Harcourt Klinefelter with Dr. Martin Luther King. Harcourt Klinefelter (1938) has worked with King and walked with thousands of people for equal rights during the march to Selma in 1965. Despite his advanced age, he is still involved in activism for equal rights and peace. This Saturday, Klinefelter will come to Wageningen for the walk for peace, which is organized by the Muslim Students Association Avicenna and Spectrum.
Master’s student International Land and Water Management Ayoub Rozanes (27) from France is the current chair of Avicenna. ‘As Avicenna, we want to bring people together and create space for reflection. Inspired by people like Gandhi and Martin Luther King, we came up with the idea for a peace walk. To walk means to move towards something. Peace will not simply fall down from the sky: if you want it, instead of waiting for it to happen, you need to walk towards it.’
Klinefelter has a history of walking for peace and justice, Rozanes says. ‘That is why we have invited him for this event. This Saturday morning at 11:45, he will give a training about peaceful demonstration. After that, he intends to walk together with the rest of us towards Hotel de Wereld.’ Before Klinefelter’s training, there will also be a session about peace and justice from an Islamic perspective by hydrologist and theologian Samira I. Ibrahim, that will start at 10:30 in Forum room B0107.
No protest
The peace walk is not intended as a protest, Rozanes emphasizes. ‘We want everybody to feel welcome to simply walk together: young and old, religious and non-religious, student and non-student. After the walk, we will have a moment to share and reflect together.’
The walk for peace itself will start at 13:30 in front of Forum. Avicenna expects that about fifty participants will join. ‘But the more the merrier. If you are interested in joining the training or the walk, please sign up, so we know how many people are coming.’
