In June 2007, HRH Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan and Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp adopted the following joint statement for peace in the Middle East that suggests the creation of dialogue centers for reconciliation and healing where Jews and Muslims can come together to exchange their inherited experiences. The statement was published as a joint contribution to the book "Die Macht der Würde" edited by Christoph Quarch, Silke Lechner and Peter Spiegel.

Reconciling a Painful Past with a Hopeful Future

To Download the statement click here

As members of the faith community we salute the uniqueness of every human being and celebrate our manifold differences. We believe that all of creation is organically and spiritually interconnected, as expressed in the Islamic concept of Tawhid, or the essential Unity of Creation – a fundamental tenet of the Muslim faith - and by the whole and perfect circle of God’s creation - Kalil, in Judaism. We are one human family, bound by mutual responsibility towards one another. When one bleeds, we all feel the pain; when one suffers privation, we are all deprived.

Yet despite all that binds us and all that should obliterate division, we have failed to stand together in affirmation of the sanctity of life. We have failed to unite to eliminate the poverty that afflicts so many millions of our fellow human beings, depriving them of any possibility to assert their right to human dignity.

There are indeed many causes of this failure, but we must be careful where we lay blame. Neither religion nor globalisation should be made scapegoats for the dire state of relations between sections of our world community. Globalisation as a process does not operate independently of either state or non state actors. It can be a positive force, improving education and eliminating hunger and despair. Similarly, religion should inspire our humanitarian agenda while religious texts should enrich this process, if only the reader will enrich the text by placing it in context. The true challenge facing us all is not a revival of genuine religious faith, but a frightening rejection of our religions’ norms and ethics.

“EcoPeace – Environmental Peacemaking in the Middle East” was the title of a conference exploring the Jordan River Rehabilitation Project of Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME) took place in Amsterdam on June 30, 2010. After having met leading representatives of FoEME at the 3rd Annual Conference of the Forum of Israeli and Palestinian Peace NGOs in Florence, Italy in February 2010, Rabbi Soetendorp promoted the idea of hosting a conference on the work of this special organization that brings together Jordanian, Palestinian and Israelis environmentalists and helped to find partners and sponsors for the event.

 

“I am very pleased that together we were able to organize a very successful meeting, which put emphasis on turning the Jordan river into a living source of water to all who live in the area.”, said Rabbi Soetendorp after the conference.

 

The event brought together experts, professionals and policy makers in the field of water, environment and the Middle-East and discussed strategies for sustainable regional development and collaborative water management as a necessary condition for lasting peace.

 

The April 2010 issue of National Geographic showed the work done by FoEME concerning the rehabilitation of the lower Jordan River that once carried an average of 1.3 billion m³ of fresh water to the Dead Sea annually. Today this figure has been reduced to just 20 – 30 million m³ per year due to the diversion of 98% of the River's flow by Israel, Jordan and Syria. The primary goal of the Jordan River Rehabilitation is to both identify the means by which water transfers to the Lower Jordan River could take place and help create the political will to make them happen.

 

More information on the Project can be found here.

The Institute is actively supporting the Convoy for Peace: Sderot to Gaza. The project was developed in the follow-up of the Third Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace, held at Unesco headquarters in Paris, from 15 to 17 December 2008, where Rabbi Soetendorp participated. A committee of congress participants, led by the Hommes de Parole Foundation is currently on the ground in Israel. Rabbi Soetendorp played a leading role in developing the plan and spreading the idea, but was unable to join the group due to his already fixed speaking obligations in Bad Honnef, Edinburgh, and Davos.

Here is what Alain Michel, Secretary General of the Hommes de Parole Foundation has reported about the progress achieved so far:

"The First Convoy for Peace organised by the Hommes de Parole Foundation with the support of the World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace reached Gaza on Monday, 19 January at 4 p.m.

The convoy, composed of 10 semi-trailer trucks, brought in 220 tons of staple foods (flour, sugar, rice) and goods specifically for children. The entire load was stored in the Palestinian Red Crescent warehouse.
Alain Michel and a member of the Hommes de Parole Foundation will be on site at Gaza to participate in the distribution of the goods direct to the families as of Wednesday, 21 January and, with the Foundation’s partners, to identify the most pressing needs.

Rabbi Soetendorp serves as one of the senior international advisers of the OneVoice  Movement, which is an international mainstream grassroots movement with over 640,000 signatories in roughly equal numbers both in Israel and in the Palestinian Territories, including 1,800 highly trained youth leaders. It aims to amplify the voice of the overwhelming but heretofore silent majority of moderates who wish for peace and prosperity, empowering them to demand accountability from elected representatives and work toward a two-state solution guaranteeing an end to occupation and violence, and a viable, independent Palestinian state at peace with Israel.

On January 18, only hours after the Gaza Ceasefire was announced, OneVoice brought Palestinian youth leaders to the University of Tel Aviv and engaged them in a vivid and open exchange with Israeli student. One student in the audience is reported to have said that if it was between he and the OneVoice Palestine leaders, the conflict could be solved in one hour.
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World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace
“The World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace brings together Imams and Rabbis who formally seek to initiate rapprochement between Judaism and Islam… These gatherings were attended by religious leaders, from over 43 countries, who are actively committed to the path of dialogue between their communities.”
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