antiracism - Stowarzyszenie „NIGDY WIĘCEJ”

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 24^th to 28^th 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 26^th 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 500^th 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.

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Representatives of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association have participated in a week-long series of meetings and discussions‎ held in Phnom Penh on the occasion of the Cambodian Victory Over Genocide Day and the UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The participants paid tribute to the victims of the totalitarian Khmer Rouge regime at‎ the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum‎ (former S-21 prison) and the Killing Fields at Choeung Ek.

The programme also included a visit to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, known as the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, and discussions with its high-level officials.

The international expert conference entitled ‘Dealing with the Past: Engaging in the Present’ was organized by the Heinrich Boell Foundation Cambodia Office, the German Agency for International Cooperation, and the One Earth Future Foundation on 20-27 January.

Natalia Sineaeva discussed the challenges of Holocaust commemoration and the experiences of the Museum of the History of the Polish Jews POLIN during the panel on ‘The Role of Museums and Institutions in Genocide Education’ together with Visoth Chhay (Director of Tuol Sleng Museum), Andreas Ljungholm (Raoul Wallenberg Institute) and Keo Duong (Bophana Centre). The panel was moderated by Dara Bramson (New York Museum of Jewish Heritage / Auschwitz Jewish Center).

Rafal Pankowski presented the activities of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association in the field of monitoring hate speech and hate crime. He was also one of the keynote speakers during a special session on ‘Dealing with the Legacy of the Holocaust’ introduced by the German Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia, Dr‎ Ingo Karsten.

– ‘I am deeply moved by the visit to the killing fields in Cambodia’ ‎- said Rafal Pankowski. – ‘The message of NEVER AGAIN is indeed universal and we look forward to continued cooperation with our new partners in the field of commemoration, peace building and human rights education.’

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association will be represented by Rafal Pankowski‎ during a debate on xenophobia held in Cambridge (UK) on 28 January. Adam Bodnar, Poland’s Ombudsman (Human Rights Commissioner) who has been a ‘NEVER AGAIN’ activist, will join the panel, too. Other speakers at the conference, organized by the Cambridge University Polish Society, include former Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski and current Deputy Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

Other presentations of ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association‎ activities and research findings planned for February include forthcoming seminars at the Polish University in London (PUNO) as well as at St. Antony’s ‎College (University of Oxford).

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is a Warsaw-based anti-racist educational and monitoring organization established in 1996.

More information:

www.nigdywiecej.org
www.facebook.com/Respect.Diversity
www.twitter.com/StowNIGDYWIECEJ

Tag: antiracism

OBAMA, MERKEL AND THE ‘NEVER AGAIN’ ASSOCIATION AT KIRCHENTAG

FROM AUSCHWITZ TO CAMBODIA’S KILLING FIELDS: THE MESSAGE OF ‘NEVER AGAIN’ IN PHNOM PENH