of their thinking.
Will the people listen to and act on His advice? Fear and foreboding fill the minds of men: ancient habits of thought die hard and are loath to change.

More and more, however, the problems and privations which accompany the economic collapse of today encourage men to seek new ways of living, and turn their thoughts to sharing, to the creation of a more just and generous world. Thus are many ready to respond to Maitreya’s words. Many, of course, are not ready to change. Many are content with the present situation, expecting an ‘upturn’ in the markets before too long, when they will begin again to make money from air for their company and themselves.

Many, too, in the religious fields, will welcome little the appearance of Maitreya. Bereft of knowledge, clinging to their man-made dogmas, they will find in Maitreya, the Lord of Love, the abomination of evil that they fear. But not all. Many religious groups around the world have seen and heard Maitreya’s words before, albeit in another guise. They will remember the Teacher Who appeared to them and planted the seeds of sharing and justice in their minds while endowing their lands with the Waters of Life from Aquarius.

Eventually so great will be the pressure for a better, a fairer and a safer world that even the most bigoted will add their voices to the clamour for change. Thus will it be.

(Read more articles by the Master)

Questions and Answers

Q. When will Maitreya first appear on television? Is it related to more people seeing the ‘star’ and/or to the further collapse of our financial systems?

A. It does not entail a further collapse of our systems and it is not really related to more people seeing the ‘star’.

My information is that Maitreya’s first interview is taking place very, very soon – sooner than you think possible. But obviously, if more people saw the ‘star’ and reported the sightings we could start a worldwide media debate about what the ‘stars’ are.

People needn’t necessarily agree with what I believe them to be – gigantic spaceships: one from Mars, one from Jupiter, one from Venus and one from a planet whose name has not been given. They are spacecraft (not ordinary UFOs doing their ordinary work, which is extraordinary) which do this special work vis-à-vis the ‘star’.

I have been told the four ‘stars’ will be in place until the Day of Declaration, in the North, South, East and West, so that wherever you are in the world your area will be covered by a ‘star’. All you have to do is keep looking for them; they don’t appear all the time. People imagine you just look up and suddenly see them. It is not that simple. They are gigantic but they do not fill the sky. They are larger than planets and stars and they move.

Each ‘star’ is about the size of five football fields put together. They don’t appear all the time because they have to recharge their batteries. So they move as close to the sun as possible to recharge their batteries that way. That takes time and then they return to position and move around. That is the thing about the ‘star’ – it moves around. Sometimes, they move about if asked: when you see one you can ask it to move; they have been known to respond to human thought. In fact, we recently published a letter in Share International in which the writer saw the star and asked: “If you are the star can I see another one?” And almost immediately another appeared next to the first, and then another and the fourth. They lined up next to one another.

Q. How can Maitreya emerge if the mainstream media continues to suppress reports about the ‘star’?

A. If the media were to continue indefinitely to suppress reports about the ‘star’ Maitreya would just come forward.

Maitreya has had these craft from our own solar system placed in position around the Earth as a sign heralding His emergence. It replicates what happened in the Middle East when Jesus was born. The Star of Bethlehem guiding the wise men was a spacecraft. This is a repetition of that event. But now there are four and they can be seen sometimes during the day and, of course, at night. They can be seen if you are assiduous and you look often. If you go out star-hunting take a camera with a good zoom. We have photographs of the star which look more like spacecraft than stars.

Look at YouTube [website] and you will see dozens of videos or photographs of the ‘star’.

Q. Are the ‘stars’ life forms?

A. The ‘stars’ are not life forms, they are craft made on Mars, Venus, Jupiter and the other unnamed planet. Two were made on Mars which is the spacecraft ‘factory’ for our solar system; it makes about 90 per cent of all the spacecraft. They are made by thought and are not of dense physical matter. If you went to Mars you would see nothing, but there are more Martians on Mars than there are people on Earth.

Q. Are the ‘star’ visitors guided by Maitreya?

A. No. I am sure that this has all been well thought out between Maitreya and the Space Brothers. I am sure He would leave it up to them to carry out the required mission.

Q. The ‘star’, which you announced in December 2008, is not constantly visible throughout the whole world, but now and then in some places. If the ‘star’ were to be visible constantly, the acceptance by the public would be much easier. Is the appearance of the ‘star’ bound by certain laws?

A. Yes. They can only show their light for a given number of hours per day before needing to be recharged from the sun.

Q. Is there any reason to hope that the Emergence will take place anytime soon? At Christmas you gave many people who trusted you reason to set their hopes very high, but it all seems to have ‘petered’ out. What was billed as a “very bright star visible to everyone both day and night” seems to have panned out to be a tiny fraction of what we were led to hope for. That has caused some people to back away from Share International. (1) Is it possible that Maitreya’s emergence may take place a number of years from now, or (2) that He may have changed His mind about working openly on the world stage?

A. (1) No. (2) No. Of course, everyone hopes to see Maitreya soon but they are so impatient, unaware as they are of the tremendous opposition that exists, cosmic and planetary, to Maitreya’s emergence. The question to ask oneself is, I think, what have I done to speed His emergence? Is it enough or am I just waiting on the sidelines for Maitreya to act?

Q. A Yemeni jet airliner crashed on its way to the island of Comoros on 30 June 2009. Only one passenger – a 12-year-old girl – of the 153 people on board survived. “She didn’t feel a thing,” her father said. “She found herself in water” and clung to floating debris for more than 12 hours. A French government official called the girl’s survival “a true miracle”. (1) What involvement, if any, did the Masters have, in the girl’s survival? (2) Did the Masters send Their energy to the passengers to reduce the suffering of the crash?

A. (1) She was saved by the Master Jesus. (2) Yes.

Q. When your Master said that cities of the future will be more humanely designed and also lesser in population, was he referring to a reduction in global population, both rural and urban, and if so would this be caused by the same factors, whatever they are, that are responsible for declining populations in Russia, Japan, and some European countries? Or is a global decline in population inevitable for the reasons given by James Lovelock, author of The Gaia Hypothesis? Lovelock says that a global warming of at least 2 degrees Celsius is sure to happen due to greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere, where they will remain for hundreds of years, and that the net result will be that by the end of the century, our planet will only be able to support agricultural production sufficient for a population of about 1 billion people. (1) Is this prediction overly pessimistic, in your view? (2) Or is it accurate and as Lovelock says, not really gloomy, given that 1 billion people is plenty, whereas also, humanity has passed through far tighter demographic ‘bottlenecks’ in the distant past and will be far wiser and stronger for having to do so yet again?

A. If we were to do little or nothing to overcome global warming to some degree, Mr Lovelock’s projection would quite possibly be accurate although global warming will at the same time make possible a huge area for cultivation in the sub-arctic regions of northern Europe, Russia and Canada which could produce enormous amounts of food for the world. In any case, it is likely that Mr Lovelock has not heard about the presence of Maitreya and of His soon emergence. If we respond, Maitreya and His group of Masters know what needs to be done to limit and overcome global warming. My Master has stated that this world can comfortably sustain and nourish about 4.5 billion people, and eventually the population of the Earth will be that, not by starvation or lack of food but by natural social control of the sex function and a more just social life and care for all groups. For example, the huge families of people in the poorest countries is governed by the need for support of parents in old age. They have many children because they know that most of them will die before they themselves do. It is their form of insurance for old age. When sharing and justice are realities in the world, this ignominy will change and the population will drop naturally.

Letters to the editor

Maitreya’s ‘Hand’ on screen

Maitreya’s Hand on
M.S.’s computer screen

Dear Editor,
It was Thursday 23 July 2009, and Benjamin Creme had already arrived in New York City for his annual lecture tour. That evening we had planned a group get-together at our home with Mr Creme and his wife.
Immediately prior to the gathering Mr Creme was scheduled to give a phone interview so I was setting up my office next door for it. I am a video editor and was preparing to show him some TV commercials that the US groups had made to promote the upcoming tour and also a TV spot announcing the arrival of the ‘star’.

My editing system has two video monitors and two computer monitors. One of my computer monitors went down a couple of months ago and I had not replaced it, so it is always turned off. As I sat down I noticed something out of the corner of my eye: there was a handprint on the screen of the broken monitor.

My first reaction was: “Who put their hand on my monitor?” I am very careful with my equipment and keep my monitors clean. I never put my fingers, much less my hands, on them.

As I observed the handprint my heart started beating rapidly and my body got all tingly. I then started sifting through the possibilities of who could have done this. It couldn’t have been my son (his hands are too small). It couldn’t have been a client (there have been none this month). And no one but me comes into the office!

I placed my hand in front of the handprint without touching it and saw it wasn’t my size. It was bigger. Also, because of its shape it seemed the handprint was coming from inside the monitor. I began to realize what this could be and very calmly went next door to call my wife and a friend. They came into my office and immediately gasped when they saw the handprint. Benjamin Creme would be arriving in half an hour, so we waited for him to see it. When he saw the handprint, he consulted his Master and it was confirmed that was indeed manifested by the Lord Maitreya.

Needless to say, it was an exciting event. All the group members who attended the party were able to enjoy the energies and the gift given to us. The handprint is still there. It certainly is nice having the ‘hand’ there as I work. It is a wonderful gift. I am just thankful and move on doing our work. Maitreya’s love and energy are always with us and soon we will be seeing more than his ‘hand’.
M.S., NYC, USA.

The need for faith

Dear Editor,
On Friday 25 June 2009, in the late evening in Egmond-aan-zee, the Netherlands, we were walking along the promenade (parallel to the sea) and just as we were talking about the importance of faith, and about faith in life no matter what, we looked up and saw a large orange ball which seemed to be very close to us, almost overhead.

(Just a few minutes before our walk we had been reading and discussing a chapter on faith in Adamski’s Cosmic Philosophy; Adamski explains that the opposite of faith is fear which is based on personality concern, whereas faith is rooted in a sense of the eternal.)

At first we thought it was a helicopter, but since there was no sound at all, we stood and watched it as it moved purposefully (it did not seem to float but to move under its own energy) parallel with the coast. At first, it was over the water’s edge, then it climbed steadily so that it looked as if it were above the moon after which it travelled off away from us out to sea in a southerly direction. (1) Was this Maitreya’s Lightship? (2) Was it a craft from another planet? (3) Was its appearance an emphasis, of sorts, on the importance of faith?
J.K. and F.E., the Netherlands.
(Benjamin Creme’s Master confirms: (1) Yes. (2) No. (3) Yes.)

Two letters from the same person:

Who’s who?

Dear Editor,
(1) At Benjamin Creme’s lecture in Tokyo in May 2009, I was working at the book table in the lobby. A young man approached and suddenly asked me: “Who’s Maitreya?” It was such a direct question that I asked him: “What do you mean ‘Who’s Maitreya?’ From which angle are you asking?” The man replied: “Is Mr Creme Maitreya?” So I was able to say: “Maitreya and Mr Creme are different people.” Then he asked: “Is Maitreya a Messiah?” “Well, you could call him that,” I replied. He then asked: “Is Maitreya Christ?” “You could say that also,” I responded. The man said: “OK, I understand,” and went to another table. Was this young man a Master?
(Benjamin Creme’s Master confirms that the young man was the Master Jesus.)

Fair exchange

(2) When the question-and-answer session was over at Benjamin Creme’s Tokyo lecture in May 2009, people began to crowd around the book table. A man came to our table, carrying a lot of books and DVDs, which he had already purchased. He seemed a bit nervous and was looking at the audio cassettes. After a while, he asked to exchange the DVDs for cassettes. I thought it was strange to exchange DVDs for cassettes, but I exchanged them and received the payment balance. Then he asked to exchange the cassettes for CDs. So I obliged, feeling increasingly strange. After the man left, I suddenly realized that he was the same man who had spoken to me when I was putting up posters for the lecture. He had said emphatically: “I sure will go.” Was the man a Master?
N.Y., Tokyo, Japan.
(Benjamin Creme’s Master confirms that the man was the Master Jesus.)

Straight talk

Dear Editor,
At Benjamin Creme’s lecture in Osaka on 16 May 2009, I was at the book table. An elderly man with a big smile approached me and asked (in an Osaka dialect): “Who is Maitreya?” I was a bit taken aback by his direct question and hesitatingly began to answer. “He is the elder brother of humanity, and came out of our human evolution.” He said clearly, with such a happy smile: “You mean he is an educator who will guide humanity, right?” “Yes, he is the World Teacher,” I replied without any hesitation. From this exchange, I was keenly reminded of the importance of talking directly from my heart. Was this happy man Maitreya?
Y.H., Osaka, Japan.
(Benjamin Creme’s Master confirms that the man was Maitreya.)

Young at heart

Dear Editor,
I would like to ask about a man I met at Benjamin Creme’s lecture in Tokyo in May 2009. I was staffing the free information table during the intermission. A man about 70 years of age, wearing a blue shirt, stopped in front of me when there was hardly anybody around in the lobby. He said: “I am a Christian, though I did not bring a Bible with me today.” I thought it rather strange because earlier I had heard another man saying, “He [Benjamin Creme] was talking about Christ, but it is quite different from religion, isn’t it?”

The man in the blue shirt said: “I want to ask Christ when I see him next time if the content of the Bible is all true.” I wondered in my mind: “When is this man going to see Christ – after he dies, maybe?” Then he said: “I am going to live until I am 200 years old.” I smiled and said: “That’s nice.” Was he someone special?
Y.I., Tokyo, Japan.
(Benjamin Creme’s Master confirms that the man in the blue shirt was Maitreya.)

Long life

Dear Editor,
At Benjamin Creme’s May 2009 lecture in Tokyo, I was resting on a chair in the lobby during the intermission before the question-and-answer session. An elderly man in his 70s or 80s came by smilingly and sat on a chair next to me. He was of a small build and his back was slightly bent. He was wearing a blue shirt. “Shall I interview you?” he said suddenly. “Oh? Well, all right”, I said.
“To what age do you want to live?” he asked.
“To what age do I want to live – well, maybe until the age of 80?” I said.
“Then, the next question is, do you live happily every day?” the man asked.
After thinking for awhile, I replied: “Yes, I am living happily every day.”
“Really? I want to live until I am 200 years old,” the man said. “Some of my friends say they want to live until they are 300 years old. If one lives happily everyday, one would want to live until 200 or 300 years of age.”
“Well, in that case, I want to live to 300 years of age,” I said.
The man left with a smile. Was he a Master?
S.Y., Tokyo, Japan.
(Benjamin Creme’s Master confirms that the man was Maitreya.)

The star that heralds Maitreya’s emergence

“In the very near future, people everywhere will have the opportunity to witness an extraordinary and significant sign, the like of which has been manifested only once before, at the birth of Jesus. Then, according to Christian teaching, a star appeared in the heavens and led three wise men from the East to the birthplace of Jesus. Soon, once again, a star-like luminary of brilliant power will be seen around the world.” (Benjamin Creme’s Master, ‘Maitreya’s first interview’, SI Jan/Feb 2009)

On 12 December 2008 Share International distributed a news release announcing that in the very near future a large, bright star would appear in the sky visible throughout the world, night and day, heralding the imminent appearance of Maitreya in His first interview on a major US television programme. Since early January 2009 sightings of the star have been reported all over the world and hundreds of sightings have been sent to Share International. We include a selection of the latest reports from the media, Share International readers, and sightings from YouTube. All are genuine sightings confirmed by Benjamin Creme’s Master to be the ‘star’.

	Four stills from a video of Maitreya’s ‘star’ over Berlin, Germany, 5 August 2009, taken a few seconds apart and showing the constantly changing colours. (YouTube: Danicanto1)
	The ‘star’ reported on television Boca Raton, Florida, USA, 6 July 2009. According to one witness: “There was a green light in the sky, but it was too close to be a star. It was moving side-to-side and hovering, like nothing I have ever seen before – it was a green glowing diamond shaped object, about 100 feet above us, floating”. WPTV, a local television station, reported the story and showed a video. (YouTube; examiner.com)
Two of the four ‘star-like luminaries’ seen together, Italy, June 2009. (YouTube: daisenpuQustom)
Photograph sent by G.L., Barcelona, Spain, who explains:“The star rises in the sky at about 11pm from the east-southeast and seen from the north moves west, rising in altitude. It moves quite quickly. This photo was taken in Vilassar de Mar, in Barcelona province, Spain – camcorder footage shows ‘pulsations’, changes of size and flashing of the star when the zoom was fixed in the same position.”
	Taken in Hullbridge, Essex, UK, by C.E. at 3.30am on 17 July 2009.
	All four ‘stars’ seen over Leyland, Lancashire, UK, on 7 February 2009, filmed by M.G. He reports seeing: “4 extremely bright UFOs approaching and going over the houses in my street. They were at an low altitude and flying in a staggered formation under definite intelligent control and definitely not Chinese lanterns”. (YouTube: ufohomebase) (See letter by D.D. in Share International, July/August 2009, who also saw all four ‘stars’ together.)
On 6 July, at 4.30am, I hoped to see the ‘star’ in a northeast direction, after reading the latest Share International magazine. I looked out of my bedroom window and – yes there it was – shining brightly in the still dark sky, the only star left to see. The sky was brightening quickly and the star faded away until 5.30am when it was gone. There isn’t any doubt for me that all the stories in Share International are true, but you can see this with your very own eyes! So wonderful, I have to share this. M.Z., Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
On 2 July 2009 at 8.30pm thousands of people in Chengdu witnessed a UFO and according to the government news agency Xinhua, ran out, even in pyjamas, to see the craft, which was described as being a luminous blue that changed to red from time to time. Zhang Yang, head of the Chengdu Buddhist Association, pronounced it a “Heavenly Body” and said it could not have been a Chinese lantern, weather balloon or kite. “There seems to be a mass of UFO sightings all over China at the moment,” according to disclose.tv, which reported that the same UFO had stunned thousands of residents of Xi’an city the night before, resulting in jammed news hot lines. (Source: allnewsweb.com; YouTube)
	Berlin, 27 June 2009, photographed from the balcony of his flat. Sent by T.W.
	Slough, UK, 9 August 2009 (YouTube: paulchi69)
Dear Editor, A few nights ago I noticed an incredibly bright object hovering in the sky, not far from the moon. It didn’t dawn on me until later that I might be witnessing the ‘star’. For the past three nights, I have seen the same object in the sky, and I have taken pictures and filmed it. After reviewing my photos, I realize now that the object has moved a fair amount since the first time I saw it. Interestingly, about a week ago, I heard that a friend had ‘called the star’ and had then seen it. So, with my mind I politely invited the ‘star’ to visit. Is it the ‘star’ that I’m seeing? E.G., Cotati, California, USA. (Benjamin Creme’s Master confirms that it was the ‘star’.)
Northern Kentucky, USA, 6 June 2009: “At first glance, it looked like an abnormally large star, but very bright. When you actually looked close you could see some kind of pulsating lights on the top of it. Like a strobe light with red blue and green flashes,” says the witness. (YouTube: TriangleinTheSky)

Peace – a compilation

We present a selection of quotations on the theme of Peace from Maitreya (Messages from Maitreya the Christ, and Maitreya’s Teachings – The Laws of Life), Benjamin Creme’s Master (A Master Speaks), and Benjamin Creme’s writings. (Abridged version.)

My friends, I am here with you to show you the way to Peace, which is the way to God. Simple Justice will take you there. Know this and create around you Justice and Love. Know this and be ready to respond to My lead. My Teaching is, as ever, simple indeed. Men must share or die. Loath am I to say this, but such is the Truth, and many today now see this. Forming themselves into groups, men of goodwill will brandish aloft their hopes and dreams of Justice and Peace. This clamour will light the Torch of Truth among the nations, and at its centre shall I be found. (Maitreya, from Message No. 135)

Peace will only come when justice reigns, when sharing has opened men’s hearts and awakened them to trust. Thus men must work and speak loudly for justice and sharing which alone will bring an end to men’s suffering, to terrorism and war. We, your Elder Brothers, are ready to do Our part. We will potentize all actions taken on behalf of the Common Good. We await the opportunity to manifest Our strength; to help to right the wrongs of the past; to show men the uselessness of war. We pledge our support of all who call for an end to war, for the restoration of sanity and balance in the affairs of men, for the creation of justice and freedom for all.
Help Us to help you. Help Us to do Our part. We long to act, as always, in the interest of the Common Good, which, in Our understanding, is the best interests of all men. Thus it is that We advocate sharing; thus do We advise justice; thus do We see freedom and peace as the culmination of sharing and justice.
Let us work together for the rescue of this world. Let us abandon differences in the interests of the race. Let sanity triumph and bring men to see their mutual need for peace, and the restoration of an ailing world.
Many await the future in dread, fearful that man has lost his way, that it is now too late to find the path to peace. We counsel otherwise. We know that the path to peace is simply found, needing only the creation of justice and trust. We know that sharing alone will engender that trust, and bring men to abandon both terrorism and war. Thus will it be, and thus will men respond to Maitreya’s message of Brotherhood and Justice, free at last from the glamours of fear and mistrust, ready to create the future in deed and in joy. (Benjamin Creme’s Master, from ‘The Masters’ pledge’)

The next destined step for humanity is the creation of right human relationships. That means the demonstration of our ability to live in peace. If we cannot live in peace, we cannot live at all because a war today on a major scale would destroy all life. So the first step into right human relations is the creation of conditions of peace. Maitreya says this is simple but there is only one way in which we can produce peace: that is to create justice in the world. Without justice there will never be peace and without peace there will be no world. How then do we get justice? We share the resources. There are more than enough resources for all the people in the world. When we share, Maitreya says, we take the first step into our divinity. Sharing, He says, is divine, freedom is divine, justice is divine. These are all divine aspects. “To manifest his divinity, man must embrace these three.” (Benjamin Creme, The Great Approach)

When man accepts, in fact and in deed, that humanity is one, that men are brothers, one of another, all things can safely become his. His birthright awaits him.
So must men show that they are ready for peace, ready to enter the future together without bloodshed or competition. They must be glad to share and work in harmony for the good of all. When men, of themselves, come to that awareness, they will call on Maitreya (by whatever name) to show them the way, to guide them out of the morass, and to lead them into the era of peace.
Then will the Great Lord respond. Then will Maitreya call on the army of helpers assembled over the years. From every country this band of willing servers will come, dedicated, and trained in the new procedures.
Thus will man, the disciple under trial, emerge as the Son of God to be, the inheritor of his true function and powers. (Benjamin Creme’s Master, from ‘Man’s birthright awaits him’)

My need for disciples who realise the danger of the time is great. I need, also, those who sense My Presence to make known this Promise to their brothers. All who share the hope that mankind should live in peace together work for Me. Peace, Sharing and Justice are central to My Teaching. Wherever the Light of these Truths shines I turn My eye, and through the channel of that Light do I send My Love. Thus do I work. Thus through you do I change the world. (Maitreya, from Message No. 92)

What is peace? Maitreya says: “In creation, peace means non-conditioning. What is war? War means conditioning.”
We can understand that when people try to impose ideologies, they ultimately undergo processes of self-defeat, because the Self is at war. Maitreya says: “The seeds of destruction lie in conditioning. The seeds of peace lie in non-conditioning.” Maitreya’s counsel is, “Be what you are, so that you are free from conditioning, so that you can approach whatever comes before you with an open mind, so that you do not fall into destructive processes.” (Maitreya, Maitreya’s Teachings – The Laws of Life)

When mankind sees, at last, the folly of its present fascination with violence and war, and discards the means to carry out its acts of violence, it will undergo a remarkable transformation. The first signs of this most welcome change in human behaviour can be seen in the millions who now march denouncing war and calling for justice and peace. These demonstrations, spontaneous and worldwide, are a sure indication that mankind is ready to renounce the past, and, when properly led, to change direction. This time is fast approaching. (Benjamin Creme’s Master, from ‘The ultimate choice’)

Much that is loved must go. Cling not to the old forms. Much will depend on man’s ability to renounce these outworn structures, and to create a new and simpler world. Remember this. Forget not that I come to change all things. My Coming brings peace. Likewise, My Presence brings cleavage. My Sword, that Love which I am, will separate all men, will show the True from the false, will clear the way for the New Light which I bring. May it be that you can withstand this change and accept My Light. (Maitreya, from Message No. 74)

The major problem awaiting resolution is that of achieving just and lasting peace. Without peace, today, there would be no future for the race. The nations, even now, are edging slowly towards this goal, but certain basic requirements must be met before real peace can be assured.
Firstly, true peace depends on trust which arises only when the Law of Justice is fulfilled. The great and widening gap between the lifestyles of the rich and poor, nationally and between the nations, is, today, the greatest block to the achievement of peace. Divergent ideologies play their divisive part but this factor is diminishing in potency. More important, by far, is the ingrained complacency and greed of the developed world.
Peace results from balance, whose absence guarantees conflict and war. The achievement of balance requires the recognition that all are interdependent, peoples and nations, and that the needs of all can be met by just sharing. Until that realization dawns and is followed by action we shall know an unstable world. While half the world goes hungry and millions yearly starve true peace remains a dream. (Benjamin Creme’s Master, from ‘The need for action’)

The heart is never tarnished or touched, it is the seat of the soul. It is the mind that leads us astray. Peace, bliss, happiness and grace are the qualities of the heart. “By tuning into the ‘feelings of the heart’ you are able to experience your natural innocence, that innocence you had as a child. Do not ‘visualize’ the heart. For that is only the mind seeking to find the source of light with a torch.” (Maitreya, Maitreya’s Teachings – The Laws of Life)

Each child – at whatever level – comes into the world with his or her own set of purposes. A main one is to learn to live in peace and harmony with all others and in right relationship with his own environment. The possibility for this to take place is very rare. So great are the inequalities of opportunity and educational standards that few find themselves in a situation where their true worth and needs can be respected and served. (Benjamin Creme, Maitreya’s Mission Volume Two)

Gradually, slowly, step by hesitant step, the United Nations is coming into its own, donning bravely the responsible mantle of power. It represents the rallying point for the highest aspirations of men for justice and peace and must be prepared to act to ensure their preservation. Nothing less will guarantee a future free from the threat of fratricidal war. War, today, must be made illegal and the instigators answerable to Law. The nations must be prepared to enforce the law and to accept the price of action. Until true and lasting peace is assured such policing of the world remains the sole recourse. (Benjamin Creme’s Master, from ‘The mantle of power’)

The United Nations is slowly coming into its own as the maintainer of peace in the world. At present, it is reluctant to accept the role of world policeman, and governments everywhere balk at the cost involved. But until world peace is assured through sharing and the implementation of justice, such a responsibility must be accepted. Its future role is to become, not a world government, but the world parliament, where problems can be discussed and resolved peacefully. (Benjamin Creme, Maitreya’s Mission Volume Three)

What is required is a reassessment of who and what we are in our relationship to each other. Maitreya says the first step we have to take to address these problems is to see ourselves as one, brothers and sisters of one humanity. We have to get that sense of globality, that we are one people, one group – and therefore the food, raw materials, energy, scientific know-how and educational facilities of the world belong to everyone. These resources are given so that all people may evolve correctly according to the Plan which underlies our evolutionary process. As a result, we must share these resources more equitably. When we share, Maitreya says, we will create justice in the world, and when we create justice, and only then, will we have peace. He has come to show us how to have peace. If we do not accept the process towards peace, there will be no world, because we can now destroy all life on this planet many times over. We have the nuclear arsenal to do this. (Benjamin Creme, Maitreya’s Mission Volume Three)

The change of consciousness which is taking place is even more profound than any outer changes in the world might suggest. Obviously, they are necessary; but they are outer. However, the outer is always the reflection of the inner. If inwardly we are distraught, in disharmony with ourselves, with our environment, with our friends, our family and so on, then the outer forms which we make, what we express, the conditions which, moment to moment, we create around us, will be disharmonious. They will not have that kind of easeful, harmless relationship which is the essence of equilibrium. The more we are in equilibrium, the more our environment is in equilibrium. This is the basis of the need for harmlessness. Through harmlessness, we create the conditions in which we make no negative karma. What holds us back in expansion of consciousness on our evolutionary journey is, precisely, karma, the weight of our own individual karma. Everything, therefore, that can be done to lighten our karma is an aid towards the completion of our journey to perfection. (Benjamin Creme, Maitreya’s Mission Volume Two)

Maitreya says: “Look at the world situation today. Everyone has fallen victim to ideologies in the name of religion, politics, civilization. Is it worth living this sort of life? The world has been polluted with ideologies, so the clear message is: If the human race does not follow the path of justice, peace, happiness, grace, then nature will explode. If human beings (nations and countries) do not respect each other the energies which are goading nations and countries to fight, and which are so vibrant in nature, will find expression in major disasters which are just around the corner now. You will witness major earthquakes, floodings, volcanic eruptions, aeroplane explosions.” Maitreya says: “Everything you see happening in the world is entirely man-made.” (Maitreya, Maitreya’s Teachings – The Laws of Life)

Maitreya’s message to the human race is: Be what you are. The entire creation is a Becoming of the Supreme Being of the Lord. Everything belongs to Him. It is the heritage of one and all to enjoy the blessings of life, which are freedom in creation and salvation in the Supreme Being.
Nations and countries are as interdependent as are the members of a family. The policies of nations and governments must involve the essence of equilibrium and of fairness, which will produce peace, harmony and happiness.
No nation, no country is superior or inferior to another. It is the duty of the government to protect and promote the welfare of the nation, and it is the duty of every individual to be who he is. (Maitreya, Maitreya’s Teachings – The Laws of Life)

As soon as we create the structures which demonstrate the true Oneness of humanity, as soon as humanity accepts the teaching, endorses the advice of Maitreya, and creates sharing, justice and peace in the world, there will flow from that a harmony which at the moment is, sadly, totally lacking. It is a harmony between the outer and inner that creates the conditions in which time disappears. That harmony, that freedom, is the creative mind, state of being, and it is to that harmonious state of mind, of being, that every artist, poet, creative person of any kind, seeks the path. If there is a block to creativity, it is because that state of harmony does not exist. There has to be a period of regeneration, of course, of building up the fires of creativity again and again; that is a period of inaction. (Benjamin Creme, Maitreya’s Mission Volume Three)

It may seem impossible to believe, or so much wishful thinking, but from the higher viewpoint of your Elder Brothers, significant changes for the better are taking place throughout the world. We see a growing movement towards unity and justice, and a growing realization of the absolute necessity for peace to reign if humanity is to continue on its path of evolution. This represents a huge step back from the brink of self-destruction.

There are many, of course, who still conceive and perfect the tools of war, waxing rich and powerful in this deadly trade. The people, however, are awakening; a different drum is beating a new rhythm and the peoples respond. In almost every country men are sensing a new light, a quickening thought, a rising hope. Freedom, Justice and Peace are beginning to be felt as nearer, more real, more possible of attainment than ever before. Global communications are giving men a new sense of themselves as one humanity. This new awareness is not complete or perfect, to be sure, but We see clearly the beginning of a new and hopeful trend in this direction. This, indeed, gladdens Our hearts and betokens correct response to the energies of the New Time.
When Maitreya steps forward and begins His open Mission, this trend will magnify and become the aim and purpose of men and women of goodwill in every country. More and more, men will understand that, despite the differences in colour, race and religion, men and women everywhere are one, that they require the same justice and freedom which some believe is theirs alone by right.
Maitreya will emphasize the utter necessity for peace, and that the complete renunciation of war can only be achieved by trust. Sharing alone, Maitreya will affirm, can engender that trust. (Benjamin Creme’s Master, from ‘The people awaken’)

Look for Me, My friends, as a simple Man among men, recording for this time the hopes and fears of men. I come to show you, My friends, that the age of cleavage ends, the time of division is passing. From now, My friends and brothers, you will witness a leavening of the climate of the world, a sweeter atmosphere of hope will enter the affairs of men, a new call for Justice will sound forth from all quarters, and in the midst of that clamour will you find Me. I shall sustain all who call for Peace, for Justice and brotherly Love. I shall call to My side all who love their brothers. From all parties and all nations they will come, gathering around Me. I shall fill their hearts with hope and Love, and in mounting numbers they shall conquer the world. This process has begun. Already the voices of the people are being heard. Louder and louder they cry for Justice, for Peace for all time. A renewed hope seizes mankind, and this gladdens My heart. (Maitreya, from Message No.131)

Star Sign

The star that heralds Maitreya’s emergence

“In the very near future, people everywhere will have the opportunity to witness an extraordinary and significant sign, the like of which has been manifested only once before, at the birth of Jesus. Then, according to Christian teaching, a star appeared in the heavens and led three wise men from the East to the birthplace of Jesus. Soon, once again, a star-like luminary of brilliant power will be seen around the world.” (Benjamin Creme’s Master, ‘Maitreya’s first interview’, SI Jan/Feb 2009)

On 12 December 2008 Share International distributed a news release announcing that in the very near future a large, bright star would appear in the sky visible throughout the world, night and day, heralding the imminent appearance of Maitreya in His first interview on a major US television programme. Since early January 2009 sightings of the star have been reported all over the world and hundreds of sightings have been sent to Share International. We include a selection of the latest reports from the media, Share International readers, and sightings from YouTube. All the photographs show genuine sightings confirmed by Benjamin Creme’s Master to be the ‘star-like luminary’ heralding Maitreya’s emergence.

Four stills from a video

Four stills from a video of Maitreya’s
‘star’ over Berlin, Germany, 
5 August 2009, taken a few 
seconds apart and showing
the constantly changing 
colours. (YouTube: Danicanto1)

The ‘star’ reported on television

Boca Raton, Florida, USA, 6 July 2009. According to one witness: “ There was a green light in the sky, but it was too close to be a star. It was moving side-to-side and hovering, like nothing I have ever seen before … it was a green glowing diamond shaped object, about 100 feet above us, floating”. WPTV, a local television station, reported the story and showed a video. (YouTube; examiner.com)

Two of the four ‘star-like luminaries’ seen together, Italy, June 2009. (YouTube: daisenpuQustom)

Photograph sent by G.L., Barcelona, Spain, who explains: “The star rises in the sky at about 11pm from the east-southeast and seen from the north moves west, rising in altitude. It moves quite quickly. This photo was taken in Vilassar de Mar, in Barcelona province, Spain … camcorder footage shows ‘pulsations’, changes of size and flashing of the star when the zoom was fixed in the same position.”

Taken in Hullbridge, Essex, UK, by C.E. at 3.30am on 17 July 2009.

All four ‘stars’ seen over Leyland, Lancashire, UK, on 7 February 2009, filmed by M.G. He reports seeing: “4 extremely bright UFOs approaching and going over the houses in my street. They were at an low altitude and flying in a staggered formation under definite intelligent control and definitely not Chinese lanterns”. (YouTube: ufohomebase)
(See letter by D.D. in Share International, July/August 2009, who also saw all four ‘stars’ together.)

On 6 July, at 4.30am, I hoped to see the ‘star’ in a northeast direction, after reading the latest Share International magazine. I looked out of my bedroom window and – yes there it was – shining brightly in the still dark sky, the only star left to see. The sky was brightening quickly and the star faded away until 5.30am when it was gone. There isn’t any doubt for me that all the stories in Share International are true, but you can see this with your very own eyes! So wonderful, I have to share this.
M.Z., Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

On 2 July 2009 at 8.30pm thousands of people in Chengdu witnessed a UFO and according to the government news agency Xinhua, ran out, even in pyjamas, to see the craft, which was described as being a luminous blue that changed to red from time to time. Zhang Yang, head of the Chengdu Buddhist Association, pronounced it a “Heavenly Body” and said it could not have been a Chinese lantern, weather balloon or kite.
“There seems to be a mass of UFO sightings all over China at the moment,” according to disclose.tv, which reported that the same UFO had stunned thousands of residents of Xi’an city the night before, resulting in jammed news hot lines. (Source: allnewsweb.com; YouTube)

Berlin, 27 June 2009, photographed from the balcony of his flat. Sent by T.W.

Slough, UK, 9 August 2009 (YouTube: paulchi69)

Dear Editor,
A few nights ago I noticed an incredibly bright object hovering in the sky, not far from the moon. It didn’t dawn on me until later that I might be witnessing the ‘star’. For the past three nights, I have seen the same object in the sky, and I have taken pictures and filmed it. After reviewing my photos, I realize now that the object has moved a fair amount since the first time I saw it.

Interestingly, about a week ago, I heard that a friend had ‘called the star’ and had then seen it. So, with my mind I politely invited the ‘star’ to visit. Is it the ‘star’ that I’m seeing?
E.G., Cotati, California, USA.
(Benjamin Creme’s Master confirms that it was the ‘star’.)

Northern Kentucky, USA, 6 June 2009: “At first glance, it looked like an abnormally large star, but very bright. When you actually looked close you could see some kind of pulsating lights on the top of it. Like a strobe light with red blue and green flashes,” says the witness. (YouTube: TriangleinTheSky)

Star letters from readers

Dear Editor,
As we left the cinema in Breda at 0.30 on Sunday morning 9 August 2009, we walked in a north-westerly direction. At that moment we saw a bright shining star in the far distance. That night it was perfectly clear. The other stars were very bright, but they were not flickering. This pulsating star changed colours rapidly. We saw it turning from red to green, purple, blue and white. The rhythm of pulsation also changed. Sometimes it pulsated, the next minute not that much and then suddenly again it flashed. It also moved slowly away from us. At first it was quite a big star but at around 1.10 it was nothing more than a pulsating point in the far distance.
Was this just an ordinary star flickering due to atmospheric pollution or was it the star heralding the public emergence of Maitreya the World Teacher?
M.V., Breda, The Netherlands.
(Benjamin Creme’s Master confirms that it was ‘the star’ heralding Maitreya’s emergence)

Dear Editor,
During a recent trip to Italy, at the Pedra e Cupa campsite in Budoni, Sardinia, at 5am on Saturday 4 July a bright star was clearly seen in the western region of the sky and was the only star visible in the sky at this time. Was it the ‘star’?
A.S. and C.P., Edinburgh, Scotland.
(Benjamin Creme’s Master confirms it was the ‘star’.)

Dear Editor,
I live in Wemb, a German village near the Dutch border. In the early morning hours of 7 August 2009 at about 5 am I opened a skylight in my bedroom and saw a single big, bright yellow star in an easterly direction, and wondered if it could be the ‘star’. After a while, it began to move up and down and sideways. I was completely stunned and overwhelmed. Inwardly I repeatedly asked the star to move again, which it did, but not immediately. I have no camera but with my binoculars I saw a fuzzy round shape with glittering points. There is an airport close by, but it definitively was no plane or ordinary star. I observed the star for about an hour, then it became smaller, but was still moving. Did I really see ‘the star’ or was it just my imagination?
H.H., Wemb, Germany.
(Benjamin Creme’s Master confirms it was the ‘star’ heralding Maitreya’s emergence.)

Dear Editor,
On the morning of 10 July 2009, between 3.30 and 4am, I happened to look out of my bedroom window, and saw a huge star shining brilliantly in the dawn light. The star must have been about six times as large as an ‘average’ star. I was so amazed that I called a friend to witness the phenomenon. Was this the ‘star’ or was it actually Venus?
A.L., Goudhurst, Kent, UK.
(Benjamin Creme’s Master confirms that it was the ‘star’)

Dear Editor,
On 2 May 2009, in the small hours, I saw a shining object very high in the sky. It was the only object shining in the sky, all the stars having disappeared. It was white coloured and round like a ball. At a certain point, its luminosity decreased as if to disappear and then it regained its size and brilliance. Then clouds obscured my view, but once the clouds had dissipated, I saw the object had disappeared, but after a while, I saw it again in another place, lower in the sky, and then it disappeared again in the clouds.
Was this a UFO or the ‘star’ announcing the arrival of Maitreya?
A.Y., Abidjan, Ivory Coast, West Africa.
(Benjamin Creme’s Master confirms that it was the ‘star’.)

Dear Editor,
Myself and a workmate were travelling to Mackay in Queensland, Australia, and as the sun was coming up on a long road miles from nowhere we saw what looked exactly like the ‘star’ in Share International so we pulled over and viewed it with a cheap telescope we had in the vehicle. That star thing can move from one end of the sky to the other in a blink of an eye, it’s amazing. Also, in my mind it has no real or definite size; it’s all very abstract to the usual way we think of things. It challenged me; in fact it sent me a little nutty for a while. It looks as if it cools off or something and it turns an earthy-red clay-type colour and the fiery-looking interior of it settles. As the sunlight moved in, it disappeared. It’s crazy – absolutely mind blowing to see it as we did.
A.S., Brisbane, Australia.
(Benjamin Creme’s Master confirms it was the ‘star’.)

Dear Editor,
Last week I was awakened at 4am and needed to go out to my car to retrieve a bite of candy for a low blood sugar episode. Over my shoulder I thought there was a really bright light, then I did not see it. After the low blood sugar was dealt with, I walked back out to have another look and lo and behold a tremendous, beautiful, sparkling, twinkling – let’s just call it a luminary because star does not quite fit – way too huge and colorful – up in the east, very high. I have been up now most nights and have begun a dawn vigil with the beautiful ‘star’. I awaken most mornings at 4.30 to go and have a look and meditate with this star – it feels like family! I often stay with it until it is high in the sky, well into the new day and still very visible!
I started seeing the ‘star’ back in late December 2008 and then it suddenly was gone by the spring solstice. I sure hope this is its return?
G.C., Alabama, United States.

(Benjamin Creme’s Master confirms it was the ‘star’.)

From our own correspondents

Ecological Intelligence

by Daniel Goleman
Book review by Cher Gilmore

Daniel Goleman presents in Ecological Intelligence, his latest book, a promising new approach to resolving the historical conflict between corporate profit and public welfare. His subtitle sums it up: How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything.

Goleman is a psychologist, science journalist and author of the international bestsellers Emotional Intelligence, Working with Emotional Intelligence, and Social Intelligence. He believes that information about the hidden impacts of products we buy – on the planet, our health, and the people who make them – has been the crucial missing piece in the free market system, to the detriment of all. Further, he provides extensive evidence that consumers who possess that information could drive ecologically positive changes in business practices, change the balance of power between corporations and people, and ultimately transform our world for the better.

At present, those of us who would like to make all our purchases ecologically sound have little solid information on which to base our choices. Information on the myriad impacts of most products is either unavailable, incomplete, or difficult to find. Other factors also get in the way – such as our tendency to think of products as either ‘green’ or ‘not green’. Goleman points out that ‘greenness’ is not either/or, but rather a continuum of better or worse impacts along many dimensions, from extraction of a product’s elemental components to its manufacturing, transport, use, and ultimate disposal. Unfortunately, many companies exploit and encourage this either/or thinking with ‘greenwashing’ – selectively advertising one or two virtuous attributes of a product and ignoring negative impacts in an effort to present the product in a positive light. For instance, Dunkin’ Donuts, a worldwide chain of doughnuts shops, touts its doughnuts as “trans-fat free” and therefore healthy, despite the fact that overall they’re an unhealthy mix of fat, sugar, and white flour. We’re lulled by ‘greenwashing’ into thinking we’re making wise choices, but knowing all the pertinent facts might reveal something entirely different.

Recycling also contributes to the ‘vital lie’, as Goleman calls it, that we’re already doing enough to protect the environment. In reality, recycling makes only a minute difference in the immense damage to people and planet caused by what we buy and use. Ideally, every part of a product should be designed so that on disposal it biodegrades into compounds nature can use, or can be recycled into other products. We are far from that now, but this ‘cradle to cradle’ philosophy does improve on our current ‘cradle to grave’ mindset, where used products simply go to landfills, leach toxins, or create other environmental nightmares. One example of the latter is the recent discovery that some ingredients in sunscreen kill coral and are rapidly destroying the world’s coral reefs.
Most of our industrial processes were developed at a time when we didn’t think about the consequences of our actions, but we can no longer afford the luxury of ignorance, Goleman says. As we have become more conscious of the fragility of the planet and our deleterious effect on it, new disciplines such as industrial ecology have emerged. A melding of chemistry, physics, and engineering with ecology, industrial ecology measures and quantifies the impacts manmade things have on nature. Recognizing and understanding the hidden web of interconnections between human activity and nature’s systems can be considered ecological intelligence.

The scale of our ecological problems today, though, requires not just individual, but collective intelligence. We need to be able to harmonize and co-ordinate our efforts as a species, to collaborate and share information on a broad scale in order to gather the data we need to act for the greater good. Goleman lists three collaborative principles that, if followed by enough of us, could create a powerful force to improve our human systems: (1) Know your impacts, (2) Favor improvements, and (3) Share what you learn. A group effort along these lines would result in progressive upgrades to our ecological intelligence as we each become more aware of the true consequences of what we do and buy, make positive changes, and spread the word so others could do the same.
….

GoodGuide.com

A major leap toward radical transparency was made with the launching of GoodGuide, Inc., on 1 April 2008. Started by Dara O’Rourke, an industrial ecologist and visionary, GoodGuide’s mission is to deliver accurate and comprehensive information about products and companies at the point of purchase. To do that, its software integrates hundreds of complex databases drawing on roughly 80 million bits (and growing) of data on products and companies, and summarizes the information into a rating within a few seconds. It can calculate the specific environmental impacts of a product during its entire life cycle – manufacture, transport, use and disposal – and can make this calculation down to a single chemical among a batch of ingredients. At the macro level, it can compare a company to others in its field on environmental, health, or social performance; determine which brand or company has been improving over time; and evaluate a company’s policies, transparency on key information, and ultimately its impacts on consumers, workers, and the environment.
The GoodGuide allows shoppers to point their cell phone’s camera at the bar code of almost any consumer product and click its image to the GoodGuide server. Within a few seconds, GoodGuide returns a rating of that product in red, yellow or green, indicating the relative virtue of that product’s life-cycle impact in three dimensions: environmental, health, and social. For details about the rating, the buyer can go to GoodGuide’s website, GoodGuide.com. Furthermore, a hot-link feature allows a shopper to send a message directly to the company about a given product, which provides its management with useful marketing data. This cell phone-camera system is just a beginning, O’Rourke says, and will be streamlined with further development. Likewise, only a fraction of all products are currently covered, but the range will increase over time.
Clearly, for this or any other rating system to make a significant difference, vast numbers of shoppers will have to use it. The timing is fortuitous, though, in that the digital revolution has presented us with more ways to share information than we’ve ever had – YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, and instant messaging systems such as Twitter. And the upcoming generation of young people is completely tuned in to these technologies. In addition, the hundreds of networks of social activists organized around health, ecology, and human rights can be expected to adopt the GoodGuide system and spread the word. Despite the issues to be resolved – such as how to teach people to be more conscious when shopping, how to build credibility for GoodGuide, and how to enlist the large number of users needed to make it effective – there’s no stopping an idea whose time has come.

Useful resources: www.goodguide.com, for evaluations of health, environmental, and social impacts of products; www.earthster.org, for ecological supply chain innovations and life-cycle evaluations; www.environmentalhealthnews.org for the latest scientific findings on health and the environment; www.cosmeticsdatabase.com for Skin Deep, the database of ingredients in cosmetic and personal care products.

Daniel Goleman’s book has been published by both Allen Lane and by Broad Business; the main title is followed by a slightly different subheading:

Daniel Goleman, Ecological Intelligence, Knowing the hidden impacts of what we buy: how radical transparency transforms the marketplace, Allen Lane, May 2009;

Ecological Intelligence: How knowing the hidden impacts of what we buy can change everything, Broadway Business, April 2009.

“We must rise against the injustice in Palestine” — Part 2

Interview with Dries van Agt

by Erik Hutter

The July/August 2009 Share International magazine included Part One of an interview with former Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Dries van Agt, in which he discussed his stance vis-à-vis Israeli-Palestinian relations, the history of the conflict, and the situation prevailing prior to the election of US President Barak Obama. Part Two of the interview continues here.

Erik Hutter: You described Prime Minister Ismail Haniye as a moderate leader within Hamas. Leaders like Khaled Meshal are also fairly moderate. Would it not be useful for Europe to engage in talks with people like them?
Dries van Agt: Yes, that should certainly happen. Fortunately, more and more people and authorities are beginning to say this, for example, IKV-Pax Christi [a Dutch peace movement], recently published a report called “Talking with Hamas”. There are shifts in public opinion happening in this country [the Netherlands], but they are late and slow.

EH: What can the individual citizen do?
DvA: That is unbelievably difficult. I give many lectures and, of course, people raise this question and I say then: “The only thing you can do, and you should definitely do, too, is to kick up a row in your own political party. You should shout out that so much injustice continues due to the passivity, or worse, of our own political leaders.” Read them the riot act, to put it forcefully; say “We won’t stand for this any longer.” That is what should happen. Just as people took action with regard to apartheid in South Africa — that should be the model.

EH: In the past, starting an economic boycott against South Africa caused no problems, but now the situation in Israel is far worse than the situation in South Africa was then.
DvA: That is also what Desmond Tutu says and he knows what he is talking about.

EH: We come back to the issue of double standards – that is always the connecting thread in the story.
DvA: Absolutely; it is absurd, but as some politicians say: “What we allow Israel to do, we would not tolerate from any other country.” That is entirely true.
If within all political parties considerable numbers of people were to rise, then things would change. The people have not yet emerged from their lethargy.

EH: It does not touch people personally, perhaps that is an important factor?
DvA: Actually, that was also the case with South Africa, and people still took to it. And, of course, it is also connected with the Holocaust; many are terrified of being accused of anti-Semitism.

EH: What is the best solution? I assume you continue to advocate a two-state solution, but it seems more and more difficult as the years pass.
DvA: Exactly; I am an advocate of that solution, faute de mieux, because there is nothing better. It is far from ideal, and it is in fact iniquitous too, because the Palestinians will keep only one-fifth of what has been their country for centuries. But they should get that one-fifth in any case as an integral part of the whole. Unfortunately, I cannot summon up the hope anymore that it will be possible to get Israel so far as to clear all their settlements. Israel is now planting a string of ‘bantustans’, a number of small ‘islands’, all within Israeli territory that the Palestinians, if they so wished, could string them together and call it “our state”. I think that Israel has already rendered impossible the chance of the creation of a really viable Palestinian state on one-fifth of the land and continues daily to make that impossible. Because one of the absurdities we constantly encounter is that even during the so-called post-Annapolis negotiations the building of more and bigger settlements continued with brash indifference. [Summit hosted by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on the Middle East, held on 26 November 2007, in Annapolis, capital of the US state of Maryland.]
….

EH: Do you think that Israel has the right to exist?
DvA: Yes, I do. I am not questioning the right of the state of Israel to exist. But, it should be a state that behaves itself decently, that is to say, according to the standards of prevailing International Law.
Look what Israel is doing with the [Separation] Wall and the International Court of Justice. In 2002-2003 the decision was taken: ‘We are going to build the Wall and for the most part the route it takes will go through Palestinian territory.’ Annexation, in other words. A great uproar among the Palestinians, and rightly so. A number of sensible people managed to move the Palestinian leadership to find a solution in the most peaceful way possible by turning to the highest law court in the world. That is what happened. What makes me inordinately angry about this story is that, I think even on the evening the Court ruled, Israel let the world know, through one of its politicians speaking on TV, that it would not heed the Court’s decision, because “the Court is not competent, it is only an advisory opinion and we can ignore advice”.
This may be a little technical but according to the Court’s Statute the pronouncement did indeed fall into the category of advisory opinion. It could not be anything else, because the case had not been submitted to the Court by both parties; if that had happened the Court could have issued a binding pronouncement. An advisory opinion then? In this case, the Court’s ruling on the current international law is worded clearly. The Court does not make law but declares and explains International Law. In other words, according to its nature and its contents, this pronouncement is indeed ‘declaratory judgement.’

EH: This is familiar; Israel has also ignored all resolutions issued by the UN Security Council, while the case of Iraq ignoring sanctions was a pretext for war against Iraq. Surely this is another example of double standards?
DvA: Yes, this was also mentioned in the Dutch Parliament: Saddam Hussein had ignored a UN resolution four times, whereas in the case of Israel it has ignored dozens of resolutions.

EH: If I recall correctly Israel has rejected about 60 resolutions. 
DvA: You cannot count them anymore. You lose count.

EH: We talked about Hamas. On your website you mention a revealing report by the special envoy of the UN Secretary-General, who says that the US did everything to create strife between Fatah and Hamas. Could you elaborate on this?
DvA: Yes. As soon as Hamas won the elections, Washington became determined, in particular within the circle of the neo-conservatives around Bush, to destroy that victory by creating utter discord among the Palestinians themselves. It was a matter of stirring the embers that were already smouldering. It only needed a little to become a blazing fire. That happened in Washington under the leadership of Elliott Abrams, Bush’s Deputy National Security Advisor. A plan was made to supply Abbas with a strengthened security guard, with which he could regain his power. Troops would be trained in Egypt and Jordan and provided with weapons which America would pay for. The reports leaked out, one of them through a Jordanian newspaper. Of course, Hamas soon found out about these machinations. I even read in the International Spectator that armed troops, trained in Jordan, were accompanied to Ramallah by the Israeli army of occupation. This is pure collaboration. Hamas, of course, was devastated by this. I certainly do not say that everything that Hamas says and does is alright, but now and then we need to counteract the tendency to equate Hamas with absolute evil.

EH: Once there was Yasser Arafat, a great leader, who held everything together by his stature and charisma. When he died the Palestinians split into factions which could very easily be played off against each other by the people with an interest in doing so.
DvA: That is the structural cause of the problem. The following can be added to that: we still do not realize clearly enough that this nation has now been occupied for 41 years — 41 years! It is a nation with many youngsters who have not known anything else but living under occupation. It is difficult to imagine the influence this has on the mind set of a people — how much that destroys in terms of social solidarity and how much it pushes people into an attitude of sauve qui peut [every man for himself].
And specifically with regard to collaboration: one can imagine how much collaboration has happened over the years, particularly as a result of unbearable poverty, while the Israeli security service cunningly does the rounds with big sacks filled with money to recruit whisperers and informants. It is probably far worse than we think. The place is now teeming with collaborators, informants and spies, who are paid well for their services. This badly undermines the Palestinian cause. I think there are probably more collaborators to be found within the circles of the obviously corrupt Fatah movement than in the Hamas camp, although traitors can no doubt also be found there. This is an important factor, of course, which makes the whole thing even sadder.

More information: www.driesvanagt.nl, the personal website of Dries van Agt about right and wrong in Palestine and Israel.

His new book “Een schreeuw om recht” [A cry for justice] will appear in September 2009. (Published by Bezige Bij, the Netherlands.)

Facts and Forecasts

Global environmental alliance

“Our prime task now is to look after the environment. This will become the responsibility of every individual, politician, guru, saint and scientist. Our energies will be spent in making it healthy again. When that happens there will be less suffering, disease and poverty.” (Maitreya, Maitreya’s Teaching: The Laws of Life)
Tck, tck, tck – the sound of time running out for our planet’s health – is the name of a new climate justice campaign. Environmentalists, activists, concerned citizens, the inhabitants of low-lying coastal lands and leading figures are looking to the Copenhagen Climate Conference in December 2009 for concrete steps towards climate justice.
The global alliance campaign urges people to become ‘climate allies’, to apply pressure on world leaders to reach a just and binding deal at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen and to take active steps to work for ‘climate justice’.
What is ‘climate justice’? It is based on the concept that pollution has a price and that the polluter must pay. It is usually the world’s poorest and most vulnerable who feel the brunt of climate change most keenly and carry the heaviest burdens for a problem created elsewhere by others.
Now the global media development organization Internews has announced a partnership with the tcktcktck campaign for the Human Voices Award, which will culminate in a high-profile ceremony in Copenhagen on the eve of the final negotiations. The Earth Journalism Awards have attracted approximately 600 registrations from over 125 countries since opening on 5 June 2009, World Environment Day.
“Through journalists participating in the Human Voices Award we can help to build strong public pressure for a successful outcome,” said Kumi Naidoo, tcktcktck’s chairperson. “We must unite for climate justice and ensure that leaders sign up to a fair, ambitious and binding agreement in Copenhagen.”
“Climate change is not just an environmental problem, but an immediate threat to the survival and rights of people around the world. World leaders need to acknowledge this and commit to finding a solution at the Copenhagen meeting in December,” said Mary Robinson, President of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative, a partner of tcktcktck.
(For more information and to register online for the campaign, visit: tcktcktck.org)

Mass tree planting in Pakistan

Despite the unrest and problems facing Pakistan, it has blazed into first place in the Guinness Book of Records with an amazing 541,176 trees planted within 24 hours. The young saplings were planted in the extensive wetlands areas of the Indus River Delta by about 300 volunteers without the aid of any mechanical equipment.
Pakistan pledged to plant 120 million trees as part of the United Nations Environmental Programme’s (UNEP) Billion Tree Campaign. The area just planted is a sanctuary which was set aside in 2002 as a place of special interest and high biodiversity. The record-breaking event, organized by Pakistan’s Ministry of the Environment, is part of the country’s activities to mark this year as the National Year of Environmental Protection.
Pakistan has been very active in expanding the national forests and has set a target of one million hectares of new forests by 2015. To make this happen five giant forestry projects have been launched in the country. In addition, 50 million saplings will also be planted during the monsoon period this year; 70 million were already planted in Spring 2009.
“Pakistan’s Guinness World Record will contribute to our new goal of planting seven billion trees – one for everyone on the planet with a bit to spare – by the crucial UN climate convention meeting in Copenhagen in less than 135 days. I am ever more confident that this record can be broken too and inspire governments to ‘seal the deal’ in Copenhagen in December,” Mr Steiner added. (Source: UNEP)

 
Pakistan has blazed into
first place in the Guinness
Book of Records with an amazing
541,176 trees planted within 24 hours

The Voice of the People

Self-rule for indigenous Bolivians

In a charter seen by many as a global landmark in human rights and racial equality, Bolivia’s indigenous peoples have been granted autonomy.
Bolivian President Evo Morales – himself the continent’s first President of indigenous origin – has long championed rights for indigenous Bolivians. Marginalized since the Spanish conquest 500 years ago, they form the vast majority of the poor in the poorest country on the South American continent, and were only granted the vote in 1952.

The new charter came into force in February 2009 after a compulsory referendum on constitutional changes bitterly opposed by the country’s traditional, European-descended elite. The centrepiece of the new Bolivian Constitution’s 411 articles is an entire chapter on indigenous rights, and the effort to “decolonize” Bolivian society.

Among the many new rights granted, the charter recognizes 36 different indigenous groups and secures a place for them in Congress; makes ‘indigenous’ one of the four new decentralized, autonomous areas of national government; gives indigenous systems of justice equal status with the existing legal system; and guarantees freedom of religion, extending equal recognition to the Andean god Pachamama, the Earth god of the Andes, and the Christian god.

Other key changes include the election of judges rather than their appointment by congress; state control over Bolivia’s ample natural gas reserves; and a limit of 5,000 hectares on new private land purchases.
Although heavily criticized by the opposition party, the new constitution has been overwhelmingly welcomed and celebrated by the majority of Bolivians and indigenous communities. “With my humble vote, I am creating a little bit of hope for my children,” said Ismael Pocoaca, a construction worker who voted in the slums of Bolivian capital La Paz. “We are finally recapturing our dignity,” said Maria Laure, a soap saleswoman who also voted for the new Constitution. Flaviano Iglesias, Co-ordinator of Indigenous Populations in Panama, called the bill “the end of dependency”.
“Bolivia’s successful referendum process is precedent-setting with respect to indigenous empowerment worldwide,” said Robert Albro, an expert on Latin American social and indigenous movements at Washington’s American University. “It is really an unbelievable moment in Bolivian history.” (Source: El País, Spain; La Jornada, Bolivia; BBC, UK; csmonitor.com)