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“Peace By T-Shirts”
(An Unconventional Peace Movement)
 

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Everything begins with an idea.
Ideas then take shape.
An easy example would be an invention.
But there are also more subtle ideas – ideas that shape the way we relate.
“We are all equal”, for example, is an idea that contributed to ending overt slavery, to women´s suffrage, and so on.

What you are about to read is an extremely powerful idea.
It is this: to start an unconventional peace movement called “Peace By T-Shirts”.

Let us explain it in a story...

And before we begin, let us set the tone by reminding us that we once said
“don´t be ridiculous – people will never stop buying and selling slaves!”,
and “don´t be ridiculous - people will never stop burning witches alive!”
And that we were wrong.

 

We still say “don´t be ridiculous – people will never stop fighting wars!”
But, as Nelson Mandela said
“it always seems impossible until it´s done”!

So here, in story form, with a touch of humour, is the idea...

 

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“Overcome by The Obvious"
(A Political Fairy Tale)
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I
 

How it happened, nobody knows... Was it due to some secret, government, sub-sonar, thought-implantation technology? Was it due to extraterrestrial intervention? Or divine intervention? Or was it simply the outcome of the natural evolution of the collective human psyche? Nobody knows...

However, once upon a time, in the near future...

 

Something flew above the cities, towns and villages of Israel, Gaza, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan. And everywhere it went it somehow sensed the presence of every Mother of Dignity as she slept. And everywhere it went it emitted some sort of vibration, or radiation, or mantra, or spell upon the forehead of every Mother of Dignity.

 

 

II
 

The Middle East was still divided. There was still conflict between Muslims and Jews. But the next morning, when those Mothers of Dignity arose, and brushed their Jewish and Muslim teeth, and ate their Jewish and Muslim breakfasts, they were all captivated by an idea: to print these words on their T-Shirts: (if they were on the Jewish side) "I am Jewish. I am a Mother. I love my children just as a Muslim Mother loves hers"; or (if they were on the Muslim side), "I am Muslim. I am a Mother. I love my children just as a Jewish Mother loves hers".

 

So irresistible was The Urge to Print, so possessed by a sense of Divine Mission had these Mothers of Dignity become, that office desks remained vacant that morning, household duties undone, aeroplanes unpiloted, Pilates classes untaught...

 

It took courage, no doubt, to Wear such Words in public. And indeed, some Mothers of Dignity, both Jewish and Muslim, were hounded and harassed. But so Overcome by the Obvious were these Mothers of Dignity, so humble and gentle in their protest, so relaxed and unpretentious - that soon hundreds, and then thousands, of Other Mothers, both Muslim and Jewish, had caught The Urge to Print.

 

Queues hundreds-of-women-long were not uncommon outside printing shops, throughout the Middle East. Websites promising next-day-delivery on all T-Shirts, both plain and customised, began to overload and crash. What later became known as The T-Shirt Revolution had been born suddenly, when least expected, as if prematurely, from the Simplicity of Motherly Love.

 

 

III
 

Forty eight hours later, hundreds of thousands of fathers on the streets of Tel Aviv, Cairo, Damascus, Amman and Beirut were sporting a T-Shirt similarly breaking all club rules. If they´d been on the Jewish side their T-Shirts read: "I am Jewish. I am a Father. I love my children just as a Muslim Father loves his", or (if they´d been on the Muslim side), "I am Muslim. I am a Father. I love my children just as a Jewish Father loves his".

 

Next came "I am a Brother", "I am a Sister", "I am a Gender Fluid Sibling", "I am a Grandparent", and so on. And, of course, there were Jokers on both sides, and out came: "I am Jewish, I love donuts just as much as Muslims love donuts, especially the ones with jam in"; "I am Muslim, I love to have my back scratched as much as Jews love to have their backs scratched, especially if the scratcher has long nails", and so on.

 

 

IV
 

According to many of the most astute political observers of the time, The Tipping Point came when High Ranking Military Officers, both Muslim and Jewish, ´Donned The T-Shirt´. (That was the phrase people had come-up-with to describe that moment when an individual Let Go of their Team Allegiance - and made their Own Unique Commitment to The Human Family.)

 

As the T-Shirt Revolution swirled through Middle Eastern Minds like a sandstorm, T-Shirt Donners´ Clubs appeared everywhere - like new dunes. Jewish and Muslim Mothers for Peace organised all sorts of Motherly Events - like Breast Feeding Competitions, which were judged according to the volume of their babies´ contented gurgling. Two top Football Teams, one Jewish, one Muslim, all having Donned The T-Shirt, shocked the whole Middle East by Playing for Fun. And there were T-Shirt Nightclubs where everyone left their Identity at the Door, and degraded themselves together so generously, and so impartially, they could hardly remember having ever not-been-part-of the One Human Family.

 

And so it was that, once upon a time, in the near future, little by little, moment of courage by moment of courage, T-Shirt by T-Shirt, moment of heart-to-heart connection by moment of heart-to-heart connection, T-Shirt Club by T-Shirt Club, that the Middle East was Overcome by The Obvious - and returned from the Distress of Forgetfulness and Division, to the relief and peace and happiness of All, once again, Belonging to the One Human Family...

 

 

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So now you understand the idea!
And here´s our question...

* HOW ABOUT WE MAKE THIS IDEA GO VIRAL?

* AND THEN, HOW ABOUT WE GO BEYOND THE MIDDLE EAST? HOW ABOUT, FOR EXAMPLE:
 

“... the next morning, when those Mothers of Dignity arose, and brushed their Russian and Ukrainian teeth, and ate their Russian and Ukrainian breakfasts, they were all captivated by an idea: to print these words on their T-Shirts: (if they were on the Russian side) "I am Russian. I am a Mother. I love my children just as a Ukrainian Mother loves hers"; or (if they were on the Ukrainian side), "I am Ukrainian. I am a Mother. I love my children just as a Russian Mother loves hers...”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* HOW ABOUT WE CREATE A WORLDWIDE MOVEMENT FOR PEACE BY T-SHIRTS?!!!

* IS IT POSSIBLE THAT IN THE FUTURE PEOPLE WILL LOOK BACK AT THE ERA IN WHICH PEOPLE

STOPPED FIGHTING WARS – AND THAT NOW COULD BE THE TIME WHEN THAT ERA BEGAN?

 

* Of course: people wouldn´t need to be in a conflict zone to participate in our movement. Someone could be in the USA, for example, and print a T-Shirt “I am a Father. I am an American Atheist. I love my children just as an Israeli Father loves his children,

and just as a Palestinian Father loves his children” (for example).

 

​​​​​​​​​* WHAT DO YOU THINK? WHAT DO YOU FEEL?

* IS THIS A CRAZY IDEA? MAYBE! COULD IT BE A WORTHWHILE CONTRIBUTION TO PEACE ON EARTH -

EVEN IF IT DIDN´T END ALL WARS, EVERYWHERE, FOREVER?

* CLEARLY, CONVENTIONAL POLITICAL SOLUTIONS DON´T WORK -

AND DOING NOTHING´S NOT MUCH HELP EITHER!

If you´re interested in helping this idea go viral, and feel you have time/energy/knowledge/abilities/resources to offer -

please get in touch.

This is a potentially massive, psycho-political, or politico-emotional intervention –

and therefore needs to be very thoughtfully and carefully planned.

You can contact us by filling out the form on the contact page.

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Or simply design your own t-shirt - and start wearing it!

(we don´t offer design services) -

and suggest to your friends that they do the same!

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AND SHARE THIS PAGE.

SHARE THIS IDEA.

SHARE, SHARE, SHARE!!!

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