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At the opening of the forum
by Sceptic
Sunday, Jan. 21, 2007 at 6:56 PM
Some impressions from the opening ceremony that took place in down town Nairobi, Uhuru (freedom) park on Saturday the 20th.
People estimated the crowd at 10.000, but a preceeding march might have faced a participation of up to 20.000 people. The crowd was listening (or not!) to serveral speeches and a variety of music and bands. People asked: Do we need political animators who shout at us that "another world is possible". Is the WSF a big animated gathering where some political platitudes are shouted in merciless rounds?
Not few of the new attendees from several African countries were wondering: Is hating the US the only common ground the WSF can find?
If you had only listened to the speaches, who might as well think that.
Fortuneatly the simplistic propadanda of the opening speaches is contrasted by the multiplicity of voices and slogans heard on the forum, in the audiences and on the street, reflecting the complexities of our world and its problems.