ESG
The Price Of Peace!
By Soyinka Witness
Why those who live it rarely win it: From Dublin’ s fruit aisles to Gaza’ s shattered streets, this is a reckoning with the world’ s double standards- where those who cause wars win medals, and those who live peace rarely get remembered. A call to honor the unseen, the unheard, and the uncelebrated who keep holding the line.
A Little Controversy
I am told that this will be the last issue of the year. The challenge with being in Kalombo’ s space is that you always wait for him to invite you to put an article down. Your space is never guaranteed; there are too many talented writers waiting for their turn with William. So … seeing as this is the last issue and no one knows what next year holds, I might as well leave with some controversy. In Marshall Mathers’( Eminem’ s) words-“ cause we need a little controversy,’ cause it feels so empty without me.”
The Grapefruit Ladies
In July 1984, a small band of young women at Dunnes Stores on Henry Street in Dublin made history with an act so simple yet so defiant- they refused to handle South African grapefruits. Their decision, rooted in conscience and solidarity with Black South Africans suffering under apartheid, quickly escalated into a full strike. Eleven workers, mostly women, walked out of their jobs and began what would become a nearly threeyear protest outside the store’ s doors. They faced ridicule, financial strain, and isolation- yet they held their line with extraordinary conviction.
Their steadfastness transformed what began as a moral stand into a national movement. Backed by their union, their protest sparked a wider boycott of South African goods in Ireland, and by 1987, Ireland became the first Western nation to impose a full ban on South African imports. The strike drew
We have seen warlords rebranded as reformers, strongmen reintroduced as“ strategic partners,” and superpowers commit humanitarian atrocities under the banner of“ maintaining order.” They speak of peace while bombing hospitals, speak of democracy while funding dictators, speak of stability while selling arms. Too many have confused ending a war they started with earning peace.
international attention; Archbishop Desmond Tutu praised their courage, and years later Nelson Mandela himself told the women that their defiance gave him hope during his long imprisonment.
The“ Grapefruit Ladies,” as they became known, proved that power does not always come from parliaments or pulpits- sometimes it sits quietly behind a checkout counter. Their act of moral clarity rippled across continents, showing how solidarity can crack even the hardest political shells. They didn’ t just change Irish history; they touched the arc of global justice. I think these women deserved a Nobel Peace Prize!
The Hypocrisy of Rewarded Peace
We live in a world where those who end wars often win medals, while those who prevent them are forgotten. Yet if you cause the fire and later help to put it out, does that make you a peacemaker- or merely an arsonist with a conscience? The Nobel Peace Prize, once a moral compass, has too often been handed to statesmen who authored both the chaos and the calm. We clap for men in tailored suits who shake hands on bloodstained podiums while civilians lie unburied. We celebrate ceasefires that come only after homes have been turned into graves.
Meanwhile, women like the Grapefruit Ladies of Dublin, who stood for years in the cold to defy apartheid, or civilians in Gaza who risk their lives to call for peace in the ruins of their own streets, go unacknowledged. Their kind of peace is not negotiated in boardrooms; it is lived, lost, and fought for in silence. And
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