TIME OF PEACE

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank you for inviting us to Rome, center of solidarity and dialogue for the Peace in the world. Our aim is to transform these times of uncertainty in a time of Peace.

Humankind have been suffering from wars and conflicts, interrupted by brief moments of Peace.

The current month of July 2008 has been declared by OMPP WOFP “Time of Peace”. Outstanding people have being giving their help renouncing to their privileged positions to commit themselves to the conquering of Peace. Because Peace is a conquest and all of us must be committed to it.

Our planet Earth is currently suffering from climate change, the activities of men and women are threatened by wars, the ghost of terrorism is hanging over humankind, people lifestyle itself has been affected. Man has by now lost its sensitivity, he measures every moment of his life through the filter of reason, taking advantage of wars for economic benefits, forgetting that real life is to be lived down to earth and not by zapping on TV, with action movies playing with the life of human beings or newscasts stiffly reporting the number of victims of the umpteenth battle.

We do not see our neighbours as brothers any longer, we keep on making the same mistake forgetting that being men and women we must be united and not divided. Humankind seems to have declared war to the planet Earth and to nature, which is our big home where we all share our lives and so therefore we are the unique responsible for war and Peace.

This July 2008 that we have declared “Time of Peace” started with the release of Ingrid Betancourt. The foundation of the European Union for the Mediterranean last 14th July in Paris highlighted the concern but also the willing of the European and non-European governments to take real actions to foster Peace in the world. 
The result of the exchange of prisoners between Palestine and Israel was sadness and happiness at the same time, consequence of a long war and now we all hope this will be a permanent ceasefire.

In these times we have also witnessed a détente in the commercial and diplomatic deals between Iran and the U.S.A. with possible openings, marking a new era of Peace that will reassure the world.
The kings of Peace gathered in Madrid, King Fha of Saudi Arabia and King Juan Carlos of Spain, called an unprecedented meeting of dialogue for Peace, taking into account that mutual understanding between different religions can lead to a lasting Peace. In addition, Pope Benedict XVI, after gathering hundred of thousands of youths in the Youths Days, succeeded in sharing this event with different religions.

Once again, Rome is the key player at a logistic level in the meetings for Peace; we would like to remember that it was the venue for many meetings of the Trialogue of Rome with the three biggest monotheistic religions of the world, with the approval by Giulio Andreotti from Rome we started a process that led to the handshake between an imam of Bethlehem, a rabbi of Tel Aviv and a bishop of the Vatican, during the conference held in Madrid between Arabs and Israelis.

Rome is once again the starting point of the path to Peace thanks to the participation and the commitment of big football champions, always ready to cooperate in the initiatives of peace and solidarity. The 6th October 2008 is a very important date as the Italian national team will meet the Iraqi national team in a friendly match in San Siro as part of an event we titled A MATCH FOR PEACE.

OMPP WOFP supports and fosters the meeting of solidarity and sport to achieve ambitious goals. The last 29th December in Abidjan another friendly match was played to stop an armed conflict. Many African football players have responded to the OMPP WOFP call and 50.000 football fans participated to the event giving their contribution.  This occasion is remembered as the FIRST DAY OF PEACE IN THE CITY OF ABIDJAN, which has then been included in the agreement of Geneva in 2008.

With this conference we renew today the message of Peace between Palestinian and Israeli and once again Rome is the center of the initiatives of solidarity and Peace. Our goal is the construction of a global solidarity at all levels so that everyone can understand that Peace is possible with the participation of all.


Carlos Peralta
President
OMPP WOFP
World Organization for Peace