Interreligious Solidarity March conducted in The Hague
On Monday, 12 December 2011, the Soetendorp Institute organized an interreligious solidarity march that connected different houses of worship. Oranizing partners were the Islam and Dialogue Foundation and Stek (the Foundation for City and Church).
The march started at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, then stopped at the Protestant Kloosterkerk (Cloister Church) and ended with a meal at the Al Aqsa Mosque, which belongs to the Islamic Foundation of the Netherlands.
The theme of this walk was "finding each other" - In this time of crisis and rising tensions there is a need for acts of solidarity between the different faiths. In each house of worship, the participants were introduced to the history of the building and the background of the religious community that is using it.
The march created space for meeting people of other faith traditions, listening to their stories and experiences and creating relationships beyond religious and cultural boundaries.
After the walk, Rabbi Soetendporp explained: "With the march, we gave the term "interreligious movement" a whole new, literal sense. Indeed, we were praying with our feet, expressing our solidarity with one another, receiving hospitality at the different houses of worship and had a chance to interact with people of other traditions we did not know before. I hope this model and gesture of interreligious solidarity will spread to other cities in the Netherlands and around the world."
Rabbi Soetendorp signs agreement with Eco Schools network
In his role as Earth Charter Commissioner, Rabbi Soetendorp spoke at the Eco Schools National Operator meeting held in Krakow, Poland that was organized by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and signed a Memorandum of Understanding and Collaboration between Earth Charter International and FEE. In this meeting, which took place from 27-30 October, representatives from over 47 countries heard about the Earth Charter and how compassion can be the driver for working together to ensure a sustainable world for the coming generations.
Rabbi Soetendorp spoke passionately about the Earth Charter background and purpose; about what we have in common and how our shared values, as expressed in the Earth Charter's 16 ethical principles, can underpin any organizations vision and planning. He then shared about the diverse educational projects he is involved in, especially the Day of Respect that is celebrated annually in over 3.000 primary schools all over the Netherlands, as well as the intergenerational Feather Project.
The main purpose of the MoU signed by ECI and FEE is to spread information and knowledge about the Earth Charter across the Eco-Schools network, providing Eco-Schools with another theme or project through which they can implement their activities.
The other FEE programmes will look into this cooperation to understand how they may introduce the Earth Charter in their activities in the coming years.
Day of Respect reached 3.000 schools in The Netherlands
The Day of Respect that was initiated by Rabbi Soetendorp in 2006 was celebrated for the sixth time on 10 November, 2011. More than 3.000 schools participated in the programme that centered on the theme "Respecting Myself". The schools addressed this topic in guest lectures, public events, discussions, music performances and a dance "flash mob" in the city center of Rotterdam.
Please find a video of the Day of Respect celebration in Rotterdam below:
Rabbi Soetendorp's message to the Museum of the World's Religions Celebration
The Museum of the World's Religions in Taipei, Taiwan, is celebrating its tenth anniversary on November 9 - 11, 2011 . The Museum has been founded by Dharma Master Hsin Tao, the head of the Ling Jiou Mountain Buddhist Association, who is a strong supporter of interfaith dialogue and interreligious understanding around the world and has collaborated with Rabbi Soetendorp on many occasions. Rabbi Soetendorp is honouring the achievements of the Museum in a special video message:
A Tribute to Wangari Maathai - A Princess of Peace and an Angel of Mercy
It is Martin Buber who describes in I and Thou the unique relationship to a tree. The tree in its encounter is not as an object but the embodiment of our deepest emotions and dreams. Wangari has planted these trees in Kenya and all over the continent of Africa.
They sustain life now and will continue to carry her dream of a peaceful and just future for the whole human family and Earth community for ever and ever. I met her for the first time in 1988 in Oxford at the formative meeting of the Global Forum of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders for Human Survival. She was a power of strength, so full of joy that no adversary could quench.
Rabbi Soetendorp took part in a ceremony celebrating the unveiling of an Anne Frank statute in Oranjestad, the island's capital. Upon his arrival on the Caribbean island on June 9, Rabbi Soetendorp was welcomed by the Prime Minister Mike Eman and had several meetings with governmental representatives including Dr. Dowers, Minister of Justice and Education, to whom he introduced the Day of Respect that he initiated in the Netherlands in 2006.
Other speakers at the unveiling of the statute included Martin Luther King III, eldest son of the civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., former director of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam Dr. Hans Westra, and Aruba's Prime Minister Mike Eman.
the World Foresight Forum, a new international Forum that will be launched in The Hague in the Netherlands from April 13 – 15 next is inviting interested individuals and organizations to participate in its interactive programmes.
The Forum is an initiative of the World Foresight Forum Foundation. This Foundation brings together influential men and women from the worlds of international business, governments, academia and science with the purpose: to create a new understanding of and a new approach towards solving the major strategic challenges that our world faces in this 21st century. The Foundation aims to inspire us all to create a secure and sustainable world for future generations.
Rabbi Soetendorp supports the launch of Two-State Solution Caucus
To support the work of OneVoice Israel (OVI), Rabbi Soetendorp signed a letter to the members of the Knesset to applaud the launch of the Two-State Solution Caucus, taking place at the Knesset’s Jerusalem Hall on Monday, Jan. 17, 2011, at 12 pm.
The caucus was conceived and co-created by OneVoice Israel (OVI) and MK Yoel Hasson, chair of the Kadima coalition and himself a former OVI youth leader. Among its 18 other members are MK Zeev Bielski, Shlomo Molla, and Nachman Shai. It’s the first time Knesset members unite under a non partisan body to advance a direct political solution with the Palestinians.
OVI is holding the event to bolster the existing political will in Israel to end the conflict, witnessed most recently by the meeting held between a delegation of 100 leading Israelis and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. Opposition leader MK Tzipi Livni (Kadima) and several other Israeli and international dignitaries will be in attendance; the event will be televised.
Rabbi Soetendorp spoke at cultural event in The Hague
On December 14, Rabbi Soetendorp has been the first speaker at “De Nieuw Wij” (“The New Way”) - a series of three cultural events that combine classical music with words of wisdom and inspiration. During the event, Rabbi Soetendorp read some poems he has written, quoted the Earth Charter and the Charter for Compassion that he co-authored and shared his motivation that inspired his work for interreligious and intergenerational understanding and collaboration for the past 40 years.
His readings and presentations were accompanied by three musicians of the Residency Orchestra of The Hague. Before the event, Rabbi Soetendorp addressed a group of young people and talked to them about the need for compassion and respect in today’s world. More than 100 people joined the event that took place in the Palais Church in The Hague and was organized by the Stichting Munay. More information about upcoming events can be found here.
Human Rights Defenders Tulip awarded to Bertha Oliva de Nativi from Honduras
The Dutch government has awarded the 2010 Human Rights Defenders Tulip to Bertha Oliva de Nativi from Honduras, in recognition of her long fight for the rights of relatives of those who disappeared in Honduras between 1979 and 1989.
The independent jury selected her from over 170 nominees. Foreign minister Uri Rosenthal presented her with the award at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday 10 December, International Human Rights Day. "We are very glad that we can support Ms. Olivia's important work with this award" said jury member Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp.
Bertha Oliva is the general coordinator of COFADEH (Comité de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos en Honduras), the Committee of Relatives of Missing Prisoners in Honduras who have disappeared in detention. After the arrest and disappearance of her husband in 1981, she became a symbol of resistance to disappearances throughout Central America.
Gathering of European Muslim and Jewish Leaders held in Brussels
On December 6, Rabbi Soetendorp participated in a high-level gathering of European Muslim and Jewish Leaders in Brussels organized by the New York-based Foundation for Ethnic Understanding as well as the Jewish World Congress (JWC) that brought together some 50 leaders of Jewish and Muslim communities in Europe.
The group discussed a common statement which calls for closer cooperation between the two communities in Europe and steps “to ensure that Jews and Muslims are able to practice our respective faiths fully and unimpeded by intrusive, discriminatory and unfair governmental regulations.” It urges “cooperative projects to succor the poor and homeless of all backgrounds, to help protect new immigrants who are threatened by hatred and xenophobia, and to heal the environment, bringing together Muslim and Jewish youth for joint programming.”
Interfaith Student Conference on the Earth Charter held in The Hague
On 27 November, 2010, the International Student Chaplaincy as well as Islam & Dialogue hosted the one day international student conference “From Crisis to Hope – the Challenges of the Earth Charter” in the Institute for Social Studies in The Hague. The event brought together some 100 students from different universities, nationalities, and faith traditions. After last year’s conference focused on the Charter for Compassion, this year’s theme centered on the Earth Charter as a shared ethical framework that inspires and challenges people from different cultural, religious and spiritual traditions.
It is time to add a new chapter to the Feather Project – the Feather Project’s tour to India! For two weeks (from 24 October - 5 November) Rabbi Soetendorp, Michael Slaby and Ashley Young traveled through India to record Feather messages of moral and spiritual leaders, young activists and visionaries, and to take part in the Earth Charter + 10 “Framework for a Sustainable World” Conference held in Ahmedabad.
This conference concluded with a “threads of sustainability” ceremony organized in Mahatma Gandhi’s historical ashram in Ahmedabad where Gandhi’s hand-spun cotton was passed from speaker to speaker. Participants included His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, His Holiness Vishwaguru Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda, Sr. Valeriane Bernand of the Brahma Kumaris, Rabbi Soetendorp and several young people from India and Bangladesh.
Rabbi Soetendorp participated in 8th Doha Conference on Interfaith Dialogue
Rabbi Soetendorp participated in the 8th Annual Doha Conference on Interfaith Dialogue that took place in Doha, Qatar from October 19 to 21, 2010. The conference was hosted by the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue (DICID) and brought together some 220 leaders from Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities from 58 countries.
Day of Interdependence celebrated all over the world
On Ocotober 10, 2010 (10/10/10) the World Day of Interconnectedness was celebrated with music, lectures, and conferences in different parts of the world. The website of the Day of Interconnectedness Foundation states: “By organising a global 24 hour event with a focus and concentration on celebrating interconnectedness, we manifest and attract more of what we want on a global scale: a greater sense of interconnectedness as a foundation for a world that works for all life - A shift from separation to oneness, a shift from Illness to WEllness.”
Rabbi Soetendorp contributed a video message that was screened during the main celebration in Doorn, the Netherlands:
Rabbi Soetendorp contributes to Science and Spirituality Forum
Rabbi Soetendorp contributed to the most recent round of debates at the Erwin Laszlo Forum on Science and Spirituality, published online on July 30. The mission of Forum is to produce new thinking and language capable of integrating the age old schism between science and spirituality. It is is designed to be a meeting place for leading scientists and renowned spiritual leaders. It will consist of sequential rounds of debate/discussion, each including posts by two scientists and two spiritual leaders.
After several months of intense preparation, the Soetendorp Institute officially launched the Feather Project at the Earth Charter + 10 Conference that took place in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands on June 29.
At 18:15 CET, the Feather Film Trailer was screened in front of an international audience that included Dutch Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende, followed by a live Feather ceremony led by Awraham Soetendorp. The ceremony included two young people from Belarus and Indonesia who shared their personal dreams and visions for a more just and democratic future, and then handed the Feather to the Pakistani Environmental Law expert Parvez Hassan as well as to the Maori Elder Pauline Tangiora.
Native American call for prayers for the Gulf of Mexico
An open letter from Chief Arvol Looking Horse, Spiritual Leader of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota People
A Great Urgency
To All World Religious and Spiritual Leaders
My Relatives,
Time has come to speak to the hearts of our Nations and their Leaders. I ask you this from the bottom of my heart, to come together from the Spirit of your Nations in prayer.
We, from the heart of Turtle Island, have a great message for the World. As I am sending this message to you, many Animal Nations are being threatened, those that swim, those that crawl, those that fly, and the plant Nations, eventually all will be affect from the oil disaster in the Gulf.
Rabbi Soetendorp joined global leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos
Rabbi Soetendorp took part in the World Economic Forum in Davos and joined around 2.500 leaders of business, government, and civil society and discussed issues around the theme "Improving the State of the World - Rethink, Redesign, Rebuild".
Please watch his message to WEF's Youth Task Force below where he stresses the need for a collaboration among the generations :