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Diciembre 23, 2009
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Octubre del 2009
Skiing journalists to cross the North-South divide
tanslated by Heidi Verdonck
This idea will come to a new meaning in 2010, as the SCIJ – on the occasion of its 56th anniversary will tackle an at least equally challenging endeavor. Whereas the idea of Gilles de la Roque was to bring together journalists from the two « opposite » sides of the Iron Curtain, from eastern and western Europe. Today, as twenty years have passed since the fall of communism, the SCIJ will- as modestly as Gilles de la Roque – make way for a new groundbreaking adventure.
Since its first international meeting with 64 skiing journalists of 8 different countries – including Belgium – the SCIJ family has expanded to over 50 countries. And for the better part of the Cold War, the SCIJ was the only meeting place where journalists from « both » sides of the curtain could socialise and sympathise with each other.
The originality of the idea of journalist Gilles de la Roque, who was himself a passionate mountainclimber and skier , lied in the fact that he centered the international meetings on the theme of skiing: an unpolitical activity, which could hardly arouse any suspicions on the part of the communist governments.
In 1957, the first meeting took place in a communist country, Yugoslavia, and many followed, always along the same scenario : skiing (during the day), conferences and debates at sunset, almost always inevitably washed down with alcoholic drinks and fraternizing.
After the end of the Cold War, SCIJ continued the tradition of organising annually international meetings, looking toward new horizons. In 1990, Japan hosted the international ski event ; in 2006 Argentina welcomed the big SCIJ family in the Andes.
But the fact remained that 27 of the member countries are European, and that the totality of the SCIJ members are view as part of the western world. So it was time to look back to the original spirit and ideas of Gilles de la Roque.
The Atlas Mountains as a means to return to the roots of SCIJ
It’s clear that the world today is very divided, not only by the North-South gap, but also by cultural/religious divides – and according to some even by the shock of civilisations.
It was at the initiative of the « little Belgians » that the idea came up to go back to the roots of the SCIJ. Convinced that it was time that the SCIJ would tackle a new challenge, some members of the Belgian SCIJ became infatuated with an idea which was considered by some of their international colleagues as eccentric at least or as crazy by others. The idea was to organise an international SCIJ meeting in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. At the ski resort of Oukaïmeden to be more precise, a cosy town equipped with skiing infrastructure and enough slopes to receive the other SCIJ members. Not to mention the fact that this « haven of natural beauty » is only one hour away of magical Marrakech.
After two years of preparation and the creation of a Moroccan SCIJ section, the Moroccan proposal to organise the SCIJ International Meeting in 2010 was unanimously accepted by the General Assembly of the SCIJ, which was held in the first week of March this year during the last SCIJ-meeting in Yasna (Slovakia).
Just the evening before a Polish journalist colleague asked – half suspicious, half worried : « Isn’t Morocco a Muslim country ? ». « Exactly ! », might have been the reaction of Gilles de la Roque, « Let’s go and find out what we have in common ».
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