Monday Oct. 13 was a bittersweet day. Hamas released all 20 of the remaining Israeli hostages, not including the 4 deceased who were also returned to their families. At the same time, Israel released 2,000 Palestinian prisoners—some of whom had not been seen for decades—to shouts of joy and celebration. Much-needed humanitarian aid, medicine, and cooking fuel also began to flow into Gaza by the truckload, in a way that has not happened for months and years.

Despite all this, it’s impossible to ignore the less-than-ideal speech of U.S. President Donald Trump in the Israeli Knesset, replete with his adulation of the wicked Miriam Adelson; or the toothy grin of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who deserves prison instead of praise; or the reports of widespread arson across the Gaza Strip, as evacuating IDF soldiers leave yet further destruction in their wake. This includes the incineration of one of Gaza’s last remaining waste treatment centers, putting all of Gaza City, after two years of genocidal war, finally without this vital piece of infrastructure.

So yes, bittersweet: Because a ceasefire has been achieved and the killing has stopped, yet the perpetrators escape responsibility, justice has not been served, and talk of a Palestinian state appears nonexistent.

A fundamental sea change is required to turn this brief but invaluable moment into something truly lasting—not only for Palestinians, but also for Israel and for the region as a whole. And the current batch of leadership around Trump and Netanyahu, especially if Tony Blair is allowed to play a role, is inadequate at best. A transcendental change is required if a return to the bloodshed and the same cycle of violence is to be avoided.

Toward this end, it’s important to consider the words of former Speaker of the Knesset Avrum Burg, who wrote on Oct. 12 about the developments of the recent days: “There are moments in history when not only states change but entire nations. It is not borders that are redrawn but consciousness itself; not governments that are replaced but the collective soul that undergoes transformation. After 1945 the Germans awoke from the nightmare of Nazism and faced what had been done by them and in their name. After Vietnam, Americans emerged from the shattering of national innocence as a different people. The war in Gaza is such a moment for the Jewish people. It is not another round in the endless cycle of Middle Eastern violence but a historic turning point. It is a moment in which we must look in the mirror and recognize what we have become. And it is ugly.”

Burg goes on to call for exactly such a transcendental change. He condemns the policies of vengeance, racial supremacy, and religious fundamentalism, and instead evokes the better traditions of Judaism. “The beating heart of Judaism was never physical force but spiritual refinement,” Burg continues. “The Jewish hero was never the neighborhood bully but ‘the one who conquers his own impulse,’ and ‘the one who turns his enemy into a beloved friend.’” He calls for a “Global Jewish Fund for the Reconstruction of Gaza,” as well as other actions to salvage the situation for Palestinians, and pave the way for a peaceful coexistence between the two peoples. These are not intended as a mere “political gesture,” he writes, but rather are “the only way to survive spiritually.”

As a former leading member of Israel’s government, Burg’s sentiment underscores the potential that exists for such a transcendental shift. In this context, the LaRouche Oasis Plan for Southwest Asia becomes more important than ever. The Oasis Plan has the potential to completely change the parameters of the current negotiations, establishing the physical requirements for the prosperity of all and redefining the environment in which long-term peace can blossom.

This is not a period to sit and criticize, but one to envision what a better future can and must look like, and organize for it. Join the effort.

Oct. 10, 2025 (EIRNS)—The 123rd consecutive weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) took place on Oct. 10. It was opened by the initiator of the IPC, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, who noted that the development of a partial acceptance of a peace plan for Gaza could be the end of the war, or, as Bibi Netanyahu has said, only a ceasefire, or even less than that if there is not an outpouring of pressure from throughout the world to force it through. The theme of today’s meeting, she said, is the Oasis Plan, which we must put on the agenda for all the discussions going on over these coming days.

Meanwhile, the Ukraine situation has gotten even worse, as the “Coalition of the Willing” European leaders are preparing for war and encouraging the deployment of Tomahawk missiles into Ukraine, which is seen by Russia as a declaration that the U.S. and Europe are directly joining the war. She noted that there are reports of opposition within Russia against Putin as being too soft on the war in Ukraine, but, Mrs. Zepp-LaRouche added, those in the West who encourage regime change against Putin are “stupid” and “foolish,” as any change would be far worse.

Zepp-LaRouche reported that Ted Postol, the expert on nuclear weapons who has spoken at earlier IPC meetings, gave a two-hour speech at the Schiller conference in Berlin, demonstrating that “nuclear war can not be won.” Zepp-LaRouche asserted that we will help circulate his speech. She noted the insanity and danger of the coup against the leader of Peru, orchestrated by the U.K. and the U.S., aimed at stopping China’s role in South America.

The next speaker was Graham Fuller, former CIA planning expert and an Arab scholar. Fuller fully supported Zepp-LaRouche’s presentation, noting that we are experiencing the end of a 500 year-era of colonialism, including “settler colonialism” in Palestine. Since World War II, he said, the Europeans have followed the Atlanticist policy, run by the U.S., despite the fact that the Soviet Union “almost single-handedly removed the Nazis from Europe.” Churchill, he added, immediately called on the U.S. to drop nuclear bombs on Soviet Russia, but Truman wouldn’t do it. (A caller later protested this, pointing to Truman dropping bombs on Japan and mass-producing nuclear weapons, to which Fuller agreed, but said his point was to identify the British role in wanting to destroy Russia.)

Israel, Fuller said, was also a British creation, putting a new state into the middle of Palestine with “white, European Jews,” for the purpose of using Israel to maintain the colonialist policies of the Europeans. The adopted plan for Gaza is not a peace plan, but at best a ceasefire (as Netanyahu says), although it will be good, if it at least stops the killing and brings in some food and medicine for the Gazans. Netayahu’s refusal to release Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti is likely because Barghouti would almost certainly become the new President of Palestine.

On the Oasis Plan, Fuller noted that this is not just for Gaza, but that Central Asia, Iran, and the Persian Gulf states all need water, and this is also the vision of China and the Belt and Road, a development program for the entire region. The obstacle is the British, who are “malevolent and evil,” blocking peace everywhere they can. Europe, he said, “has no leadership,” and appears to be committed to following the “dying Atlanticist vision.” There need to be elections and new governments, who believe in diplomacy and win-win policies. The Belt and Road Initiative and the Oasis Plan can provide the needed vision.

Dr. Vincenzo Romanello, a nuclear scientist from Italy, spoke next, basing his presentation on a paper he had published, titled, “The Role of Advanced Nuclear Technology in the Oasis Plan.” He proposed the construction of 25 nuclear plants to achieve the needed plan, 19 for desalination and 6 for pumping the water through the needed tunnels and canals. With 5,000 km of pipes and a workforce of 100,000, he estimated the total cost as being between $200-300 billion. He said that would be a fraction of the money wasted on military operations today. Romanello concluded that the Oasis Plan “is an invitation to the world, a model for the world.”

Mrs. Zepp-LaRouche added to that estimate, by pointing out that the project would pay for itself, in that the productivity introduced would more than cover the initial cost, as has been demonstrated by the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on Ethiopia’s Blue Nile, which cost $5 billion, but has a profit of $1 billion every year. “People need hope,” she said. She noted that Postol had been asked why there was no peace movement on the streets today, as there had been in the 1980s, to which Postol responded that the hoax about “climate change,” that the world was doomed anyway, had undermined the population’s optimism with pessimism, to the point that people don’t even protest the threat of annihilation by nuclear war.

Fuller agreed, noting that there was a sense of “hopelessness” in the Middle East, which must be overcome with the Oasis Plan. Romanello also agreed, saying this was precisely the purpose of the Oasis Plan, and that with this sense of development, people would not want to migrate or become terrorists, but would want to be part of rebuilding their home country.

Moderator Dennis Small added that the policy of the U.S. and Europe to stop China’s growth policies in the developing countries was sabotaging the claim that they want to stop the flood of migrants. Fuller agreed, adding that there is havoc everywhere over the flood of migrants, but that “no wall or political policies” will stop it—only by going to the cause—the lack of development—will that be reversed.

Fabiolla Ramirez from the Schiller Institute in Mexico reported on a 3,000-strong march and rally in Mexico City with huge banners on the Oasis Plan and other issues. They marched to the U.S. Embassy, singing a song about the “Children of Gaza” and “Donna Nobis Pacem” (“Give Us Peace”).

Mrs. Zepp-LaRouche answered a question about the nuclear development of Africa, noting that Russia, China and India are helping develop nuclear energy in Africa, but that African contacts had told her that requests to the United States and Europe to help had produced no responses.

A question about nuclear waste and another about solar power as an alternative were answered that there already was totally safe storage of nuclear waste, and that most of it is reprocessed into nuclear fuel, while eventually we will have fusion energy, without waste and with abundant fuel. Solar power can be useful, but cannot replace the advanced energy flux-density of nuclear power.

Brian Earley, a member of the U.S. Schiller Institute, described his intervention at a hearing in the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, also shown in a video, in which he was wearing his military uniform, and stood up and protested the U.S. responsibility for the genocide in Gaza, demanding that the government stop the lying.

Graham Fuller was asked about the role of Iran. He responded that Iran was the oldest civilization in the Middle East, over 5,000 years. He said the question is: “Is war inevitable? Or is there a choice?” Do we demonize Iran or do we create a new paradigm? He remarked that Iran has been cautious. They see from other examples that if they had a nuclear weapon, they would not be attacked, but they have nonetheless been cautious and have not developed nuclear weapons. Asked about the chance for a Palestinian State, Fuller said many people thought it was too late, due to the Jewish settlers taking over large tracts of Palestinian land. But nothing is impossible, he added. If Israel realizes it is destroying itself, it could change; if the Europeans would stop being so “gutless,” they could change; and if the Arab state would stop being so “disgracefully quiet” about the situation, they could change.

Dennis Small closed the meeting with words on the nature of mankind, the only species which evolves not through biology, but through its creative power to discover the laws of the Universe and apply them to the development of the species as a whole. This is our task.

Father Harry Bury, world-famous Catholic priest known for his courageous actions in 1971 when he chained himself to the U.S. Embassy gate in Saigon to protest the Vietnam War, and in 2005, when he was abducted in Gaza while serving as a human shield between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian citizens, has announced a new initiative to address the crisis in Gaza and all Southwest Asia. His initiative is coming at a vital time, given that world peace hangs by a very thin thread. This world crisis begs the need for all peoples to join hands together to not only end the suffering in Southwest Asia, but to create a world where conflict, war and genocide become obsolete.

We appeal to His Holiness Pope Leo XIV to lend his support for such a plan for peace. It was Pope Paul VI in his Populorum Progressio who said “Development, the New Name for Peace”, and this idea is more important now than ever.

On Friday October 3rd, 2025 Father Harry Bury issued the following statement to the International Peace Coalition to address all congregations, synagogues, and mosques around the world:

FATHER HARRY BURY:
“As a Roman Catholic priest in the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis in Minnesota, USA, I founded an association named Twin Cities Nonviolent. Our mission is to create an environment in which the Twin Cities and beyond can become free from violence. In so doing, we have partnered with the Schiller Institute in promoting the Oasis Peace Plan, which is peace through development, particularly financial development. 

“This [idea of a] peace plan is already being implemented [in principle] by the BRICS nations—B for Brazil, R for Russia, I for India, C for China, and S for South Africa—with more than 14 other nations joining them, mostly from the Global South. That makes, with these nations joining them, perhaps representing about three-quarters of the population of the world. Amazing. The mission for this plan of development is for the developed nations of the planet to stop competing and to cooperate in contributing to the underdeveloped nations so that all the nations experience equity; that every nation be equal to every other nation. 

As a consequence, the mayors of St. Paul and Minneapolis have declared their respective cities actively nonviolent cities. Thus, the Schiller Institute and TwinCities Nonviolent are modeling cooperation at the international level by together promoting the Oasis Peace Plan, and locally by insisting ex-gang members in north Minneapolis develop to enable them to get jobs that pay a living wage, or if they wish, to start their own business. In the future, we intend to do the same training with the young warriors in Africa.

We invite you, participants in the International Peace Coalition to join this mission.

We are also considering writing to Pope Leo and asking him to encourage the Oasis Peace Plan through development throughout the world, to get as many people involved as we can. The Oasis Peace Plan through development is creating hope to the hopeless. Thank you very much.”

by EIR Staff

Oct. 3—Helga Zepp LaRouche opened the 122nd weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) by calling on members to study the speech given by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Valdai Club meeting this week and circulate it to every political and institutional leader. She emphasized that Putin had made clear that Russia has no interest nor intention to invade Europe, and that the hysteria being riled up about Russian planes and drones threatening Europe was “nonsense.” Putin said that the European people do not support the “deafening” war mongering from their leaders and the media. He said that, as in 1914, it is the Europeans who are provoking a war.

On Gaza, Mrs. LaRouche said that the world is increasingly disgusted, as demonstrated by the general strike in Italy (which is reported to have a million people on the streets), and two demonstrations in Germany against the government’s policy for building up for war on Russia. She called for more support for the Oasis Plan and attention to the need for a power- and water-development plan for the entire Southwest Asian region, and for a global new paradigm for development and security for all nations.

Jonathan Kuttab, a Palestinian international lawyer, executive director of Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA) and co-founder of Nonviolence International, among other activities, noted that there have now been two years of Israeli genocide, “in the public eye, in the light of day, despite the incredible denials by Israel.” We are witnessing the “destruction of international law,” he warned, but we must fight to retain a system of international law by all means. Trump’s policy is that international law doesn’t matter, only power, and that those with power can do whatever they want. The Gaza “peace plan” is just an ultimatum, that Israel has the power and thus can do what it wants. Hamas may accept it anyway, simply out of desperation to end the daily slaughter. The Oasis Plan demonstrates the international policy which must be adopted. People must act in the absence of government actions, he said.

Asked why he had written about some successes by the Palestinians over these years of genocide, he answered that it was to overcome despair, and to let people know that their struggle has increasingly inspired people around the world to support them, especially youth, university students, and even many Jews, and for calls for Palestinian statehood.

A Thorn in the Side of Unilateralism

Prof. Lier Pires Ferreira, of the Center for BRICS Studies (NuBRICS) at the Fluminense Federal University of Brazil, attacked “Trumpism” for its assault against Brazil. Brazil, he said, following its era of dictatorship, established relations with Russia, China, and others while also maintaining friendly relations with the U.S., but President Bolsonaro (2019-2023) ended that, aligning only with the U.S. Trumpism and the extreme right, he said, use the media and “big tech” to spread disinformation and lies. Trump is targeting the BRICS, and the Lula government in Brazil, because it is a “thorn in the side of unilateralism.” He strongly promoted the idea that water is a “public good, not a commodity” and is key to sovereign development—one of the central tenets of the LaRouche Oasis Plan.

Zepp-LaRouche agreed that we must join forces internationally, but added that it must include development as a core of any solution. She pointed to China’s extraordinary development, noting a recently completed water project larger than any other in the world, saying that, if people understood that such development were possible, they would be better able to unite for a new paradigm.

Former Guyanese President Donald Ramotar said the so-called Gaza peace plan is not a peace plan at all, but a plan to retain Israeli and U.S. domination. The U.S. is “not an impartial broker,” and other countries should assert themselves as impartial brokers. Kuttab agreed, but said it is not a question of impartial brokers, but of a “framework for discussion” based on international law, rather than “fiat” by the powerful.

Steve Starr, a renowned nuclear-weapons expert, began by announcing that he was no longer teaching at the University of Missouri, which had dismissed him, due to his talking about genocide in Gaza and related issues, but that he was continuing his work to expose the extreme danger of nuclear war. He noted that the New START Treaty would expire in February 2026 if a new treaty is not negotiated. If it expires, the number of nuclear weapons and delivery systems will essentially double, he warned. He also warned that if the plan to send nuclear-capable Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine proceeds, it will mean war, likely nuclear war. He closed by showing a clip from Terminator 2, which accurately shows the gruesome impact of a nuclear explosion over a major city, both to human beings and to the infrastructure. Zepp-LaRouche called for Starr’s presentation to be shown to every politician, especially those talking about “winning” a nuclear war.

Department of War: A Rejection of Peace

Larry Johnson, a former CIA intelligence official and a member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), began by noting that the Trump pronouncement that the Department of Defense will be called the Department of War is an intentional rejection of the idea behind the creation of the Department of Defense after World War II, which was to declare that there would be no more wars. Now the U.S. has warships and war planes on Venezuela’s border and in bases in Puerto Rico, which can not be sustained for long, leading Johnson to conclude that there will be a war on Venezuela within days or a week.

On Trump’s declaration that Hamas must accept the “peace plan” within four days or there would be “Hell to pay,” he ponders whether or not Trump has been watching what has gone on in Gaza over the past two years, which is already pure Hell. On Ukraine, the Russians are moving forward rapidly, and he suspects they plan to finish the operation within about three months.

Father Harry Bury, a long-time international peace advocate, submitted a video statement. He said he had formed a non-violence movement in the Twin Cities, where he lives, and that the mayors of those cities had declared the cities to be “non-violent,” while advancing efforts to educate former gang members to gain employment. He said he has partnered with the Schiller Institute on the Oasis Plan, a concept already being implemented by the BRICS nations around the world for development as a basis for peace, calling on the U.S. to cooperate with the BRICS.

Asuka Burke of the Schiller Institute gave a report on the international call with youth around the world held with Zepp-LaRouche this past week, with 60 participants from countries across Africa, Europe, Ibero America, and the U.S.

A comment posted by one participant said: “I am 78 years old, but I’d like to be part of the Youth Movement.” Mrs. LaRouche responded that he and other older people are totally welcome to join.

Another questioner observed that there could be no peace without justice. Zepp-LaRouche responded that justice had to include development for all nations, or it would not be just. She pointed to the Peace of Westphalia, which included justice, but also forgiveness, without which there would be no peace. IPC co-moderator Dennis Small added, in a variation of the famous concept by Pope Paul VI, “the new name for justice is development.”

Christoph Mohs of the Schiller Institute gave a report on two rallies for peace in Germany today, in Berlin and Stuttgart, with about 30,000 people. This included the distribution of many leftists, but also attendance by many “regular people,” many youth, and many Jews. Prof Jeffrey Sachs addressed both rallies by video, noting that it was the Western nations, not Russia, who cancelled the nuclear treaties, and that the Europeans refuse to even talk to Russia today.

Zepp-LaRouche closed the meeting with a call for distributing both Father Harry Bury’s statement to churches around the world and the presentation from Steve Starr on the horror of nuclear war.

World history, in the sense of Friedrich Schiller’s theory of drama, has reached a “punctum saliens” at which all previous tendencies converge as it were on a point of decision: Does humanity—which for the first time has the potential to destroy itself and all life on Earth, thanks to thermonuclear weapons, and which for the first time can follow live every single day on internet the most barbaric acts in Gaza ongoing for the last 22 months—have the moral capacity to survive? What is obvious at any rate is that the old world order—as it emerged after World War Two and especially after the end of the Cold War—and with it international law have broken down.

Even the UN, whose Charter remains the most important document of the international community, is in urgent need of reform because, as now constituted, it has proven incapable of responding adequately to the threat of war and demontage of the international order.

President Xi Jinping has now presented, with his idea of a community of shared future for mankind and the four global initiatives (GDI, GSI, GCI, and now GGI) [Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, Global Civilization Initiative, Global Governance Initiative] a concept that clearly defines the next phase of human evolution. This concept has taken shape with the emergence of a new world order through the BRICS, the Belt and Road Initiative, and above all at the SCO [Shanghai Cooperation Organization] conference in Tianjin, opening up the tremendously optimistic prospect for the global majority of humanity, that the 500-year era of colonialism can finally be overcome. The Chinese-Russian partnership is the rock on which the new world order is built, and the overcoming of tensions between China and India, two cradles of humanity that together represent 35% of the world’s population, is as a guide for positive change among all nations whose relationships are fraught with manipulations going back to the colonial era.

The tectonic shift underway with the emergence of a new world order, based on the tradition of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and the Non-Aligned Movement, and pursued under Xi Jinping’s four initiatives, clearly creates the conditions for lasting peace in the world. The appeal of this model, which offers economic progress and opportunities for cultural development to all nations, is seen in the growing number of nations in the Global South that see themselves as active and equal participants. If this dynamic existed alone, humanity would face a bright future.

However, everything now depends on finding a way to win over the nations of the former “collective West,” which has not been collective since the beginning of President Trump’s second term, to cooperate with the new emerging world order. The fact that a “Coalition of the Willing,” that insists the conflict over Ukraine must be decided on the battlefield, is needed, shows that it represents only a minority, even in Europe, and even within this coalition, the approval ratings of the respective governments are extremely low.

The distorted or non-existent reporting in Western mainstream media about the emerging world order, as seen at the recent SCO summit, means that the American and European populations do not have a clue about it. Instead, with appeals such as “Germany must become war-capable” (Pistorius), “Germany must build the strongest conventional army in Europe” (Merz), and Russia and China could become so powerful by 2027 that they would seek confrontation with NATO and the U.S., the attempt is made to prepare the population for a new militarism.

Therefore, it is urgent to find ways to demonstrate to the populations of European nations the dangers of a new militarism, as well as the positive potential that lies in cooperation with the new world order. In view of the recent rapprochement between China and India, the approach taken by President Xi, in a speech in New Delhi in 2014, would be particularly well suited for that:

“Even in ancient times, China already came to the conclusion that a warlike state, however big it may be, will eventually perish. Peace is of paramount importance, harmony without uniformity … and universal peace must be achieved. The Chinese concepts of ‘universal peace’ and ‘universal love’ and the Indian concepts of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakum’ (the world being one family) and ahimsa (causing no injury) are very much alike.”

President Xi’s Global Civilization Initiative offers an excellent approach to intensifying a similar dialogue with Western cultures on the basis of the most developed concepts and ideas.

Alongside Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who was a great admirer of Chinese culture and philosophy, Friedrich Schiller had a visionary idea of a united humanity, interconnected through aesthetic education and self-cultivation to the highest ideal of humanity. Schiller’s recognition that this ideal could be achieved through aesthetic education had great influence in China, due to the intervention of the scholar Cai Yuanpei, the first Minister of Education of the Provisional Republic of China and later President of Peking University. Cai Yuanpei introduced Schiller’s concept of aesthetic education into the Chinese education system and created a new word for it: “meiju.” And inspired by Schiller’s idea expressed in his “Ode to Joy”—”All men become brothers”—he developed a vision of a “great community” of the whole world, “datong shijie,” which would live together peacefully and harmoniously, without armies or war. Cai saw dialogue among cultures as the way to achieve this goal, believing that a nation must embrace the cultures of other peoples: “If you look at the development of history, you can see that the confrontation of different cultures always leads to the emergence of a new one.”

Therefore we need to seek out those ideas and concepts in all cultures and civilizations, out of which their greatest minds, their greatest poets, and thinkers have developed visions of a common future for humanity. These ideas have been almost forgotten in the West today, at least among the warmongering circles who, despite their constant talk of “Western values,” no longer have any idea what truly great ideas are. Exchanges among the peoples about the most beautiful works of different cultures will not only foster understanding, but also love for them.

Chinese initiatives have already proven that the principle of “peace through development” can truly overcome deep conflicts, as can be seen in China’s mediating role between Iran and Saudi Arabia, or recently between Pakistan and Afghanistan. There is, therefore, justified hope that the combination of joint economic development and dialogue about the best traditions of the respective cultures will also succeed in bringing the European nations and even America into this global community! In any case, this is a goal to which we should devote ourselves with all the passion of our love for humanity!

Yu Yingfu, the vice president of the China International Communications Group (CICG), cited in his keynote speech historical examples of peaceful exchanges of ideas between civilizations, naming, for example, Zhang Qian’s expedition (138-126 BCE) to the West, reaching Xinjiang and later Bactria (northern Afghanistan), with which he laid the basis for the formation of the Silk Road trade routes, which were not only a route for trade, but also became an exchange route for science and culture. He also cited Zhang He’s seven voyages to the Western Oceans all the way to East Africa, as well as the spread of Buddhism from India into China. Yu Yingfu also emphasized today’s need for exchanges and mutual learning toward a shared vision in order to move humanity forward.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche, who founded the Schiller Institute, participated in a roundtable discussion as part of the forum with the theme, “Promoting World Peace and Development Through Exchanges and Mutual Learning Among Civilizations.” In her remarks she called for a concerted effort to rescue the West from its self-induced isolation from the Global Majority, and for the West to join into a dialogue of civilizations for a new paradigm of development.

The former Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of China Le Yucheng called for the use of digital technology and AI to make cultural knowledge more accessible to the population. During the conference proceedings, several such projects were presented, including one by the National Library of China, which makes 143,000 volumes of ancient Chinese books available to the public with the aid of digitalization and the utilization of AI. China’s Federation of Literary and Arts presented their effort to collect all ancient myths, songs, ballads, epics, and legends, which will be, when completed, the largest such database of folk literature in the world. Also highlighted was China’s aim to build a digital library for technology and science in order to promote scientific knowledge and make China into a technological powerhouse.

At the forum there was also a presentation of the cooperation of the Shanghai Museum with Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), where they organized the largest-ever overseas exhibition of ancient Egyptian artifacts in the last decades, with the title “On Top of the Pyramid: Civilization of the Ancient Egypt,” with altogether 2.77 million visitors in Shanghai and another 30 billion impressions online. The interest for the exhibit was so big, that the Shanghai Museum extended their hours in the final days of the exhibit to 24 hours a day. The Shanghai Museum is now partnering with Egyptian archaeologists for joint excavation projects.

This emphasis on the promotion of the classics was also echoed by David Gosset, the founder of the China-Europe-America Global Initiative, who emphasized the importance of the works of Plato, Confucius, and Dante in order to create a culture with depth. He emphasized: “Wisdom is not born of code. It is cultivated through reflection, through engagement with history, with ethics, with literature and art—through the humanities.” He emphasized that the ultimate purpose of AI technology must be for the betterment of mankind as a whole.

If one contrasts this level of discussion with the prevalent liberal value ideology of the West, where there are no more rational standards for the good, the beautiful, and the true, and if one sees the enormous effort China and other Global South nations put into the promotion of their greatest philosophical and cultural traditions, it becomes clear which part of the world is in decline and which is on the rise.

It is time for the West to leave behind its superficial ideas about the cultures of the nations of the Global South—ideas that, in many respects, are relics of the colonial and neocolonial era, which is now approaching its historic end.

The promotion of the creative aspects of the human soul must once again be the sole aim of education. In the realm of creativity, there will be no place for national chauvinism; the discoveries of one genius will be an everlasting enrichment for all humankind.

The nations of the West have become societies without historical and philosophical grounding, disconnected from their own better historical legacy. All citizens of good will should do their utmost to leave this behind and to ensure that at the next Beijing Cultural Forum, there is meaningful representation from governments and institutions of the Global North to join this global civilizational initiative.

Tobias Faku

Join Helga Zepp-LaRouche in her live dialogue and discuss the issues and solutions that move the world and its people. Send your questions, comments, and reports to questions@schillerinstitute.org or post them in the next live stream.

Today the White House released a 20 point program for a ceasefire in Gaza and a way forward whose approval by the United States and Israel were discussed by President Donald Trump and Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, at a joint press briefing at the White House, following their meeting there earlier. The “Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict” was reportedly then provided to Hamas for their consideration, by envoys of Egypt and Qatar. Within hours, a joint statement was released by six nations in the region, along with Pakistan and Indonesia, thanking the United States and committing to “working on the program.”

President Trump spoke extensively at the press briefing, which did not take questions, thanking these nations, many of whose representatives he met in New York City last week, and others, and ebulliently calling the new program “historic,” and a breakthrough after “thousands of years” of strife. Trump reported how during his talks with Netanyahu this morning, Trump called Qatar’s Prime Minister al Thani, and Netanyahu apologized to him for having bombed his country, an act only “aimed at Hamas,” Netanyahu rationalized.

The main specifics Trump chose to announce were that a “Board of Peace” will be formed to oversee the implementation of the proposed terms, such as demilitarizing Hamas, and Trump will head it, though he demurred that he is very busy. Trump made a point of saying that a member of the Board of Peace will be Tony Blair.

This factoid alone cast a pall on the packed occasion, given that Blair is infamous for his record of lies, direct manipulation of Washington leaders, and causing the deaths of millions of Iraqis and thousands of Americans in Iraq and other wars. Even including the ebullience of President Trump, and the fawning smiles of Netanyahu, the hour-long briefing was a grave occasion, for conspicuously omitting any acknowledgment of the scale of IDF murder and destruction in Gaza—genocide—and the urgency to stop it. Instead, there were real estate developer undertones in Trump’s talk about how the seacoast should never have been given to the Palestinians in the first place. Trump asserts that the Abraham Accords, advanced five years ago, will now have a comeback.

On economic development, there is barely a veneer of a point or two on the topic, with Point 10 opening by saying, “A Trump economic development plan to rebuild and energize Gaza will be created by convening a panel of experts who have helped birth some of the thriving modern miracle cities in the Middle East….”

In reality, the starting point in the whole region is that the current population of 450 million, in the 10 nations and Gulf states, from Egypt eastward to Iran, and Yemen northward to Türkiye, must have the means to life, and for generations ahead, which calls for the LaRouche Oasis Plan approach. Each person, in every sovereign nation, deserves the water, the power, the food, the industry, the healthcare, the education, the surroundings for a productive life.

We don’t know what will happen next on this 20-point “Comprehensive Plan,” over the coming hours and days, but any wait-and-see mode of reaction is wrong. We need to organize to spread the reality of the Oasis Plan concept, and variations on it worldwide.

This is the dramatic reality of the direction of the Global Majority now underway. Today was also the last day of the UN General Assembly annual General Debate. There were many messages of demand for truth, peace and development over the past six days, though blacked out from general reporting to the international public. EIR will publish several of them in a review.

For example, among the ringing speeches from Africa, came the words on Sept. 25 of Ghana President John Dramani Mahama. He said: “Ghana has long recognized the state of Palestine and supported a two-state solution to the conflict. Contrary to the claims of some, a two-state solution would not be a reward for Hamas, but rather, a reprieve for the hundreds of thousands of innocent people who have been facing collective punishment and forced starvation for no reason other than the fact that they are Palestinian….” He called for an end to the prevarication by the UN General Assembly, and spoke of how Africa is transforming itself to take responsibility for humanity.

There were dozens of bilateral and group meetings in New York in the past 10 days, among the Global Majority, for example, the BRICS foreign ministers on Sept. 26.

Schiller Institute leader Helga Zepp-LaRouche today stressed that, “The Global Majority is not silent about what is going on.”

At the same time, there are critical actions in other parts of the world, to end the genocide in Gaza, and also to stop the insane perpetual war stance in Europe, blocking any resolution of the Ukraine conflict. The demonstration in Germany over the weekend was massive. Even more is expected this week in Berlin and elsewhere, for October 3, marking the National Day of Germany.

Be sure to attend the International Peace Coalition on Friday, October 3, this week. Sign the international petition, “The Nations of the West Must Cooperate with the New World Economic Order!”

Join Helga Zepp-LaRouche in her live dialogue and discuss the issues and solutions that move the world and its people. Send your questions, comments, and reports to questions@schillerinstitute.org or post them in the next live stream.

Sept. 27, 2025 (EIRNS)—The 121st consecutive online forum of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) took place on Friday, Sept. 26. Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute founder and International Peace Coalition initiator, opened the proceedings by stating that the moral fitness of the world is being tested. She commented that at the same time that she was speaking, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was addressing the United Nations General Assembly, but noted that his speech was delayed when a large group of UN delegates walked out, causing some disorder, just as Netanyahu was about to utter his first words. Zepp-LaRouche made the point that Israel put up billboards around New York City reading “Remember October 7,” implying that Netanyahu was justified to commit any atrocity to seek revenge. She said that conditions in Gaza go beyond description, people in Gaza City are being forced to evacuate, but most people have no transportation, no food, no water, no medicine, etc. Thousands are fleeing, but they don’t know where to go since buildings are being bombed, including schools, hospitals, mosques, etc. Later in the dialogue, Zepp-LaRouche criticized the possibility that Britain’s Tony Blair might become a “temporary governor” of Gaza.

Zepp-LaRouche said that Netanyahu wants another meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in order to gain approval for another military strike on Iran, but noted that the mood of the U.S. population is shifting quickly against Netanyahu’s endless warmongering. She also noted the increased global resistance to this, as Iran is now receiving more military assistance from Russia and China, and there is a greater resolve among Arab nations, especially after the Israeli attack on Doha, Qatar. While much of the media highlight Trump’s recent comments in support of Ukraine as a new political U-turn, Zepp-LaRouche was more open to the suggestion that Trump is merely anxious to dump the problem on the Europeans. However, she was not sure that Europe could “fill the void,” despite its massive military buildup and spending surge. Ukraine is losing the war—if it has not already lost the war—likely with 1.7 million casualties, even though some view it like a bank that is “too big to fail.”

Zepp-LaRouche told the audience that all of Europe, and especially Germany, is being hit with psychological warfare so as to whip the population into an anti-Russia frenzy. There is now hysteria over alleged violations of NATO airspace, a claim which Russia has responded to by stating that their airspace is constantly being violated. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has even said that shooting down Russian planes “is on the table.” Large military exercises are currently underway in Hamburg, Germany, which are specifically aimed at the involvement of civilians, while Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has said that the social state must be dismantled in order to spend €83 billion on tanks, artillery, and jet fighters. However, Zepp-LaRouche warned that any war will quickly become a nuclear war, and all that military hardware will be vaporized. She called on everyone to participate in and promote the Oct. 3 demonstrations in Berlin and Stuttgart to stop the war insanity, like the successful, massive demonstrations in the 1980s. She said that the very existence of Germany depends on this effort. She said that the root of all this hysteria is a fear on the part of the Western geopoliticians of the rise of the Global South.

A leader of the Schiller Institute in Mexico, Alberto Vizcarra, spoke next and gave a report on the just-concluded conference in Mexico City of farm leaders from nine states across the country. The conference was held at the National Autonomous University of Mexico’s School of Economics. Attendees included the 91-year-old Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, an engineer and former Mexican presidential candidate, leaders in the school’s economics department, and a very large contingent of young people. The Mexican farm leaders gave a picture of the dire economic crisis facing agriculture under free trade agreements that their government has tolerated. A highlight of this conference was the reading of a support letter from farm leaders in the United States who are suffering from the same policies, and identified the problem of global bankers and food cartels destroying farmers around the world. Vizcarra said that if Mexico would join with the BRICS and other Global South economic initiatives, there would be no need to break with the United States.

Dr. Apurba Kumar Bardalai, a retired Major General from the Indian Army, spoke of his experience as the leader of the United Nations peacekeeping effort in Lebanon, UNIFIL. He promoted the spirit of the anti-colonial, pro-development, 1955 Bandung Conference, but was critical of the hypocrisy of the controllers of the United Nations. He said that while the UN Charter is based on international law and principles of the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia, Winston Churchill subverted it to his obsession of building a worldwide opposition against Russia. The UN became a pawn in the hands of just a few “permanent five” countries. Peace can be won when the powerful countries decide to prevent a war, such as the 1956 Suez Crisis. However, other wars are acceptable, such as his experience in Lebanon. He praised the Schiller Institute’s commitment to economic development as a road to peace and warned that if we fail in peace, the consequences will “haunt us forever.”

A video clip of an EIR interview with Col. Douglas Macgregor (ret.), conducted by Diane Sare, was played in which Macgregor questioned the “success” of the Trump administration reducing it to “Biden II.” He said that the economic folly was leading to war, the collapse of the dollar, and economic default. But Macgregor said that much of the world is finding success in a new direction. He said that the U.S. should look for a way to deal with the coming default without hurting the population, but said that Trump is surrounded by Wall Street billionaires and does not see any other option.

Army veteran and leader in the Eisenhower Media Network Josephine Gilbeau then spoke, stressing the importance of all citizens of the world uniting for peace despite all the petty differences that we may have. She watched 13 hours of the speeches at the UN General Assembly, and said she was left feeling disappointed. She spoke of the Freedom Flotilla and the threats from Israel to the passengers.

Schiller Institute activist in Canada Ilko Dimov spoke of the importance of using classical culture to give people a higher identity and create a society based on Renaissance principles, and showed examples of his own art work to exemplify the point. He said that when President Trump speaks of John Locke and Thomas Hobbes, we need to speak of Friedrich Schiller and beauty. Only this quality can provide a resistance to the moral crisis in the population. This issue would come up later when a question was asked whether President Trump was too erratic and should be removed with the 25th Amendment. IPC co-moderator Dennis Small answered that Trump has been oscillating for some time, but a bigger problem was the identity and lack of thinking by the American public. Small said that Americans have to think more like John Quincy Adams. Helga Zepp-LaRouche answered by asking who would replace Trump? She said that the most urgent problem is the threat of World War III, and that this is her top priority.

A former member of the European Parliament from Latvia brought up the danger of conflict in Moldova, and pointed out that former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been traveling in the area. An important question came from a person in Venezuela asking about the threats to his country from President Trump, and how ideologues like Evan Ellis have said that a war with Venezuela would be a “cake walk.” Small replied that this is part of the “law of the jungle,” and its objective is to stop Ibero-American countries from working with China or the Belt and Road development plans. He said that this is not just a threat against Venezuela, but the same faction is also committed to destroying the Lula government in Brazil.

Later in the dialogue Mrs. Zepp-LaRouche warned of the danger of a new fascism to manipulate the public with censorship and control over all its data. She mentioned Peter Thiel and his article “The Straussian Moment,” wherein he presents the idea that since 9/11 the only way to have security is to surrender freedom.

However, it is not sufficient merely to expose the problems of the world, she said. We must give people a way out. The West would be welcomed with open arms if it engages in a cooperative spirit with the Global South. Our biggest task is to organize and educate the nations of the West, and create this new paradigm, Zepp-LaRouche concluded.

Join Helga Zepp-LaRouche in her live dialogue and discuss the issues and solutions that move the world and its people. Send your questions, comments, and reports to questions@schillerinstitute.org or post them in the next live stream.

“Only direct cooperation with the Arabs can create a dignified and safe life. If the Jews don’t comprehend this, the whole Jewish position in the complex of Arab countries will become, step by step, untenable. What saddens me is less the fact that the Jews are not smart enough to understand this, but rather that they are not just enough to want it.”

So wrote Albert Einstein in the context of the creation of the State of Israel, whose presidency he was offered, and declined.

An emergency summit of the League of Arab States and the Organization for Islamic Cooperation was held on Sept. 15 in response to Israel’s outrageous strikes in Doha, Qatar, targeting the Hamas representatives there to negotiate with their Israeli counterparts. Israel’s strike targeted negotiation itself. The summit issued a final communiqué denouncing the Israeli attack on Qatar, the barbaric destruction of Gaza, settlements in the West Bank, and Israeli strikes on Lebanon, Syria, and Iran, and calling for international action.

The assembled leaders demanded that the international community act to change Israel’s course. Specifically, they called on all nations “to take all possible legal and effective measures to prevent Israel from continuing its actions” against the Palestinian people, including by supporting efforts to end its impunity, holding it accountable for its violations and crimes, imposing sanctions on it, suspending the supply, transfer, or transit of weapons, ammunition, and military materials—including dual-use items—reviewing diplomatic and economic relations with it, and initiating legal proceedings against it,” as well as suspending Israel from the United Nations.

In Madrid, a crowd of some 100,000 people shut down the final stage of the Tour of Spain bike race. The prime minister voiced his support for the protesters, and called for Israeli teams to be banned from all international competitions, as has happened to Russian teams.

Meanwhile, Moscow persists in warning NATO that it is already at war with Russia, with consequences that could be devastating. The recent drone swarm that entered Poland is seen as a deliberate provocation by those who seek the continuation of the fighting, which is destroying Ukraine.

While Trump may have attempted to extricate himself from the Ukraine conflict by making unfulfillable demands on the Europeans, he is moving deeper toward conflict in the Americas with another strike on a Venezuelan vessel and continues his bellicose statements about Gaza.

What is needed is the success of an international campaign for a new paradigm of economic, cultural and political relations—the campaign waged for decades by the movement founded by Lyndon LaRouche. We need action, and action now!

Join Helga Zepp-LaRouche in her live dialogue and discuss the issues and solutions that move the world and its people. Send your questions, comments, and reports to questions@schillerinstitute.org or post them in the next live stream.

The 119th consecutive weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) began with remarks by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute Founder and initiator of the International Peace Coalition. She said that “the world is completely out of order,” cataloguing the latest eruptions: the uproar about Russian drones over Poland, the Israeli attack on Qatar, the assassination of Charlie Kirk, and others. She warned that the Kirk assassination can be seen as a warning to U.S. President Donald Trump, and the bombing of Qatar is another manifestation of the law of the jungle, which could be the final nail in the coffin of peace negotiations. The only “plus point” is that for the first time, all five members of the UN Security Council denounced the Qatar attack, with no U.S. veto.

She added that the common denominator in the violent acts around the world is that they all represent a reaction to the emerging new world economic order. A new development of the highest importance for the emerging order is China President Xi Jinping’s Global Governance Initiative, which echoes her Ten Principles of a New International Security and Development Architecture.

Donald Ramotar, former President of Guyana, focused on the tensions in the Caribbean region. He rejected Venezuela’s claim to two-thirds of the territory of Guyana, but also reminded the participants of U.S. attacks on Guyanese sovereignty in 1962, much as the United States is trying to bring about regime-change in Venezuela today. In the Caribbean, fear of U.S. sanctions is a major factor, after what has been done to Cuba and Venezuela. U.S. sanctions against a Brazilian judge are unprecedented interference in the internal affairs of a South American nation.

Regarding Trump’s justification of his assault on Venezuela, claiming that its government is a drug cartel, Ramotar reminded the participants that Pino Arlacchi, who served as the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), has characterized Venezuela’s anti-drug cooperation as one of the best. The issue is not drugs, Ramotar said, it is oil. Since President Nixon declared the War on Drugs in the 1970s, the drug scourge has gotten much worse. The use of the military to combat it has failed.

Looking at the global outbreak of violence referenced by Zepp-LaRouche, Ramotar asserted, “It is a clear sign of desperation and a new aggressiveness on the part of the NATO countries…. Gaza is being used in order to destroy international laws and international institutions.” He called the Ukraine war “a failed attempt to destabilize Russia.”

Shakeel Ramay, Political Economist and CEO of the Asian Institute of Eco-Civilization Research and Development, discussed the 2025 Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, saying that it should be a step toward a multipolar world, not a multibloc world. SCO has facilitated the resolution of conflicts, unlike NATO and similar “bloc” organizations. The SCO Development Bank will be created, complementing the efforts of other Global South organizations. Xi’s Global Governance Initiative is intended to combat the residual Cold War mentality. China respects diversity in its own society, and follows a people-centered policy; this approach can be applied globally.

Prof. Fernando Garzon, architect, urban planner, and leader of the Ecuadorian-Palestinian Union, referenced Ramotar’s warnings about regional tensions, noting that there are 25-30 U.S. and European military bases in the Caribbean, which represent a threat.

Turning to the issue of Palestine, he said that all members of the UN should recognize the Palestinian state and make it a full member. He called for the transfer of UN meetings to Geneva to include Palestinian representatives, and said we should hold corporations accountable for their participation in crimes in Gaza. Francesca Albanese has carried out an important study on this. We should consider sending armed forces into Gaza, and implementing UN Resolution 377, Uniting for Peace.

Jacques Cheminade, head of the Solidarité et Progrès party of France, dissected the confused and impotent foreign policy of his nation. Macron’s goal of sending troops to Ukraine provides targets for Russian missiles, and is rejected by the French population. “France has neither the money nor the weapons for what they pretend to do.”

An EIR video interview with Jonathan Kuttab, co-founder of Nonviolence International and executive director of Friends of Sabeel North America, was presented. He began by saying, “On the Palestinian side there is a strong feeling of helplessness, but not hopelessness.” Israelis know that their conduct is unacceptable to the world, but their attitude is “So what? We can do whatever we want.” Israel has a new sense of impunity. In response to a question on the role of the British in the Middle East, he said, “The British are behind every evil thing that happens in the world…. Many people think that they are also manipulating the United States itself.”

“We really need international law,” said Kuttab, including the Israelis. The Israelis are very shortsighted if they think they can ignore international norms. What would it take for nations to support UN Resolution 377? It will take pressure from ordinary people on their governments.

Zepp-LaRouche responded by saying that if the Palestinian delegates to the UN do not receive visas, we should mobilize the IPC to move the General Assembly meeting to Geneva. AOC is cancelling her appearance in North Carolina due to security concerns after the Kirk assassination. “The role of the British subversion of the American republic needs to be addressed,” she said, because it is the root cause of the destructive campaign for a “unipolar world.” She urged everyone to sign the new statement from the Schiller Institute.

Ramotar asserted that the BRICS is offering a viable alternative to the collapsing colonial system, and the ongoing aggression and sabotage is intended to wreck international law, replacing it with the “survival of the fittest” where the colonial forces hope to come out on top.

Discussion Period

In response to a question, IPC co-moderator Dennis Speed asked Zepp-LaRouche to elaborate on the 10th principle of her proposal for a New International Security and Development Architecture, that humans are essentially good. She responded by saying that when you are confronted with a great evil, we need to have love, and that is most difficult. If you don’t have that love, you cannot find a solution. Rage short-circuits your reason. Man has an infinite capacity for self-perfection, not only of the mind, but for the improvement of one’s character.

Cheminade suggested that Resolution 377 is often misunderstood as a way to trigger military intervention. Its effectiveness is to present a consensus of the world community and to isolate Israel, leading to boycotts and a halt to weapons sales, and to touch the consciences of Israelis.

A participant questioned whether the recognition of a Palestinian state would deter Israel, which has attacked numerous sovereign states. Speed emphasized the importance of intervening with their representatives at the upcoming UN General Assembly session and vowed that the Schiller Institute and The LaRouche Organization would have a regular presence there. Ramotar insisted that Israel will not stop because they see the opportunity to realize the dream of a Greater Israel, with the acquiescence of the U.S. He castigated the Arab countries for their passivity, saying that “we have to shame them.”

In her concluding remarks, Zepp-LaRouche urged everyone to pressure their governments in the context of the upcoming UNGA meeting. The SCO conference showed a new confidence in the nations of the Global South, and we have to convince the citizens of the Global North/Global West to give up their arrogance and cooperate with the Global Majority.

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