 |  | 'I wish an end to war because of respect for human life, justice for humankind, happiness and well being for every human on this earth. We are ALL born with this RIGHT.'
- Alberto Portugheis, January 2008, London.
To promote his Peace Prize, Nobel's core idea was of a demilitarised world order, with fraternity among nations. Alberto Portugheis, the distinguished pianist and pedagogue, has been nominated for this prize as a result of his tireless campaign for such a world. Born in La Plata, Argentina, to parents of Russian and Romanian descent, he campaigns on this specific ideal, saying:
'No matter which way round I turn arguments, from which perspective I look at conflict - out of a thousand perspectives - there is no way I can see a solution to conflict, to war, to the present state of world affairs, whilst we continue to accept a militarised world.'
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| Alberto Portugheis' aim is to spread Nobel's message that abolition of the military sector would combat a major source of pollution and depletion of the earth's resources. He points to Government spending on weapons research, saying:
'The list of weapon manufacturing countries is very long. Even longer is the list of weapon buying countries which are ready to go bankrupt for the sake of having arms. In the UK almost 60% of Government funds allocated to Universities and Institutes of Higher Education are devoted to military aims. In the US, over half a million scientists receive their salaries and their funds from the military budget of the Washington Administration. Having arms as a deterrent is as logical as providing musical instruments to deter people from playing and listening to music.'
Daisaku Ikeda, the great Peace campaigner and President of the Buddhist Society, Soka Gakkai International, is an inspiration to Alberto Portugheis, but Portugheis emphasises that, 'No matter how much interchange of ideas and chanting is done, Peace will NEVER be achieved whilst Governments continue to pay scientists to invent or develop weapons - even when thanks to weapon manufacturing, un-employment figures are kept under control because the Arms Trade provides Government with such huge profit.'
Alberto Portugheis supports the work and ideas for a solution to conflict by the Founder of Transcend, Johan Galtung, but goes a step further, stressing, 'No matter how much we educate people to dialogue, by also providing them with weapons, this education becomes invalid.' He supports the Abolition of War and the Campaign Against the Arms Trade, but stresses that ridding the world of nuclear weapons is not the solution - sophisticated conventional weapons do as much damage. 'Above all,' he says, 'the same hatred is caused in survivors, the same feelings of revenge towards the attackers. Unless we campaign against all weapon development, invention and manufacturing, there is no way a campaign against the weapon trade can be effective.'
He admires greatly and supports the work of his musician colleague and compatriot, Daniel Barenboim, but from his personal experience of four decades of encouragement for Muslim and Jewish musicians to work together, it is clear that the results of these collaborations are far from the achievement of peace.
Alberto Portugheis' vision challenges authority and the status quo. There is no 'Gandhi way', he says, 'If we didn't arm countries, they wouldn't need Gandhi's example. Arming people and telling them to live in Peace is the same as giving a pound of chocolate or honey to someone, every day, telling him not to gain weight. It is simply absurd.' 'Unless you understand that we must get rid of weapons first, your cries for Peace, Justice and Human Rights will never be heard.'
He serves humanity by tirelessly writing, speaking and giving charity concerts for the promotion of peace, explaining the implications of our militarised world. He contributes his ideas to various NGOs and other organisations like Transcend, Abolition of War, European Network for Peace and Human Rights (Bertrand Russell Foundation), Ministry for Peace, SGI Soka Gakkai International, the Buddhist Society for Value Creation, and the Peace and Dialogue Forum, Campaign Against the Arms Trade, PATRIR and the Nepal Conflict Study Centre. He has spoken at the European Parliament in Brussels and in London at the British Parliament. He is of this age, using the Internet to endlessly communicate his vision to achieve change. He was invited to Cordoba, Spain, to a conference on the Palestine/Israel dispute and will be speaking to a Congress in Lignano in June 2008.
This inveterate peace campainer,who is in regular contact with people from many troubled areas of the world - Palestine, Israel, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Burma, Iraq and several African and S. American countries - knows that the path is not easy. He says, 'I know that a demilitarised world would initially mean mass unemployment until new jobs were created for the good of human kind and the planet. Government treasuries and business alike would need a contingency plan to re-adjust to a world that 'only' functions well without wars.'
Portugheis stresses, 'My very first aim is PEACE, happiness and respect for Human life, for Human Rights and Justice. Automatically,the problems of pollution and depletion of the earth would be addressed.'
'My interest is in educating people', he says, 'in making them think and 'understand' why we do not have a world at Peace. We must study together how we can create a new economic system for a world that will not depend on the weapons busines.'
The message of Alberto Portugheis is not comfortable. It requires a total change of perspective. Kant wrote 'Dare to know. That is the motto of Enlightenment'. It is daring to know that has put Alberto Portugheis' life at risk - uncomfortable knowledge is the fuel with which he campaigns to educate and to promote a world without war.
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Additional nominations by 'Qualified Nominators' can be sent to the address below.
QUALIFIED NOMINATORS
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- Members of national assemblies and governments of states [not only the Norwegian];
- Members of international courts;
- University rectors; professors of social sciences, history, philosophy, law and theology; directors of peace research institutes and foreign policy institutes;
- Persons who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize;
- Board members of organizations who have been awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize;
- Active and former members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee; and
- Former advisers appointed by the Norwegian Nobel Institute.
| Send to: The Norwegian Nobel Committee, Henrik Ibsens Gate 51, N-255 Oslo, Norway.
Nominations must be submitted before January 31st 2008
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