It’s Peace Week here in the Netherlands. PAX is organizing hundreds of activities throughout the country: from film evenings to lecture tours and from festivals to debates. There’s something for everyone. The theme of this year’s Peace Week is ‘Peace unites across borders’.
Outgoing PAX General Director Jan Gruiters launched the Peace Week with a reading in the historic Dom Cathedral in Utrecht. Other events include a debate between two members of parliament on how to bring IS fighters to justice and the presentation of a photo book called Killing Cultures about places that played a role in the war in the western Balkans.
Walks of Peace
Local volunteers at so-called PAX Embassies of Peace are organizing hundreds of events throughout the country, including dozens of Walks of Peace. These walks bring participants through various communities, where they can visit places of worship or sties of interest and meet people from different backgrounds and different outlooks.
PAX colleagues are travelling throughout the country to give a total of 40 talks, and there are various theatre and musical groups performing as well. (Go here for a map with a complete overview of all Peace Week activities (in Dutch).)
PAX Doves
In the run-up to Peace Week, PAX presented four PAX Dove awards to people who have done outstanding work in the past year toward advancing peace. Recipients included the Dutch rapper Typhoon, author Mpho Tutu, philosopher laureate Daan Roovers and leader of the Embassy of Peace in Almelo, Cobi Noordhoff. Go here to see the videos of the presentations (in Dutch).