Sultan Hotel, Jakarta, 24-6-2008

Opening Address at The Second World Peace Forum

 

OPENING ADDRESS
BY
H.E. DR. SUSILO BAMBANG YUDHOYONO
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
AT THE OPENING CEREMONY OF
THE SECOND WORLD PEACE FORUM
HOTEL SULTAN JAKARTA, 24 JUNE 2008



<i>Bismillahirrahmaanirrahiim,
Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,</i>
Peace be upon us,

Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am greatly honoured and pleased to welcome all of you, especially our foreign friends, to this Second World Peace Forum in Jakarta. Many of you came from distant places to join us in this important dialogue: your presence here demonstrates your concern at the problem of violence all over the world, and your love for peace.

Almost two years ago, when we held the First World Peace Forum here in Jakarta, we focused on our fundamental unity. We affirmed that we belong to “one humanity” and that we have but “one destiny and one responsibility.” This time we are going to be very much more specific about that responsibility.

This Forum has therefore adopted the theme: <i>“Addressing Facets of Violence: What can be done.”</i> I cannot think of a theme that is more timely, more relevant and more urgent in the light of the world situation today.

That is why when Pak Din Syamsuddin came to ask me to deliver the opening speech for this Forum, I accepted without hesitation. It is the least that I can do to share with you a few considered thoughts on so important a topic.

And that is also why I am very much heartened to see so many of you in this gathering: you are among the most effective advocates and workers for peace the world will ever have. Through your individual efforts, you are already making a difference. Working together, you will multiply your effectiveness many times over. Jakarta is proud to be your host, and to be the site of your precious deliberations.

And for organizing this Forum, I commend the Muhammadiyah, the Cheng Ho Multiculture Trust and the Centre for Dialogue and Cooperation among Civilizations. They are all doing a great service to the cause of peace and the long-term welfare of humankind.

I have only the deepest admiration for them and for all of you who have dedicated yourselves to the cause of peace: it is not an easy cause to serve.

The history of humankind has been a long search for peace, and yet peace has remained elusive as a permanent aspect of the human condition. There are persistent armed conflicts in various parts of the world up to this very day.

And yet peace is by no means a lost cause. Throughout history there have been efforts for the cause of peace that have achieved various degrees of success.

A notable example is the relative peace that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has brought about through its ceaseless pursuit of political and economic cooperation in Southeast Asia.

Before ASEAN was founded, the Southeast Asian region was an economic backwater. War was raging in Indochina. Indonesia and Malaysia were in a state of confrontation. And all the regional nations were ignorant of one another and had little trust for one another.

But ASEAN changed all that. It cultivated among its member nations the habits of consultation, consensus and mutual accommodation. And it succeeded in engaging in cooperation with external powers on the basis of a code of ethics in the form of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) in Southeast Asia.

Today the ASEAN region and the rest of East Asia make up one of the most economically dynamic areas in the world—largely because the guns have been silent. The record clearly shows that ASEAN richly deserves its reputation as a peace worker and bridge builder among nations and between regions.

Within Indonesia itself, peace made a major breakthrough in recent times. Until 2005, it appeared that the separatist rebellion in Aceh would go on forever. But in the wake of the devastation of a natural disaster, my newly installed Administration finally succeeded in persuading the rebels to earnestly negotiate, and in record time we concluded a peace agreement.

That peace agreement has been faithfully implemented, and peace is now holding in Aceh. It promises to be a durable peace that will be attended by the rehabilitation and rebuilding of Aceh from the devastation of the tsunami of December 2004. Moreover, the outlook for the social and economic development of the province has never been brighter.

I can therefore confidently say that there is always hope for peace no matter how impossible the situation may appear. This is true in all cases of armed conflict—even those that are supposed to be particularly persistent and violent because they have assumed a religious nature.

The fact is that none of the world’s great religions teaches violence. And so it occurs to me, as it must have at various times occurred to you, that in many conflicts that are called “religious conflicts,” the true cause is not really religion.

It is often the case that a party to an armed conflict invokes religion to legitimize, to strengthen, and to marshal popular support for its cause, which at the bottom may turn out to be political, economic and social.

Sometimes the causes are legitimate political, economic and social grievances but these grievances become so much more powerful when mixed with religious fervor. That is an explosive mixture.

Invoking its own religion, the other party adopts the same strategy and the result is full blown and protracted warfare, with the original causes of the conflict often forgotten or buried in the subconscious of the combatants.

In those so called religious conflicts where there seem to be no strong underlying political, social and economic factors, then the real causes are very likely to be ignorance and prejudice. Such prejudice is often the result of the promotion of stereotypes. Through propaganda, it is easy enough to create in the collective consciousness of a population a set of mental pictures demonizing any group that is identified as the enemy.

Even in a situation that is originally peaceful, prejudice breeds insensitivity, which in turn can lead to violence in forms that are unpredictable.

For instance, three years ago, a cartoon in a local newspaper in Europe depicted the Prophet Muhammad SAW in a despicably irreverent manner. I am sure you know that case very well: the cartoon was circulated globally through print media and the internet, enraging many people in the Muslim world, leading to riots and widespread acts of violence and vandalism.

That gives us a stark lesson on a particular downside of globalization: that religious and cultural insensitivity in one part of the world can have terrible repercussions in another.

That lesson is not easy to learn. Early this year, a film purportedly on Islam titled “Fitna” was released: it seems to serve no other purpose but to propagate hatred and racism, to incite violence. Naturally, we in the Muslim world condemned that film but fortunately this time, no violence was committed. We responded with judicious restraint.

That, to my mind, points out the very first step toward effectively addressing the problem of violence: the practice of restraint. We should teach one another the virtue of restraint, and then practice what we teach.

But restraint is a short term response. For the long term, we need something more durable. We need to develop a habit of moderation as individuals and as members of groups. We need to foster a culture that gives a premium to moderation and tolerance.

We need to foster such a culture of peace, especially among the young—because the young today will eventually be the leaders of the human race. And now as well as in the future, we need leaders who are skilled in making peace and in making peace work. Our educators are therefore especially called upon to promote that culture of peace among the youth.

When I speak of leaders, I do not refer only to formal national leaders. I refer to everyone in a leadership position—in society, in the community, and in the family. I also refer to academic leaders and I especially refer to religious leaders. When there is solid leadership in the cause of peace, then a solid followership for peace can be created and built up.

The leaders can achieve this through dialogue, through inspiring words and through the force of their personal example. They can also put into good use what has been termed the technology of peace.

Over the decades sociologists, political scientists and men of various disciplines working in various institutions have developed a great body of knowledge on how to achieve peace and make it durable. This body of practical knowledge—which involves, dialogue and negotiations, confidence building, conflict resolution, peace keeping and peace building— is often called the technology of peace.

This technology of peace has figured in a way that is crucial to the negotiations that led to peace in Aceh. That same technology is being developed in ASEAN through its drive towards becoming a Security Community.

As to the technology of peace keeping, I am proud to say that Indonesia has considerable experience gained through participation in numerous peacekeeping missions under the banner of the United Nations. We are ready to share that experience with others.

Like all technology, the technology of peace will not be sufficiently effective and its benefits will be limited unless it is guided and inspired by positive human values. Foremost among the values that promote peace are those of moderation, tolerance, accommodation, compromise and mutual respect.

In this regard, we all have a great deal to learn. We who make up the community of nations must learn to be more sensitive and considerate of one another’s values. We who make up the various communities in the human race need to know and appreciate one another better. We need to respect what others hold as sacred. That means dialogue—the kind of dialogue that Indonesia has been trying to promote among faiths, civilizations and cultures.

And when we have learned, through dialogue, to appreciate one another and respect one another’s values, then we can work together. We can help one another to solve the problems that confront us all. We can help one another to address the political, economic and social grievances that are the root causes of many armed conflicts.

Instead of drawing battle lines against one another, we can build communities together. And when we can do that, we are well on our way to attaining durable peace.

For in a situation where social, political and economic grievances have been effectively addressed— in a situation where ignorance and prejudice have been banished through dialogue and community building, conflict cannot thrive, least of all religious conflict. This is true of the world at large, of regions, nations and neighbourhoods.

This is also true of the individual. It is at that level, after all, that we must start to address the problems of ignorance and prejudice, because that is where the seeds of massive violence are planted—in the secret chambers of the individual human heart.

Listen to this. It is one of my favourite anecdotes:
An old man once told his grandson: <i>''A terrible fight is going on inside me -- a fight between two wolves. One is evil, and represents hate, anger, arrogance, and intolerance. The other is good, and represents peace, love, humility, tolerance, understanding, kindness, empathy, generosity, and compassion. This same fight is going on inside you, inside every other person too. ''</i>

The grandson then asked: <i>''Which wolf will win?''</i>

The old man simply replied: <i>''The one you feed.''</i>

Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are here in this Forum to starve the wolf of hate— in ourselves and in our communities. We are here to feed the wolf of peace, love and compassion—in ourselves and in our communities, in our nations, regions and the world at large.

The challenge before you in this Forum is to identify the concrete measures that will attain that goal. This is an endeavour that is worthy of your best ideas and your deepest wisdom.

Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Finally by saying <i>”Bismillahirramanirrahim”</i>, I declare The 2nd World Peace Forum open.

I thank you.
<i>Wassalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,</i>


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Bureau for Press and Media Affairs
Presidential Household