Speeches
- Written by: Dr. Eliezer Glaubach, President, Jerusalem Peace and Security Forum
We would like to wish the American, the Palestinian and the Israeli negotiating teams full success in achieving the holy objective of ceasing the bloody conflict and fulfilling the vision of a sustainable agreement in the Holy Land, a historic settlement between Israelis and Palestinians who wish to ensure the welfare of the two peoples, their long-term existence and the well-being of future generations.
- Written by: Arie Geronik
The significant political change that must take place in the Middle East, if the intention is to adopt the Nordic Balance model, will be characterized by the turning of Jordan and the future Palestinian state into neutral states. Neutrality is perceived as an attractive policy for small nations which, because of their strategic location or symbolic political value, stand or may stand in the focus of a struggle for influence or control by regional or global rivals.
- Written by: Dr. Walter Schwimmer, Former Secretary General, Council of Europe
I believe that we have taken a great step forward, and with the help of all who believe in the vision of our founding fathers we shall accomplish the vision of a united Europe.
- Written by: Dr Leon Gabriel, President, Institute for Intercultural Research and Cooperation, Austria
For the past one year and a half our initiative www.peaceinsyria.org has been working on a dream whose realization you represent. It is the dream that military conflict can be overcome by the will of the people, by the will of civil society. “Peace is just a matter which is far too important to be left to the politicians,” we were always saying in the World Social Forum, a worldwide gathering of social movements and non-governmental organizations which somehow reflect the spirit of the people on the ground, the spirit of the people an international scale.
- Written by: Carla Bakboord, Chair, Women's Rights Center, Suriname
We have to move to the next level and make people aware that violence is wrong and that the consequences have an adverse impact on peace and human development. I will keep on empowering women and educating men their responsibilities. And this time I ill not do that only from an “against violence” approach but also from one in favor of love, peace and harmony.
- Written by: Dr. Sheikh Hojjat Ramzy
Is peace possible in Middle East? My answer is yes. But we need a different approach. We need diplomacy both at a political and a cultural level. There must be peace between parties and peoples, between nations and neighborhoods. We must have understanding between people at all levels, in all capacities, in order for a lasting peace to have a chance.
- Written by: Ambassador Mohammed Alhussaini Alsharif, League of Arab States to the US
Within the framework of international efforts to combat violence and evil acts of terrorism and atrocities, it is all the more imperative to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. This is one of the major causes of instability and insecurity in the Middle East region. By resolving this conflict and achieving a just, comprehensive and lasting peace, we will deny those who commit violence based on the premise of achieving justice for Palestinians the right to use this noble issue for their own evil objectives.
- Written by: Shoichi Ito, Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Japan
People desire to achieve a high level of food security. The higher it is, the better. Then, how can we establish such food security especially when any incidents occur? Such incidents are the question. Politicians often refer to emergency cases with statements such as: “if an emergency such as war occurs,” or “if food supplies are blocked by some enemy countries.”
- Written by: Bart Ten Broek, Secretary, Steering Committee, United Religions Initiative-Netherlands
I began looking for theologians and educators to work with us to develop what we called “recognition education,” in which children got religious education, each in their own tradition, and then told the children from the other tradition what they learned. In this process, the children discovered similarities and differences in the various traditions, prayers, rituals, stories, etc. Because of this education, the children became peacebuilders.
- Written by: Amb. Christopher Hill, Dean, Josef Korbel School of International Studies, Denver University, USA
I think we need to do a lot more talking together and we need to do a lot more drawing on this map, how we’re going to pursue it. I do believe that the six-party talks is the best way to do it. There are those who say it should be four-party talks. There are those who say it should be eight-party talks. There are those who say it ought to be 84-party talks. It doesn’t really matter. The issue is not how the mechanism is set up. The issue is really whether we can get the kind of diplomatic cooperation necessary to get this done.
- Written by: Ms. Laudy Sleiman Sfeir, President, “Call of Society” Association, Lebanon
This Lebanese practice of "joining hands" consists of leveraging skills and human resources for the purpose of development and peace. In Lebanon, where we have 18 extremely distinct religious communities, the spirit of Awneh has cemented them all together, whether Christians, Muslims or Jews.
- Written by: Alexander Zhebin, Director, Center for Korean Studies, IFES, Moscow
Until the North Korean nomenclature are given clear-cut guarantees of their personal safety and certain level of well-being, they would be cautious about implementing any reforms and moving towards denuclearization and re-unification. Pyongyang also expects that Beijing would continue to treat the DPRK as an important buffer state separating China from the U.S. forward deployment forces in East Asia.The economic situation and primarily the food problem remains a major challenge for the regime.