Unfortunately, this wonderful conference had to come to an up. After a hectic day in Jakarta and some last workshops. the last day was made of all of our presentations. All the participants in the Global Terrorism Program were divided into 8 groups and we were assigned to present, in front of the whole assembly, what were the conclusions we could draw from the conference.
My group, composed of Chinese, Americans, Indonesians and I (French-Italian-Swedish) focused on explaining why different forms of terrorism required different solutions. After spending so many hours discussing issues like right-wind radicalism, Islamist extremism, lone-wolf terrorism, terrorism in Scandinavia and the consequences of death penalty, it seemed like an obvious end to our learning: speaking of one solution that would eradicate terrorism sounds inadequate and inappropriate.
But this conference, that gathered so many nationalities and different opinions, proved one point: citizens, at the grass roots level, have an enormous responsibility in their shoulders in the fight against terrorism: striving to oppose all the prejudices and false preconceptions that still are wrongly associated to some ethnic groups or religions. As Daniel Cohn-Bendit, a French-German MP of the European Parliament would put it: “Multi-culturalism, tolerance and acceptance for every individual, regardless of religion, ethnicity and sexual orientation are the real barriers against terrorism”.
The second conclusion that I would stress on at the end of this conference is all the love, friendship and care that I´ve received in so few days. In approximately seven days, I´ve met so many wonderful human beings and new friends. They have taken care of me like almost no one has ever done it before. And I wonder now how to give back what was freely given to me.
I want to especially thank Sindy, Azizah, Tiara and Haqqi, students at Parahyangan University in Bandung that took me out every single day, made me discover every of their preferred corners of Bandung, made me try delicious dishes and immersed me into the Indonesian culture, teaching me traditions, words, ways of living. Your attention to me is a priceless gift that I´ll always remember. Our discussions, our laughs, our differences have made me a richer human being.
I want to thank all the members of the Organizing Committee of the UNPAR International Student Conference 2013 for the awesome work they´ve put in into fixing every single detail of the event. All students, they woke up far before us and went to bed far after us just to make sure that we´ll enjoy our time. You all rock.
I also want to particularly thank Anas, Merve, Mickael, Martin, Tejas, all my new International friends from every corner of this planet for being here for me. You all made me a better man! In one word: Just go to UNPAR International Student Conference 2014!