From December 3 to 9, 2009, around 6.000 people from 220 different faiths and all corners of the world celebrated the Parliament of the World’s Religions 2009 in Melbourne, Australia. Michael Slaby, Program Coordinator at the Jacob Soetendorp Institute for Human Values participated in the celebrations and helped to organize two panel events on the Earth Charter that were attended by around 50 and 150 participants respectively.

 

Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp was among 1,400 leaders from 85 countries that participated in the World Economic Fourm on the Middle East that closed on May 17, 2009 with a commitment to show leadership for change and development in the region.

The Forum put a special focus on the action items of 
Energy - increase conxervation; deveop alternative energies; and utilize smart grids.
Youth - with 65% of the Arab world’s population under the age of 25, the region must develop this bulge by “providing them with education and developing, retaining and attracting talent,” said Samir Brikho, Chief Executive Officer, Amec, United Kingdom, and Co-Chair of the meeting. He also called on participants to be role models to the youth. Please watch out for Rabbi Soetendorp's report that will be coming soon.

 

On 6-7 April 2009, the second Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (AoC) was held in Istanbul, Turkey. The Forum is the world’s premier event aimed at advancing intercultural understanding. Michael Slaby, Program Coordinator at the Jacob Soetendorp Institute for Human Values participated in the Forum and reached out to the assembled global leaders, heads of international organizations, media representatives, civil society and youth groups. Please find his report below.

Rabbi Soetendorp addressed a three-day conference in Bad Honnef near Bonn, Germany which brought together 145 young adults from over 30 countries. The forum was hosted by Germany’s Earth Charter Affiliate, the Ecumenical One World Initiative, in cooperation with the World Future Council and Germany’s Federal Agency for Civic Education. In the lead-up to the UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development, the participants developed their own positions on how environmental protection, peace and social justice should be promoted by education.

The Most Venerable Master Sheng Yen, founder of the Taiwan-based Chan Buddhist organization Dharma Drum Mountain, passed away on 3 February, 2009, at the age of 80. He left behind great vows in this world. Shortly before his death, he wrote a short poem:

What I am unable to accomplish in this lifetime,
I vow to push forward through countless future lives;
What I am unable to accomplish personally,
I pray for everyone to join forces to promote.

Busy with nothing, growing old.
Within emptiness, weeping, laughing.
Intrinsically, there is no "I."
Life and death, thus cast aside.
~ Venerable Master Sheng Yen

The Third Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace, held at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, focused on the Israel-Palestine confict and was entitled "The Sacredness of Peace." Following the Congress, a final declaration was issued, together with an action plan that formally engaged the participants to work in depth and tangibly for peace. Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp participated in the Congress. During the course of the event, he was interviewed by Al Jazeera Europe where he shared his vision for peace and reconciliation. The interview received very positive reactions from the Muslim participants at the Congress.

To learn more about the Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace and to read the action plan, click here


Watch Imam Umair Ahmed Ilyasi, secretary general of the All India Organization of Imam's and Mosques giving an interview during the event and telling about his work of averting anti-Muslim backlash after the recent Mumbai attacks: Click here...

Read more...

On 13 November, 2008, the Day of Respect, initiated by Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp and the Day of Respect Foundation, was celebrated for the third time since its launch in 2005. More than 2000 schools in the Netherlands participated at the event that included the invitation of famous personalities of the Dutch public life to come into schools and engage students around the meaning of respect for oneself and others.  

To read a one page summary of the background and history of the the Day of Respect, click here...

On 10 December 2008, the first Human Rights Defenders Tulip award was presented to women's rights activist Justine Masika Bihamba by Minister Verhagen of Foreign Affairs in an impressive ceremony in The Hague. Rabbi Awraham Soeendorp served in the jury that presented the award. 

 Find out more about the award and the ceremony at www.humanrightstulip.org

On this year's International Human Right's Day - 10 December 2008 - the International Interreligious Conference "Faith in Human Rights" was held in the Peace Palace in The Hague. Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp was among the ten invited supreme authorities of the different world religions to sign a statement on human rights from a faith perspective. Among the other signatories were His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama, Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia, Secretary General of the World Council of Churches, and His All Holiness Bartholomew, Ecumenical Pariarch of the Orthodox Churches. The Conference was part of an initiative of the Municipality of the Hague and supported by the Netherlands Minitry of Foreign Affairs. Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands attended the festive ceremony that surrounded the signing of the statement. (Picture credits: FaithInHumanRights.Org)

To read and endorse the Statement Faith in Human Rights, please click here.

For more information about the Conference, please visit: http://www.faithinhumanrights.org

 

More than 1.000 people attended the Uppsalla Interfaith Climate Conference that was held in Uppsala, Sweden, on 28 - 29 November, 2008. Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp was among a selected group of 30 internationally recognized policy makers invited to sign the inspiring manifesto which was done at an interfaith ceremony in conducted in the Uppsala Cathedral led by The Most revd. Anders Wejryd, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden. Rabbi Soetendorp addressed the Conference at the opening seminar panel with EU Commission Vice Chair Margot Wallström and NASA’s leading climatologist James Hansen.  

An International Earth Charter Network Meeting has taken place on 1 and 2 December, 2008, in Amsterdam at the Royal Tropical Institute. The event that was chaired by Former Dutch Prime Minister and Earth Charter Commissioner Ruud Lubbers and was being hosted by NCDO and Earth Charter International. Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp welcomed the international guests on behalf of Green Cross Netherlands. 
 
The read the transcript of his speech click here...

Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp speaks at the International Leadership and Spirituality Symposium 2008 organized by the International Association of Human Values under the leadership of His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, EU Parliament, Brussels, 
Read more...

“Fairer Globalization” Blogspot on the International Leadership and Spirituality Symposium 2008 states “Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp gave one of the most memorable speeches”. Read more...

 

 

The following peace statement of major religious institutions in the Netherlands was co-authored by Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp

To synagogues, churches, and mosques in the Netherlands

Now that the two parties stated their willingness to cease firing their weapons, we jointly face the task of embarking on the path of peace, both in the Middle East and in our own country. The Hebrew word for Peace and the Arabic word are based on the same group of consonants. There is the same desire for ‘shalom’ and ‘salaam’, for ‘peace’ and ‘wholeness’.

After so many years of suspicion, insecurity, searching, hesitant attempts at living and working together across the demarcation lines, there have been many acts of violence and we see with dismay the shattered face of the other in Sderot and Gaza.

For the ninth time, Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp participated at the World Economic Forum in Davos and interacted with many world leaders from the fields of government, business, and media. Around thirty other religious leaders took part in this year's WEF and exchanged on a variety of topics such as the strategies to revive the peace process for the Middle East. 

Rabbi Soetendorp joined the world famous scholar and TED-price winner Karen Armstrong in an international effort of crafting the Charter for Compassion. Drafts of the Charter are currently being reviewed by a council of religious leaders and thinkers from diverse traditions. The final version is to be launched in a series of simultaneous events to be held on the 12th of November, 2009. Rabbi Soetendorp's suggestion of calling this council of leaders the Council of Conscience was adopted by Karen Armstrong and her team. For many years, Rabbi Soetendorp had the dream of bringing together spiritual and moral leaders that would give moral guidance on the global challenges and emergencies of our time: A Council of Conscience endowed with moral authority that would work along-side the United Nations Security Council endowed with political authority. Through the Charter of Compassion, this dream moves closer to fruition. Please find more information about the Charter and ways to get involved at http://charterforcompassion.com

On September 22nd, the Dutch premiere of “The Age of Stupid” took place in the Amsterdam Tuschinsky theatre. The film was simultaneously launched in more than 60 cities around the world. This enormously ambitious drama-documentary-animation hybrid stars Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite as an old man living in the devastated world of 2055, watching “archive” footage from 2008 and asking: why didn't we stop climate change while we had the chance?

Directly after the screening representatives of diverse organizations that co-hosted the premiere were interviewed on stage, including Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp.
 

Sharing Wisdom: The Case of Love and Forgiveness

The Third Meeting of the Elijah Board of World Religious Leaders took place in India, November 26-30, 2007. Following the tradition of previous meetings, it was hosted by local religious leaders in Amritsar, India.  Delegates were welcomed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Birmingham based Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha in collaboration with Guru Nanak Dev University.

Read more...

On 1st of November, 2007, the International Council of Christians and Jews awarded Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp with the prestigious Interfaith Gold Medallion “Peace Trough Dialogue”. The award was presented to him by the Dutch Minister of Justice, Dr. Ernst Hirsch Ballin. Around 50 national and international guests attended the ceremony in the historic synagogue of Soetendorp’s liberal Jewish congregation in The Hague.

With the award, the ICCJ honours Soetendorp’s long standing commitment to promoting a culture of peace and tolerance among people of different faiths. The jury’s official award announcement states: “In recognition of his long standing commitment, born from the experience of personal history, to give reality to what he once termed genuine dialogue as the better means fo communicating rather than just speaking at conferences. This award particularly recognizes that he carried on the work of his father in rebuilding Dutch Jewry after the Shoa, at the same time realizing the need for genuine Dialogue between Jews and Christians. This led him to be among the first to seek dialogue with Muslims and peoples of other faiths. The award is also given in recognition of his early promotion of understanding, through the Earth Charter, that our traditions enjoin us to give credence to our obligation to care for the health of our world so that people of all faiths and cultures can live in peace and prosperity.”

Watch the Award Ceremony on Video:

 

Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp joined Bishop Desmond Tutu in speaking to over 10.000 people about the “Power of Dignity” at the German Protestant Church Congress ("Kirchentag") in Cologne, 6 – 10 June, 2007. Speaking against the backdrop of the majestic Cologne Cathedral, Rabbi Soetendorp opened his moving speech by quoting the Earth Charter’s call to create a global partnership to care for Earth and one another. He then read parts of a statement on peace in the Middle East that he drafted with Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan. The statement had been prepared for the main publication of the Kirchentag, a book in which religious leaders, Nobel Peace Laureates and Heads of State expressed their visions for a humane and just economic order that builds on the power of dignity instead of the power of financial capital.

Rabbi Soetendorp concluded by sharing his life story - a story of being rescued by a German-born woman who opened the door for a baby in a suit-case. “Looking at the millions and millions of children, women and men that are enduring hunger and poverty and that are looking at us in despair, I feel that we are holding the door in our hands. Will we be able to open the door and achieve the Millennium Development Goals to feed those who are in need?”

Touched by this moving testimony, the audience thanked him with standing ovations and spontaneously began singing the Hebrew song of peace and reconciliation, “Shalom Aleichim.”

Read more...

In Darfur, the threat of genocide being committed under our own eyes seems imminent. The images of despair and dilapidation from the world's largest refugee camp will keep haunting us. We cannot close our hearts anymore for the call of desperate children. Ajeka: "Man, where on earth art thou?"

Fortunately, after three tauntingly slow years in which the murder of hundreds of thousands of people continued, a world-wide movement of compassion and indignation has arisen. We, religious communities in the Netherlands, join in with this movement. We may not and cannot stand idly aside while others are causing death to our fellow-men. When the lessons of mass murders in recent history leave us unperturbed, the light will surely go out.

After the Second World War, the UN has been established with the aim to prevent genocide. In 2005 they have concluded that states have the primary duty to protect their citizens and that the international community has the responsibility to act when the government refuses to offer this protection. Now is the hour of truth: are we prepared to live by our promises of co-responsibility and humanity or will we, again, allow ourselves to be forced into passivity by the obstinacy of the Sudanese government and a series of sham arguments? Every day counts.

To the Sudanese government we say: "Do not harden your heart. Allow UN forces to do their protective job. Nothing more, nothing less, so that human lives are spared."

To the Security Council we say: "Smooth the way for the men and women from the community of nations who may act as saviours in the coming days and weeks."

To ourselves, we say: "Let our protest against inhumanity be deafening. Let us place a stronghold of safety around God's creatures in Darfur."

Rabbi Soeptendorp explains in an audio interview why religious leaders need to be present at the World Economic Forum. To listen to the podcast, click here...

The Alliance for International Conflict Prevention and Resolution presented its Peacebuilders Award 2005 to Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp for their tireless work in bridging the gap between the Abrahamic Faiths. The Award Ceremony was held in Washington DC in April 2005. The event symbolically took place on the 100th anniversary of Norway and Sweden's peaceful separation, but it also honored the bloodless "Velvet Divorce" in which the former Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved into the Czech and Slovac Republics. The event was co-sponsored by all four embassies and featured speeches from the Abassadors of all of these countries. 

Rabbi Soetendorp closed his message to the Ambassadors by saying: "Let us celebrate that reason and friendship, and reason and trust have entered into people who were adversaries and that we are part of this hope, and will jubliate and thank God."

Download the AICPReport Vol. 3, June 2005, that covers the award ceremony.
   
Learn more about the Alliance for International Conflict Prevention and Resolution