Tijdens de opening van het 2nd World Peace Forum op 25 juni jl. in Indonesië, sprak ambassadeur Nikolaos van Dam namens minister-president Balkenende de volgende boodschap uit.

“Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

I applaud the initiative of Muhammadiyah, the Cheng Ho Multi Culture Trust and the Centre for Dialogue and Cooperation among Civilisations to explore means whereby different civilisations can work together more effectively to spread the voice of peace.

Achieving peace means expelling violence, and when we talk about violence we need to take account of all its facets. Violence is more than the din of arms in international wars. It also takes many other forms. Like the forceful oppression of political, cultural and religious communities. And oppression within such communities. When we talk about violence, we must not forget human rights violations and the violence taking place within communities and individual homes. It is important to take account of all these different forms of violence, and to realise that they are interlinked.

How can we work together more effectively to reduce violence and spread peace? One of the key factors behind outbreaks of violence has to do with the feelings of unease that exist between people with different political cultural and religious identities. In many cases violence results from such feelings being whipped up by others for political motives. So I believe that an essential part of our future approach must be to encourage appreciation of diversity. At global level, but also within countries, at local level and among cultural and religious communities.

At its heart, religion is an individual choice. A personal source of inspiration that can be freely shared with others. A religion is not a system of dogmas that can be imposed on others, let alone a justification for using violence.

Governments must guarantee both freedom of religion and freedom of expression. The two freedoms belong together.

At the same time it is up to us to remind people that exercising these freedoms carries with it certain responsibilities. The responsibility to show others the same respect you expect to receive yourself.

I believe that by giving more space to diversity, we can strengthen the idea of unity, a common destiny and a common responsibility. We must stress that uniformity does not exist within any community in the world. We must also stress that individuals share similar political goals, similar economic targets, similar values and lifestyles – and that they have much in common with others around the globe. By doing so we can make people more receptive to globalisation, and achieve our common goal of reducing violence and living in peace. We politicians, representatives of civil society, the business community, religious and spiritual leaders and others, need to actively engage.

I wish you all a very successful Second World Peace Forum!

Dr. Jan Peter Balkenende

Prime Minister of the Netherlands”