Fifty-one Nobel laureates have signed an open letter calling for an end to hostilities in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip. It was published in the French newspaper “Le Monde”.
The authors call for an immediate ceasefire, the exchange of all prisoners, the release of the hostages and the return of the bodies of the dead to their loved ones, as well as the opening of peace talks.
The letter is addressed to the belligerents, Pope Francis, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, the Dalai Lama, the United Nations, the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
It notes that there are now no fewer than 55 armed conflicts in the world, and the consequences of the war between Russia and Ukraine “have affected various countries, causing an increase in hunger in Africa, a migration crisis in Europe, bringing with the water , the bread and milk on the tables of the inhabitants of all six continents tons of noxious substances emitted by each bombardment”.
“The number of people killed and injured in central Europe will exceed one million people by the end of this year. This is happening for the first time since World War II,” the address added.
“During this war, the world’s defense budgets have grown so much that they are comparable to the resources sufficient to slow global climate change.” By killing each other, people are simultaneously killing the planet.”
“Weapons spending would also be enough to eradicate world hunger for the next eighty years. Imagine for a moment: no one will suffer from hunger anymore, no one will die of hunger, no child will be malnourished. However, instead of working all our lives, we waste our resources sowing death.”
“Who are the victims of war today? – ask the Nobel laureates. – These are mostly people aged thirty to forty. Each of them therefore lost about forty years of the life they expected to have. So when a hundred thousand people are killed, it represents the loss of four million years of life – with discoveries not made, children not born, orphans suffering.”
The authors of the letter ask the leaders of the world’s religions to address their followers and all the world’s citizens and governments on behalf of the God Whose they serve, just in time for the Olympic Games.
“May the billions of people who will be watching join this prayer.” Give our children the opportunity to outlive us. Let’s not kill each other, let’s save the planet.”
Among the signatories are virologist Francoise Barre-Sinoussi (Nobel Prize for the discovery of HIV), scientist Emmanuel Charpentier (Nobel Prize for the development of a method of genome editing), Alain Heger (Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery and development of conductive polymers), as well and dozens of other scientists who made discoveries in the fields of chemistry, medicine and physics. In addition, the text was signed by Russian opposition journalist Dmitry Muratov (Nobel Peace Prize, editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta) and Belarusian writer Svetlana Aleksievich (Nobel Prize for Literature, living in exile).
Illustrative Photo: Alfred Nobel – Testament.