Mr Andrew Nikolic AM, CSC, MP
Member for Bass, Tasmania
100 St John Street
Launceston, TAS, 7250
ph. 1300 784 745
Dear Andrew
I refer to the article in The Australian, ‘Former Digger MP Andrew
Nikolic derides governor’s call to fund Sydney uni peace centre’ 28 April 2014
I note the article makes the impression
that you are critical of
- Federal funding amounting to millions of dollars for academic studies in peace and conflict resolution, in particular to the Centre of Peace and Conflict Studies at Sydney University. The article gives the impression that “the causes of war have been studied for centuries”, starting with Thucydides who declared them to be “fear, honour and interest”. There is therefore no need to spend millions of dollars for further studies.
- The use of boycott, sanctions or divestment against Israel for its continued military occupation of over 4 million Palestinians.
I note your extensive military professionalexperience and your work in Israel, Syria and South Lebanon. I note that your professional experience did
not require you to work in the Occupied Palestinian territories.
I disclose that I am a graduate of the
Centre of Peace and Conflict Studies in 2003.
My thesis was Empathising with theenemy: Transformation of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict by overcomingpsychological and structural obstacles.
My questions to you are:
- If the causes of war as Thucydides declared are “fear, honour and interest”, then what role does education have in preventing war?
- What are the common aims of both education for peace and conflict studies; and military training?
- Is education for peace and conflict studies; and military training mutually exclusive? Or do they complement each other and build a safer world?
- How much federal funding is currently being spent in education for Peace and conflict studies in comparison with military training?
- How much do other countries, such as the United States, spend on education for Peace and conflict studies in comparison with military training?
- How much public funding should be spent on (a) peace and conflict studies? (b) military training?
- What impact do you believe is warranted for the study of Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela?
- What need is there to study the causes of the Shoah, or genocides that occurred in Rwanda, Cambodia; or conflicts such as the Sudan or the Palestinian-Israeli-Arab conflict?
- What need is there to study of the origins of the United Nations and the study of Humanitarian Law?
- What is your response to the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986 was a law enacted by the United States Congress that placed economic sanctions on South Africa whilst Apartheid.
- What is your response to a consumer boycott of Israeli settlements goods as called by Israeli and Palestinian peace groups, The World Council of Churches, The National Council of Churches in Australia, prominent peace activists such as Desmond Tutu (Tutu also supports a broader boycott, such as of Israel proper)
I ask that you consider the questions I
have prepared, and I await your response.
Yours sincerely
Stewart Mills
Reference
US State Department, ‘The End of Apartheid’
Stewart Mills, Empathising with the enemy: Transformation of the Palestinian-Israeli
Conflict by overcoming psychological and structural obstacles, University
of Sydney, 2003. http://palestineisraelsolutions.blogspot.com.au
