Manarah is an old Arabic word for ‘lighthouse’, a place of light to help those on a voyage find their way. Later the word developed into ‘minaret’ – which is the tower of a mosque. I found out about this a few years ago whilst doing research on this topic. The Swiss populace had just voted not to allow the …

When living in England as a one year overseas student in 1984/85 I had met with the tradition of Remembrance Day for the very first time. I was touched by the way how the consequences of war were dealt with and also by the scale of it. It left me impressed and thoughtful. Years later I came across the folksong …

History of Human Rights and their manifold declarations goes back far in time. Documents with ideas of steadfast Human Rights from Mesopotamia are over four millennia old. In the world of ancient Greeks Human Rights were known. However, the then accepted notion as to who was to be seen a Human, thus for whom those so-called Human Rights would apply, …

The deliberate demolition of books, libraries, schools, bookshops, publishing houses, archives to me is unpardonable. The loss of knowledge and cultural heritage thereof cannot easily be made up with. Much will be lost past recovery. People need free access to all sorts of knowledge to become educated. It is education that will give us the competence and strength to face …