30th of May 2024
Agenda
- Francesca Morganella, CEIPES: SOLREM project presentation
- Asier Rodriguez Villa, NOVACT: Far right, and historical (un)memory in Spain
- Gina Marino, ANPI Palermo: Italian Women Resistance
- Omezzine Khalifa, Mobdiun – Creative Youth: Resistance
- Q&A
- Coffee break
Report
CEIPES, from Italy, and the Spanish partner NOVACT, of Barcelona, held in the respective countries the Transnational Memory Forum on Antifascist Resistance, which corresponds to the D2.9 (WP2), on the 30th of May 2024.
At the event organized by the Italian partner, in Palermo, 18 people were present to discuss and reflect together on the history of the anti-fascist Resistance in the two countries, and the links with current events.
Moreover, in Palermo, the event was organized in the Palestinian restaurant, Al Quds. The choice of the place symbolizes an act of solidarity towards a contemporary Resistance community, the Palestinians.
Thus, the SOLREM Project Manager, Francesca Morganella, presented the project structure, results, and objectives, sharing the main highlights that came up in the recent activities and memory forum.
Thereby, four guest speakers gathered in Palermo, including Gina Marino, a member of the National Association of Italian Partisans (A.N.P.I.). The association was set up on 6 June 1944 by the National Liberation Committee (that of central Italy, the north was still under occupation); it has been a non-profit organization since 5 April 1945. Created to keep the memory and values of the Resistance alive.
Gina Marino presented the commitment of ANPI towards education, in schools and outside, to remember the Resistance of partisans. In addition, she shared two women’s stories who joined the Resistance, they are both Sicilian women, Maria Di Gesù, remembered for her partisan experience as the saboteur, and Maria Montuoro, the silent revolutionary.
Asier Rodriguez Villa, the coordinator for the Europe department at the Institute for Nonviolent Action – NOVACT, The Novact Institute for Nonviolence is a non-profit association dedicated to conflict transformation and peacebuilding. It has been working in the Euro-Mediterranean region for over 20 years.
He discussed the memory and (un)memory of the Resistance in Spain during and after Franco’s regime. He retraced the historical memory measures started in 1976 and the main reforms, to reach the Democratic memory law of 2020.
Omezzine Khelifa, is a former Franco-Tunisian politician and social entrepreneur. After taking part in the Tunisian revolution in January 2011, she left a career in investment banking and fintech in France to contribute to the democratic transition in Tunisia following the Arab uprisings. In addition to her national commitments, she founded the Mobdiun – Creative Youth, a social impact and peace organization that counteracts jihadist projects at the local level and fights for youth and security.
Then, Omezzine Khalifa, based on her experience as an activist and political involved in the Revolution in Tunisia in 2011, discussed the power of narration. Thanks to her experience she made the audience reflect on the power to critical analysis of the current times and the power to act and react.
Then, an interesting dialogue took place with the audience, allowing participants to reflect on the importance of the Memory and the power of Resistant stories.
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