25 May, 4.30 pm
European Parliament - room ASP A3G260 rue Wiertz / Wiertzstraat 60 B-1047 - Bruxelles/Brussels
The Righteous of our times against fanaticism, for dialogue and acceptance
By introducing the European Day of the Righteous, Europe set up 6 March as the annual recurrence for the memory of Good, to remember those who committed themselves to rescuing the persecuted during genocide cases, defending human dignity as it is trampled on in totalitarian systems and bearing witness to the truth not to forget. The example set by the Righteous has thus become a heritage of the whole Humanity and recalls us a founding value of European identity: the individual and his or her own responsibility.
Today, more than ever, it becomes important to bring about the deeds of all men who, in the Mid-East as well as in our town, struggle for the civil coexistence between citizens of different cultures and faiths, and try, also to the risk of their lives, to rescue lives threatened by the terrorists, and are set up to stem the new radical evil that threatens our civilisation. Let us think of such lofty figures as Vian Dakhil, the Yazidi woman who won the Politkovskaya Award for launching to the world a heartbroken call to try and save the Yazidis trapped in the Sinjar mountains, accusing the ISIS of perpetrating genocide against her people; Hamadi ben Abdelssam, the Tunisian tourist guide who succeeded in rescuing dozens tourists during the terrorists' attack against the Bardo museum; French policeman Ahmed Merabet, murdered in front of the editorial board office of Charlie Hebdo; Salah Farah, the Kenyan Muslim who during an Islamist terror attack against a bus with 60 people on board in the north-East of Kenya, protected the Christian passengers from the assailants' violence; Lassana Bathily, the clerk of supermarket Kasher who managed to rescue six hostages in Paris; and all the figures who emerged in Europe and the rest of the world, who risked their own lives against fanaticism.
On 25 May at 4.30 pm, discussion will held with remarks by Gianni Pittella, Vice president European Parliament (S&D group), Brando Benifei, Member of the European Parliament (S&D group), Cécile Kyenge, MEP (S&D group), Gabriele Nissim, Gariwo Chairman, Milena Santerini, President AP against hatred and racism - Council of Europe, Françoise Dumont, President Ligue des droits de l’Homme, Roberto Jarach, Vice president of Holocaust Memorial in Milan and Alexandre Beddock, of Citizen's platform for Refugee Support from Bruxelles.
During the meeting a video message from Regina Catrambone, MOAS founder, will be broadcast.
See event leaflet in the box.