IPC: Find the ‘Adults’ Who Will Organize Peace through Development
Feb. 15—The 89th consecutive meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) Feb. 14 was an historic discussion centered on a dialogue between Helga Zepp-LaRouche, the founder of the Schiller Institute and the initiator of the IPC, with Her Excellency Dr. Naledi Pandor, the former Minister of International Relations and Cooperation for South Africa, 2019-2024, known for her leadership of South Africa and the Global South in general, including her personal role in South Africa’s bringing the issue of Israel’s genocide against in Gaza before the International Court of Justice in the Hague.
Helga Zepp-LaRouche opened the 2.5-hour dialogue by noting that, while the danger of global nuclear war is still a great threat, dramatic changes are taking place which give hope for the future. She referenced the phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump’s call for reviving arms control talks between the U.S., Russia and China, and the U.S. declaring that Ukraine will not be allowed to become a member of NATO, as indicative of those changes. However, the Trump proposal for the U.S. to take over Gaza and remove all the Palestinians is both a horrible concept and totally unacceptable to Palestinians and to all the countries in the region—other than Israel. She said that this is further evidence that the LaRouche Oasis Plan is urgently needed, together with a two-state solution. The plan conceived by Egypt for reconstructing Gaza is a decent start, but we should combine it with the Oasis Plan, she said, to address the massive development needs of all the nations in the region.
Referring to the Feb. 14-16 Munich Security Conference, Zepp-LaRouche said that it had been originally a forum for all nations to seriously discuss security issues, but it has now become a public-relations event for NATO. She did note however, that U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance had “lectured the audience on democracy,” saying that Europeans have become afraid of their voters! She said that creating a new global security and development architecture is a necessary step to resolve the many problems facing mankind.
Dr. Naledi Pandor then spoke, beginning by expressing her support for the Oasis Plan: It is an important idea, a very useful proposal to be studied by the groups in contention. She noted that 30 years ago, when South Africans began their fight for freedom from colonial control, they agreed that they had to have dialogue with their oppressors, while making sure they did not ignore the needs of the oppressed. Development is necessary, she said, but we must engage the Palestinian people, while also talking to Israelis, as well as those in the West who backed them in the genocide. We must ask the Palestinians what they want for their future, she stressed. Any plan which does not include sovereignty is unacceptable. Nearly everyone supports the two-state solution, but things have changed drastically over the years, as Israeli settlers have occupied large portions of the Palestinian land, including killings and land expropriation, making statehood impossible without the removal of those illegal settlements. The level of rage between the two sides must also be overcome.
Free the Oppressed and the Oppressors
In response to a question later on, she said that the freedom movement in South Africa early on recognized that they had to unify the African people, while the colonial policy was to divide them. They learned that oppression was not based only on racial identity, but on moral principles, and that therefore they had to oppose Apartheid, not white people. They needed to free both the oppressed and the oppressors.
She called on the Schiller Institute and the IPC to find a means to test the engagement process—to see if Palestinians are willing to sit down with Israelis, and vice versa. We need “adults” in the room, she emphasized, and was not sure if she had identified many as of yet. She called on the IPC to make an effort to find the necessary “adults” in all nations, who will organize for “peace through development.” The Schiller Institute and the IPC can play a crucial role in convening and initiating this process, and perhaps hold a series of meetings to take up these issues.
On Trump’s attack on South Africa, she noted that the Afrikaners (white South Africans descended predominantly from Dutch settlers) whom Trump offered refuge in the U.S., had already rejected his idea. She added that Trump’s Executive Order had been signed “without research” and had misrepresented the policies of her nation. She looked forward to the IPC “finding the adults,” and convincing Trump that South Africa is a viable partner for the United States.
Donald Ramotar, the former President of Guyana, thanked Dr. Pandor and said that in our mutual struggle for peace we must address the unjust economic conditions in many parts of the world. We must have a “bold plan, like [Chinese President] Xi Jinping’s win-win approach, with no losers.” The LaRouche Oasis Plan, he said, is based on combined peace and development. The Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) gives hope for that kind of global solution. He complained about Trump’s ordering Panama to cut ties with China’s BRI. The Oasis Plan presents a viable plan to reconstruct Gaza and the region, and it can be a central part of a global plan, he said, but Russia and China must be part of the process. He concurred with Dr. Pandor’s view on the need for a two-state solution, and that the United Nations needs to play a central role, as the only existing institution which represents all nations.
Dennis Fritz, director of the Eisenhower Media Network (EMN), a retired Command Chief Master Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, said he was optimistic about Trump’s ending the war in Europe, but pessimistic about the situation in the Middle East. He said that U.S. President Joe Biden’s Administration was “the most evil in my time, by allowing and owning the genocide in Gaza.” He said that U.S. President George W. Bush “and the neocons,” got us into the wars in Iraq, Libya and Syria, while “Biden and the Zionists” gave us the disaster in the Middle East. On the other hand, he said the EMN is issuing a report praising Trump for “trying to be an adult,” with his Feb. 13 call to President Putin and his call for the revival of arms negotiations with Russia and China. He warned that the enemies of peace and diplomacy will “try to take him down.” He expressed special thanks and appreciation to Dr. Pandor for the role South Africa has played in stopping the genocide in Gaza, and also stated his support for the Oasis Plan.
We Are All in One Boat
Helga Zepp-LaRouche said we must not be deterred by problems of the past but see this as a moment of great change. She said we are presenting the Oasis Plan to the Trump Cabinet as the only plan that can work. She noted that Egypt has proposed a useful plan, and that we should try to combine their plan with the Oasis Plan. “We are all in one boat,” she said, and we should think of greening the entire desert from North Africa into Central Asia.
Dr. Pandor agreed with President Ramotar on the link between peace and development. Large portions of the world still live in poverty, hopelessness, and growing hostility to the nations of the North. If we miss this moment, I can’t imagine the chaos that could ensue, she said. We must ensure a return to rationality. We need a global coalition to become positive advisers with a voice that will be heard in all nations. The Oasis Plan includes many issues of importance for greater Africa, where access to water and electricity are in very short supply. African leaders should join in the effort to adopt the plan: The African Union’s Agenda 2063 plan “dovetails in quite a comfortable manner” with the Oasis Plan.
Helga Zepp-LaRouche added that in addition to the Oasis Plan, the Schiller Institute has promoted the Transaqua plan to move water from the Congo River to develop the Lake Chad Basin countries, and the Grand Inga Dam project for power. She also noted that Chinese economist Zhang Weiwei had said in a recent Schiller Institute conference that China could build the Oasis Plan, as they had greened the deserts in China.
Asked what to do about the ongoing collapse of the European economies, Zepp-LaRouche called on Americans to intervene. The European establishment media was totally hysterical by Trump’s cooperation with Russia. She noted that the media in Europe, especially in Germany, are totally corrupted, and that if there is to be “any freedom of speech,” people from the U.S. must speak up.
Bill Jones from the Schiller Institute reminded Dr. Pandor that he and his late wife Marsha Freeman had visited South Africa for an astronomical conference years ago and had interviewed her during their visit. She had emphasized the importance of science and technology in that interview. Dr. Pandor responded that she recalled the interview well, and that South Africa has continued an emphasis on science and technology, including the construction of the world’s largest radio telescope. South Africa has good relations with NASA and other American science institutions, she added, calling on the IPC to help build friendly relations between the two countries.
Helga Zepp-LaRouche concluded the event by renewing her call for a Council of Reason, of individuals from every country who have shown through their lives a commitment to the common good.