ICSSI Secretariat – December 2017
The activities of the first season of the Peace Forum in Hit, which culminated in the coordination of a number of voluntary organizations, began on 22 December 2017. Together these teams of volunteers established a joint space — “Hit of Peace and Coexistence” — to unify their visions and exchange ideas about ways to realize shared aims of cultivating an atmosphere peaceful coexistence and flourishing .
6 expert trainers and lecturers kicked off the activities with a series of seminars and workshops. On the second day, the Hit Peace Marathon brought more than 250 runners of different ages together to express their belief in the important role of sports in building peace and promoting social cohesion in the city. The marathon started from the Al-Jamayia neighborhood and ended in Corniche Street, which had great significance as it was there that more than three terrorist attacks claimed the lives of innocent citizens.
Many Hit residents watched the marathon, handing out sweets and juice to runners as they passed by, that ran 6 km from the starting point to the end point . Security forces were involved in ensuring that the marathon route was clear and safe and that no participant was prevented from joining in.
The activities of the Forum’s first season ended with a festival in the gardens of Zuhor Park, and was attended by families, security authorities and a large number of city dignitaries and citizens. The activities of the garden festival varied between the religious songs of moderation, poetry readings and artistic music .
Mahmoud Al-Hiti, Secretary of the Forum, expressed his happiness with the great achievement of the Forum’s first season and called for building on this success with still more activities aiming to build peace, strengthen social cohesion, and develop an interest in the rich heritage of the city:
“We have succeeded during these events to emphasize the importance of peace to residents of our cities, and this is mainly due to the gathering of voluntary organizations and teams who came together to construct this Forum. Also, all of this would not have been possible without the support of our colleagues in the Iraqi Social Forum and international donor organizations that have worked to guide and advise us as to how best to build these successful activities.”
Mr. Yacoub Abboud Shafi, Chairman of the Sports Committee of Hit Peace Marathon, echoed these ideas saying,” Personally, I consider these events to be successful and new to our city. Now, it is important to pay attention to them, especially in the coming stage as they adopt community issues that emphasize the basic and important issues in the lives of everyone in the city. This is what young people have achieved at the Peace Forum in Hit and we are proud to share these achievements . ” said
The Peace Forum in Hit is a civil society network concerned with a range of social issues. The Forum was established by team of volunteers and organizations in November 2017, and works in coordination with the Iraqi Social Forum. Its activities get funding from the Swiss FAI Foundation which aims to build a civil society that promotes democracy and peaceful coexistence in the Middle East and Mesopotamia.