E-News October

Contents of this E-News:

* News on our upcoming campaign

* News from UNITED

* News from the Network

Dear friends and colleagues,

We hope you have all had a wonderful summer, whether it was spent in continued work for your cause, or in well-deserved rest! September has come, the UNITED Secretariat is back from holidays, and the Campaign Preparatory Group is busily looking forward to the International Day Against Fascism and Antisemitism.

Under the slogan #EliminHATE, the campaign will focus on the question: What is hate today? This year we commemorate 80 years of the beginning of World War II as we continue mourning the millions of people killed in Nazi persecution and genocide – those targeted for being Jews, Roma, people with disabilities, sexual minorities, or prison inmates, as well as many ethnic and religious minorities, civilians, prisoners of war, and political opponents.

Though the world is more peaceful today than ever before, as the anti-fascist movement we should remind society that hate is not gone. It merely keeps changing its many faces and forms. Today, there are no signs saying “No Jews allowed”, but there is desecration of synagogues and tombs, and stereotypes of Jews continue to fuel conspiracy theories. Today, mainstream society has come to tolerate hateful views of Muslims and migrants from Africa and the Middle East. The Romani, historically the most marginalized group in Europe, still face large-scale discrimination and poverty, excluded from a society they entered 700 years ago. People are still being assaulted and killed for their characteristics or group memberships.  The UNITED network itself suffered a great loss last year, when hate killed our dear friend and colleague, human rights defender Vitaly Safarov. 

Kumi Naidoo said “I don’t like to talk about the Arab Spring, because I don’t think the struggle for justice is a seasonal activity.” We do not believe that fighting hate is a seasonal activity, and therefore, though this campaign is traditionally called 9th of November, from now on it will be a year-long campaign. 

Be prepared for:

• An antifascist agenda: Every community in Europe has its own historical experience and understanding of fascism. On which day does yours celebrate or commemorate? Please send us your day at [email protected] or by filling out this form, adding some explanation of its context. We will collect all this information to make a beautiful calendar. At any time of the year, let us know if you plan any anti-fascist activities, and we will share!
• Fascist quotes from the ‘30s… or was it 2015?
• A fun little game to help you see who amongst your friends has a secret inner dictator...or to explore your own?
• And of course, activity suggestions and tips.

Stay tuned and stay UNITED!

News from UNITED

United #WithoutHate: Upcoming UNITED conference near Bratislava, Slovakia. Applications are now closed, but we look forward to seeing all nomiated delegates on November 17-22! Get ready for lively and informative panel discussions and workshops, as well as the chance to network with activists from all over Europe that are fighting hate within their societies.

Please welcome our new Campaign Preparatory Group! To all those who applied, we thank you for your interest; your time and volunteering efforts are always welcome and appreciated. Please welcome Klara Ertl from the Netherlands, Sacha Bogaers from the Netherlands, Catarina Correia from Portugal, and Maida Zagorac from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The CPG will be hard at work planning the upcoming conference as well as the 9th of November campaign mentioned above: together, we come together for a more #united Europe!

News from the Network

In December 2019, Minority Rights Group will organise a training of trainers session in Budapest for partners CSOs to equip them to run counter-online-hate-speech sessions in their own countries for other activists and CSOs. To this end, MRGE seeks to recruit a trainer with knowledge and expertise in countering online hate-speech to design a Training of Trainers Toolkit and deliver  the Training of Trainers session. Join the team! The application deadline is October 8th. For application details, please click here.  

Culture Action Europe, a network of cultural networks, organisations, artists, activists, academics and policymakers, has published a new report titled “Implementing Culture within the Sustainable Development Goals: The role of culture in Agenda 2030”. This is published in tandem with the UN SDGs Summit that took place in New York on 24-25 September, to stress the need for culture within current and future European action for sustainable development, and calling for the creation of a fourth pillar of development for culture, as well as a European Cultural Fund for Sustainability.

 ARGOS, a Brussels-based institution for the production and advancement of critical audiovisual arts, has now made their collection, media library, as well research and distribution activities visible to all! If you are in Brussels, head to the space to hang out, to learn about, reflect on, or become inspired by the multiplicity of audiovisual arts; if not, check out their website for the same!

Stay tuned for our coverage of the upcoming conference, and to fight fascism with us on the 9th!