Address by Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb
General Director at ICB
Your excellencies, your grace, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends and partners.
Finally and after many interruptions, delays and destruction the day has come to inaugurate ad-Dar Cultural and Conference Center.
Today in the very city of Bethlehem we are experiencing a dream come true.
Today and in the heart of the old city a vision is made flesh.
It is time for a great celebration.
At a time when a wall of separation and apartheid is being built around
Bethlehem, we are here investing in people who dare to cross boundaries.
At a time when the Holy Land is suffering under the culture of violence, we are
here to proclaim that the power of culture is what is needed to transform a
society and empower a community.
At a time of destruction, we invest in beauty.
At time of bombing and shelling, we set new tunes, play new songs of freedom,
justice, reconciliation and compassion.
With this new ‘state of the art’ facility, designed by the internationally
renowned architect Mr. Juha Leiviska, we are setting new standards for and in
Palestine.
We are creating new venues for cultural tourism, for local, national, regional
and international conferences and meetings.
With this multi-purpose hall we are opening a unique window of opportunity
for Palestine. With its terraces we dare to climb to new heights.
The program of this month gives you but a glimpse of the endless possibilities
made possible here.
With this event we are putting Palestine back on the map. Here you can witness the real potential of Palestine when there is the vision, the will, the faith and the right management of human and financial resources.
But what we are celebrating today is more than a building.
We are investing in a community. We are creating a cultural movement. We are
helping to discover new stars in Bethlehem. All of this is for a brighter
Bethlehem.
The strength of this Center lies in the fact that it was able to attract some of the best educated young Palestinian people, mainly women. People who have had the opportunity to stay abroad but decided to come back because of this vision, because of this place and because they saw for themselves here a chance to make a difference in their community. It is them who make this event a success and this a living place. Our staff was working almost non stop to make this event a success, some of our mosaic students stayed until 5 a.m. working on the inauguration plaque. Volunteers came from far and near to help us get ready for this occasion. This spirit of dedication is what we are celebrating today.
Today we are inaugurating room for worldwide encounter: What happens here today is of an international significance. The presence of partners and friends from 9 different countries is just one expression of the ecumenical nature of this place. But the hundreds of greetings we received from 5 different continents say it all. Allow me at the end to quote some of these greetings:
P O W E R P O I N T P R E S E N T A T I O N -(Greetings from five continents)
For our Finnish Minister I say, thank you for investing in this place.
For the PNA I say thank you for choosing this project as one of the official
Bethlehem 2000 projects.
For our Church I say, thank you for giving us the space to move.
For our partners, friends and supporters I say, thank you for making this your
home.
To God I say, thanks for giving us the vision and the strength to fulfill it.