Diolch yn fawr am y gwahoddiad i ddod yma i rannu yn y diwrnod pwysig hwn.

Thank you very much for inviting me to share in this very important day. It is an inspiration that, at a time when we see so much intolerance and injustice around us, you have chosen to focus on the positive and bring people together to discuss “love for all”.

As a Member of the European Parliament and as chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in Wales, much of my time is spent working for peace and justice. Wales has a great history of peace. In 1982 each of the then County Councils in Wales supported a declaration for Wales to be a Nuclear Free Country. It was a message that while we didn’t have the power to make Wales truly nuclear free, it was something we aspired to and would work towards. It was a great expression of hope, of optimism and of confidence in people to “have a say in the future of humanity” in the words of the declaration.

And it is very important that we all recognise our contribution to creating peace. Every individual act makes a difference. Each of us has a personal responsibility but also a collective responsibility.

In the last few years, on an international level, we have seen new forces of war coming together. But they have also created a new international network for peace. I went to the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre in Brazil where over 100,000 people came together to discuss a shared vision of an alternative world under the slogan “Another World is Possible”. A declaration was published which made a commitment to fight against poverty and inequality, against war and the destruction of the environment, and to campaign for “social justice, for the respect of rights and liberties, for quality of life, equality, dignity and peace”.

A few weeks ago we held a Wales Social Forum in Aberystwyth. Hundreds, not thousands, came together to discuss the same issues and how we could work for another Wales.

Because we have to work in our own communities to be effective internationally. “Think globally, act locally” may be an over-used slogan but it’s one which does apply to a lot of work done in Wales. I have met many trade justice groups, often linked to churches and chapels, working in their own communities to help give an opportunity to people in the poorest countries to develop their own economies. As a result of their work, I delivered 100,000 votes for fair trade to the World Trade Organisation meeting last December in Hong Kong – votes from communities all over Wales who see their own work in a worldwide context.

And we have the wonderful example of the peace mala – the work done by Pam Evans and her students in Coedcae School, Llanelli – a project which, in its own words, “cuts through all forms of prejudice and celebrates what makes us different from each other”. The project was born as a result of incidences of racism and intolerance. Instead of allowing that to breed more hatred, the opportunity was taken to promote awareness, tolerance and respect of all faiths and between all communities. It shows that there is more in each of our faiths that unites us than divides us.

I recently visited Lebanon with a group from Cytun, the Christian churches working together in Wales. We met with many different faith groups who, despite years of war and occupation, had continued to work together in the interests of the people in their communities. They were also playing an active role in helping to achieve peace and justice across the middle east. I have visited Palestine many times and I have seen the terrible suffering and injustice of the people. It changed my life. And it was in Jerusalem that I saw what I think was one of the greatest expressions of tolerance and understanding. There I met an Israeli couple called Rami and Nurit Peled Elhanan. Their 13 year old daughter was killed by a bomb as she walked to her ballet lesson. In their grief they were determined not to allow themselves to be filled with hate and despair. Instead they joined a group of parents – Palestinian and Israeli parents – who had lost children and who were working together for better understanding between both peoples. If people who have lost so much can find love and tolerance, we have no excuse.

There is a desperate need for that in the current climate. On a European level we have a centre for monitoring racism and xenophobia. Its findings in recent years have been very worrying. It has shown that the majority of people in Europe support policies to promote different groups to live side by side with one another. On the other hand, the majority also expressed concern that ethnic minorities were a threat to peace and social welfare, in terms of education and unemployment, for example. Half of all the people felt that a more multi cultural, multi faith society enriches all of our lives, but in Britain there was less agreement on this. I suspect – I hope - that the figures in Wales might reveal a different picture.

We have a strong tradition of peace in Wales. Today we are building on that and broadening it too. This is an opportunity to learn, to teach, to understand and to share. But it is also an opportunity for each of us to make a pledge that we will go from here today even more determined to promote understanding – to promote love and peace.