Federation of Young European Greens

On the occasion of today's International Day of Tolerance, FYEG calls upon everybody to consider his/her own tolerance. With 7 billion inhabitants, planet earth becomes increasingly cramped and the living-together in diversity and freedom not easier. To stay happy in this crowd, acts of intolerance, violence, xenophobia, nationalism, racism, anti-Semitism, exclusion, marginalization and discrimination need to be revealt and culprits become subject to the judiciary. Also today, people who seem to be different are facing intolerance. This state of humiliating injustice cannot be taken lying down!

Tolerance leads to development and to the consolidation of peace and democracy. All people, cultures and individuals contribute to the enrichment of humankind with their mere existence. To recognize and to promote a flourishing society reverberating a culture of respect, creativity and development, children need to grow up from early on in an atmosphere of curiosity and open-mindness and learn about tolerance, human rights and other ways of life. To create a societal climate of respect for differences and mutual understanding of each other, access to different sources of information is a precondition.

In the end, it is about our very selves. Today is an occasion to ask: Am I a tolerant person? Do I stereotype people? Do I reject those who are different from me? Or do I blame my problems on 'them'? If you know about intolerance next to you or even within yourself, there are ways how to get it over not only for you, but for your entire environment and to get the mind free for things which really deserve your attention and creativity. You can show solidarity with victims of intolerance and discredit hateful propaganda to put an end to intolerance, violence and hatred.

We are convinced that you and everyone of us can do a little. And bear in mind, you are not alone and the more people we are, the more all of us can achieve! For that purpose, we send you our strongest encouragement.

Statements about Tolerance

To proudly be that other person. But without anyone telling you that you are a stranger, an outsider, that other person. To find no enemies in places where you have never been. Walking where you like to walk, without feeling not welcome. To find smiles, not receive frowns.
Paul Santman, 29, Amersfoort (Netherlands)

I don't want to have to ask society for tolerance. I don't want people to "tolerate" me the way they put up with an unavoidable nuisance. No matter how different I am from anyone else, I am part of this world and I deserve respect.
Lisa Bendiek, 23, Hamburg (Germany)

Tolerance means freedom to me: I have the right to be myself but I respect others as well, cause it cuts both ways. It's also mutual understanding and equality. People should be different, but they should not see the differences as separating obstacles.
Aga Kloc, 21, Gdansk (Poland)

Tolerance means democracy. Everybody gets a voice, people listen to each other, they exchange, they argue, they find solutions together. Democracy is not possible without tolerance.
Louisa Firnenburg, 19, Groningen (Netherlands)

My personal tolerance reaches its limit when it comes to people behaving towards others in ways that are inhuman, humiliating, disrespectful and maliciously offending. Respect for each other can be gained by approaching one another which might be the very basis for a mutual understanding and an open-minded attitude in general.
Sarah Benke, 25, Agona Swedru (Ghana)

Tolerance is something you need, you receive it. If you don't get it, you can't live comfortably, maybe you cannot even live at all. If you don't get it, you suddenly know by fact, that you live in a society and that you need society.
Michaela Böll, 20, Neustadt an der Weinstraße (Germany)

My tolerance is the lowest degree for a culture of living-together and the respect of human rights. To me it says: try to accept the person next to you and learn the skills to do so; it will be the best for everybody.
Kalle Kosthorst, 23, Warsaw (Poland)