A/HRC/7/19 page 10 2. Resurgence of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia 28. In 2007, the Special Rapporteur made a number of statements concerning the resurgence of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia and analysing the historical and cultural dimension of these problems. The most important statements are briefly outlined in the following paragraphs. 29. At the invitation of the Mayor of London, the Special Rapporteur took part in the conference entitled “A World Civilization or a Clash of Civilizations”, held on 20 January 2007. In a round table with journalists and intellectuals on the subject “Multicultural London: does it work?”, he stressed the intellectual and political resistance to multiculturalism, which is one of the underlying causes of the resurgence of racism and xenophobia. 30. From 10 to 12 May 2007 in Nürnberg (Germany), the Special Rapporteur participated in the first General Conference of the European Coalition of Cities against Racism entitled “Sharing Competence and Empowering Communities: the Role of Cities in Challenging Racism and Discrimination”. The Special Rapporteur stressed the broad scope of the Coalition’s initiative, under the auspices of UNESCO, in promoting the campaign against racism in urban areas, the central framework for the process of ethnic, cultural and religious multiculturalism. 31. In addition, the Special Rapporteur attended the fourth International Human Rights Forum on “Human rights and children”, which was held on 24 and 25 May 2007 in Lucerne (Switzerland). There he stressed the need to highlight the cultural and historical processes shaping all forms of racism, and the importance of fostering education in multiculturalism in schools, in the media and in the home. 32. The Special Rapporteur also participated in the second Global Inter-Media Dialogue, in Oslo on 4 and 5 June 2007. This initiative, which was launched in 2006 by the Governments of Indonesia and Norway in the light of the questions raised by the crisis following the publication of cartoons of the prophet Muhammed in a Danish newspaper, offers a forum where leading editors and journalists from all continents can share their experiences and views on how to promote freedom of expression, tolerance and peace. In his statement, the Special Rapporteur urged the media: to pay greater heed to the deep historical and cultural roots of racism and xenophobia; to oppose the use of freedom of expression as intellectual justification for those phenomena; and to reflect more deeply the pluralism and multicultural dynamics of most societies today in the content and structure of their articles and programmes and in their staff. 33. On 13 June 2007, the Special Rapporteur participated in the meeting of the Core Cities: Equalities and Performance Network in Liverpool (United Kingdom). This is an event which is organized annually by an integrated network of eight of England’s major cities, apart from London, to discuss these cities’ role in promoting social cohesion and equality. On that occasion he spoke of the importance of promoting the two central strategies of the intercultural dialogue in order to counteract the identity stress generated by the conflict between old national identities and the far-reaching multicultural process under way within societies: these strategies entail recognition of the various communities’ diversity and specific cultural, ethnic and religious characteristics, and the creation of cultural, economic and social conditions that will facilitate mutual knowledge and interaction between them.