By Tony Robinson, December 5, 2020
From Middle East Treaty Organization
As part of METO’s strategy to reach out and partner with likeminded organizations working in fields of mutual concern, we are delighted to announce a partnership with World BEYOND War (WBW).
In their own words: World BEYOND War is a global nonviolent movement to end war and establish a just and sustainable peace. We aim to create awareness of popular support for ending war and to further develop that support. We work to advance the idea of not just preventing any particular war but abolishing the entire institution. We strive to replace a culture of war with one of peace in which nonviolent means of conflict resolution take the place of bloodshed.
In a very convivial meeting between World beyond War directors, David Swanson and Alice Slater, and METO directors, Sharon Dolev, Emad Kiyaei and Tony Robinson, we discussed issues related to wars in the Middle East, the weapons of mass destruction free zone, the militarisation of the region caused by the enormous quantities of weapons coming from the USA, and ways to work together in order to promote our mutually supporting goals.
As a result of this, we agreed to co-host a webinar in February 2021 to engage both our sets of supporters.
David Swanson, Executive Director of WBW said, “I’m thrilled that World BEYOND War will be working with and learning from METO as the mission of ending all war cannot possibly succeed without achieving peace, disarmament, and the rule of law in the Middle East—a goal that is both regional and global, because the world’s big war-making nations are so deeply involved in arming the Middle East and fighting wars directly and via proxies in the Middle East. To succeed we will need to advance structural changes, peace education, and cross-border solidarity.”
Sharon Dolev, Executive Director of METO said, “Just because West Asia and North Africa have been given the name ‘The Middle East’ doesn’t mean that it has real borders. Whatever happens in the Middle East affects the world and whatever happens in the World affects the Middle East, you can see this very strongly with weapons sales, for example. We are looking forward to working with World BEYOND War on opportunities that allow for our shared objectives to advance.”
