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Opening Session - Speech of Sheikh Talal Sedir

Published on 2007-12-27 17:35:15

Sheikh Talal Sedir used to be minister for the religious affairs of the Palestinian Authority during many years. After the death of Yasser Arafat he was fully devoted to his duty of Imam of Hebron and kept on working actively to the interfaith dialogue in the Holy Land.

Sheikh Sedir took part into the First World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace (Brussels, January 3 to 6, 2005) gathering more than 100 Imams and Rabbis, surrounded by 70 personalities from all over the world, under the high patronage of His Majesty Albert II and His Majesty Mohammed VI in order to de-legitimise all forms of violence committed in the name of God or of any religious principle. The representatives of Jewish and Muslim communities from 34 countries, in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and America affirmed their determination to develop dialogues and co-operation between Islam and Judaism.

Here in its entirety the opening speech of Sheikh Talal Sedir.

 

In the name of God compassionate and merciful, may the peace of God be on his prophets and his messengers.

We thank God who said: “the prophet believes in what was given to him”. We should all believe in what has been given to us, and we do not make any difference between those who have received the word of the Lord. We all say: we believe in You and You are our destiny.

We thank He who said “O peoples, we have created you all; men and women, and we have created peoples for that they meet and so that they come to know each other”. We thank you the Great Lord who said that all believers in the Holy Scriptures are brothers and we should pray only to God, Peace be upon Him.

Eminences, Excellencies,representatives of Albert II, King of the Belgians, Mohammed VI, King of Morocco,
Presidents,
My dear colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Allow me in the name of us all to thank Monsieur Alain Michel and all his colleagues for the organization of this great meeting, for the efforts and care given to the organization. They have worked night and day without fail, notably with our friend the Grand Rabbi Sirat, ex-Grand rabbi of France,

The idea of this meeting could not have taken place if we did not love, as millions of other people, peace. All believers, whether they are men of religion or lay people, have no choice but to launch a call for peace, and strive for it. Thanks to God, all this good will has enabled us to organize this meeting. There are numerous unknown soldiers that I should mention by name.

But I would like to make a special thanks to Egypt, its government, its people who welcomed the first conference in Alexandria for the three monotheist religions under the presidency of Sheikh Tantawi. I would equally like to thank Monsignor G. Kerry Arshbishop of Canterbury at that time, and his envoy Father A. Wight.
I would like to greet my friend and colleague, Doctor W.Belly, as well as the Rabbi Michael Melchior, my fellow companion and traveler in this dialogue between civilizations and religions, who was minister when I was minister, and who had courageously taken the responsibility of working with me at that first meeting: we knew however at the time what the great dangers were that lay waiting for us in this task.

My first meeting with a Palestinian Islamist leader was followed by a visit to the Rabbi Bakshi Doron, who welcomed me at his home, as a well liked neighbour. I read in his eyes at that meeting a powerful sentiment of fraternity, honesty and love.

Dear brothers, ladies and gentlemen, it is now ten years since the Holy Land has not known peace, not because no one has labored or because no one has worked honestly, on the contrary, I believe that all wanted to succeed in the project for peace in the Holy Land. There were numerous agreements, agreements recognized by the international community (like resolution 242 or 148) but none of these agreements were realized on the ground.


I firmly believe they cannot be realized as long as they remain bodies without souls, because they really were bodies without souls. The spirit that should animate these political peace initiatives and should reflect the feelings of the believers in the Holy Land, has in fact been lost. In making these agreements, the religious aspect has been forgotten, the aspect of piety and conviction of the inhabitants of the Holy Land.

In effect, Jerusalem, Palestine, are close to the hearts of all the believers of the world. When I hear a Jew in New York or London, say “I love the Holy Land”, I believe it, just as I believe a Christian or a Muslim when he says that, because I know how much the Holy Land is important to them. Whether we like it or not, the Holy Land is like any child born every day and who grows up in the house of his parents. It is said of Abraham that he was “brought to this earth and gave it to us all”, this same earth that gave us the Koran.

We should therefore recognize that this land is close to the hearts of all. When God says to us that all the Holy Scriptures are those that come from the Holy Land, we Muslims, firmly consider that God has given his blessing to this land and to the three monotheist religions that are all three blessed by God. It is an factor that unities us all.

I thank Rabbi Sirat for his words. Since we are assembled together ‘hand in hand’ to create a religious community of beings who love each other, since we commenced to walk together with all the partners already mentioned, I know from the start that it was somebody very sincere, and open in his feelings. All these things have nourished in me the spirit of a victory, that of peace, in the Holy Land, with the help of God. This meeting, which is already a success, is agreeable, but will be more so if it succeeds. We must act without shame without fear. Because it is not always easy to make a step towards peace under the banner of religions, and that could provoke fear in certain. One can fear others, fear believers of his community, fear on being contested or even persecuted, but one should go beyond those fears, because the process of peace is essential.

As to me, I have tried the process of violence and the process of peace, and believe me the process of peace requires much more effort than the process of violence. It is for that reason it is not sufficient to bring together the media, to be photographed in the press of the whole world or to be seen on the television. It is necessary that we continue to act because we have believers; we have the generations that follow us and who count on us. Millions of Muslims, Christians and Jews, have their eyes fixed on us and wait for a solution from us. We should therefore today speak honestly of reality.

Because this Holy Land today with its men, children, its old persons, its youth is stained with the blood of its population. And peace has been spoken of for decades without putting an end to the bloodshed. Dear brothers, sisters, ladies and gentlemen, I say again before you the suffering in the Holy Land is great. Everybody world suffers, Israelis like Palestinians. He who rejoices to see a woman or a child die is not a man of God, not a Muslim, not a Jew and not a Christian. He who rejoices to see a woman or a child killed in a bus, in the street, in a camp or in a school, he is far from knowing the greatness of God.

The Rabbi Melchior and myself were proud and honored, when at the meeting in London, to see people come to greet us and assure us of their support. This confirmed that our voice is that of God’s, the voice of peace is that of God’s. Peace, salvation, meeting together in Paradise, are words important for God. We bear nothing new, we only bear what God has given us. Peace is the business of God. Like a doctor, an engineer, who wants to help his patients or their clients, we, believers, know that peace is the means of doing business with God.

Generally when I speak before the public, I do not feel uneasy, I am completely at ease. However, today I have some difficulties. I ask myself “what are all these faces saying?” But I have had the good fortune that the Rabbi had spoken before me, because I am entirely with him in his words. What I say comes from my heart but also from the Great Book of God. Our ideas are united. I ask God to guarantee us success and to strengthen us. We have a great need of strength, because if we weaken, you know which will be the final path.

The Media, television will transmit all, you will not miss anything. If we fail on the road to peace, all that remains will be the road to war. We must choose to save all humanity, because we are responsible for the people. We are responsible to tell them the truth, to speak in all honesty, in order to save ourselves, to save them, I say that and I thank God.

Peace be with you.

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