Brussels, 24/11/2008 (Agence Europe) - The debate organised in Brussels on Friday 21 November on the initiative of the President of the European Economic and Social Committee Mario Sepi on “The European way to integration: intercultural dialogue and mutual respect” was a huge success. Representatives from the artistic and cultural world from across Europe discussed how to use culture, art and diversity to combat xenophobic feelings and hostility towards others. All the speakers, from Roma Professor Marcel Courthiade, Chair of Languages at the Institute for Oriental Languages in Paris, to Moni Ovadia, Italian playwright, theatre director and musician of Bulgarian origin, Saas Amrani, Police Commissioner in Brussels, and Agostino Ferrente, director and co-producer of “Orchestra de Piazza Vittorio (screened on the evening of the debate in the Theatre Saint Michel), stressed the need to promote the integration of the various cultures and traditions and to put culture among the main priorities of the European agenda for building the Europe of citizens.
Putting multi-culturality at the heart of his Presidency's priorities, Mario Sepi said, “Interculturality is not a luxury today, it is a necessity in this globalised world which encourages migration. Too often, however, fear of cultural diversity is used to hide racism”. He went on, “Cultural diversity cannot be a camouflage to justify racism. We cannot, on the one hand, proclaim the universality of fundamental rights and, on the other, deny them to people simply because they are foreigners. And we cannot entertain a stance, such as the one taken by an Italian politician currently in office, who views Turkey's accession to the EU as a threat to Italian civilisation and identity and who, until very recently, was challenging Italian identity to affirm the exclusivity of an assumed regional identity!”.
The importance of knowing several languages and cultures was highlighted by Marcel Courthiade, quoting the Rromani proverb, “The number of languages you know is the number of houses you live in”. Continuing along the same lines, Moni Ovadia referred to the Romanian philosopher Emile Choram, who said that “we dwell in a language not in a nation”. “Language and culture give us our identity, help us to discover what is in the human being,” he said, looking at the situation in Italy where “we are seeing a surge in racism and xenophobia. We have to tackle them before they become the norm in Europe. I have dedicated my professional and personal life to this aim,” he concluded, calling on everyone to “fight against prejudice and stereotypes which are the cancer in human relations and which are bad for Europe”. Saad Amrani spotlighted the importance of “working hand in hand with people and communities of different origins, recruiting police officers from these communities. This would not be possible without learning about their cultures”. Agostino Ferrante said, “It was the spontaneous integration of various cultures and traditions which brought about the Orchestra de Piazza Vittoria”. “I believe that institutions and political parties should have a huge responsibility in combating xenophobia and racism, rather than orchestrating fear of diversity for purely political ends. They should bring light to bear on the unknown that is other cultures to dispel fears.” (G.B./transl.rt)