In the last weeks the world lost two strong and determined peace makers: John Lewis in the US and John Hume in Ireland. Interestingly, both have been influenced by Dr. Martin Luther King. Both had strong convictions and were victims of vicious attacks, but both were representing politics of peaceful change and non-violence.
John Lewis
John Lewis was born in 1940 into a poor family in Alabama. In spite of the love given to him by his family, he experienced racial discrimination already in his early years. He got to know the most famous fighter for racial equality and against discrimination - Dr. Martin Luther King. Lewis became a close ally of Luther King and one of his successors after his murder. In a famous speech in front of the participants of the March on Washington, he was very clear about his aims. For him, the fight for racial equality was a revolution. He asked the audience “to get into this great revolution, that is sweeping this nation. Get in and stay in the streets of every city, every village and hamlet of this nation until true freedom comes, until a revolution is complete.”
John Lewis was 40 times beaten and in 1965 he even got a fractured skull by police forces. But several months later he could cry victory with the passing of the Voting Rights Act by the Congress. Nevertheless, the revolution he had aspired for was far from complete. The electoral system stayed unfair and could not reach European standards. At Lewis’s funeral President Obama proposed several changes in the electoral laws to create equal chances and opportunities for all citizens who were willing to vote.
In view of his forthcoming death John Lewis wrote a letter to the younger generation which was demonstrating in many streets of America after another killing of a young black man, George Floyd: “In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and non-violence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.” He expressed the hope that peace finally would triumph over violence, aggression and war.
John Hume
PhotoCredit: Ă“li Gneisti for English Wikipedia. -
John Hume was born in 1937 into a poor family in Derry, which is called Londonderry by the English and Protestant population. He died in August in the same place, but after a long and successful struggle to end violence and civil war in Northern Ireland. John Hume always campaigned for a united Ireland and equal rights for all citizens. He also followed the non-violent way of Dr. Martin Luther King.
Supporting the non-violent way of doing politics did not prevent him from having - at first secret - talks with the leaders of Sin Fein, the political wing of the terrorist IRA. He was much criticized for these talks with Garry Adams by people who acted according to the principle “never talk to terrorists”. Also, radicals themselves criticized these talks. But John Hume knew that without such talks he could never convince the Republicans to refrain from violence. And finally, in 1997 the Sin Fein leadership was ready to participate in a dialogue for a common future of Northern Ireland. This was the precondition for the end of so much useless killing.
I met John Hume in the European Parliament where he represented Northern Ireland until 2004, voted on a ticket of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), a party he founded. We sat together in the bureau of the Social Democratic Group and I always admired his consistent argument for finding peaceful solutions to conflicts. He was sad that his party lost votes to the Sin Fein party, not least because he himself made Sin Fein a respectable party after it refrained from supporting violence. But he always had peace as his supreme priority. For his active role in Ireland, especially for making possible the Good Friday agreement, he had been awarded - together with a Protestant leader, David Trimble - the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998. Like John Lewis, he combined a strong conviction and a clear aim with an equally clear rejection of the use of force to realize political aims.
Can we learn from them?
John Lewis and John Hume have been particular and exceptional individuals, who cannot be imitated. Both had a strong willingness to implement peace on the basis of social justice. Both had strong convictions but rejected the violent way to reach their aims. Both have been successful but both would not see a complete fulfillment of their dreams. They had to recognize that in their lifetime only a partial success was possible. And that is also true for the peace project of building a United Europe.
That is an important lesson we should learn. With all today’s crises, there is no complete and thorough solution possible. Neither in Eastern Ukraine nor in the Middle East; neither in relation to the conflict between Egypt and Ethiopia concerning the Nile dam, nor concerning the conflict inside Libya can we expect a clear-cut and “final” settlement. But we have to try to improve people’s life. Unfortunately, what we are missing today is personalities like John Lewis and John Hume who are courageous enough to begin a struggle for peace and reconciliation.
Both rejected violence as a political instrument, but not because they were timid and acted cowardly, but because they were aware of what Martin Luther King -allegedly - once said: “If two opposing parties act according to the principle eye to eye, it will leave them both blind.” Neither Lewis nor Hume wanted to become blind, they longed for some concrete results. And what at least John Hume did, was to start a dialogue even with the representatives of terrorists. This is not always successful. But sometimes it is necessary for finding peace.
Dr. Hannes Swoboda, President of the International Institute for Peace (IP), started his career in urban politics in Vienna and was elected member of the European Parliament in 1996. He was Vice President of the Social Democrat Group until 2012 und then President until 2014. He was particularly engaged in foreign, enlargement, and neighborhood policies. Swoboda is also President of the Vienna Institute for International Economics, the Centre of Architecture, the University for Applied Science - Campus Vienna, and the Sir Peter Ustinov Institute.
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