An English gentleman and Political uncertainty
 

Peter Udell gave a talk at the English School. He worked at the BBC World Service for a long time. He covered stories throughout Russia and European countries during the 70s and 80s when reporting there was difficult due to political instability. His story pulled in like a spy movie.

BBC World Serviceで長年お仕事されてきたピーター・ウデルさんがお話しに来てくださいました。特に70・80年代、政治的に不安定だったロシア及び東欧諸国で取材されたお話しはまるでスパイ映画のようです。

After the talk, he took questions and then the students wrote letters to him. This is one of these messages, which is about the government and peace.

トーク後は質問タイム。その後生徒のみなさんがピーターさんにそれぞれお手紙を書きました。お話しを通して「政治」そして「平和」について深く考えさせられました。以下は生徒さんが書いた「戦争と平和」についての熱いメッセージの一部です。
 

This message below has been corrected by English School.
下は生徒さんの英文を添削して英語的に少し読みやすくしたテキスト。

…………
 

Dear Peter,

Thank you for sharing your unique experience the other day.
I went to Bucharest and the former Yugoslavia by train after the revolution.
There were bullet holes all around town. Thousands of memorial candles to the dead were lit in the evening, and people raised flags and sang songs in the street for the dead. It was all a shock to me. I recalled that atmosphere when I heard your story.

I would argue that war arises from dependence on one’s country.
We need to be creative and independent. Such dependence could lead to terrorism in any country.

The terrorist attacks in which people in the UK, Germany and France were murdered really saddened me and I regret that they occurred.

However, I think that we must not forget that that there are also many dead people on the terrorists’ side.

Even terrorists have family and people to whom they are important.

It is necessary to understand why people become terrorists.
We unapologetically murder millions of people before they engage in terrorism. I do not think that people, including terrorists, value life differently. Terrorists place the same importance on life as I do, and all of our lives are equally important.

When we value of life differently, we start to discriminate. It is then, I think, that war is born.

Best wishes,
K

 
…………

語り継いでいくべき貴重なお話しをありがとうございました。
Peter, thank you for the valuable and fascinating talk.