Friday Feature Week 24 – War, Suffering and the Struggle for Human Rights’ by Peader King

 

“People don’t realize what it’s like to live in a war zone. You have to live it to understand it,” Reem Aslo tells the author in Aleppo.

King argues convincingly that these wars are not inevitable, they don’t just happen: they are the result of colonial misrule, corporate greed, corruption, the military-industrial complex and big country power struggles.

Featuring heart-breaking personal accounts, the RTÉ What in the World? television series has filmed in over fifty countries across Africa, Asia and the Americas. This resulting book tells profoundly moving stories of how war has convulsed the lives of people caught up its insidious grip, plunged many into the depths of despair and crushed the hopes and dreams of whole generations.

King shows, however, that there is hope, as more and more people comprehend and confront the horrors of war while demanding respect for human rights for all.

For the concerned reader, awareness and compassion are key, and this powerful book eloquently provides both.

“Just got this book three days ago and I have finished reading it already. Once I began reading it, it was hard to put down. … I highly recommend it. Being a critical contrarian sort of person I usually find some fault with most books I read. This book in my view is both timely and exceptionally good.” – Edward Horgan

“King, long-time producer and presenter of What in the World?, Irish national broadcaster RTÉ’s global affairs series, has been bringing astonishing stories into Irish homes for almost 20 years.  From stories of hope and inspiration to stories of oppression and suppression, the series has examined lives lived amongst serious and persistent poverty, and a wide range of complex social and political situations across the developing world. (King) combines the first-hand observations typical of good journalism, carried out in the field and based on encountering many of those directly affected, with background analysis and factual knowledge based on careful research.  While he does not dissemble his own rights-based, left-of-centre political standpoint, that does not inhibit his ability to call out wrongdoing wherever he sees it.  He has a keen eye for human detail, a strong empathy with his subjects and the background expertise to make sense of what he sees in both its specific and broader contexts.” –Piaras Mac Éinrí, Policy & Practice