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Newsletter - CEJI FlashIssue 3 - May 2007 Download CEJI Flash Issue 3 (PDF 587kb)
JEWISH AND MUSLIM ORGANISATIONS UNITE TO CREATE A EUROPEAN PLATFORM FOR CO-OPERATION by Dialogue Co-ordinator Ruth Friedman
Organised by CEJI with guidance from a Jewish-Muslim Steering Group, the Conference was conceived with a view to promoting dialogue, exchange of best practice, co-operation and partnership between Jewish and Muslim communities in Europe. A key outcome of the Conference was the establishment of a European Platform for Jewish-Muslim Co-operation to both encourage and to raise the profile of local, national and Europe-wide dialogue and cooperation initiatives. The Conference welcomed seventy Jews and Muslims from Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, the UK and France who are involved in or interested in dialogue at a community level. Organisations represented included the European Muslim Network, the International Council of Jewish Women (ICJW) and Islamic Relief. Addressed by speakers including Imam Dr Abduljalil Sajid (Chairman of the Muslim Council for Religious and Racial Harmony UK), Rabbi Michel Serfaty (Founder & President of Amitié Judéo-Musulmane de France), Dutch MP Samira Bouchibti and European Commission Culture Director Vladimir Sucha, participants were reminded of their shared religious and cultural heritage and were encouraged to join forces rather than working against each other. Some participants’ comments on the initiative: ‘The exchange of views [between participants] was sometimes difficult but it is crucial to move forward. A truly human experience – very enriching.’ ‘I have learnt that it is possible [for members of our two communities] to talk to each other and to move forwards together.’ Full report of the Conference, including photographs, articles by participants and texts of a number of the key speeches. ____________________________________________ TWO-DAY RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY & ANTI-DISCRIMINATION WORKSHOP - SIGN UP NOW!CEJI is pleased to invite you to a 2-day religious diversity and anti-discrimination workshop on 4-5 June in Brussels. Open to people of all faiths, beliefs and senses of religious and non-religious belonging,this workshop aims to address diversity and discrimination issues related to religion using highly interactive and participatory methods that have proven effective in dealing with general prejudice and discrimination.Developed by CEJI in partnership with organisations from six European countries with funding from the European Commission and the Ford Foundation, the workshop is open to all and costs 80€, which includes lunch on both days. It will be conducted in English. To register contact training@ceji.org by 21 May. Further details about the Religious Diversity training module ____________________________________________ EPTO RECRUITING EUROPEAN CO-ORDINATOR
The European Co-ordinator will be responsible for the implementation of EPTO’s strategic plan and co-ordinate the organisation’s strategic development – this will imply coaching of national and local peer trainers’ teams and support their development, increasing EPTO’s visibility and recognition, foster partnerships with European organisations and institutions. Applicants should send a CV and motivation letter to Ms. Robin Sclafani, EPTO Board / CEJI Director, 319 Avenue Brugmann, 1180 Brussels, Belgium by June 15, 2007. For further details click here (PDF 156kb) ____________________________________________ RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY & ANTI-DISCRIMINATION TRAINING HELD IN BULGARIA by CEJI’s Training AssistantIn March CEJI held a five-day Religious Diversity & Anti-Discrimination training session for adult educators. Hosted by Partners Foundation Bulgaria, the training was held in Sofia and welcomed fifteen participants from nine European countries. It culminated in a reception at Sofia University with local religious leaders during which participants were presented with certificates by Jürgen Becker from the Representation of the European Commission. Participants’ comments included:‘Thanks for making possible my participation to this wonderful and enriching experience. Remarkable trainers, special participants, challenging learning points, wonderful time. Many thanks to you and CEJI.’ ‘I am very glad that I had the opportunity to participate and meet a variety of people who contributed and enriched the training. The trainers also did a very good job!’ CEJI’s Religious Diversity & Anti-Discrimination training module, which was launched in October 2006 at the Multifaith Centre in Derby, U.K, aims to provide adult educators with tools for situations where religious diversity and discrimination are a concern. It is the product of co-operation between partners from six European countries, and is supported by the Grundtvig Programme of the European Union and the Ford Foundation. The next course for adult educators from throughout Europe will take place in June 2007 in Rome. An additional course is expected to be held in Berlin in the autumn. For further details click here. To register contact training@ceji.org. ____________________________________________ HOMOPHOBIA & GENDER-BASED DISCRIMINATION TRAINING FOR YOUTH WORKERS HELD IN HUNGARY by EPTO Co-ordinator Luis Manuel Pinto
It was an intense week of activities, where both team and participants went on a journey of self-reflection about their own gender socialization, analysing gender-based discrimination in our societies and thinking of possible ways to confront it. The experiences and backgrounds of participants were varied, ranging from total unfamiliarity with concepts of gender to LGBT activists. The mix made the group interaction more complex in terms of learning process but rich in a peer-to-peer level. The course ended with a general feeling that discussing gender and its connection to homophobia is relevant, not only for young people, and that a longer-term strategy to work on this topic should be developed. More information about the FRUITCAKES project. ____________________________________________ NEW FRENCH NATIONAL CO-ORDINATION FOR A CLASSROOM OF DIFFERENCE™
More on CEJI’s involvement with the A CLASSROOM OF DIFFERENCE™ Programme. ____________________________________________ ADVOCACY UPDATE by Policy Officer Gidon van EmdenThe past couple of months have seen the adoption of two non-binding political documents aiming to combat racism. On 21 March, the Council of Europe's European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) published Policy Recommendation on Combating Racism through School Education, and on 19 April, the Justice and Home Affairs Council of the EU adopted the Framework Decision on Racism and Xenophobia, the text of which is still not publicly available. This aims to make punishable incitement to hatred based on ‘race, colour, religion, descent or national or ethnic origin’ throughout the Union, as well as ‘publicly condoning, denying or grossly trivialising’ genocides, crimes against humanity and war crimes.CEJI contributed to the creation of both these documents by submitting a consultation to ECRI last autumn and by participating in the public hearing on the Framework Decision at the European Parliament. While we feel that these measures are a step in the right direction, we are disappointed that the Framework Decision provides no enforceable standards and, in fact, does little more than setting out the lowest common denominator already currently in place in the EU Member States. A fuller statement of our views on the Framework Decision is expressed in a Policy Response (PDF 391kb). On a different note, the Council of Europe recently launched a consultation for the creation of a White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue. CEJI submitted its point of view on this (PDF 277kb), noting that dialogue is difficult in and of itself and that the situation is not helped by the current funding structures for such projects, which focus mostly on start-up initiatives and short-term measures. Dialogue takes time, and needs long-term structural funding in order to be truly effective, enabling people to understand and respect each other. For more details about CEJI’s Advocacy work click here or contact Policy Officer Gidon van Emden. ____________________________________________ SHIURIM by Policy Officer Gidon van EmdenThe latest Shiur, entitled ‘Belgo-Israeli Relations – Reflections of a Parting Ambassador’ was addressed by H.E. Jehudi Kinar, Ambassador of Israel to Belgium and Luxembourg and took place on Tuesday 15 May (today).The Shiur due to be held on Thursday 12 April was unfortunately cancelled when speaker Johannes Houwink ten Cate, of the Centre for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Amsterdam, was unavoidably delayed on the train from Amsterdam. However, Professor Houwink ten Cate has kindly provided us with the text of his speech discussing 20th-century genocides and the Framework Decision on Racism and Xenophobia, which is available here (PDF 108kb). The next Shiur, 'From Eternal Principles to Personal Interpretation' with Rabbi Dr Floriane Chinsky (Beth Hillel, Brussels), will be held on Wednesday 27 June 2007. For more details about CEJI’s Shiurim click here. To sign up to the e-mail list contact Policy Officer Gidon van Emden. ____________________________________________ INTERFAITH WOMEN’S SEDERCEJI, in conjunction with the Brussels Group of the International Grail, held a Seder for Women of all Faiths on Sunday 25 March. The following article is written by participant Patrícia Foito e Camisão.
We all sat and listened as Rabbi Floriane Chinsky opened this afternoon guiding us through the different parts of this service. We sat close to women we knew or women we had just met. We sat together in a circle. We did not know each others’ names. And the first thing we were asked to do was to get up and thoroughly wash our hands to prepare for the programme ahead. The seeming discontinuity of this moment was welcomed with laughter – after all, this was not a traditional Order. I won't describe our whole meeting, but will let you know that we offered light as we lit candles and blessed each other towards freedom; and took the tears shed in oppression to celebrate the struggle on the way to a new life. Singing the Seder order we shared the making of bread – bread, which for this event, would be rising, as we rose up, together, towards liberation. And I guess the hours passed, the twilight came as we shared beyond names and belongings – into Freedom. Learning stories of each of the women around me, guessing what made them who they are, asking more about their traditions, their own history – this is how we slowly weaved the delicate bridges across our paths on the road to liberation. Seeking our belongings and lifting the veil on our becoming… Our hands were on the words we let escape towards the other, our breath on the bread cooked together. That same afternoon our wishes were on the Seder plate as well as on the shared meal. I still remember the water on the basin and the orange on the Seder plate. But also so many questions and wanting to learn more songs and forgetting the growl of my stomach – we were all hungry by 8 o’clock! The blessings we shared and bestowed upon each other offered the last drop and – as simply as a miracle – an immense freshness invaded me. ____________________________________________ UPCOMING EVENTS
____________________________________________ STAFF NEWS
We are also sorry to say goodbye to intern Hannah Mills whose work on the Antisemitism and Islamophobia modules and with the European Conference on Jewish-Muslim Dialogue was greatly appreciated. We wish her the best of luck with her studies. ____________________________________________ CEJI IN THE PRESS by Communications Officer Katy NicholsonCEJI made its first media appearances of 2007 in the International Herald Tribune, the Nieuw Israelietisch Weekblad and the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) at the beginning of March following our call to the Belgian government to investigate the sale of a book containing The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. We also received some coverage on the creation of the new EU Fundamental Rights Agency, the International Action Week Against Racism and a school workshop on European Jewish identity co-facilitated by CEJI.The most impressive media response, however, was related to last month’s European Conference on Jewish-Muslim Dialogue. The conference was mentioned in a broad range of Jewish, Muslim, Christian and human rights-related publications, e-news services and blogs including the Nieuw Israelietisch Weekblad, Joods Actueel, Télé J Magazine, The Muslim Weekly and The Islamic Times – as well as the Danish and Moroccan press. The JTA is also expected to publish a number of the conference’s key speeches. Copies of all CEJI media coverage can be accessed on our Press page. ____________________________________________ PARTNERS’ NEWS / EVENTSAn insight into the work of the Intercultural Alliance by Co-ordinator Chantal Runne
A CLASSROOM OF DIFFERENCE™ teaches students, teachers and school administrators about identity, prejudice and discrimination and how to fight all forms of exclusion and use diversity in a positive manner. Interactive sessions make these workshops particularly powerful. Participants have to do exercises together in order to understand each other better, create a bond and learn through experience. These exercises can be both physical and mental and are often followed by discussion. Currently we are dealing with several projects on different levels of society. We are training in secondary and elementary schools, but also people that work in the fields of social work, youth and discrimination monitoring. Reflecting changes in Dutch society, especially over the past decade, we are asked to provide workshops at so-called ‘multicultural schools’ in big cities because of their issues with diversity, but also at so called ‘white schools’ because of their lack of diversity and the need to deal with this in modern Dutch multicultural society. We aim to create a safe environment in which to learn about these matters. Interest in this programme amongst local and national policymakers is growing, and the reactions of participants have so far been very positive, which gives us even more motivation to continue our work. For more details about the work of the Intercultural Alliance contact Co-ordinator Chantal Runne or visit www.interculturele-alliantie.nl. ____________________________________________ SUBSCRIBE / UNSUBSCRIBE & NEWSLETTER ARCHIVESSubscribe or unsubscribe to CEJI Flash / Previous issues |
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