The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association participated in Germany’s international Kirchentag alongside Barack Obama and Angela Merkel.
Kirchentag 2017 is a series of
panel discussions, concerts and film screenings, all concerned with human
rights, tolerance and intercultural dialogue, organized by the German
Evangelical Church in Berlin and Potsdam from 24th to 28th
May. The speakers at
this year’s event included, among others, the former president of the USA
Barack Obama, the Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel, the Israeli writer Amos
Oz, and the Islamic feminist from Malaysia Rozana Isa.
A co-founder of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’
Association, Rafal Pankowski, participated in the panel discussion about hate
speech, which took place as part of Kirchentag in the plenary session hall of
the regional parliament of Brandenburg on 26th May. The discussion
was illustrated by a theatre performance dealing with xenophobia and
stereotypes. Victims of intolerance were commemorated by a minute of
silence. Other participants in the panel included Michal Bilewicz from the
University of Warsaw, Magdalena Kicinska from Poland’s main daily ‘Gazeta
Wyborcza’, Philipp Fritz from ‘Berliner Zeitung’ and Florian Kellermann from
Deutschlandradio.
Rafal Pankowski invited the
audience to participate in the next edition of ‘Polish Woodstock’, Europe’s
biggest music festival, which takes place near the Polish-German border, where
the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association organizes its annual football tournament under
the motto: ‘Let’s kick racism out of the stadiums’. - ‘This is a manifestation
of the existence of a tolerant and open Poland’ - said the representative of
the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association, and his speech was interrupted by applause.
- ‘We face a common challenge to
create a positive vision, solidarity over national and religious divisions’ -
said Rafal Pankowski.
This year’s Kirchentag was
organized as part of celebrations to commemorate the 500th
anniversary of the Reformation initiated by Martin Luther. The panel in which
both Barack Obama and Angela Merkel participated was met with special attention
as the first European public appearance of the former President since last year’s
election in the United States.
The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an
anti-racist educational and monitoring organization established in Poland in
1996.
More information:
www.facebook.com/Respect.Diversity
www.twitter.com/StowNIGDYWIECEJ
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