To commemorate the
25th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, our local group of Nisa
Nashim (Muslim and Jewish women) joined Big Ideas in painting stones. The stones will be a permanent reminder of the
six million Jewish men, women and children murdered in the Holocaust and all
other victims of Nazi persecution and to those murdered in subsequent genocides
in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.
The stones from
across the United Kingdom will be placed within the foundations of the new UK
Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre in London. Each painted stone is a commitment
to remember the past and to build a future free from all forms of prejudice,
discrimination and hatred.
My stone includes a
heart, the Hebrew word Chai and flowers to represent Love, Life and
Regeneration:
Pictures of other
stones and more information can be found at https://www.big-ideas.org/current-projects/foundation-stones/
Sadly, we haven't learnt from the horrors of the past and persecution still continues today.
In the words of Eli
Wiesel, holocaust survivor: “We must always take
sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages
the tormentor, never the tormented.”
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It really looks that way, doesn't it, when we see what is going on in so many parts of the world; be it women, people of different "races" and ethnic backgrounds, even just of different political or religious views - sadly, we (as a species) have always considered anyone different from ourselves first and foremost a threat. There has never been such a thing as neutrality, not really.
ReplyDeleteSo many times people say 'never again' and then turn a blind eye to intolerance.
ReplyDelete