A Technical Success, but a Political Question Mark

I attended the International Peace Conference at the Hague as videotaper for AFSC, WILPF, and Peace & Justice. In that capacity I observed a considerable number of meetings and cultural events. It is difficult to encapsulate five hectic days, but this is what I think:

We can stop worrying about our youth. They are smarter and more aware, perhaps even more mature, than we were when we were young. I was particularly impressed with how a meeting of young adults and teens had developed at a youth gathering the day before the actual conference (May 10). During this gathering a number of youth spontaneously decided to take their issues to a television crew which was at the nearby Court of Justice. Within an hour a march was organized and a statement delivered. The group demanded that the media spend less time covering efforts of war and focus more on efforts for peace. It was refreshing to see so many young people accomplish this clearly focused goal with so little confusion or bureaucracy. Not all youth meetings went smoothly, but this pre-conference event was impressive.

Cultural art and politics blend well. This is true if the art is being used to make a political statement or if the art is being expressed for its own sake in a political environment. (By cultural art I mean any music, theater, dance, etc. which is indigenously connected to the person or group who is performing.) When used as a political tool, the art form gets attention and humanizes the issue. When used simply for the pleasure of self- expression, it has a calming, joyful, and unifying effect. The conference was a very hectic event with me and many thousands of other people chasing after our A.I.A. (Amazing Important Agenda). On a rare occasion some person or group would captivate the public with a performance that was a thoroughly human product of a unique culture. Perhaps people instinctively know that they need a reason to stop and forget what they are doing so that they can remember why they are doing it.

As for the political aspects of the conference, I regret that I cannot give such a favorable report. Although the logistical aspects went fairly smoothly, the conference itself had some major problems.

There were complaints that the conference had a heavily Euro-ethnic (white-boy) slant. More specifically, the African countries felt left out. This would be understandable if the African countries were left out simply because they failed to make a niche for themselves. But apparently the lines of communication were selective so some groups had more information than others. Intentionally or not, African countries were grossly under-represented.

There was a lack of purpose. It seemed to be more of a "Let's-get-the-liberals-together-at-the-Hague-and-talk-about-things-we-already-know-about" event than anything else. Self-promotion seemed to be a major pursuit. There is nothing wrong with this but the preachers didn't have to fly to the Hague with the choir to do it.

I personally believe that the Hague could have been used to decide on a course of action beneficial to all (or the majority of) liberal organizations. For example, globalization and militarism (along with subsequent human rights abuses) seemed to be on everyone's mind of at this conference. Ways of reversing current negative global trends could have been the focus.

Perhaps the conference could have tackled ways of getting the religious, environmental, and labor organizations (which were not well represented) to work with other liberal organizations.I believe the May 10th Youth Group hit on something of major importance. It does no good to sermonize to those who already agree or sympathize. There wasn't a single group attending the conference which couldn't benefit from some genuine, in-depth media coverage.

The fact that the conference occurred at all is an accomplishment of sorts. It was a reflection, perhaps, of how frustrated people feel with our contemporary institutions; maybe people need to vent with sympathizers from time to time. The Hague provided some great opportunities for a person like me to document a wide variety of issues. And as I said, there is no harm in self-promotion. However, self-promotion, sympathy, and documentation should have been secondary consequences of the convention, not the primary reasons.

-Gerard T. Renfro