« ON THE FOOTSTEPS OF MOSHE - MOSES - MOUSSA »

It is with pleasure that UNESCO gives its support to Annelie Löhr – Campion’s initiative inviting us to walk on the footsteps of the father of all of us: Moshe, Moses, Moussa.
This traveling exhibition, which we hope to welcome one day in our Organization, the home of all cultures and Peace, contributes in its own way to the construction of Peace, which is the very business of everyone.

It is more than ever a shared responsibility, especially towards the younger generations, because we need to reflect on the challenges of our different societies not only here in Europe, but also in the Middle East and in other regions of the world where tragic events occur every day and never seem to come to a end.

This means that this exhibition fits perfectly in the spirit of the work of the Division for Intercultural Dialogue, particularly in its program of inter-religious dialogue, whose purpose is precisely to create a space for dialogue, where opinions and experiences can be freely expressed and exchanged.

We congratulate the organizers of this exhibition that contributes to bringing together people and cultures, and implements an essential dimension of intercultural and interreligious dialogue of UNESCO: mutual understanding between religions and spiritual traditions and highlighting the their interactions and mutual influences across History.

And the past should be a prompt reflection for the present, and clarify the issues that arise in the construction of an ever changing society, every day more pluralistic, constantly mixing peoples, ideas, cultures and spiritual attitudes.
It is precisely the LEITMOTIV of UNESCO, "The common heritage and plural identities", that each visitor of this remarkable exhibition is encouraged to discover.

For indeed, it is through the contributions from the different civilizations that the multiple identities of every one of us is built, and so, by recognizing our differences and proximities, we can fight against the prisons, sometimes deadly, of our identities, against the forms of exclusion of any kind, against the outbreaks of extremism of any provenience.
It is in the proximity and respect for the other, in recognizing him as our own close neighbor that one can discover our shared ethical and spiritual values.

I hope that this exhibition on the footsteps of a common ancestor and founder of the values referred to by the mosaic family, may help find an answer to the many questions elicited by the social and political transformations of our time, and also show us the way to achieve a rewarding and challenging coexistence between the various communities that make up the new Europe, united and plural, and who knows, in the near future, a Middle East peaceful and rich in its diversity.

Rosa Guerreiro
Interreligious Dialogue Program
Division of Intercultural Dialogue
UNESCO, Paris, France
(Transmitted by fax and translated from French)