Different Understanding of Peace: Malala Yousafzai

Peace

What is Peace? Peace is the generalization of freedom; the freedom from war, violence and disturbance. The act of escaping is defined by peace and there are many different views and aspects. Peace is a factor of the world that civilians have wanted for ever. The freedom and ability to escape from hard ships and be away from the violence and disturbance is a wish of many. President Obama accepting Speech, Malala Yousafazi’s Nobel Peace Prize speech, and President Eisenhower’s speech show that there are different, or similar views on the interpretation of peace.

President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009. December 10th of 2009 he gave an accepting speech ‘Remarks by the President at the Acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize’ showing his view of the idea of peace. Opening up his speech, he makes remarks to fate and how we have the ability to change our fate and that it isn’t just given to us. 1“…that for all the cruelty and hardship of our world, we are not mere prisoners of fate. Our actions matter, and can bend history in the direction of justice”. Obama simply explains how our freedom (or peace) can be made from our own decisions. Peace is a matter of justice and only we are able to justify ourselves and our happiness. Obama also explains that there are many other people unrecognized for creating justice and peace within small, or big communities. Peace is not just about the huge wars going on, or the violence around us, it can be small things just creating happiness and no disturbance. 2“And then there are the men and women around the world who have been jailed and beaten in the pursuit of justice; those who toil in humanitarian organizations to relieve suffering…” The relief of suffering is also an important view of Peace. Without suffering comes much happiness and freedom from the pain. Other than the people involved, the time frame of this speech is an important thought while intertwining peace. Viewing Peace as the freedom from violence, war and disturbance the time frame is very important when interpreting President Obamas Speech. While the acceptance speech was being given, American soldiers were in the process of fighting two wars. 3“One of these wars is winding down. The other is a conflict that America did not seek; one in which we are joined by 42 other countries -- including Norway -- in an effort to defend ourselves and all nations from further attacks.” Peace and war are two terms that have always conflicted and had been needed to be replaced with one another. We have been in the effort to replace war with peace for as long as wars have been going on. Such destruction and risking our American Soldiers is the complete opposite of the idea of peace, which is not exactly what Obama is hoping for the future, he wants to twist history and create Peace over war. Obama expresses peace as justice and no destruction, and wants Peace to become a priority. Not only did Obama undergo the huge accomplishment of achieving the Nobel Peace Prize, but there are many others. All of the accomplishments under his reign such as the capturing of Osama Bin Laden and giving our American troops the ability to return home from war are all accomplishments leading to the Peace that Barack Obama is hoping for.

President Eisenhower delivered a speech known as the “Cross of Iron” speech in 1953. The spring of 1953, Eisenhower reflects upon the question of all people, 4“… the free world weighs one question above all others: the chance for a just peace for all peoples.” He discusses how fear takes over when peace should. The people shouldn’t live in fear but they naturally have more fear than peace. It is the unfortunate event that when peace is finally in character, fear still takes over. Eisenhower also explains that even during a time of peace, there is still remembrance of the past when fear was in hand. 5“Today the hope of free men remains stubborn and brave, but it is sternly disciplined by experience…the chance for peace with sure, clear knowledge of what happened to the vein hope of 1945”. Eisenhower makes five valid principles proposed for people to follow through the aftermath of war toward peace. These five points were a way to avoid fear and gain the feeling of peace, to reduce all tensions and worries. 6“This way was faithful to the spirit that inspired the Unites Nations: to prohibit strife, to relieve tensions, to banish fears.” President Eisenhower simply looks at the overall picture of peace. 7“If we strive to fail and the world remains armed against itself, it at least need be divided no longer in its clear knowledge of who has condemned humankind to this fate.” He simply looks at the overall picture in the sense of if all fails, it was still tried. People can try their hardest to find peace over fear, but if all has failed, it was still attempted to feel peace instead of living with fear. Eisenhower, along with President Obama feel as though that peace should be something that we can all feel, but he also sees how fear has taken over no matter the circumstances. Fear has been an everlasting sense in many people, no matter how hard peace is fought for.

December 10th, 2014 Malala Yousafzai gave a Nobel Lecture after being granted and accepting the Nobel Peace Prize. She goes on to tell us how honored she is to be the youngest, the first Pakistani and the only Nobel Prize winner who still fights with her brothers. She tells us how she wishes there was peace everywhere, but she says she can’t even make peace herself. Malala finds peace in helping children. 8“… they can work together and achieve their goals of children’s rights.” Malala explains that she is the happiest girl in the world when helping those in need, and helping the less fortunate children. She wants to help the forgotten children with education and to find peace. 9“I am just a committed and even stubborn person who wants to see every child getting quality education, who wants to see women having equal rights and who wants peace in every corner of the world.” Malala doesn’t necessarily talk about feeling peace within herself, she just wants to see those around her and those suffering feel the peace that was taken away from her when she was just 10 years old. Malala wants to give the children the right of education because hers was suddenly taken from her at the age of 10. Malala looks at peace as giving, she cares more about how others are feeling than how she herself is feeling. 10“When my world suddenly changed, my priorities changed too.” Her priorities turned into fighting and speaking up for what was right and what she believed in. In 2012 Malala was speaking her mind on a bus, when the bus was stopped and the terrorists attacked her. They did not want her to be fighting for what was right. But they thought that shooting her would stop her, Malala survived and her message was spread father than anyone would have thought. 11“We survived. And since that day, our voices have grown louder and louder.” Peace is all Malala and her family and friends have wanted for years and she does not plan on stopping sharing her story and her ideas until she sees peace in every corner of the world.

The generalization of Freedom, freedom from fear and disturbance, the chance to be yourself without being afraid that you’ll be punished or harmed is inevitable. Peace, is what that is. Peace is something that everyone views differently, but it also only has one meaning, generalizing freedom, and the act of escaping the fear people undergo every day. Malala Yousafzai, President Obama and President Eisenhower all value peace, but they also look at it in different ways. Both President Obama and Eisenhower view peace as a relief of suffering. Neither of them want the people to endure fear anymore, rather they want them to endure the feeling of peace with no wars or fighting anymore. While Malala views peace as seeing those who are suffering be happy. She wants to ensure that all of children and women will have equal rights and the right to an education. Peace is viewed differently by everyone. People will have encounters with peace in many different ways, but the true value and meaning of peace will never change. Peace is the act of escaping and becoming free, so let’s all find our act of peace, and look at that as a way of escaping any fear that we encounter. Peace is important and a strong feeling, each interpretation is a step closer to losing fear undergoing freedom.