Foundation against Racism and Anti-Semitism

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Foundation against Racism and Anti-Semitism
legal form Foundation, endowment
founding 1990
founder Sigi Feigel
Seat Zurich
main emphasis Prevention of Racism and Anti-Semitism
Action space Switzerland
Website www.gra.ch

The Foundation Against Racism and Anti-Semitism (GRA) ( French Fondation contre le racisme et l'antisémitisme , Italian Fondazione contro il razzismo e l'anisemitismo ) is a Swiss foundation founded in 1990 with headquarters in Zurich .

The Foundation supports according to the foundation's purpose individuals and institutions working for tolerance and understanding towards the historically associated with Switzerland minorities to use and their discrimination in general and anti-Semitism fight in particular.

The founder and first president of the GRA was the lawyer Sigi Feigel . Pascal Pernet has been President since 2017.

Foundation goal

The foundation is committed to human rights and the preservation of Swiss-style democracy . It works in an interdenominational and non-partisan way, advocating better understanding as well as peaceful and respectful coexistence between the majority and the minorities and vice versa.

Fields of activity

The foundation's fields of activity include public relations as well as engagement in the areas of education, politics and law. It works closely with the Society for Minorities in Switzerland GMS and the Foundation for Education for Tolerance SET.

The foundation supports the realization of projects of the Foundation Education for Tolerance, which is committed to the creation of educational media in cooperation with the Pestalozzianum Zurich . The teaching aids should help to deepen the educational work of parents and teachers in favor of intercultural competencies with the aim of allowing young people to grow into responsible citizens, to treat fellow human beings from other cultures and areas of experience with respect and to live together peacefully with them in mutual appreciation.

The foundation supports working groups and groups that campaign for the humane treatment of foreign groups during their stay in Switzerland and for ensuring that asylum seekers are not sent back as long as they are at risk in their home country.

Projects

Glossary, chronology

A glossary of historically charged terms and a chronology of racist incidents in Switzerland are available on the foundation's website . The latter is updated monthly, and a summary is published annually.

The chronology listed on the GRA website caused a stir in 2009. Namely, the foundation listed the president of the Junge SVP Thurgau, Benjamin Kasper, in its chronology under verbal racism , because in a speech on the initiative to ban minarets he spoke out in favor of a leading Swiss culture and against the spread of Islam in Switzerland. After the publication, Kasper sued the GRA for personal injury. The Kreuzlingen district court agreed with the GRA in its judgment and even took the view that people who advocate the ban on minarets must expect to be labeled as racists. The ruling caused a sensation across Switzerland. Kasper and his lawyer, Hermann Lei, took the verdict to the High Court and won the case. The foundation appealed against the judgment to the European Court of Human Rights ( ECHR ). The latter decided that Switzerland had thereby violated the foundation's freedom of expression. Switzerland has to compensate the foundation with 5,000 euros. (ECHR decision No. 18597/13 of January 9, 2018)

Spot it! Stop it!

In 2007, the foundation invited young people and teachers to write a storyboard or short script for a television or cinema commercial on the topics of racism, anti-Semitism or disability. The four best ideas were implemented by a professional film team from Swiss television . They could be seen on television, in cinemas and on e-boards all over Switzerland.

United against racism

The GRA coordinated the campaign for the 2008 European Football Championship , which was carried out by Football Against Racism in Europe FARE in cooperation with UEFA and supported by the international players' association FIFPro .

Lève-toi!

In 2009/2010, the GRA organized a video competition in collaboration with the Federal Office for Combating Racism, from whose contributions a music video was cut for the song La peur de l'autre by the Lausanne musician Stress .

Anti-Semitism report

The GRA publishes an annual anti-Semitism report together with the Swiss Association of Israelites (SIG) . For German-speaking Switzerland, the number of incidents outside the internet (violence, insults, property damage, graffiti) in the 2019 reporting year was stable, and no assaults against Jews or property damage against Jewish institutions were recorded. This is not the case in western Switzerland, where violence against people increased. CICAD recorded more physical and verbal abuse in 2019, and several synagogues were targeted by vandalism. Most of the anti-Semitic incidents recorded in Switzerland take place on the internet and especially on social media. This applies to all of Switzerland.

Prices

Fischhof Prize

Together with the Society for Minorities in Switzerland, the Foundation against Racism and Anti-Semitism awards the Nanny and Erich Fischhof Prize every two years to personalities or institutions who have made a name for themselves in the fight against racism and anti-Semitism in Switzerland.

Max and Erika Gideon School Prize

In cooperation with the Foundation for Education for Tolerance, the Max and Erika Gideon School Prize is awarded every two years. It goes to students and teachers who have distinguished themselves in the field of combating xenophobia and anti-Semitism.

Humanity Prize and Media Prize

On a special occasion, the Humanity Prize is also awarded to people who have made general service in a humanitarian relationship, or the Media Prize is awarded to journalists who campaign for humanity and humanity in the media.

year price Award winners
1992 Media award Klara Obermüller , journalist
1994 Media award Regula Heusser Markun , editor
Hans-Peter Meng , radio journalist
1995 Price for humanity Heidi and Peter Zuber , refugee helpers
1997 Price for humanity Peter Arbenz , Federal Council Delegate for Refugees
2005 Media award Hans Stutz , journalist and author

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b Entry of the “Foundation against Racism and Anti-Semitism” in the commercial register of the Canton of Zurich  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / zh.powernet.ch  
  2. ^ Hans Stutz: Museum of hatred. Plague minorities. The weekly newspaper WOZ Online, June 5, 2008, accessed on January 12, 2011 .
  3. Jürg Dedial: Words and Unwords. Glossary for the correct handling of loaded terms. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, NZZ Online, April 8, 2010, accessed on December 14, 2010 .
  4. Reinhard Wegelin: Court determines: Foundation against Racism and Anti-Semitism commits personal injury. Success for JSVP young politicians before the Thurgau High Court. Politics.ch, December 13, 2011, accessed on February 29, 2012 .
  5. MARTINA EGGENBERGER LENZ: JSVP president was injured in personality. The Thurgau higher court disagrees with the Kreuzlingen district court: Benjamin Kasper must not be called a racist. hermannlei.ch, December 16, 2011, accessed on February 29, 2012 .
  6. Anti-Semitism Report German-Switzerland 2019 . February 25, 2020. Accessed February 25, 2020.