"Believing that you can solve human problems by killing the weakest,
and because you managed to kill him, you believe you are right,
because you confuse justice with power...
but this is a mistake!
So here is the objection of conscience,
that is, my conscience says:
I will never be able to participate in this!
Love freely,
love first,
love without asking for a response,
love with useless love,
then your life will become fruitful."
don Oreste Benzi

20 November 2024

Ala and Bogdan, mother and son, have been in Mykolaiv for a month. Their home in Kherson is almost completely destroyed. Ala's husband, Bogdan's father, died at the front a few months ago. Ala held her husband's funeral alone. She has no one left here: all her relatives have fled Ukraine, and she dreams of leaving too. She hopes to go to Poland, but she needs money for a passport and time to learn the language.
Ala has the eyes of someone crushed by life, exhausted by a war that destroys almost everything. She never looks away from me, and her eyes cry out in pain.
And yet, every day at the center in Mykolaiv, Ala cooks for all of us, making sure we've eaten.
Bogdan is always playing with his scooter. He is a child of war—one of those who no longer dream of becoming an astronaut or imagining their future; he simply doesn't dream anymore. His eyes are flat, fixed on the only tangible reality he knows: playing with his scooter and holding on to his mother.
Bogdan is 9 years old. He desperately needs to see that there is more to life beyond the war, his father's death, his destroyed home, and his scooter. He needs to know that he, too, can dream of becoming anything he wants—that there is a future for him. Bogdan needs the gaze of a child who believes in dreams again.

Wires with lighted bulbs swing suspended over the neat rows of chairs where all the guests are taking their seats. Some of them are very elegant, some in flip-flops, one man arrives on the back of a donkey, and another parks his tractor next to the cars. The atmosphere reminds that of a village festival, men greet each other, some faces are familiar to all, the ladies and younger boys and girls sit to one side, all well-dressed for the occasion. In front of everyone stands a banner celebrating the presence of Operazione Colomba in the area: 20 years of solidarity and continuous support in defending Human Rights in the South Hebron Hills.

There are five of us here - four adults and a little girl - representing dozens and dozens of volunteers who over these 20 years have accompanied and protected the Palestinian communities of Masafer Yatta from the violence of the Israeli occupation, from the prevarication of settlers and soldiers who unfortunately continue to besiege the area. I feel the incredible privilege of participating in this celebration, I am the newest arrived here, and nevertheless I enjoy the unconditional affection and gratitude that others before me have obtained through years of nonviolent accompaniment of shepherds under the scorching sun and nights spent awake on the rooftop of the house closest to the Havat Ma'on outpost. I am very lucky to be here, and I also feel a little out of place, as if I am usurping the place of those who would be more entitled than me to receive all this gratitude.

Statement of the APG23 delegation at the United Nations during the interactive dialogue with the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on the theme "Laws, policies, judicial decisions, and other measures taken by States to achieve the objectives of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples".
To see all the interventions: https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k18/k1849bhm3y

Intervention of the APG23 delegation at the United Nations during the annual roundtable dedicated to the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, on the theme "Laws, policies, judicial decisions, and other measures adopted by States to achieve the objectives of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples" during the 57th session of the Human Rights Council.
To see all the interventions: https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k19/k19m9xl7lf