“Peace is not just a word. It is about being content with ourselves, being kind and polite and not being jealous,” reflected Lina, a teenage student from the school of Economic and Tourism in Vienna. She believes that wars start when countries become jealous. Peace Museum Vienna conducted a session on peace education through the lives of peace heroes, in particular the civil rights movement under the leadership of Martin Luther King Jr. More than a dozen Austrian teenagers attended the session, which was conducted by our Peace Hero Dr. Ali Ahmad Safi. The hour-long session was followed by a discussion in which participants reflected on what peace means to them and what they could do for peace. These young Austrian students at the Pannoneum School of Economic and Tourism visited Peace Museum Vienna on Thursday 9 April as part of their coursework. Since they study the civil rights movements and Martin Luther Kind Jr., they sought to learn about Peace Museum Vienna’s unique peace heroes and windows for peace. Many of our peace heroes were leading successful nonviolent civil resistance, such as Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi, among others. Mag. Daniela Steiner who was leading the group said they were delighted to see King Jr. as one of PMV’s peace heroes. She pledged to invite Peace Museum Vienna experts to conduct sessions at her school in the future. For Ms. Steiner, peace means respecting others. “All humans are making mistakes but we need to apologize for our mistakes,” she said. Lucas, one of the students, compared peace to darkness. He believed that in darkness, “we are equal and we don’t distinguish people because of their race, gender, religion or color.” “Peace will materialize when we see all people as equal,” Lucas concluded the session.
Written by Ali Ahmad