1948-1998: 50 years
Fifty years ago an ex bomber pilot, Garry Davis, renounced his US nationality in favour of the ideal of world citizenship. In September 1948 he camped outside the Palais de Chaillot in Paris, the then HQ of the UN General Assembly, to agitate for World Government. On 19 November 1948 he interrupted the futile proceedings of the General Assembly, but before being hustled out, had time to say:
«In the name of the people of the world, who are not represented here ...»
From another part of the gallery his speech was continued for him by Robert Sarrazac, former French resistance leader:
«We the people want the peace that only a world government can give. I appeal to you to convene immediately a world constituent assembly which will raise the flag of one government for one world.»
The following summer 15,000 people packed the Vélodrome d'Hiver in Paris to hear Davis, World Citizen No.1, make his appeal yet again. Thousands were later turned away from a meeting in the Salle Pleyel, jam-packed by 2,500 people. With written and telegraphed greetings from Albert Einstein, Albert Schweitzer, Sir John Boyd-Orr and many British MPs, Davis was supported on the platform by Albert Camus, André Breton, Vercors and other prominent Frenchmen.
A week later, 15,000 people attended a meeting at the Vélodrome d'Hiver to hear the reply of Dr. Evatt, President of the General Assembly, to questions put to him by Davis. The audience booed Evatt's assertion that
«it is not the prerogative of the UN to make peace, but to maintain it once the Great Powers have made it.»
Shortly afterwards Davis and his supporters declared that the hope of organizing world peace through the UN would have to be abandoned. Instead it was decided to set up the World Citizens Registry, which received nearly a million applications that same year (1949).
On 25 May 1998, Garry and his 35-year old son Troy declared that day to be the First World Citizen Day, the father from the steps of the UN in New York, the son from the Palais de Chaillot in Paris. Garry's message today is still
«Lasting peace can come only through law. This is the enduring message of history: Lasting world peace can come only through world law. All nations are potential war machines. The UN is their club, and impotent to prevent war».
One suggested way to celebrate World Citizen Day was: cities and schools could make declarations of mundialization, as have already nearly a thousand cities in France, US and Japan. 5,000-10,000 citizens and communities, states, schools and colleges are expected to mundialize, and "thousands if not millions" are expected to register as World Citizens before the end of the year 2000.
19 Novembre 1948:
DECLARATION A L'O.N.U. DES CITOYENS DU MONDE(Garry DAVIS, Robert SARRAZAC): Monsieur le Président, Messieurs, Au nom des peuples du monde qui ne sont pas représentés ici, je vous interromps. Mes paroles seront sans doute insignifiantes pour vous. Et pourtant notre besoin d'un ordre mondial ne peut être plus longtemps négligé. Nous, le peuple, nous voulons la paix que seul un gouvernement mondial peut donner. Les Etats souverains que vous représentez ici nous divisent et nous mènent à l'abîme de la guerre. J'en appelle à vous pour que vous cessiez de nous entretenir dans l'illusion de votre autorité politique. J'en appelle à vous pour que vous convoquiez immédiatement une Assemblée Constituante Mondiale qui lèvera le drapeau autour duquel tous les hommes peuvent se rassembler: LE DRAPEAU DE LA SOUVERAINETE D'UN SEUL GOUVERNEMENT POUR UN SEUL MONDE. Si vous manquez à cette tâche, écartez-vous, une Assemblée des Peuples surgira des masses mondiales pour bâtir ce gouvernement. Car rien de moindre ne peut nous servir. |
Backers of the "World Government of World Citizens" (the World Service Authority) include the World Citizen Foundation, International Association of Educators for World Peace, Fondation Charles Léopold Mayer pour le Progrès de l'Homme, Central European University, International Registry of World Citizens, the French, Swiss and German world citizens (Weltbürgervereinigung), and the German World Federalists. The Meyer Foundation and the Alliance for a Responsible and United World, with nearly 2,000 affiliates, are planning a World Citizens Assembly in the year 2000 or 2001 (H.S.B./J.P.).
Informations: Alliance pour un monde solidaire et responsable, c/o Fondation Charles Léopold Mayer pour le Progrès de l'Homme, @echo.org.
Autre site Internet à consulter: @worldcitizen.org/50thanniversary.html
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