Onderstaande brief stuurde Kerk en Vrede eind vorige week aan de Engelse zusterorganisatie FOR England. Beide zijn branches van de International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR)

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Dear friends of the FOR England.

The Dutch IFOR branch "Kerk en Vrede" is shocked by the terrible terrorist attacks that took place on July 7th in London. We want to express our full solidarity to the English Fellowship of Reconciliation and its members and condemn these attacks that killed no ministers or world leaders but innocent people working in London.

We hope that the G8 summit in Gleneagles can set the road for a new policy dealing with terrorism. After the attacks in New York, Bali, Moscow, Casablanca, Istanbul, Madrid and elsewhere, it became obvious that taking higher safety measures, restricting the individual's rights or using military force can not prevent terrorist attacks and even feeds the soil. A lasting effect can only be reached by dealing with the causes of terrorism, dealing with its origins on a national and international scale.
The G8 has to go on with and should put even more effort to the poverty agenda and the climate change that will threaten human security world wide. Therefore let us remind Tony Blair of his words that the struggle against terrorism starts with the struggle against poverty.
Let us not be more divided by a security agenda of the North and one of the South, but let us support the efforts of the UN to combine both security threats: the poverty and resources problems in the South and the terrorism problems in the North.

Even though the murder of Theo van Gogh in November of last year in Amsterdam is in no way comparable to the attacks that took place in London, we have seen how events like these can cause a deep mistrust between populations. In the weeks and months following this murder, we promoted a mutual understanding for each other.
We wanted the people not to resign, but to face each other again and talk and exchange opinions. However this work can sometimes be very frustrating as safety measures that were taken for protection, create even more tension and undermine attempts to change the situation.

One more time, these events made it clear how important the approach of all IFOR branches is to work for international peace and justice as well as reconciliation between religious and ethnic groups. We offer you all of our help to support your work in the following days and months. Our prayers are with you.

In peace and fellowship,
On behalf of Kerk en Vrede,
Hetty Grunefeld
Torsten Wendav

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