Moderator: Antonio Mazzeo, journalist, movement No MUOS

Guests:

Hozan Ibrahim (SYR/GER): Former spokesperson of the Local Coordination Committees of the Syrian Revolution within the Syrian National Council, and currently living in Germany; co-promoter of the Citizens for Syria initiative to network Syrian and European activists for democracy.

Lisa Ariemma (CAN/ITA): Member of the European Presidium – No TAV, co-promoter of the International Forum against the unnecessary imposed large projects, a platform bringing together social movements against environmental grabbing in the euro-Mediterranean region.

Ibrahim as-Shataly (PAL): Gaza’s political activist, one of the leaders of the Palestinian “Arab Spring” against the divisions within the Palestinian society and political spectrum. / Skype.

How can we exchange experiences and good practice in the fight among the several activists’ organizations to try to build from the bottom-up a Mediterranean Citizenship that was denied to date? Antonio Mazzeo, teacher and journalist from Messina, launches this question to solicit the speakers to exchange their views with the others in this session. Antonio speaks about Messina, his city and the city chosen for this meeting, as one where “often the hospitality policy towards our brothers and sisters from the South became an occasion to test new models of exclusion and deprivation of rights and identity (through the realisation of accommodation centres: tent cities and ex-barracks), which could extent to Italy and EU”, he continues asking the speakers: “who are these actors which could attempt to build a network from the bottom-up through good practice?”. Hozan Ibrahim, political and social Syrian activist, has actively participated since the 2000s in the democratic and civil movement of his country, and for the last two and a half years he has been a refugee in Berlin. In 2013 he co-founded the project Citizens for Syria. This initiative’s aim is to support the projects of civil society of Syria, and to link the Syrian democratic movement with the associations and the citizens of others countries. Speaking of Syria, of which we only hear of in relation to war and radical movements linked to Islamic extremists, Hozan makes the point that the context of his country was always based on mutual understanding, where different ethnic groups, religions and languages coexisted, even thought Syria has twenty-one million inhabitants. This context was challenged with the revolution of 2011. A lot of independent and pacifist organizations have emerged, such as little local committees whose objectives are to create networks which can collaborate amongst themselves, to give life to a true democracy. All this went on until the systematic use of violence by the regime materialized: at that point, the only possible answer was to organize fighters to protect the cities in revolt. They were united to fight the regime and this evolution of events led to a militarisation of the country. Hozan reflects on the current situation of activists in Syria or outside of Syria: three and half years after the start of the revolution, they are in a state of depression because the initial ideals of democracy, freedom and justice have been disillusioned. Despite this, Hozan thinks that many of them still believe in the revolution, even if the medias do not speak about it or if they do, it is in a superficial way. For this reason he co-created Citizens for Syria, to give support to them, to network them and to encourage medias to show the real image of the country. In fact, the activists have the responsibility to communicate between them and to inform the public opinion in what is really going on in Syria. The biggest challenge is to link the Syrian community who still live in the country with the Syrians who live beyond the country’s borders. Hozan sees Syria like a white paper on which we can write and work on, to build a new and open country. To reach this aim, activists have to unite themselves and create shared networks that could support the achievement of democracy in Syria. One of the things that we can do concretely, such as in the case between Germany and Syria, is to raise funds to be delivered directly to the coordination of the free local administrations, to carry out projects on the ground and above all to support Syrian population, that from the beginning of the war has been oppressed by widespread poverty due to the increase in the prices of essential consumable goods. Lisa Ariemma, Canadian journalist and researcher, who emigrated to Val di Susa in 2001, is the next speaker. After creating and realising courses about migrations and intercultural dialogue in Val diSusa, Lisa co-funded the work group Tutti Uguali, Tutti Diversi (All Equals, All Different). In 2005 she joined the movement NO TAV, a movement that, in her opinion, embodies everything that is going on in the Mediterranean. In fact it became a symbol of active citizenship, democracy and solidarity in Italy, giving life to a network between associations and institutions. The movement NO TAV is a concrete example of the creation of a big formal network from the bottom-up. That is shown by the fact that there is strong collaboration with other countries such as Palestine. Ibrahim as-Shataly, is a young activist who lives in Gaza, he was one of the leaders of the Arab Spring in Palestine against the division between Palestinian political and social groups, and against the Israeli Occupation. He participates via Skype. He starts speaking about the changes which happened in his country and about the role of young people, whose objective is the resolution of the conflict and the achievement of peace, but above all freedom of movement inside and outside their own country, which is denied by the checkpoints erected by the Israeli government. “They define us as terrorists, but we are just asking to play an active role, to be involved, to have a social role and to be part of the future of this world. We want peace, we ask for a better life because we deserve it as human beings. We still fight to obtain rights and freedom”. In his opinion, one of the most urgent measures to support their fight is providing financial support to the Palestinian government, which is at risk of losing all its resources currently invested to mitigate the effects of the recent military conflict. More resources should be invested to ensure that the Palestinian government is a good government for all and not for a part of the community, to ensure good governance. “The name of our objective is future, I am asking you to support us in order to create our future”, said Ibrahim. “How can we build a Mediterranean Citizenship from the bottom-up? How can we cooperate together to reaffirm values of peace, freedom and justice?”, the moderator asked the speakers to discuss further. All three speakers agreed and answered that “the solution is to communicate and to exchange”. “Communication is fundamental to carry out this concept of Mediterranean identity, to bring an end to the illegal immigration, to use medias and social networks to share our ideals, to promote meetings like SABIRMaydan to reach the public opinion and to inform them about the reality”, they claimed. Dynamism and encounter are the key words to participate in an active way in the transformation of the relative realities, and working in a network among activists’ groups.