Closing words of the commemoration at the Peace Palace, 7 October 2024
Good evening everyone,
How good it is to be here together this evening.
To remember all the victims who have fallen in the Middle East conflict since 7 October.
To reflect on the immense sorrow that this all causes.
As well as the deep concerns of anyone who feels in any way connected with the people in Israel, Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon.
I am thinking mainly of all the people living in The Hague who have in some way been affected by this tragedy.
A tragedy which still leaves us speechless.
My thanks to everyone who has helped to organise this meeting.
As Mayor, I stand in your midst.
The conflict raging there I cannot resolve here.
What I can do though, is help to create a climate in which we see and hear one another.
Let us work together in The Hague, the city of peace and justice, to make sure everyone here feel safe and welcome.
That starts by seeing our fellow citizens, first and foremost, as human beings and city residents, just like us.
And not as ‘those people’.
Over the next few days local government officials from all over the world will be converging on our city.
Some have already arrived, and are here this evening.
They have come to The Hague for the annual meeting of United Cities and Local Governments, or UCLG.
Which could be described as an international association of cities.
Peace is high on the agenda of this year’s meeting.
Because cities and local communities can play an important part in living together in peace.
Although I realise that when radical forces get the upper hand, it is often already too late for compassionate people to intervene.
That said, we must continue to work, globally and closer to home, for peace and peaceful co-existence.
More than three centuries ago the lens grinder and philosopher Baruch Spinoza lived on Paviljoensgracht here in The Hague.
From him stems the famous quote: “Peace is not the absence of war, but a virtue born of spirit.”
I wish us all that virtue and that spirit.
