The United States State Department and the US Embassy in Warsaw invited a representative of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association to participate in the prestigious International Visitor Leadership Program devoted to combatting violent extremism. During the three weeks (18 May - 8 June 2019) spent in Washington, Chattanooga, Montgomery, San Francisco and Boston, Dr. Anna Tatar took part in a series of meetings with representatives of various American institutions, NGOs, journalists and leaders of local communities.
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‘America is a country built by immigrants from many places around
the world and I was able to observe what such diversity means. We met
many people who had come to the USA from the farthest corners of the
globe, as well as first, or next generations immigrants born in the
States. Respect for the fact that their identity may be complex and
subject to personal choices is one of the most important contemporary
issues,’ said Ms. Tatar. - ‘At the same time, racial
discrimination is still a serious problem, which is manifested most
of all in the American justice system. One of the frequent topics of
our discussions was the violent behaviour of the police towards
Afro-American citizens.’
During
her stay in the USA, Anna Tatar visited places with significant ties
to the history of slavery and racial persecution, including
Montgomery, Alabama, which in the nineteenth century was the centre
of slave trade. She visited the Baptist church at Dexter Avenue,
known for its famous pastor, Civil Rights activist and Nobel Peace
Prize laureate, Dr Martin Luther King Jr. She was honoured to meet
Mrs. Jeannie Graetz, who together with her husband, Rev. Robert
Graetz, supported the so-called bus boycott (a peaceful protest
against racial segregation on the public transport system) and then
became a leading figure in the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and
1960s.
The
‘NEVER AGAIN’ representative also visited the US Holocaust
Memorial Museum in Washington DC and the All Dulles Area Muslim
Society (ADAMS) Centre, which is one of the largest mosques and
Muslim culture centres in the USA. At the editorial office of ‘TIME’
magazine she had the opportunity to take part in discussions about
the standards of public debate and the levels of hate speech in
Poland and the USA. During these meetings, she presented the
activities of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association and referred to the
examples of xenophobic violence documented in the ‘Brown Book’
prepared by the Association.
Following
her US trip, on 14 June, Anna Tatar participated in an international
conference on hate speech organized in Vienna by The World of NGOs
together with the Faculty of Political Science of Vienna University.
As a member of the discussion panel, the representative of ‘NEVER
AGAIN’ elaborated on the long-term activities undertaken by the
Association against the spread of racist propaganda on the Internet.
She talked about the problem of inadequate enforcement of the laws
against the propagation of hatred. As an example, she described the
fascist concerts which have been freely organized in Poland for many
years now.
On
May 29, 2019, the Warsaw-Praga District Court dismissed criminal
proceedings brought against Anna Tatar. She had been accused of libel
in connection with critical statements made about an
extreme-nationalist event known as the Eagle’s Nest Festival. The
court upheld the verdict of the court of first instance and confirmed
that there was a ‘complete lack of factual grounds for the
accusation’. It was emphasised in the judgement that the
representative of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association had the right to
speak in a legitimate defence of the public interest.
In
May 2019, Anna Tatar and Joanna Naranowicz were awarded prizes by the
Australian-based Jerzy Boniecki Independent Foundation for the
Promotion of Polish Culture (Polcul) for their roles in the
activities of ‘NEVER AGAIN’. The award ceremony took place at the
Warsaw Uprising Museum on 25 May. Joanna Naranowicz is a vocalist of
the rock band Qulturka and the animator of the ‘Music Against
Racism’ campaign - she received a distinction for ‘the continuous
and extremely effective propagation of pluralism and tolerance, and
her efforts in combating ethnic and religious prejudices’. Anna
Tatar received one for ‘propagating tolerance and pluralism in
relation to ethnic and religious minorities
and for her journalistic and scientific work over many years relating
to the sources of xenophobia and racist violence.’
The
‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an independent organization
established in Warsaw in 1996. ‘NEVER AGAIN’ has campaigned
against racism, antisemitism and xenophobia, for peace, intercultural
dialogue and human rights both in Poland and internationally.
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