"Let us celebrate our history!" was the message Federal Juso-Chairman Björn Böhning spread to a highly expectant mass of around 1.000 young people when opening IUSY100 on Thursday evening at
Postbahnhof in Berlin. With young comrades from more than 100 countries coming from all over the world, the IUSY started into a four-days celebration during which a strong signal for freedom and
solidarity in the world is to be set!
Officially opening the centennial of the IUSY, the Governing Mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit, urged his young comrades to go on fighting for freedom, justice and solidarity in order to make
globalisation just and fair. "You are debating the political future of the world," told Wowereit to the members of the youth movement. Citing a speech held by Willy Brandt during a congress of the
Socialist International, he stressed that we cannot turn a "blind eye" to the people in this world who are still suffering from terrible conditions.
The mayor also appreciated Berlin, his city, as the ideal place to celebrate the centennial of the IUSY even though, as he mentioned, the history of Berlin is ambivalent: Berlin is the city
in which the first German republic was proclaimed in 1918 but also the city in which the holocaust has been planned; for decades Berlin has been a divided city but in the end the tumbling down of
the Berlin Wall signified the beginning of the German reunification in 1989. Nowadays, so the mayor, Berlin is a city in which social democracy enjoys a good majority and it is also a good place to
party - and therefore a good place to host IUSY100. After all, Wowereit finally reminded the socialist youth of one essential aim that should also be central during IUSY100 with the following
words: "Don`t forget to party!"
Feeling deeply honoured and pleased to stand in front of the masses, IUSY President Fikile Mbalula saluted his comrades with the words: "Viva, IUSY, VIVA - Long live IUSY, long live!". Having
animated the enthusiastic crowd to respond to his speaking choir, Fikile tried to convince his comrades from his belief in a better world. His intention is to shape IUSY100 as a mixture of
celebration and renewed commitment to certain values until all people will be able to enjoy freedom and human dignity - an aim that is, so Fikile, only to reach through "sweat and struggle".
Hosting IUSY100 as Federal Chairman of the Socialist Youth of Germany - the Falcons, Sven Frye intends to use IUSY100 as an opportunity to "name and shape our vision for tomorrow." Holding in hands
socialist education as a strong tool, Frye told his comrades about his conviction about a possible alternative to reach through the power and strength of the feeling of international solidarity.
In his speech, Wowereit made the following point: "The power of solidarity is a strong weapon and our movement is a strong movement" - so, the next century of the IUSY seems promising and we
are well prepared to catch up with all challenges we might be confronted with!