As an elected representative for Farah, Afghanistan, I add my voice to those condemning the NATO bombing that claimed over 150 civilian lives in my province earlier this month. This latest massacre offers the world a glimpse of the horrors faced by our people.

As US bombs rained down on Afghanistan in October 2001, interfaith voices called for “justice, not vengeance” and insisted that ‘religious communities must stop blessing war and violence’. Now, with additional US troops on their way to that war-ravaged country, it’s again time to speak out and to act. As we continue to insist on the complete withdrawal of US military forces from Iraq, we must do the same with respect to Afghanistan. We must urgently take action while preparing to carry out a long-term struggle to dismantle the war system. Let us begin to create a culture of peace, based on social and economic justice, that will bring our world at last into one Beloved Community.