The American Human Rights Council (AHRC-USA) joins the rest of the world’s community in recognizing and observing the International Day of Tolerance, November 16. This year’s Day for Tolerance arrives and the world is in dire need of tolerance. We live in a world experiencing violent sectarian division and conflict, wars, hunger, poverty, natural disasters and other human-made tragedies. There is also economic anxiety and fear of the other than is resulting in intolerance in social media and in politics. AHRC is deeply troubled by the rise of intolerance and the seeming political and social acceptability of intolerance.
Declared and created in 1955 by UNESCO, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, in 1955, The International Day of Tolerance is a day to create and raise public awareness of the dangers of intolerance.
All human beings are members of the same race, the human race. The UN and other international organizations were created to bring the world’s human community together, to solve problems through peaceful means and to promote a culture of respect of human rights of everyone, a culture of tolerance and acceptance of “the other.” Tragic events in the world are clear proof that the job is not done and the struggle for a better world is ongoing.
Our world needs our doubling of our efforts to create a culture of tolerance that can survive economic and other stresses on society. AHRC is deeply troubled by increased acceptability of those who express intolerance. It is a core mission of AHRC and other human rights organizations to not only promote tolerance, but to promote acceptance as well.
“We are deeply troubled by what is reported daily in the news. There is too much intolerance and we in the US are not immune from it,” stated Imad Hamad, AHRC Executive Director. “It is incumbent on each of us, especially those in leadership roles, to be a role model of tolerance and help promote tolerance in word as well as in deed,” concluded Hamad.