Sept. 11 victim's pacifist brother to speak in Juneau
Before Sept. 11, 2001, Andrew Rice considered himself a pacifist. But his pacifism reached a new depth when that day's terrorist attacks on the United States took his brother David's life.
"In the Gulf War, although I was against war and I knew it was an awful thing, I think there's a rationalization we do about civilian casualties by saying they're for a good cause," Rice said.
"But when you lose someone to violence, and the tragedy of that and the horror of that ... it's very hard to sort of numb yourself against civilians getting killed throughout the whole world," he said. "When you love someone that's killed, you don't want anybody who is innocent ... to suffer the way you did. It makes you feel worse."
Rice serves on the board of directors for Sept. 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, an organization made up of and founded by family members of victims of the terrorist attacks. He has traveled the country promoting Peaceful Tomorrows' stance that America's response to terrorism should be nonviolent.
He will speak in Juneau on Tuesday as part of a trip to Alaska sponsored by the Juneau People for Peace and Justice, an anti-war group; the Cooperative Church Council, an association of Christian churches in town; and the Juneau Friends Meeting. From Juneau he will travel to Sitka and Anchorage to give similar presentations.
"I heard a representative from (Peaceful Tomorrows) back east in November and it was a very dynamic speaker and very exciting to hear what they've been doing," said Amy Paige, a member of the Juneau Friends Meeting and Juneau People for Peace who arranged for Rice's visit.
Rice will give two talks in Juneau. "Peace and justice after 9/11: a victim's brother responds" will be at noon Tuesday at the Juneau Rotary Club luncheon at the Baranof for Rotary members and their guests, and again at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Chapel by the Lake for the general public.
His second talk, "The taboo of telling the truth about why we are hated," is at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the University of Alaska Southeast Mourant building.
"The 'why they hate us dialogue,' we feel it's very important," Rice said. "Talking about (why they hate us) doesn't say that whatever hatred they have justifies the actions they took."
Members of Peaceful Tomorrows believe working for peace involves working with the government "to help create a climate where bin Laden's extremist message is much less attractive to young men who might become terrorists," Rice said.
Rice will discuss the military campaign against Afghanistan, which Peaceful Tomorrows actively opposed, as well as the expected U.S. war against Iraq. Opposing a war in Iraq has idealistic as well as practical, Rice said.
"There are a lot of rational, logical, military realism type of arguments on why this is not a safe, justified approach to the war on terrorism," he said.
Until President Bush produces a clear link between Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the international terrorist group al-Qaida, Rice believes a war against Iraq cannot be justified as a war on terrorism, he said.
"The administration hasn't given any evidence (of such a link) to us or our allies," Rice said. "The idea that (our allies) are sitting there and they see this tremendous threat from Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida and not acting on it, it doesn't make sense."
For more information on Rice's visit, contact Paige at 586-4409. Information on Sept. 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows can be found on the Internet at www.peacefultomorrows.org.
Christine Schmid can be reached at cschmid@juneauempire.com.