Tutzing '99
Tolerance - Basis For Democratic Societies In A World of Difference
Cem Özdemir
Member of the German Bundestag
BŠndnis 90 / The Green Party
Listen to an extract of his presentation
Cem Özdemir criticizes the arrogance of Europeans toward
other cultures. He would like schools to provide more knowledge
about other people. Schoolchildren should know that in places where
Christians have governed in history, other religions have often
had great difficulties and that there have been long phases of persecution
and oppression. And schoolchildren should also know that in places
where Islam has prevailed for a long time, Jews, Christians and
Muslims have lived side by side flourishing. He goes on to explain:
"It is easy to be tolerant toward those who are like us. But it
is very difficult to be tolerant toward those who are a little bit
different or who we perceive to be different.
It is a fact that people meet and interact growing up together,
sharing experiences, going to school together, playing together,
training together or working together. And this is something which
can not be substituted by anybody or anything. Even the worst racist
among us - and this is my personal experience at my own events -
always expresses the following motto: It can not go on as it is
with the Turks, but I have nothing against my colleague, Ali.
I am for maximum tolerance, but I am not in favor of anything-goes
situations. I view this as a very important difference. Each society
needs its boundaries. Each society needs values to hold it together.
Societies which do not have them do not last. The values of our
constitution and our society - we are not any different from other
democratic western societies in this respect - include basic and
human rights, sexual equality etc. These are essential components
of our society for which others have fought long and hard. And we
do not want to simply give them up."
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Conference in Tutzing
Dinner speach by
Micha Brumlik
Day of Tolerance in Munich
Contributions by:
Christian Ude
Michel Friedman
Cem Özdemir
Thomas Henschel
Julian Nida-Rümelin
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