Friends House statement on terrorism
Britain Yearly Meeting makes a statement on terrorism
Britain Yearly Meeting has made a statement responding to recent events in Paris and the widespread ‘terror alert’ in areas of Europe.
The statement urges a nonviolent response by the government and asks people to remember the suffering, not only in Europe, but also in ‘more distant places, including Beirut, Sinai, Bamako and Aleppo.’
The military actions of Western nations, it states, ‘recruit more people to the cause than they kill’ and create more refugees.
The statement continues: ‘We can and will refuse to be divided. By bridge-building among faiths and within our local communities we can challenge and rise above the ideologies of hate and actively love our neighbour.’
It asks political leaders to ‘treat terrorist acts as crimes, not acts of war; stop arming any of the parties fighting in Syria; observe international law and apply it equally to all parties; build cooperation among nations…; export peace rather than war.’
The full statement is available on the Friends in Britain website: www.quaker.org.uk
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