When we speak of peace, we must not reduce it to its narrowest meaning—as merely the absence of gunfire or the end of battles. True peace is not a fragile truce imposed by force, nor is it the silence of weapons over the ruins of justice.

The peace we seek is not simply the absence of war, but the absence of injustice, oppression, discrimination, tyranny, and occupation. Genuine peace exists where justice is upheld, rights are protected, and human dignity is respected.

True peace is when a person feels safe in their homeland, enjoys equal opportunities, is empowered to speak, unafraid to tell the truth, and free from persecution for claiming their rights.

Many nations have lived for years without war, but not a single day in genuine peace. Poverty continues to exhaust the bodies of the poor. Discrimination quietly destroys the spirit. Tyranny stifles voices and crushes wills. And occupation denies entire peoples their land, their choices, and their future.

Can this truly be called peace?
No — that is a fragile peace. A false peace.

Peace exists only when the chains of injustice are broken, the walls of occupation are dismantled, rights are restored, and human dignity is upheld.

Sustainable peace is not granted. It is built — built through freedom, just laws, education, development, and the hard work of transitional justice.

Peace is built by redressing harm, holding criminals accountable, recognizing rights, and amplifying the voices of the oppressed.

Look at the peoples living under occupation. How can we speak to them of peace? How can we tell a child in Gaza, Syria, Sudan, Yemen, or Ukraine that there is peace when they have no shelter, no medicine, no school — not even a name in official records?

Peace cannot be achieved as long as settlements expand, separation walls rise, massacres continue, regimes and militias persist in oppression, and the international community remains silent — or complicit.

We will not settle for silence in the face of crime. We demand accountability.

We will not settle for ceasefires. We strive to build a world where no fires rage in the first place.

The international community has failed to approach the conflicts in our region through the lens of justice. In Yemen, Sudan, Libya, and Syria, the logic of deal-making has prevailed over the defense of rights. Accountability for perpetrators has too often been sacrificed in the name of preserving so-called “stability.”

The result? Military and sectarian fascisms have been rewarded, while bleeding societies are abandoned to face repression alone.

Peace is inseparable from human dignity — from the right to be a partner, not a subordinate. Peace cannot be built atop the ruins of freedom. Every form of tyranny, whether political or religious, is a lasting source of violence. It breeds hatred and erodes the very foundations of coexistence.

True peace demands a new political culture — one that chooses dialogue over weapons, and partnership over exclusion when managing differences.

Citizens must understand that peace is not a state of inactivity or neutrality, but a daily act of courage—a moral responsibility and a living expression of human solidarity. In times of war and injustice, silence becomes betrayal, and inaction becomes complicity.

People can speak out, organize peacefully, pressure their governments to uphold international law, and support movements defending human rights and democracy. Peace begins when people reject hatred, resist misinformation, and stand firm for the dignity of every human being.

When people unite across borders and identities, demanding justice and accountability, they create an invincible force—more powerful than any weapon: the moral force of humanity.

There is no question that women and children endure the gravest toll in war—often not only as collateral victims, but as deliberate targets of displacement, sexual violence, hunger, and the collapse of essential services.

Yet women are not only survivors—they are peacebuilders. In every conflict zone, I’ve witnessed women risking their lives to save others, mend broken communities, and demand justice.

If we are serious about ending wars, we must do more than acknowledge their suffering—we must elevate their leadership. 

Amid escalating wars and deepening global divides, our democratic freedoms—especially freedom of expression and the press—are under siege. These rights are not just threatened by authoritarian regimes, but increasingly eroded within established democracies.

From disinformation and digital surveillance to criminalization and violence, the tools of suppression have grown more insidious. Defending democracy begins with defending those who speak truth to power.

Freedom of expression is not merely a privilege; it is the foundational bulwark of truth and the ultimate guarantor of accountability; in its absence, democracy disintegrates, justice evaporates, and transparency diminishes.

I am proud to belong to the Arab Spring—an historic moment that made freedom of expression a sacred cause and elevated dignity and justice into a unifying, borderless ideal.

We rose with bold dreams, and to this day, we remain in the heart of that revolution—carrying its torch, resisting the brutal backlash unleashed by counter-revolutions.

We have not surrendered, and we will not. For we do not see our revolutions as failures, but as a continuing struggle for freedom, justice, and the rule of law.

What is profoundly concerning today is that the threat to democratic values has transcended authoritarian regimes and infiltrated the core of Western democracies.

In nations like the United States and Canada, we observe disturbing indicators of significant regression—manifesting as the suppression of student voices, the erosion of civil liberties, and an increasing hostility toward peaceful dissent.

These are not peripheral signals—they are alarm bells, marking a serious decline in the system of rights and the very foundations of good governance.

This deterioration leaves us with only one path forward: unity in struggle. Whether resisting authoritarianism at home or confronting democratic erosion abroad, we are bound by a shared fight—for freedom, for truth, and for the dignity of every human being.

I call on every free individual to shoulder their responsibility: Defend your democracy, protect human rights, and stand with the oppressed—wherever they may be. The loss of freedom of expression is the loss of our ability to build a just and healthy world.

We have witnessed the near-total absence of the United Nations in Palestine, Iran, and Ukraine, even as crises have deepened and tragedies multiplied. This paralysis unfolds at a time when technologies and artificial intelligence are rapidly reshaping the dynamics of security and warfare.

As the challenges grow, the UN’s capacity continues to shrink—its fragility laid bare in the face of atrocity.

This is why we need a deep and fundamental reform of the United Nations structure. It must evolve from a body of well-meaning but ineffectual diplomacy into an institution with real authority—backed by an international force under legitimate mandate to uphold global peace and security.

It must also possess the courage to name perpetrators for what they are, rather than equating them with their victims.

Today, for example, the Houthi group is committing horrific crimes against the Yemeni people. 

Yet the United Nations persists in treating it as a political actor rather than a war criminal—a reflection of its structural weakness and subjugation to global power balances.

To attain genuine global peace, we require major powers that truly champion peace and freedom—not those who violate these principles in certain regions while remaining silent in others.

We do not seek those who brandish the banner of peace while quietly undermining it through silence or double standards.

We reject those who claim to defend freedom, while simultaneously contributing to its suppression and demise.