(The picture above is of religious leaders in Sri Lanka -- Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Muslim -- marching together for justice during the economic collapse of 2022)

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At OMNIA, we teach religious and civic leaders the art of non-violent social change -- an alternative to war.

Before you dismiss that as impractical and pollyannish in the political sphere, please know that --

1. There’s a large body of evidence and research on this subject taught in academic programs on peacemaking, reconciliation and conflict resolution in universities.
2. Wars rarely achieve their stated objectives (although they may achieve undeclared ones such as enhancing the political careers of the political leaders).

The attack by Hamas on Israel was horrendous and we unequivocally condemn it. Israel’s actions, now in a full-scale invasion of Gaza (a densely populated area of 2.2 million people) cheered on by the United States, in addition to its long-term occupation of Palestine, is also condemnable.

Israel’s Defense Minister spoke about Palestinians as “human animals” and must be treated as such. Israel’s President, equally arrogant, refused to concede that there is a distinction between Hamas and the people of Gaza. In his mind, the elimination of Hamas means the elimination of all Gazans, half of whom are children. A ground offensive will be a human catastrophe, another Nakba of unprecedented proportions. It will draw the world into a protracted unwinnable war with dire consequences for the region.

I watched the eyes of Netanyahu and Biden when they spoke last week. They were already shooting bullets. I like and respect Biden, but in this matter, he is wrong. I want to say to him, Mr. President, friends don’t let friends get drunk on vengeance and destroy their countries and their souls. In not cautioning Israel about the morally bankrupt actions they are undertaking; Biden lost anopportunity to demonstrate his leadership.  

This should have been an opportunity to view the conflict with the end in mind. The goal, as the international community agrees, must be the establishment of the state of Palestine on the 1967 borders that lives in peace, justice and equity, side by side with the state of Israel. We shouldn't be surprised that Biden dropped the ball. The US has a history of vetoing every opportunity to support this international law. We cannot expect politicians to do the right thing -- only that which is politically expedient. This is why we need courageous and skilled religious leaders to step forward to hold them accountable.

Some in the US media made the comparison of the Hamas attack to 9/11. After 9/11 most US media outlets did a horrible job by not telling the truth and uncritically bolstering George W. Bush’s drumbeat for going to war. The same thing is happening today. There is a tacit expectation that attacking Gaza with vengeance is the normal and expected thing to do. What else can Israel do, they ask.

The key question for me is this: can Israel learn a lesson from the utterly wrong-headed and destructive response of the US government to 9/11. Let me remind you:

• Three weeks after 9/11, or twenty-two years ago,last week, on October 7, 2001, the War on Terror began with US attacking theTaliban in Afghanistan. Brown University’s Cost of War project has determined that the 20-year war cost approximately $2 Trillion. That figure includes the cost of long term care for veterans and the cost of debt service.  More than 3,500 allied soldiers were killed, with 20,000-plus Americans injured. Approximately 69,000 Afghan security forces were killed, along with more than 100,000 others. According to the United Nations, some 5 million Afghans have been displaced by the war since 2012, making Afghanistan the world's third-largest displaced population.

And the US and its allies lost that war. The Taliban still rules Afghanistan, the women are still brutally oppressed, and the fundamentalistic regime still seeks to spread its venom around the world.

• The Iraq war started a year and half later on March 20, 2003 and lasted until 2011. Cost of War project estimates that another $2 Trillion was spent on that war. That cost also includes veterans care and debt service. Figuring out exactly how many died is complicated. But most estimates show that the Iraq war resulted in more than 150,000 deaths. In total, the war caused 100,000 or more civilian deaths – about 61% of the total death count – as well as tens of thousands of military deaths. In addition, the country and its infrastructure that sustains life was completely destroyed. So far, US has spent over $100 billion in helping reconstruct Iraq.  

Cost of War also estimates that globally, the War on Terror has cost $8 Trillion. No doubt, some of us are safer because of that, but large numbers of innocent people around the world have been killed or injured. $8 Trillion is an enormous amount of money. The World Food Programme estimates it will take $40 billion to end world hunger by 2030. With that money, we could end hunger 200 times over. We could find ways to reverse climate change, educate all our children, find cures for diseases and significantly improve the quality of life for a massive numbers of people.

The lesson is this: War does not work. It only addresses the proclivity of the human heart for vengeance.

I’ve come to two conclusions that I want to share with you.

1. There are alternatives to war. We have experimented with one solution --Interfaith Peacemaker Teams -- for 6 years now, and know that it works. Only, it needs to be massively scaled in a way that we haven’t yet imagined possible.
2. Religious leaders cannot afford to sit back and let politicians control the world. Those politicians who measure their actions solely on the basis of “what will be favorable to me in the next election,” do not have a moral compass to guide them. Religious leaders around the world, who not only have that moral compass, but have moral authority as well, must come together to provide leadership.

This is what OMNIA does. More than 5,500 religious and civic leaders that we have trained will testify to the efficacy of our method. Now it is up to you and me to take the movement to scale.  

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