Once more we witness acts of terrorism in Europe. These events in western cities killing European citizens are horrific in the eyes of the western media. They should be condemned and all peace-loving human beings condemn them. We in Pressenza condemn them utterly.

But it is no longer good enough for Europe’s politicians and civilian population to condemn acts of terrorism in Europe without seeking the roots of the problem and fixing them.

Just in the same way that the refugee crisis cannot be resolved by closing borders and putting warships in the Mediterranean, terrorism cannot be resolved by increasing security measures and surveillance of Europe’s population, demonising people with a Muslim faith, and blaming immigrants.

Both of these problems originate from Europe’s involvement in wars in the Middle East.

This is an inconvenient truth that politicians from nearly all parts of the political spectrum are unable to accept or, if they do accept it, they are unable to say so in public because the anti-humanist corporate media will persecute them in an attempt to destroy their careers and silence them.

For decades, Europe has involved itself in strategic geographical points of the planet, promoting wars and civil unrest. We all know the names of these places: Libya, Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq among others. And the alleged justification for these wars has been the lack of human rights and democracy.

Yet we know that there are dozens of countries that also have terrible records in human rights and democracy: Saudi Arabia arguably tops the list, yet countries such as Zimbabwe, Egypt and China are on that list too.

And whereas in the former countries, NATO unleashes hell on Earth, the latter are left to do what they like.

Looking more closely, the former countries have important quantities of oil or are geographically important for pipelines and the latter are either countries without strategic raw materials, or with important commercial links too important to jeopardise.

The people of Europe must wake up from their reverie. European Union foreign policy is a disaster. Wars do not generate peace, they generate refugees and terrorists. And our politicians and those who control our banking system, the corporate media and the military know this.

I’m reminded of words by the Argentinean author and nonviolent activist, Silo who wrote way back in the 80s:

So let’s not be surprised when someone responds with physical violence if we’ve subjected them to inhuman psychological pressures or the pressures of exploitation, discrimination or intolerance. And if this response should surprise us it’s either because we’re an interested party of the injustice (in which case our “surprise” is also a lie) or because we only see the effects without noticing the causes that determine this explosion.

Europe is heading towards an abyss. The peace that Europe has mostly experienced since 1945 is in great jeopardy. The social benefits and security fought for by our citizens are under attack from a sick collaboration between corporations, the media, the banking system and the military industry.

Now is the time for civil society to act. It is incumbent on all of us to get involved in humanist organisations based on the principles of nonviolence, where the value of human beings is at the centre, such as World without Wars and Violence, the International Humanist Party, Convergence of Cultures and others, and for these organisations to support as best they can the broader campaigns for social change such as DiEM25, ICAN, No-to-NATO, and many others. It is down to the citizens of Europe to reject the false information and justifications that come from the anti-humanist media and look for alternative sources such as Pressenza.

It is time for solidarity to be expressed, not just among those of similar beliefs and appearance, but among all human beings. This would be the coherent response.