Monday, September 21, 2026

“Achieving peace is not passive or automatic. It’s an active and deliberate choice to invest in a better future.” United Nations 2026

United Nations

“Achieving peace is not passive or automatic. It’s an active and deliberate choice to invest in a better future.”

Ahead of Monday’s International Day of Peace, @antonioguterres calls on world leaders to invest in a peaceful future for all people.

un.org/en/observances

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies here, there- and everywhere]

https://www.un.org/en/observances/international-day-peace/message

UN Secretary-General's Message

As we mark the International Day of Peace, we face a world where this vital asset is in dangerously short supply.

Communities are shaken by violence and division.

Conflicts are growing in scale and complexity, spilling across borders and inflicting enormous suffering.

Dialogue is faltering, solutions are elusive and global solidarity is missing in action.

But around the world, people are showing that we are not powerless.

Volunteers, advocates, civil society leaders, peacekeepers and peacemakers are bridging divides, uniting communities and pushing for dialogue.

Action by action, they are building peace from the ground up.

Like this year’s theme — “Investing in Peace: For Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day” — these champions of peace are showing us that achieving peace is not passive or automatic.

It’s an active and deliberate choice to invest in a better future.

By building inclusive communities where peace can take hold.

By investing in sustainable development — in people’s health, education, nutrition and social protection.

By bridging divides and ensuring everyone’s voice is heard.

By safeguarding the human rights and dignity that belong to every person.

And by strengthening the proven tools of peace — diplomacy, dialogue, negotiation and peacekeeping.

On this International Day of Peace, let us all be inspired by the courage of those who champion peace in neighbourhoods, classrooms and communities.

And let’s call on world leaders to invest in a peaceful future for all people.

António Guterres

Secretary-General's remarks at the UN Peace Bell Ceremony

Each year, the toll of the Peace Bell reminds us of the most important and consequential job we have:

Building peace.

Peace is never a passive achievement.

Peace is hard work.

Peace is action.

But in our world today, action for peace is faltering.

Violence and division are tearing apart communities.

Conflicts are widening and deepening.

People are suffering.

And the dialogue and solidarity that solutions require are missing in action.

But where governments are failing to deliver peace, people are showing another way.

Around the world, volunteers, advocates, civil society leaders, peacekeepers and peacemakers are doing the heavy lifting of peace.

Raising their voices.

Bridging divides.

Healing communities.

Through their actions, large and small, they are bringing to life the theme of this year’s International Day of Peace: “Investing in Peace: For Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day.”

As world leaders prepare to gather at the United Nations in the coming weeks, I urge them to follow the lead of these champions of peace.

By investing in sustainable development — in people’s health, education, nutrition and social protection.

By building institutions and systems that people can trust.

By safeguarding the human rights and dignity that belong to every person.

By re-committing to the proven tools of peace — diplomacy, dialogue, negotiation and peacekeeping.

And by ending wars and conflicts. Now.

Today, I call on world leaders to stand with us:

Take action;

Invest in solutions;

And do the hard work of building lasting, sustainable peace.

This is the last time I will ring the Peace Bell.

But I will always stand with the champions of peace around the world.

Thank you.

António Guterres
9 September 2026

For more than 80 years, UNESCO has worked to build peace through education, culture, freedom of expression and dialogue. Peace is never secured once and for all. It is built through institutions, relationships and daily choices.

UNESCO

Peace is not simply the absence of war. It depends on the ability of societies to confront disagreement without violence, protect human rights and dignity, and keep dialogue open when tensions rise.

Today, conflict, displacement, discrimination, hate speech, backsliding on rights and polarization are fracturing communities and eroding trust.

On this #InternationalDayOfPeace, UNESCO calls for greater investment in the institutions, skills and relationships that allow societies to address tensions before they turn into violence.

For more than 80 years, UNESCO has worked to build peace through education, culture, freedom of expression and dialogue.

Peace is never secured once and for all. It is built through institutions, relationships and daily choices.

https://www.unesco.org/en/days/peace?hub=180536

#ForThePeople

The International Day of Peace celebrates the power of global solidarity for building a peaceful and sustainable world.

This has never been so important at a time of unprecedented challenges. New forces of division have emerged, spreading hatred and intolerance. Terrorism is fuelling violence, while violent extremism seek to poison the minds of the vulnerable and young. In the poorest and least-developed parts of the world, climate-related natural disasters are compounding existing fragility, increasing forced migration and heightening the risk of violence.

The barriers to peace are complex and steep - no one country can solve them alone. Doing so requires new forms of solidarity and joint action, starting as early as possible.

https://www.unesco.org/en/sustainable-development?hub=66719

What is sustainable development?

a resolution to meet the needs of the present without compromising the future
a vision that encompasses populations, animal and plant species, ecosystems, natural resources – water, air, energy
an endeavour to integrate concerns such as the fight against poverty, gender equality, human rights, education for all, health, human security, intercultural dialogue etc.

Local churches call it genocide — and say silence is no longer an option | Joyce M. Davis in The Patriot News

Joyce M. Davis, Outreach & Opinion Editor. July 23, 2024. Sean Simmers |

Joyce M. Davis | jdavis@pennlive.com

There was a time when mainline Christian churches in the United States were loath to say anything critical of Israel and its actions in the Middle East. That time has passed.

Throughout the United States and right here in Central Pennsylvania, many Christian churches and entire denominations are speaking out against what they say are Israel’s human-rights abuses in Gaza. Many are even accusing Israel of genocide against the Palestinian people.

That’s the word a coalition of faith groups in Central Pennsylvania is using to announce its Harrisburg Free Palestina Film Festival to call attention to Israel’s actions in Gaza. They called it ‘genocide’. It’s the same term used by the United Nations Commission of Inquiry in its report on Israel’s actions in Gaza.

It means the United Nations commission investigated Israel’s bombing and the conduct of its troops in Gaza and concluded that Israel was intentionally trying to wipe out the estimated 2.1 million Palestinian men, women and children living there.

It’s the same word the world used to describe what happened to six million Jews who were tortured, starved to death, shoved into gas chambers or starved to death in Nazi concentration camps during World War II. Genocide.

The Christian leaders speaking out against it include representatives of the Quakers, the United Methodists, the Unitarians, the Church of the Brethren and the United Church of Christ. At their press conference on Thursday, they said it’s their moral duty to break the silence and to call attention to the suffering.

These pastors and laity say that what happened to Jews during World War II is happening to Palestinians today. There may not be gas chambers, but they say innocent people are being tortured, executed and starved to death in Gaza.... READ MORE https://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2026/09/local-churches-call-it-genocide-and-say-silence-is-no-longer-an-option-joyce-m-davis.html?gift=7d3a8e79-fdb9-4bf8-ab6c-ea305c86e25e

Sunday, September 20, 2026

"For so long I wondered why I survived while family and friends were killed. Now I know the only difference between life and death may have been an AI algorithm..."

Palestinians search for missing people under the rubble of a destroyed house following Israeli air strikes on Deir Al Balah, 22 February 2024. Photograph: Mohammed Saber/EPA

NAZA in The Guardian

Watching NAZA was like peering through a window – and seeing the machinery of killing in Gaza

Mahmoud Mushtaha

The lights go down, and for a moment I forget I’m watching a screen. It fills with a rooftop in Tel Aviv at night, black and grey. The camera pans down. Through windows, we see people watching screens of their own – couples holding each other close, following the news, eating food. They appear absorbed in their own worlds, and why wouldn’t they be?

That’s the thing I can’t get past as a Palestinian journalist from Gaza, watching this apparent tranquillity: this must be it – this must be what safety actually looks like. Just an evening uninterrupted, with no military aircraft flying overhead or drones buzzing incessantly. Meanwhile, men and women on the rooftop above them calmly talk about how they decided how many Palestinian civilians would die on any given night.

These are the soldiers, mostly intelligence officers, who helped Israel carry out its destruction of Gaza. Their testimonies form the basis of NAZA, a documentary whose title comes from an Israeli military acronym used to indicate how many civilians are likely to die in an airstrike on the territory.

What surprised me in the film wasn’t the massive scale of the killing, or even the coldness of it, but the proficiency of the soldiers who coolly described destroying people’s lives as if they were discussing a routine errand. One described the work simply as a “mission”, while another compared it to a “video game”.

One soldier described knowing exactly what some of the people were doing in the moments before he killed them. He recalled hearing a man talking to his wife in bed. A baby crying. The sound of the TV. Despite taking all that humanity in, he quickly gave permission to drop the bomb... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/17/naza-film-documentary-killing-gaza

The Guardian view on NAZA’s persecuted directors: journalism is not treason. Politicians who threaten filmmakers rather than investigate alleged military crimes expose not strength but a leadership frightened of the evidence

Rachel Szor and Yuval Abraham face being stripped of their citizenship for treason. Photograph: Maria Laura Antonelli/AGF/Shutterstock

The Guardian Editorial

NAZA Fri 18 Sep 2026

Across Israel, politicians, military leaders and much of the media are trying to discredit a documentary that almost none of them have seen. Produced by the Guardian, NAZA examines the AI-powered targeting systems used by the Israel Defense Forces to bombard Gaza after Hamas’s brutal 7 October 2023 attacks. Named after the Israeli military acronym euphemistically used for “collateral damage”, NAZA features interviews with 24 anonymous insiders who reflect on their role in the death-dealing. Israeli leaders have branded the film a “blood libel” and “fiction”. Its Oscar-winning directors, Rachel Szor and Yuval Abraham, face being stripped of their citizenship for treason.

This is absurd. NAZA shows how bureaucratic distance and routine can turn extreme violence into ordinary work. More than 73,000 Palestinians, including more than 20,000 children, have been killed in the campaign by Israel’s military. A democracy that values life would at least investigate the film’s claims. Instead Israel’s government, which says it is committed to democratic accountability, is attacking journalists.

The allegations in NAZA come from military insiders. For many, it does not appear to be remorse that drives them to speak out. Some are proud of what they have done. One recalls the “insane fun” of planning airstrikes in Gaza... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/18/the-guardian-view-on-nazas-persecuted-directors-journalism-is-not-treason

“It’s good to criticise governments for violating children’s rights. It’s something that everyone should be doing. Because we’re the grownups of this world and we’re meant to keep children safe. And the fact that we are not is horrific” Ms Rachel, the queen of toddler TV- Her preschool fanbase are, of course, unaware of any of her politics, and they cannot get enough of her.

Ms Rachel: ‘All my experiences have led me to knowing that we should take care of each other.’ Photograph: Joanna McGowan/The Guardian

Educational TV

Interview Sun 20 Sep 2026

Ms Rachel, the controversial queen of toddler TV: ‘My goal isn’t to be the most liked. It’s to help kids and speak the truth’

Sophie McBain

Her catchy videos have racked up billions of views, but Rachel Accurso’s statements on everything from Gaza to LGBTQ rights have caused a stir. She talks about screen time, song fatigue and speculation she might enter politics

The YouTube star Ms Rachel, toddler whisperer extraordinaire, spots me before I clock her, and even from a distance and without her trademark pink T-shirt and denim dungarees, she is instantly recognisable by her wave, which is accompanied by an enthusiastic bounce. I half expect her to say, “Hi, friends”, as she does at the start of many of her videos. Instead she bounds over, wearing a classic off-duty mum uniform – Sesame Street sweatshirt, grey leggings, baseball cap that reads “Mama” – and removes her oversized sunglasses. She’s very sorry, she says, rubbing her eyes, that she is so tired – but her manner remains unfailingly, characteristically peppy.

It is only seven years since Rachel Accurso, who used to be a preschool music teacher, uploaded her first video to YouTube, a counting song for preschoolers called Bubble, Bubble Pop! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi4AV2S4xA0 . She and her husband, Aron Accurso, who worked as a music director on Broadway, made the video because their one-year-old son had a speech delay and there seemed to be a dearth of quality videos online that could help toddlers learn to speak.

Nowadays, the Ms Rachel YouTube channel has more than 21 million followers, and since she signed with Netflix in 2025, the series has been streamed more than 69m times, becoming the highest-ranked new kids’ TV show. You can buy Ms Rachel dolls, rattles, talking toy phones, books and pyjamas. The couple are releasing their first album this month.

Ms Rachel, who is 43 and has a 17-month-old daughter, Susannah, as well as her eight-year-old son, Thomas, has also amassed a huge following on Instagram (5.5 million) and TikTok (11 million), where the mums of her superfans congregate, and where she cuts a more controversial figure, having become a vocal opponent of the Israeli government over its war in Gaza, and a campaigner on other humanitarian issues, such as family immigration detention centres in the US and the war in Sudan... READ MORE

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/sep/20/ms-rachel-the-queen-of-toddler-tv-interview