It is dedicated to " the development of both Indonesian as well as Islamic society , improving the welfare of lower class of the society , building democracy and fundamental justice , and expanding peace and non-violence throughout the world . " The Institute was founded on September 7 , 2004 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Jakarta . Yenny Zannuba Wahid was appointed director of the Institute . She later stated the institute was established because our “ current world situation which is haunted by violence and raising threat of terrorism , for whatever reason , has forced us to take cooperative action in the form inter-religious , nation and ethnic dialog . ” On 12 June 2007 , the Wahid Institute together with the US-based Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Libforall Foundation sponsored a conference on the Holocaust , to counter the Iranian International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust and to promote interreligious peace . The conference took place in Jimbaran , the location of the 2005 Bali bombings perpetrated by the Islamist group Jemaah Islamiyah
2005 Bali bombings
2005 Bali bombings
The Wahid Institute