Harold Pinter, 1930-2008

Harold Pinter, the Nobel-honored playwright, died 24 December. Mr. Pinter was a conscientious objector who also rejected racism, torture, and political oppression. Although he received the Nobel Prize for his contributions to literature, perhaps he should have had one for peace, too.

Mr. Pinter strongly and clearly noted his concerns about peace and justice on many occasions. In his Nobel lecture, Mr. Pinter extensively discussed ambiguity in truth-falsehood in several of his plays, then he segued to a discussion of truth and falsehood in political language, objecting to the US and Britain prosecuting a war in Iraq and later indicts other US actions (e.g., the overthrow of governments in Latin America, Asia, and elsewhere), in which democracy prevails.

Here’s an excerpt of his views from the speech he delivered (by video, because he was unable to travel) on receiving the Nobel award:

The justification for the invasion of Iraq was that Saddam Hussein possessed a highly dangerous body of weapons of mass destruction, some of which could be fired in 45 minutes, bringing about appalling devastation. We were assured that was true. It was not true. We were told that Iraq had a relationship with Al Quaeda and shared responsibility for the atrocity in New York of September 11th 2001. We were assured that this was true. It was not true. We were told that Iraq threatened the security of the world. We were assured it was true. It was not true.

The truth is something entirely different. The truth is to do with how the United States understands its role in the world and how it chooses to embody it.

On the Nobel Web site, there are multiple links to other content (interview, video of acceptance speech, etc.) about both literature and politics; set aside 45 minutes and watch the entire video of the acceptance speech. On Mr. Pinter’s Web site, Daisy Evans assembled a catalog of his political views. There is also a QT video of Mr. Pinter expressing concern about the moral authority—a term he characterizes as a synonym for “power, bombs and power”—evoked in war and killing. One can also learn more about Mr. Pinter’s views from The Artists Network (“a group of artists and arts presenters who create and promote art that contributes to a culture of resistance”), which reproduced the Nobel lecture as well as other documents; and from the Harold PInter Society, where there are multiple links to video and other sources. For other particulars about Mr. Pinter, see the Wikipedia article.

Not 14 years old, but 14 in number! With our trusty mounts, there must be 28 of us, no?

PP needs entries. Please pitch a post into the mix. Sometime soon, I hope this becomes the proverbial critical mass.

The Ning-based site iPeace continues to grow. Thanks to Hannahla for alerting me to it. Have other members of the Posse joined?

Interestingly, it appears to be using Apple’s me.com as host: http://www.ipeace.me/ (the image’s hot, too).

Bob, an individual I know on the Internet often has this tag on this e-mail messages:

“war is a failure of imagination”
Alan Moore

I like the idea. But I thought the source might have been older than Mr. Moore, who’s noted for his comics over several recent decades (though he might be something approximating a polymath). There’s a site attributing it to H. G. Wells and another that says that’s the correct answer to a question about which quote H. G. Wells did not coin. Sheesh. My search is failing.

Pardon me for mixing my interests in basketball and peace. Here’s a story worth promoting, though. In the Los Angeles Times, Chris Hine has a story entitled “Lakers’ Jordan Farmar to go on peace mission to Middle East: Lakers guard, who is Jewish, will travel to Israel in August to run basketball camps for Israeli and Palestinian children, with the goal of giving them a lasting foundation of friendship and goodwill” that caught my eye. Here’s the lead:

Like other NBA players, Jordan Farmar will head overseas this summer, only with a different mission — to facilitate peace in the Middle East.

The Lakers’ guard, who is Jewish, will travel to Israel to run basketball camps for Israeli and Palestinian children in association with the Peres Peace Center. The goal of the camps, which take place Aug. 4 to 11, is to bring Israeli and Palestinian children together through basketball and create a foundation for peaceful relations between them in years to come.

Mr. Farmar, thanks.

Link to Mr. Hine’s story.