Awsome World

ZIEMOWIT SZCZEREK: What do people in the West think about Europeans from the East? Are they “us” or “they”?

HANS HENNING HAHN: The concept of “us” is always dependent on how we understand “them”. The more we think about other regions of the world, for example the Arab world, as being different from us, the more we are prone to regard our immediate neighbours as “us”. But when we don’t need this external enemy, then we start seeing divisions in “us”, and then some of “us” may become “them”.

This “us” does not need to be particularly strongly built. This is the rule of the functioning of the evolution of identity, which is very strong when there is an enemy. If the enemy is not there, identity can get blurred. In other words, the nation stays tightly together when its members feel that something threatens them. When they feel safe, regionalisms start to emerge. This “us” and “them” in Europe is also a kind of a regionalism.

Has Eastern Europe always been perceived as something strange, wild, and barbarian in the West?

The image of others as “barbarians” has probably always been with us. The division of the world into “us” and “the barbarians” existed in ancient Greece and Persia. Interestingly, the Greeks were “the barbarians” for the Persians. This was because the Persians were monotheistic and the Greeks, who believed in many gods, seemed primitive to them.

But Eastern Europe did not regard the West as barbarians…

This is because the divisions into more or less civilised regions in Europe did not follow the East-West line. In England, the more “uncivilised peoples” lived in the north, which was much less urbanised. At that time, the world was divided into more and less urbanised areas. Eastern Europe was not so barbarian for people back then; it simply fit into these division lines.

The perception of Eastern Europe as being somewhat backward only dates to the end of the 17th century and is related to the phenomena that in the West that we like to see as the beginning of modernisation, namely: industrialisation, the Enlightenment, economic development, and a certain level of progress. The concept of “progress” in the West was understood in terms of material progress. A “modern society” was a society with a strong “third tier” which neither comprised of nobility nor clergy. In Europe’s East this tier was weak. Hence, the region was perceived as backward.

And would you say that the medieval German settlers who came East – to Hungary and Poland – didn’t know they had come to less developed areas? Wasn’t this the beginning of the idea of the “barbarian East”?

Back then, the differences were not that big. In addition, in the Middle Ages, this migration to the East was a migration to regions which may have been a bit less developed, but also enjoyed freedom. Interestingly, the migration of the bourgeois and farmers to the East took place at the same time as the migration of Jews. They all were seeking freedom. And this lasted way longer than the Middle Ages. Think about the Germans brought to Russia by Catherine the Great in the 18th century. This means that many Germans thought they could get a better life in the East.

But also in the “Wild West”, which quickly became part of the civilised West, while Eastern Europe somehow did not…

This is because the West did not dominate Eastern Europe in the same way as the West dominated in Northern America.

Are you suggesting that people in Eastern Europe were not capable of establishing a well-developed civilisation similar to the one in the West?

There is no doubt that Eastern Europeans were capable of establishing a well-developed civilisation, but in Poland, for example, the so-called “nobles’ democracy” was the reason for the impeded urban development. It was the nobility who set the tone in the state, not the bourgeoisie. In Russia, on the other hand, Moscow’s victory over Novogrod was the reason why the project of the mercantile republic failed.

So why was it in Europe’s West, and not its East, that the cornerstone of this civilisation was born?

Until the end of the 15th century in Europe, silver was the most popular means of payment, and the largest volume of silver was to be found in the Czech lands and the East of them. In the 16th century silver was replaced by gold which started to be massively imported from America. Consequently, the countries located more closely to the Atlantic developed faster than those further away from it. Theoretically, things could have taken a different course.

The West had an ocean, but the East also had its space. Peter the Great had the idea of using this space in such a way as to turn Eastern Europe into a trade intermediary between Europe and Asia; in the same way as Western Europe was an intermediary in the trade with America. Russian trade was present in the Baltic area and yet Peter the Great did not succeed in conquering Crimea or establishing direct relations with China. But his thinking was going in the right direction and the idea was good. The only problem was that the distance from India or China to Russia proved to be too long.

But the West had dominated even before. That’s where the powerful Holy Roman Empire was. Christianity also came from the West.

I would not exaggerate with the power of the Holy Empire. But when it comes to civilisation, Rus did not take Christianity from the West but from Byzantine. We tend to ignore the very important role that was played by Byzantine: we look at what the East took from the West and forget about the Greeks. And bear in mind that it was Saints Cyril and Methodius who Christianised Eastern and Central Europe. Byzantine eventually lost because of the Turks. But its historical and cultural heritage constitutes the overall shape of today’s European culture, with the same input of the Orthodox Church as the Catholic or Protestant Churches.

Had Byzantine not collapsed, would it have been just as attractive as the West?

Saints Cyril and Methodius had much earlier done something that the Protestant Reformation later did in the West. They translated the Bible into the national languages. That is why Eastern Europe was not as concise as was Western Europe, which for so long read the Bible in Latin. The Mongol invasion also had a big influence on Eastern Europe’s development, as it cut the region off from Western Europe for many centuries. The Tatars and the Mongols were also very different from the Arabs in southern Spain.

Unfortunately the Mongolian Empire was not the centre of the world’s culture as the Muslim world was a thousand years ago. And of course the Western urbanised world included such regions as the Rhine river valley and northern Italy. In other words, the territories of the former Roman empire. Its urban development was based on a continuity which reached back to antiquity.

Contacts with this world allowed faster development. However, I also believe that those who say that Eastern Christianity is less capable of development than Western Christianity express, in fact, a very Western point of view. The same opinion was heard from Protestants in regards to Catholics not that long ago. Think about the theory that modernisation can only be carried out by Protestants.

However, France and Spain underwent the process of modernisation much slower than some of the Protestant countries?

Perhaps Spain did in the 19th and 20th century, but France was never a backward country. Just the opposite. In a sense, it was a seen as a “leader” in culture and science.

But France was viewed as a backward country in Great Britain even after the Second World War?

I can assure you that when I travelled to France as a young boy, the majority of my friends thought that Great Britain, not France, was backward. If you look at the impact that the French universities, inventions, also in natural sciences, have had on the history of our civilisation, it would be hard to hold on to such a belief. Also we need to remember that there were also times that Spain was the outpost of civilisation.

The Webberian idea that capitalism was born thanks to Calvinism is an exaggeration. Protestant ethics have indeed played a role in the development of capitalism, but we cannot forget that so did the French banks and French capitalism. The truth is that the French have managed quite well without Protestantism.

And what about the Germans? Did the French also think of them as backward?

They were backward up to the 19th century. They were something of a Ruritania, a romantic, yet backward forest country. The French image of Germany emerged from Madame de Stael’s book De l’Allemagne which was written around 1810. The French did not see Germans as a threat, neither in economic nor military terms.

A great debate, which took place in France and which was to prove that Germany were not actually that backward, took place 60 years later, after the 1871 war, which France lost. It was then when everybody started asking questions about what happened to those Germans, as it was the French who claimed that the Germans had obsolete weaponry and a terrible army.

And how did the Germans look at the world surrounding them?

First of all, they were scared of France. France was seen as enemy number one. A country of imperial ambitions, a threat to Germany. In addition, stereotypical Frenchmen were “morally wrong” and sexually transmitted diseases were called “French illnesses”.

And there were stereotypes among these medieval German colonisers who headed East. What were their views of Poles, Ruthenians, Hungarians, Romanians?

They had to exist but we have no sources for them. These anti-Slavic stereotypes had to already exist when the territory between the Laba and Oder rivers were becoming more and more Slavic. However, as of today, we can’t say much about them. For example, Thietmar’s chronicle includes some very anti-Slavic, anti-Polish statements. In the same way as anti-German featured in a chronicle by a Prague-based priest.

However, the latter distinguishes between Germans who don’t adjust to Bohemian customs and those who not only don’t adjust but also expect special privileges for themselves. This shows not only stereotypes but also a rather complex situation, and means that when a statement is “anti” or “for” something it does not make it yet a stereotype, but, in a way, it describes a situation without a way out: they are like this and nothing could be done about this.

Translated by Iwona Reichardt

This text was originally published on the Polish internet portal Interia.pl. It is republished by New Eastern Europe as part of our cooperation with the portal’s section Środek Wschód Report o Europie Środkowej i Wschodniej.  

Article source: http://www.neweasterneurope.eu/node/825

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London (CNN) — Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain would be “absolutely resolute” in the face of terrorism Thursday, as he vowed that security services will not rest until they track down those responsible for the brutal hacking death of a British soldier in London.

London attack: Terrorists targeting soldiers at home again?

Cameron condemned the “horrific attack” and said it had nothing to do with Islam, despite claims made by the two suspected attackers.

The thoughts of the country are with the victim and his family, he said.

Cameron spoke after a crisis meeting of senior officials, as security was increased at army bases around London amid fears of additional attacks.

Read more: London attack mirrors plot to behead Muslim soldier

“We will never give in to terror or terrorism in any form,” Cameron said.

Police searched an address in Lincolnshire, eastern England, in connection with the slaying, which took place in southeast London’s Woolwich neighborhood.

Meanwhile, Assistant Commissioner Simon Byrne, of the Metropolitan Police, appealed for Londoners to remain calm, despite their shock, as investigations continue.

“London is at its best when we all come together, and now is the time to do that,” he said.

Both men suspected in the attack were shot by police and are under guard at local hospitals. Authorities have not released their identities.

British media outlets including Sky and the Daily Mail are naming one of the suspects as Michael Adebolajo. CNN has not independently confirmed the name.

The victim was a serving soldier, London’s Metropolitan Police said. They are not releasing his name in line with his family’s wishes.

The capital has not witnessed an alert of this kind since the summer of 2005, when London’s public transport network was targeted with coordinated bomb attacks.

Watch: Terrorism analyst on soldier killing

The scene of the gruesome killing, close to the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, remained cordoned off as police searched the scene Thursday morning.

A video recorded by one of the two men immediately after the attack seemed to suggest a jihadist agenda.

“We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you until you leave us alone,” said a meat cleaver-wielding man with bloody hands, speaking in what seems to be a London accent.

Witness: Witness: Attackers ‘were just animals’

“The only reasons we killed this man … is because Muslims are dying daily,” he added, in video aired by CNN affiliate ITN. “This British soldier is an eye for an eye, a tooth for tooth.”

British soldiers have participated in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Prominent British Muslim radical leader Anjem Choudary told CNN on Thursday that he knew one of the men named on social media as carrying out the Woolwich knife attack.

Choudary said the suspect had attended demonstrations and a few lectures organized by Choudary’s group Al-Muhajiroun.

Cameron said Britons would stand together to defeat the threat of violent extremism.

“This was not just an attack on Britain and on the British way of life, it was also a betrayal of Islam and of the Muslim communities who give so much to our country,” he said.

“There is nothing in Islam that justifies this truly dreadful act. … The fault lies solely with the sickening individuals who carried out this attack.”

Britain is working with its international partners to protect against terrorism “that has taken more Muslim lives than any other religion,” Cameron said.

‘I had better start talking to him’

Residents on Thursday shared with CNN their shock that something like this could have happened in the working-class, multicultural area where they live and work.

Construction worker Victor Easdown, who heard the shots ring out as police took on the attackers, fears the incident could fuel tensions and reprisal attacks.

“People can only take so much. And people will break,” he said.

Graham Wilder, a resident whose son attends a nearby school, told how he feared for the safety of his family and other children who had just left the school Wednesday afternoon.

After he saw that one of the attackers had a gun, he alerted police and school authorities, Wilder said. He heard shots fired and screamed for his wife, who was at a nearby store, to get down.

But despite the savagery of the attack, eyewitnesses in Woolwich appeared to stay calm in the moments immediately afterward, prompting London Mayor Boris Johnson to pay tribute to their “exemplary courage and bravery.”

Video footage showed passersby gathered nearby, and one woman, Cub Scout leader Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, told Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper how she tried to talk to the two attackers to stop further violence.

The mother of two had jumped off a bus after seeing the man on the ground to see if she could give him emergency aid, she told the newspaper.

But she swiftly realized the man was dead, and it was not an accident.

“When I went up, there was this black guy with a revolver and a kitchen knife. He had what looked like butcher’s tools, and he had a little axe, to cut the bones, and two large knives, and he said, ‘Move off the body.’

“So I thought ‘OK, I don’t know what is going on here,’ and he was covered with blood. I thought I had better start talking to him before he starts attacking somebody else.”

Another witness, Michael Atlee, described the gruesome, frenzied and ultimately fatal sequence of events as “a bloody mess.” The men first ran the victim down in a car before attacking him with knives, he said.

‘They were just animals’

A man who identified himself as James told London’s LBC 97.3 radio station that he saw two men standing by the victim, who was on the ground.

At first, James thought they were trying to help the man. But then he saw two meat cleavers, like a butcher would have.

“They were hacking at this poor guy, literally,” he told the radio station. “These two guys were crazed. They were just not there. They were just animals.”

The brazenness of the attack, along with the fact that the men waited some 30 minutes for police to arrive without trying to flee, seemed to indicate they wanted to publicize their message.

The men appeared to want to be filmed, with one of the attackers going over to a bus and asking people to take photos of him as if he wanted to be on TV.

A man who asked not to be identified told ITN that he was on his way to a job interview when he came up on the scene and started filming it. Then, a man with a cleaver and knife in his bloody hands “came straight to me (and) said, ‘No, no, no, it’s cool. I just want to talk to you.’ “

The suspect went on to apologize to women who had witnessed the attack, then quickly added “but in our lands, our women have to see the same.”

“You people will never be safe,” he said. “Remove your government. They don’t care about you. You think David Cameron is going to get caught in the street when we start busting our guns?

“… Get rid of them. Tell them to bring our troops back so we can all live in peace.”

Reprisal attacks

There were concerns the brutal incident might inflame animosity against Muslims, with Metropolitan Police deploying riot police as a precautionary measure.

The Muslim Council of Britain, after condemning what it called “a truly barbaric act that has no basis in Islam,” urged Muslims and non-Muslims alike “to come together in solidarity to ensure the forces of hatred do not prevail.”

“What we have seen on the streets of London has been particularly sickening, a really, really heinous act of I would say criminality — and I’m being careful to say criminality, not terrorism,” political and social commentator Mohammed Ansar told CNN.

The motivation behind what happened remains unclear, he pointed out.

“What we need at this time is a sense of calm, a sense of measure and a sense of perspective. What we don’t need are knee-jerk reactions … to really ratchet up tensions and really stoke and inflame anxieties within communities.”

Members of the far-right English Defense League clashed with police late Wednesday.

The group’s official Twitter account posted this call to action: “ANY EDL MEMBERS TAKE TO THE STREETS IN YOUR LOCAL TOWN/CITY TAKE A STAND !!!!!!”

Later Wednesday, a man with two knives threw a smoke grenade into a mosque in Essex, a county east of London, and demanded someone come outside to answer to the Woolwich slaying, the mosque’s secretary said. Police responded quickly and arrested the man, said Al Falah Braintree Islamic Center secretary Sikander Sleemy.

“I believe this was a revenge attack for what happened in Woolwich,” Sleemy said. “We strongly condemn what happened in Woolwich. It’s not an Islamic act.”

In Kent, police arrested a man on suspicion of “racially aggravated criminal damage” at a religious building.

Soldiers targeted before

Nick Raynsford, the member of Parliament for Woolwich, told CNN the soldier apparently had been on duty in central London and was returning to the barracks when he was attacked.

Troops stationed at the historic military barracks have a close relationship with locals, the parliament member said.

This isn’t the first time British soldiers have been singled out.

Last month, four radical Islamists were convicted at Woolwich Crown Court of a plot to drive a car full of explosives, by remote control, into an army barracks in Luton, north of London.

Several years earlier, police interrupted a a scheme in which Islamists planned to kidnap a solider of Pakistani heritage and behead him. Their plan called for releasing an Internet video of the decapitation.

A pub in the same area of Woolwich was targeted by the Irish Republican Army in 1974. Two people died in the bombing.

Local residents said police responded quickly when the alarm was raised Wednesday afternoon but questioned how long it had taken for a specialist firearms unit to arrive. British police typically don’t carry guns.

The Metropolitan Police said its first officers were on the scene within nine minutes of the alert being raised. The firearms unit was there 14 minutes after the first call was made, the force said.

“There has been an increased police presence in Woolwich and the surrounding areas overnight, and this will continue for as long as it is needed,” said Assistant Commissioner Byrne.

“There were small incidents of minor disorder in Woolwich” late Wednesday, he said, but police dealt with these without arrests or reports of injuries or damage.

CNN’s Carol Jordan, Atika Shubert, Erin McLaughlin, Ed Payne and Nic Robertson contributed to this report.

Article source: http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/23/world/europe/london-attack/index.html

Wherever you are in l’Hexagone, there is lots to discover and enjoy: from cosmopolitan cities to rural backwaters, France has a little taste of everything.

Europe’s largest flea market in Lille
Back in medieval times, manservants came here once a year to sell their masters’ cast-off clothes and belongings. Today, on the first weekend of September, stallholders from all over Europe sell anything and everything in a flea market stretching along 100 kilometres (around 62 miles) of Lille’s pavements, as part of the Braderie de Lille.  Various running races take place around the city with its flamboyant 17th-century architecture, squares and grand museums – and there’s a huge funfair too. When you’re done, enjoy the classic Lille meal: a bowl of moules frites – mussels and chips (French fries) – and a glass of local beer.

The ‘Wonder of the West’

Mont Saint-Michel soars out of the sea on a rocky island in a magnificent bay of the same name between Brittany and Normandy, and on a misty morning seems to appear in the sky itself. Benedictine monks settled here in the 10thcentury and over time an abbey, church, fortifications and a village were all built. It was used as a prison during the French Revolution but today it’s home once more to a religious community. You can reach the island via a causeway and even though the tides in the bay are the highest in Europe, you can always walk across to the UNESCO World Heritage ‘Wonder of the West’.

Bordeaux: France’s wine capital

The elegant and sophisticated city of Bordeaux in the Gironde offers chic shopping, excellent wining and dining, and a plethora of historical monuments, buildings and squares that can all be explored on foot. Climb up the twisting steps of the Tour Pey-Berland by the cathedral for exhilarating views of the city. Wine buffs will find it hard to resist the vineyards surrounding Bordeaux that produce some of the greatest (and most expensive) wines in the world. Château Lafite-Rothschild, Château Margaux and Château Latour and other Premier Grand Crus Classé (A) wines from St Émilion are just a few of the big names – and you can visit, sample and buy from almost all of them.

The land that time forgot: the Auvergne
Right in the middle of France are the forested volcanic mountains and valleys of the Massif Central in the Auvergne. Apart from the city of Clermont Ferrand, it’s a sparsely populated, sleepy place that time seems to have passed by. You can hike, ski or hot air balloon over its peaks of up to 2 kilometres (7000 feet) high or explore the many Romanesque churches and historic castles in the area. The ancient volcanoes have created thermal spas and mineral waters – this is where your Vichy, Badoit and Volvic water comes from! It’s hearty fare rather than nouvelle cuisine here: try the cheese (Cantal and St Nectaire), charcuterie (prepared meats), river fish and cêpes mushrooms.

Sur le pont (and everywhere else) d’ Avignon

For three weeks every July, the entire city of Avignon down in Provence becomes one huge stage with up to 40 different contemporary theatre productions (both French and non-French, many of them world premiers) and 3,500 performing arts professionals. The Avignon Festival has been going since 1947 and, like the Edinburgh Festival in the UK, is divided into two parts: the main festival (the ‘On’) and the fringe (the ‘Off’). For this year’s programme, see www.festival-avignon.com. Outside of the theatre, visit the Palais des Papes – 17th- and 18th-century mansions, churches and museums – and of course, the famous Saint Bénezet bridge.

A ride round Paris
For once, you can believe the hype: Paris really is one of the most wonderful cities in the world. Pick up (and drop off) a cheap rental Vélib‘ bike from one of hundreds of Vélib‘ stations across the city. On Sundays, certain roads are closed to traffic so nervous cyclists can cycle without fear, and as the centre of Paris is quite flat, even those in less than perfect shape can whizz round the banks of the Seine from Notre Dame, past the Louvre and Musée d’Orsay to the Eiffel Tour in minutes. Hilly Montmartre and the Sacré Coeur might take a little more pedal power. Stop for a bagel in the Jewish quarter; shop upmarket in the Faubourg Saint-Honoré district; or pose in the hip and gay-friendly Marais.

The villages of the Luberon
In the heart of Provence in the south of France you’ll find an area called the Luberon. It has undulating vineyards and orchards, fields with rows of lavender and some of the most charming ‘perched’ medieval villages in the whole of France, with views stretching across to the slopes of Mont Ventoux and the plateau of the Vaucluse. This is archetypal, rural France with cobbled streets, stone houses with painted shutters and where the film classics Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources were made. Check out Bonnieux, Menerbes, Gordes, the ‘red’ village of Rousillon with its red, orange, yellow and pink buildings – and the famous Sunday antiques market in L’Isle surSorgue.

France’s answer to the Grand Canyon
Les Gorges du Verdon, the Verdon Gorge, is a spectacular limestone canyon lying between the Alpes-de-haute-Provence and the Var in south-east France. Up to 700m (just under half a mile) deep and about 25 km (15 miles) long, with the turquoise waters of the Verdon river careering along the bottom, it’sa wild and stunningly beautiful place. A route around the rim of the canyon is just over 100km (62 miles), with the most impressive section lying between Castellane and Moustiers-Sainte-Marie.You can kayak or raft down it, fish in it, hike around it, or climb up and across it – there are hundreds of different routes – or just admire from the top.

Historic Strasbourg

Strasbourg has been part of the Holy Roman Empire, the German Empire and, now, it’s the official seat of the European Parliament. Situated in the Alsace region of eastern France, on the border of France and Germany, Strasbourg’s historic centre on an island in the river Ill is exceptionally picturesque. Black and white, half-timbered riverfront houses in the La Petite-France and the Gothic masterpiece Notre-Dame cathedral (check out the astronomical clock) have earned Le Grande Île, as it’s called, UNESCO World Heritage status. The ornate medieval Kammerzell House and the city’s numerous museums are also worth a look. You won’t go hungry here: Alsace has more Michelin starred restaurants than another region in France outside Paris, as well as local taverns called winstubs where you can feast on Alsatian specialities such as sauerkraut (fermented cabbage), baeckeoffe (a meat and potato dish) and fois gras.

St Tropez

Artists came to St Tropez in the 19th century, Left Bank intellectuals (and Brigitte Bardot) came in the 1950s, and since then, the tiny fishing port of St Tropez down on the French Riviera on the Côte d’Azur has been the playground of some of the world’s richest people. Yet the town still manages to retain its original charm – just make sure you visit out of the high season. Even though vast gleaming white, multimillion-dollar yachts somehow squeeze themselves into the tiny picturesque harbour edged with cafes, restaurants, shops and impressive art galleries, old men still play boules in the Place des Lices.You can bake yourself on the Pampelonne beaches, explore the rocky St Tropez peninsula, visit nearby hilltop villages like Ramatuelle, or people watch on the waterside.

Expatica

Photo credit: vacation2 (photo 1), afloresm (photo 2), Ludovic Courtès (photo 3), Christophe.Finot (photo 4), swampa (photo 5),  hellolapomme (photo 6), Hugo Pardo Kuklinski (photo 7), Jean-Marc Rosier (photo 8), A Princess (photo 9), Fulvio’s photos (photo 10), frans16611 (photo 11), PhillipC (photo 12), spencer77 (photo 13).

Article source: http://www.expatica.com/fr/lifestyle_leisure/lifestyle/Top-10-places-to-visit-in-France_18480.html

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis toured St. Peter’s Square to greet tens of thousands of people attending a rally of prayer, music and speeches Saturday, and he embraced the brother of a Pakistani politician who was assassinated in his country after calling for greater religious freedom for Christians there.

Earlier in the day, the pope met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who made a brief visit to Rome, mindful of the importance of Christian voters back home during the election she faces in September. She joined the pope in expressing concern about the many victims of Europe’s economic crisis.

Francis, who is Argentine, has picked up on campaigns by the two previous popes, the Polish John Paul II and German Benedict XVI, to reinvigorate what the Catholic church sees as flagging religious enthusiasm on a continent with Christian roots, including dwindling number of churchgoers in much of Western Europe.

The vast cobblestone square outside St. Peter’s Basilica is traditionally the boundary for pontiffs greeting the faithful at outdoor Vatican gatherings, but Pope Francis keeps stretching the boundaries.

Riding in an open-topped white vehicle, Francis zipped through the square to greet the faithful who had been waiting for hours for his arrival at the evening rally designed to encourage Catholics to strengthen their faith. The Vatican estimated the crowd at 200,000.

Waving cheerfully and sometimes blowing kisses to the cheering crowd, Francis kept going in his popemobile past the edge of the square and halfway down the Rome boulevard that leads from the Vatican to the Tiber River before turning back. The route took him past cafes, souvenir shops and a hotel popular with pilgrims.

Francis also embraced Paul Bhatti, a speaker at the rally. His brother Shahbaz, a Pakistani government minister, was assassinated in 2011 after urging reform of a blasphemy law in Pakistan that had targeted Christians.

Earlier in the day, Merkel spoke privately for 45 minutes with the pope at the Apostolic Palace.

Her Christian Democrat party depends heavily on support from Protestant and Catholic voters in Germany, and the chat and photo opportunity could be a welcome campaign boost for a leader largely identified by Europe’s economically suffering citizens as a champion of debt reduction, including painful austerity across much of the continent.

For its part, the Vatican is eager for allies in its campaign to anchor European societies more solidly in their heritage of Christian roots. The church also seeks support on behalf of Christians who face persecution in the world.

The suffering of Europeans caught in the continent’s grip of joblessness and other economic woes also dominated the pope’s concerns. On Thursday, Francis blasted what he called a “cult of money” in a global financial system that ends up tyrannizing, not helping, the world’s poor.

“It’s not just an economic crisis,” but an existential problem that depresses morale, Francis said at the rally. “It’s a deep crisis. We just cannot worry about ourselves … close ourselves in a sense of helplessness.”

The pontiff urged people to help the needy, especially on the margins of societies.

Article source: http://azstarnet.com/news/world/pope-greets-huge-crowd-at-rally-talks-with-merkel/article_d115903f-6eaf-5c5a-bc8c-d2f1dd03c6ae.html

A frequent
accusation against European institutions is that they live in a closed world,
cut off from the life of citizens.  
Not always!   As long
ago as 1978, Europa Nostra, the federation of European cultural heritage NGOs,
began to give awards for excellence in the conservation of monuments,
townscapes and landscapes.  In 2002,
the European Commission took up the practice:  today the European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage/Europa
Nostra Awards are given in an annual event where one can catch a rare and
impressive glimpse of European diversity, unity and an emerging sense of European
identity.

This year
another step has been taken.  Europa
Nostra and the European Investment Bank, but also the Council of Europe
Development Bank, joined in a new annual effort to identify the “7 Most
Endangered” monuments and sites in wider Europe and to follow up their
identification with efforts to contribute to a resolution of the problems they
face.   This first year’s short list of 14 nominations
was published on April 18, the International Day of Monuments and Sites.  In its geographical and thematic
diversity the list illustrates the
wide range of issues relating culture to politics – and vice versa. 

Under the
European Union Treaty, cultural heritage is primarily a national
responsibility.   So what
happens when nation states are effectively bankrupt?   Are its monuments to be allowed to gently decay or even
to collapse?   The inclusion
on the short list of the earliest church of the Manueline style, in the town of
Setubal, Portugal, for which there exists a Portuguese conservation plan but no
money, raises this problem in an acute form.   If one believes there is such a thing as European
cultural heritage – there are of course some people who still think “all
culture is local” – then should there not be a European budget to cover such
exceptional instances?  Article 3.3
of the Treaty would justify the creation of such a budget. From the
consolidated version of the Treaty on European Union for March 30, 2010, it
reads:

 “ The Union shall
establish an internal market. It shall work for the sustainable development of
Europe based on balanced economic growth and price stability, a highly
competitive social market economy, aiming at full employment and social
progress, and a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the
environment. It shall promote scientific and technological advance. It shall combat social
exclusion and discrimination, and shall promote social justice and protection,
equality between women and men, solidarity between generations and protection
of the rights of the child. It shall promote economic,
social and territorial cohesion, and solidarity among Member States.It
shall respect its rich cultural and linguistic diversity, and shall ensure that
Europe’s cultural heritage is safeguarded and enhanced.” 

Or what of the
Renaissance monastery of San Benedetto Po, meticulously restored with local
funds only to be seriously damaged by the May 2012 earthquakes, at a time where
there is no longer local funding available? Then there is the forest and the
buildings of the nineteenth century palace complex in Tatoi, near Athens, which
could be made economically viable again, as it once was, but because of financial
stringency is in danger of instead being disposed of in what might prove a
fire-sale? 

Another set of
issues is raised by the pan-European drive for modernity.   It so happens that Berlin is the
European city with the largest surviving number of gas lamps, a positive
feature of life for most Berliners.  
It also so happens that the City Senate and Department for City
Development wish to electrify street lighting and that German conservationists
are firmly opposed.   

Similarly, a
fishermen’s quarter in Valencia is threatened by a City Council plan for a
through road to the port.  And an
even more devastating proposal threatens one of Transylvania’s most beautiful,
scenic and historic regions, Rosia Montana, home to perhaps the best preserved
Roman tunnel mining complex in Europe. 
A proposal for open cast mining to obtain the remaining gold by a
Canadian-based company would destroy scenery and heritage alike.  It is truly impressive that so well
argued has been the principled resistance by Romanian conservationists and
their allies across Europe that the Romanian government fortunately still
hesitates to grasp for the gold, permit the use of cyanide and destroy its
heritage, despite the siren call of those promoting unsustainable development
with only short term gains.

How best to
preserve the archaeological record of the past, which so often obtrudes on
political objectives of the present? 
In Dürres, Albania, a Roman amphitheatre has been recently discovered in
the midst of the modern town.  
By contrast, in Serbia a neglected Neolithic site of European importance
on the Danube gradually dissolves.  
In Turkey, the extraordinary site of Hasankeyf on the Tigris, a store of
archaeological knowledge, is threatened with the fate of Allianoi located to its
west, namely permanent disappearance under the waters of a dam.   And how damnable the consequences
may be can be seen in Armenia, where a Soviet-era dam means that a fifth
century church spends half the year under water.   Should the Ministry of Culture attempt to dismantle
the already weakened structure and rebuild?   Or should the authorities set a limit to the annual
rise of the waters?   These
conflicts are not at all conflicts between past and present.   In Dürres, for instance, it is
very clear that economic rationality demands the Roman amphitheatre’s
conservation. 

Cultural
heritage forms an important part of most people’s identities.   Sometimes, as with the superb eighteenth
century citadel in Alessandria, Italy, or  the magnificent seventeenth century fortifications by Vaubun
in Briançon, of pride in local and national identity.   Sometimes it can represent a moving recognition of
another’s identity as with the Armenian Catholic Church of St George in Mardin,
nominated by Europa Nostra Turkey. 
 And sometimes it is a
matter of mutual recognition and reconciliation, as in the ongoing work of the
UN and many devoted conservationists of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot
communities in Nicosia, Europe’s still divided city where those who work for
past heritage are striving simultaneously for present and future
reconciliation.

Cultural
heritage may or may not count, depending on one’s ideology or interest.   For those, more empirically
minded, who prefer to apprehend the general through the particular, the diverse
yet united heritage of Europe provides a royal road for discovery of
the need and benefits of unity.

Article source: http://www.opendemocracy.net/costa-carras/europe%E2%80%99s-seven-most-endangered-species-of-monuments-and-sites

Fresh, crisp summer skies, horses, violins, lakes, flowers, mountains, castles, cobblestone. Europe has many a haven of natural scenery poised with charm. Yet there is something pristine about western Austria. The sky is very blue and the landscape very green. This is a scene of organic allure. Its existence is unimposing, unpretentious and almost matter-of-fact. For one thing, the city of Salzburg is much less hyped up and known in the Middle East than the likes of Barcelona, Paris, Venice and Cannes. In fact, it is hardly ever mentioned. What is even more striking is that when and if Austria is brought up, it is its capital, Vienna, which takes the limelight. Indeed, we were guilty of this oversight whilst planning our triangular trip. Our original plan spanned the Austrian capital, Prague and Budapest, the latter a 50-minute train ride from Vienna. Yet having been told by an avid traveler that Salzburg features in his list of top three destinations, we tilted the triangle westward.
This is a place with a German imprint, which forms part of the Swiss-German-Austrian arc of perfection, organization and graceful introversion. This is certainly no Spain or Italy, and partygoers, naturally, had better stick to the Mediterranean coast.
This is a relatively hidden yet very virtuous haven. Set against an Alpine backdrop and home to Mozart, Salzburg’s historic city center has been branded a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Hohensalzburg Castle, one of the largest medieval castles in Europe, overlooks the Mirabell Gardens, an ensemble of carefully synchronized flower arrangements. To the right of the bridge, the old town offers couture and cobblestone in a vintage setting.
With the music festival that begins in the last 10 days of July and lasts until September, we found ourselves engulfed in harps, bands and violins in what added a huge dimension of flavor to our experience. The fact that music complemented natural elements cannot be overstated and I strongly advise travelers to try this time of year, if not for the melodies, for the blueness of the sky that illuminates its summer spirit.
Another obvious oversight is that Salzburg is where the acclaimed musical “The Sound of Music” was filmed. Maidens in dresses sing their merry tunes in green fields of flora in what truly is every bit the image of the oil-painting utopia that it is made out to be. Indeed, the film having been selected by the United States Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry owing to its “cultural, historical and aesthetical” significance only goes to reinforce the importance and uniqueness of the Salzburg scene.
In the distance, rich green, ice-capped mountains overlook emerald waters. Day excursions are offered to the Salzburg lakes, notably Lake Wolfgang, Mozart’s first name. Having been to several lake districts in Europe, including the British, French, Italian and Swiss lakes, I can attest to the fact that the Austrian lakes and their surroundings can be differentiated in their sharpness of color. In fact, the quality of water inside Lake Wolfgang is so high that it has been endorsed by the European Union. Different tours are offered, though we were told to refrain from the “official” Sound of Music tour since we had already been to the lakes (otherwise said, if you’ve been to the lakes and do not wish to go again, don’t fall for the tourist trap).
A source of major disappointment that is felt to this day was not having had prior knowledge about Salzburg’s Ice Caves, the largest ice caves in the world. Having almost run out of time and having learned of their existence only there and then (a fact that still has me wondering why this city and its marvels are so poorly promoted), it dawned on us that we had neither the hiking boots nor the warm clothing, not to mention the stamina following a series of train rides, to embark on this highly original adventure. Here, thus, is a traveler’s warning of faux-pas in your planning.
We did, however, pay a visit to the Hellbrunn, a bedroomless, 17th-century Baroque villa whose waterworks springing from the ground offered respite from the summer heat, which was still bearable thanks to the Alpine winds, much unlike the Mediterranean summers experienced in cities like Rome and Seville.
After a day of ardent sightseeing, we find ourselves dining on cobblestone next to Mozart’s house, located at the beginning of the old town and painted in yellow, after which we sipped tea along the oldest canal in Europe with the vintage Hohensalzburg Castle towering over us, illuminating the waters before us.
That, simply, is the refreshing four-day experience we found ourselves engulfed in haphazardly. Hotels are on the pricier side (compared to those of the Czech Republic, certainly). The Crowne Plaza Pitter is an unpretentious, traditional but solid hotel with a breakfast (at the time) superior to that of the Marriott on the Champs-Elysees.
For history lovers who are flying out of Vienna, a pleasant surprise we came across in our tour book is that of the Sigmund Freud museum, the founding father of psychoanalysis, located in his former practice and apartment, with carefully preserved artifacts including his hat, bag and cane. Captions under the pictorial biography of his life enlightened us with a real dimension to Austria, namely the fact that it came under Nazi rule prior to World War II and became subsumed under Germany until the very end of the war in 1945. It also shed light on Freud’s origins in the now Czech Republic and other interesting facts, including the idea that Freud, among others at the time, was a proponent of cocaine in the treatment of pain-relief.
Last (but in no way least), a must-see on your way out of Vienna is the Schonbrunn Palace, a 1,441-room summer residence from the 16th century with the most impressive garden I’ve seen to date, the “Great Parterre”, overlooked by the glorious Gloriette structure made of recycled stone left over from the demolition of a previous palace. And like many other European cities, you will be spoilt for choice over which classical renditions to listen to live.
In short, such is a fairytale experience in a picture-perfect setting of pristine pathways and waters, defined skies and mountains and crisp winds from the Alps, all harmoniously swaying to the sound of music amidst old forts and opulent flowers.

samar.alsayed@arabnews.com

Article source: http://arabnews.com/news/451675

2013-05-13 08:34

Pretoria – In an effort to mark 20 years of freedom and democracy, the Tourism industry is planning a celebration of 20 years of tourism in the months leading up to Freedom Day on April 27, 2014.

The announcement was made by Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk at the opening of the 2013 Tourism Indaba in Durban on Saturday.

“We have gained recognition across the globe as a capable, warm, friendly and accessible global mega-events destination.

“Therefore, we are planning a celebration of 20 years of tourism in the months leading up to Freedom Day on 27 April 2014,� he said.

Freedom Day is an annual celebration of South Africa’s first non-racial democratic elections of 1994 and since the dawn of democracy, the country has been commemorating Freedom Day on 27 April every year.

Minister Van Schalkwyk said at next year’s Tourism Indaba, they will recognise South Africa’s top 200 trade partners for their contribution to the industry over the past 20 years.

“We will also honour all the Emerging Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year Award (ETEYA) winners over the years, with a focus on learning from what they continue to achieve.

“I look forward to continue taking the hands of all our partners as we celebrate 20 years of freedom and democracy and 20 years of tourism, and as we put our heads together to lay the foundation for another 20 years of new opportunities and fulfilling experiences,� he said.

The minister said tourism has taken its place as a vital contributor to economic growth, catapulting South Africa from a pariah prior to 1994, to one of the fastest-growing and most desired leisure holiday destinations in the world today.

In 1993, according to the minister, the country received just over 3.4 million international arrivals. “In 2012, we witnessed over 13 million international arrivals, of which some nine million were international tourists visiting our shores,� he said.

Van Schalkwyk also announced that the South African Tourism (SAT) will next year roll out a global hub strategy created to effectively deliver the destination marketing
message, with a wider reach than ever before.

“In the coming year, SAT will open fully-fledged offices in Brazil, Angola, Kenya and Nigeria, whilst also expanding its marketing presence and partnerships with the trade in South Korea, Russia, Scandinavia, and Shanghai in China, Uganda, Ghana and Tanzania,� he said.

To further bolster growth, he said government has identified core markets, investment markets and tactical markets across regional Africa, the Americas, Asia and Australasia, as well as in Europe.

In positioning South Africa as a globally competitive and responsible tourism destination, the minister said government will be raising the profile of the country’s heritage and cultural tourism assets.

This year, the Heritage and Cultural Pavilion at the Tourism Indaba aims to profile and promote the eight world heritage sites in South Africa.

Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory to open

Article source: http://www.news24.com/Travel/South-Africa/SA-to-celebrate-20-year-of-democracy-20130513