The participants of the Rainbow Bridge camp were very fortunate and privileged to be able to welcome Mr Aleksander Kwaśniewski, the President of Poland, and Mr Shimon Peres, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel and the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
President Aleksander Kwaśniewski and Mr Shimon Peres discussed with the young people the importance of peace, love and respect for other individuals in political and daily life. They both answered the questions addressed by the participants of the Rainbow Bridge camp and were themselves eager to listen to the young people share their experiences of the camp and their visions of peace and international understanding among people from different nations.
Young people were impressed by the meetings with such honourable guests whose achievements have made an important contribution to conflict resolution and the preservation of peace at local, regional and also international level. While talking to the participants of the Rainbow Bridge Project, President Aleksander Kwaśniewski said that "Dialogue and tolerance are the best way to organize social life" while Mr Shimon Peres added that "Everybody has the right to be equal and has the equal right to be different."
Mr Aleksander Kwaśniewski
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President of the Republic of Poland
Aleksander Kwaśniewski was born on November 15th, 1954, in Białogard.
He won the presidential elections for the first time in 1995 on the election campaign slogans: "Let's choose the future" and "Common Poland," collecting 51.7 percent of votes, against 48.3 percent cast on Lech Wałęsa. In a year 2000 he won again collecting 53,9% of votes in the first run. His election campaign slogan was: "The home of all - Poland". On December 23rd, 2000 he took his office for the second term.
A co-author of the Constitution draft and a mover of the referendum campaign in favour of passing the Constitution of the Third Republic of Poland, which he signed into law on July 16th, 1997. In 1996, President Kwaśniewski submitted the draft of a convention on fighting organised crime to the UN. Took an active part in the efforts to see Poland in NATO. Head of Poland's delegation at the Madrid and Washington summits in 1997 and 1999 respectively. On February 26th, 1999, he signed the instruments ratifying Poland's membership of NATO (during a joint ceremony with the President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel). He also took active part in further enlargement of an Alliance supporting invitation for seven new states (NATO Summit 2002 in Prague) and the 'open door' policy. Following the September 11th 2001 events upon his initiative and within antiterrorist coalition there was an international conference organized in Warsaw with participation of leaders from Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe to strengthen regional activities in combating international terrorism. An advocate of regional cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe. Host of the meeting of the Presidents from the region at Lancut in 1996. An active participant at such meetings in Portoroz in 1997, Levoczy in 1998, Lvov in 1999. Jointly with Lithuania's President, the driving force behind the meeting "Coexistence of Nations and Good-Neighbourly Relations: the Guarantee of Security and Stability in Europe," held in Vilnius in 1997 and the follow-up conference "Baltic-Black Sea Cooperation: Towards the Integrated Europe of the 21st Century Free of Dividing Lines," held in Yalta in 1999. Author of the 'Riga Initiative' (2002) - a forum for cooperation of Central Europe states towards further enlargement of NATO and the European Union.
Aleksander Kwaśniewski also launched the following initiatives aimed at reapprochement:
• between Poland and Germany by co-creating, among other things, a programme of exchange for Polish and German youths "Jugendwerk" in 1986 (in the capacity of Minister for Youth Affairs), patronage over the construction of Collegium Polonicum at the Viadrina University in Slubice-Frankfurt on the Odra (inaugurated in October 1996), putting forth the problem of mutual return of works of national culture in December 1998, joint commemoration with the President of the Federal Republic of Germany of the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II in September 1999
• beetween Poland and Ukraine - Polish-Ukrainian "Declaration on Reconciliation" in May 1997, Polish-Ukrainian Self-Government Forum in June 1999, proposal to erect a monument to the victims of Jaworzno concentration camp (May 1998) and patronage over the reconstruction of the Cemetery of Polish Eaglets in Lvov and Kharkov
• between Poles and Jews - launching and patronizing i.a. the Auschwitz Programme, help initial the Auschwitz Declaration by the Polish side and a coalition of Jewish Organisations, setting in motion the process of restoring Polish citizenship to persons deprived of it on the strength of political decisions taken in 1968, as well as active participation in the work to regulate the state's attitude towards Jewish religious communities.
For more information see: http://web.archive.org/web/20040827211433/http://www.prezydent.pl/ /English version/
Mr Shimon Peres
• born in Byelorussia in 1923 and immigrated to Palestine with his family at the age of eleven. He grew up in Tel Aviv and attended the agricultural high school at Ben Shemen.
• In 1959 Peres was elected a Member of Knesset and has been a member ever since.
• Shimon Peres distinguished himself as a political figure in internal politics as well.
• Shimon Peres served two non-consecutive terms as Prime Minister. His first tenure was from 1984 to 1986 in the National Unity government. From 1986 to 1988, he served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and from November 1988 until the dissolution of the National Unity Government in 1990 - as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.
• After the return to power of the Labor party as a result of the 1992 elections, Shimon Peres was once again appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. He initiated and conducted the negotiations that led to the signing of the Declaration of Principles with the PLO in September 1993 - which won him the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize, together with Rabin and Arafat. Further negotiations with the Palestinians brought about Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and some areas of Judea and Samaria and the establishment of limited Palestinian autonomy, as decided in the Interim Agreement. In October 1994, the Treaty of Peace with Jordan was signed. Peres subsequently strove to promote relations with additional Arab countries in North Africa and the Persian Gulf - part of his vision of a "New Middle East."
• Shimon Peres' second term as Prime Minister came in the wake of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin on November 4, 1995. Peres served as Prime Minister for seven months, until the general elections held in May 1996. During this trying period, Peres strove to maintain the momentum in the peace process, despite a wave of terrorist attacks by Palestinian suicide bombers against Israeli civilians.
• Shimon Peres is a Member of Knesset and is active in the Peace Research Institute.
Mr Paulo Coelho
Dear all,
We are happy to let you know that Paulo Coelho, a Famous Brazilian writer, will be one of the special guests at the Rainbow Bridge summer camp!
Mr Coelho is a great supporter of the Rainbow Bridge Project because, as Mrs Kwaoniewska, he pays a lot of attention to giving to young people the possibility to understand how loved and important they are.
So, we can definitely count on Paulo Coelho's presence at the Rainbow Bridge summer camp!
To find out more about Paulo Coelho look at one of the following websites:
http://web.archive.org/web/20040827211433/http://www.paulocoelho.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/20040827211433/http://www.santjordi-asociados.com/
Kayah
one of the most talented Polish vocalists will be the star of the Rainbow Bridge Festival!
She made her debut in 1988 at the Karlsham Baltic Festival in Sweden with a song "Córeczko chciałabym, żebys była chłopcem" ("Daughter, I would like you to be a boy") for which she received a special prize and gained publicity in Poland. In the same year she recorded a solo album "Kayah" and then in 1995 her record "Kamien" ("Stone") came out. One year later she got awarded Fryderyk prize and was thus recognized by the Polish Television as the 'personality of the year'. In 1997 Kayah strengthened her position on the music market with the record "Zebra". Two years later she recorded an album with a Yugoslavian composer Goran Bregovic which was sold in 600 000 copies and thus has become the biggest artistic success of the recent years. In May 2000 Kayah's new record "JakajaKayah" came out. On 2 December 2000 Kayah took part in the Fifth Great Gala of Integration - a charity concert at the National Philpharmony in Warsaw.
