https://en.gariwo.net/editorials/?page=6

Editorials

Since its early years, Gariwo has worked with intellectuals, academics, journalists, and associations. We did it not only to know and understand the different scenarios in which the Righteous have acted and are acting but also to provide an authoritative and scientific vision on the topics we deal with and current events.

In this section, you will find texts by our founders - Gabriele Nissim, Pietro Kuciukian, Ulianova Radice, and Annamaria Samuelli - and by various voices of the Italian and international academic and cultural world, such as Francesco Cataluccio, Alberto Toscano, Nadav Tamir, Craig Palmer, Anna Foa, Liliana Segre.

Mass graves of children: from Canada to Lebanon

by Pietro Kuciukian

"Coming to terms with the past and documenting the truth of historical events is the first step towards raising a barrier against evil through prevention". Pietro Kuciukian, Honorary Consul of Armenia in Italy and co-founder of Gariwo, talks about the forced Turkification of thousands of Armenian children and the link between what happened to them and what indigenous children in Canadian residential schools suffered.

An Iranian Kurd is the hero of the attack in Würzburg

by Simone Zoppellaro

Armed with his backpack, Rabiei approached and confronted with extraordinary courage a murderer who was brandishing his knife at him. Following his example, many people began to encircle the assailant, eventually leading, again with Rabiei in the lead, the police to stop him. Commenting on his act – which earned him a personal mention from Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder – he told of how for him, a Kurd from Iran, it is normal to spend himself for others in situations of need or danger.

The Righteous and the prevention of genocides. Gariwo’s new challenge in the world

by Gabriele Nissim

Through the narration of the Righteous and the enhancement of their stories, we want to teach society to prevent genocide and all forms of hatred that create the conditions for exclusion and dehumanization. The Righteous teach how to think and how to act. They represent a tremendous ethical example, one that is able to foster a mechanism of emulation in society. With their actions, the Righteous inspire us with individual behaviors that allow us to prevent genocides. They make us understand that everyone, in his personal space, can contribute to extinguishing the signs of hatred that can lead the world in a bad direction.

Germany recognizes Herero and Nama genocide

by Simone Zoppellaro

"I am pleased and grateful that we have been able to reach an agreement with Namibia on how to deal together with the darkest chapter of our common history," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Friday. In a joint statement, which is the result of more than six years of negotiations, Germany recognizes what happened in the then Southwest African colony between 1904 and 1908 as genocide, and pledges to pay 1.1 billion euros as a "gesture of recognition".

Who wants the end of democracy in Armenia?

by Simone Zoppellaro

On the evening of April 8, a crowd gathers at the Yerevan airport. There is an air of celebration. The many family members of the more than two hundred prisoners of war still detained in Azerbaijan, both military and civilian, are anxiously waiting: a wait that has dragged on since November 10, when the ceasefire came into effect, suspending the last war in Karabakh.

Antisemitism: the day of shame in Germany

by Simone Zoppellaro

A series of unprecedented antisemitic attacks, occurring in conjunction with the re-exploding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, are causing outrage and fear in Germany. On Saturday, on the occasion of the commemoration of "Nakba Day", a sea of hatred invaded the streets and squares of Germany, as well as the web, with a series of acts and slogans that provoked harsh reactions from politicians, but also the distancing of many leaders of the Muslim community.

On Israel’s relations with its’ Arab minority

by Nadav Tamir

The heartbreaking scenes of violence between Jews and Arabs in our mixed cities are already seared in our consciousness. Just in the last couple of weeks, we participated in the traditional Iftar meals with our Arab neighbors and friends and planned more projects to strengthen the delicate human tissue of majority and minority relations in our country.

Solution to Violence Must Be Strategic

by Nadav Tamir

I have no interest in the blame game, I have an expectation that we as the strong and sovereign side will take responsibility. The Israeli government should have a comprehensive policy for the Palestinian issue, centered on strategic diplomacy with the Palestinian leadership dedicated to finding a solution to the conflict that will free us from repetitive futile patterns. At the same time, we must promote true equality for Palestinian citizens of Israel. Otherwise, the vacuum that our government creates will be once again filled by the extremists.

Kiev, Capital of European Memory

by Simone Zoppellaro

I couldn't find a better image to describe the crisis of today's Europe, its unresolved contradictions. Fractures that were thought to be buried with the end of the Second World War, and that re-emerge today in all their ferocity, here as in the Caucasus. Contradictions ignored, with obstinate blindness, even by many in Brussels and in our governments.

Armenia Lost the Peace, not the War

by Simone Zoppellaro

I would like to write to the Armenians, as a friend, some uncomfortable words. Words that are not easy to write or hear – all the more so after a defeat, that of November, that has produced thousands of deaths, tens of thousands of refugees and displaced persons, and a humanitarian and political catastrophe that has no end in sight. It was not the first war in Karabakh, as we know, and it risks not being the last (according to many, this is almost a certainty). I would like to write as a friend, because friends, in the most difficult moments, do not only help and console us, but also make us think - without sparing us criticism.

The Jerusalem Post on Gariwo and the Universal Value of the Righteous

The editorial by Nadav Tamir on Gariwo, Israel, and the Memory of the Righteous

In Israel, we should pay great attention to a cultural movement that was born in Italy and is now spreading across Europe and the rest of the world. Gabriele Nissim, an Italian Jew, created an organization called Gariwo. Gariwo universalized the notion of the Righteous among the Nations – originated in Yad Vashem to honor those who saved the life of a Jew – by uniting Jews, Armenians, Rwandans, Bosnians, and the survivors of other genocides. With Gariwo, the memory of the Righteous gains double significance, becoming both Jewish and universal.

The Righteous are the Key to the Prevention of Genocide

by Simone Zoppellaro

The prevention of genocide is one of the most important challenges for our generation. The path indicated by the Righteous and by Raphael Lemkin represents a fundamental starting point to get out of this prehistory of barbarism in which some men, from the dawn of time until today, aim not only to kill, but also to erase entire peoples and cultures. This is a universal challenge, which must involve us all regardless of national or political affiliation, because a genocide – this must become a moral imperative – does not concern only the people who suffer it, but the whole of humanity.

Defeating Auschwitz: the example of Albert Bourla and Liliana Segre

by Gabriele Nissim

What is the most radical response to the extreme evil suffered by the Jews and humanity during Nazism? To imagine a future that breaks down barriers, walls, prejudices, and reconciles the divisions between people, turning the sharing of a common destiny into a drive to face every new challenge together.

The universal value of the Righteous and the fight against anti-Semitism

by Gabriele Nissim

Remembering the Righteous of the Shoah is central to Gariwo, which was the first to introduce a new concept in the narration of genocides. That is, the remembrance of rescuers and opponents as moral exemplars for humanity's future in the fight against anti-Semitism and all forms of hate that could reawaken the vast abyss of evil unprecedently described in Primo Levi's The Drowned and The Saved.

Saluting the Biden Administration decision to embrace rather than Codify the IHRA's definition of anti-Semitism as a law

by Nadav Tamir

We should feel comfortable using the IHRA definition of antisemitism as a tool where appropriate, but not push for it to be codified into foreign governmental laws in a way that will harm our commitment to liberal democracy, or undermine our efforts to form strong partnerships that benefit Israel and the Jewish people.

The impact of the Trump era on political correctness, freedom of expression and everything in between

by Nadav Tamir

In a democracy, freedom of expression is an essential value. Legislation limiting this freedom should be avoided as much as possible. However, demanding non-abusive discourse and self-restraint is completely justified. We must be mindful that words can be offensive and lead to discrimination, especially of minorities and vulnerable groups.