news, local-news, tim weeks, david savage, afghanistan, taliban, peace, conflict

Former Taliban hostage Tim Weeks has used the keynote speech at Rotary’s World Peace Day Ceremony to call on Australians to be compassionate and think critically about international conflict. Mr Weeks was held captive by the Taliban in Afghanistan for three years before returning to Australia as part of a prisoner swap in 2019. “Peace seemed like an unrealistic goal for me to achieve for my own self, let alone to begin to talk on the matter of world peace,” he said. “For me peace is not the image of a dove or a rainbow, as lovely as they are … peace is a sustainable peace with justice and equality for all.” He said despite suffering at the hands of his Taliban captors, he grew to love the Afghan people. Mr Weeks called upon Australians to educate themselves further about