YOUR paper has publicised this year’s Poppy Appeal (October 22) reminding us that Remembrance Day is fast approaching.
On that day, we remember the horror of war and the price paid in terms of human suffering. However, there is an alternative to a red poppy. After the First World War, women who had lost husbands, fathers and brothers commemorated their loss with a white poppy for peace. They were concerned that, in 1933, it appeared that the peace in Europe was already unravelling and the war to end all wars had not ended war.
The white poppy is a symbol of our inability to settle conflicts without resorting to killing. The funds raised go to the Peace Pledge Union to support peace education and debate about alternatives to war. It represents a commitment to work for a world where conflicts will be resolved without violence and with justice.
Wearing the white poppy demonstrates a belief that bombing Syria, or any other country, will only add to the number of refugees leaving war-torn areas.
You can buy your white poppies for peace at ppu.org.uk
Hazel Dawe
Treasurer
Oxfordshire Green Party
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