Today I honour the people of Aceh, 9 years after the signing of the Helsinki MoU. In my 15 years of working with Acehnese in your struggle for peace, justice, dignity, humanity and survival, I have learned more from you than any book or university could have ever taught me. It is from you that I learned the realities of war, violence and fear, dispossession and exile; of loss, grief, trauma and memory; of sacrifice, faith, resistance and the refusal to be victims; of the depth friendship and destructiveness of betrayal; of how history can shape the present and the future in our daily lives. I learned that Aceh has been misunderstood for centuries, that simplistic understandings of its politics and society had led to decisions that deepened divisions and conflict. I learned that the conflict affected everybody, that war did not spare anyone. For all of Acehs political, cultural and intellectual diversity, war is your common heritage. The road to the Helsinki MoU was not easy, and the road from the MoU has been deeply painful as well. Peace does not come with the signing of a piece of paper, and it will take many years and even generations for you to rebuild your torn society, the foundations of trust, a vibrant future for all. My prayer for you today is that you may learn to listen to each other, learn about the ways that the conflict affected each of you in different ways, so that you can imagine a future that belongs to all of you and brings you all the justice and peace you so deserve. Amin.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 06:37:25 +0000
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