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Religious Diversity and Anti-Discrimination Courses for Adult Educators, 2009

2-Day Workshop, Paris. February 18-19, 2009 (in French).

5-Day Workshop, Lisbon, Portugal. April 26 – May 1, 2009 (in French). Course is now full and closed.

5-Day Workshop, Lisbon, Portugal. May 3 – May 8, 2009 (in German). Deadline for mobility grants has now passed. Limited spaces still available for those interested with own financing – cost 1250euros + travel)
Registration deadline - 15 March 2009.

5-Day Workshop, Brussels, Belgium. November 22 – November 27, 2009 (in English). Deadline for mobility grants is 30 April, 2009.

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Religious Diversity and Antidiscrimination Workshop, Bulgaria

A two-day training workshop was held in Turgovishte on December 13-14, 2008. It was organized by Partners Bulgaria Foundation, in cooperation with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. The training was inspired by the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008 and was supported by Metin Kazak, member of the European Parliament representing the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE).
Participants were invited according their interest in public affairs, education and politics. Fifteen participants - teachers, journalists, local and regional authorities, medical doctors and politicians from a variety of religious backgrounds came together to participate in learning and exchange of perspectives.

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Press Release

CEJI calls for Positive Responses in the Wake of Gaza: To read the press release click here.

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Letters sent.

CEJI Director, Robin Sclafani, sent letters to a variety of heads of state, concerned about the escalation of violence antisemitism in the last month.

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CEJI Radio Interviews in the Wake of Gaza

CEJI Director, Robin Sclafani, was interviewed by Salaam Shalom Radio, Europe's Jewish Muslim radio station, on Thursday 16 January. She commented on dialogue in the wake of the Middle East conflict. Her interview is available as a podcast here.


The following day, CEJI Deputy Director for European Policy and Jewish Affairs, Gidon van Emden, was interviewed on fm Brussel about the wave of antisemitism in Europe during the conflict in Gaza. You can listen to his interview here.


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Jewish Muslim Co-operaton Platform News

The Executive Committee for the Jewish Muslim Co-Operation Platform met on January 26th, 2009, in Brussels.

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Pilot training on Antisemitism and Islamophobia

A pilot training on Antisemitism and Islamophobia was held for a mixed audience on January 27-28, 2009 in Brussels. This pilot training attracted a diverse number of participants, including Muslims, Jews, Mormons, mainstream Christians and non-believers, with participants coming from Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and the UK.
The training was delivered by a Joint Muslim Jewish training team and was felt by trainers and participants alike to be successful event with positive evaluations received. It also provided the opportunity to ‘road-test’ some new training materials currently under development. The next phase of the project is to pilot the two sub-modules separately and therefore there will be two new one-day trainings this spring – a one-day training against antisemitism and another one-day training against islamophobia. Dates to be confirmed.

Training Against Antisemitism to take place in Brussels in 2009. Dates yet to be confirmed.
Training Against Islamophobia to take place in Brussels in 2009. Dates yet to be confirmed.

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OSCE Meeting, Vienna.

Ruth Friedman, CEJI's Education Programmes Manager, recently attended a round Table meeting on Combating Intolerance against Muslims, organised by the OSCE. Ruth was the only representative from a Jewish organisation and believed it was important to be there to show solidarity with other minority groups who also suffer discrimination.
She made several points, highlighting the importance of groups who experience discrimination working together to combat discrimination in all its forms. She also recommended an increase in educational programmes that create opportunities for introspection and self-reflection; programmes that foster understanding and empathy for the differences between people and that offer tools to combat all forms of intolerance against 'the other'.
You can read more about the OSCE Meeting here.

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EPTO

Peer I'm – Seminar One: ran from 9-15th February, 2009 in Oostende, Belgium The course was a 5-day training on Religious Diversity and Anti-Discrimination, operating within the frame of its PEER I'M Multi-Measures Projects, sponsored by the Youth in Action program. The first seminar involved 20 EPTO members who had been through Train the Trainers workshops but had not yet completed the transition from peer educators to professional trainers.
For more information about EPTO, please contact Mrs Julie Godfroid – julie.godfroid@epto.org

Other EPTO seminars in 2009:

PEER I'M – Religious Diversity Training, from 30 March – 5 April, 2009 in Slovenia-Ljubljana. Contact Mrs Urska Hartman – programi@zavod-voluntariat.si
PEER I'M Fruitcakes – a peer training that deals with gender and homophobic discrimination in youth environments. This seminar will run from 18 – 24 May, 2009 in Amsterdam. Contact Mrs Friederike Birkle – sunnyfreddy@hotmail.com
PEER I'M – peer training against racism , from 13 – 19 July, 2009 in Paris. Contact Mr Paul Halle – paul.halle@univ-lyon2.fr
PEER I'M – the final summer conference, from 2-7 September, 2009 in Luxembourg City. Contact Mr Kevin Haddad – kevin@4motion.lu

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Other News

Inter-faith Academic Seminar.

Graduate students and faculty from around the world are invited to a unique interfaith, academic seminar housed in the Galilee in the north of Israel in July 2009. The region is the origin of religious traditions and the present-day home to Jews, Christians, Muslims, Druze, and other religious groups. The Galilee is both an area of unparalleled natural beauty and a unique laboratory of intercultural co-existence.
Participants will spend five weeks in the Holy Land studying the three great monotheistic traditions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam (as well as other traditions which are present in Israel), the history of these traditions, their connections to the Land of Israel/Palestine and their relevance to Modern Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Special attention will be given to the challenge of religious leaders and educators today to develop interfaith dialogue, both in Israel and in other parts of the world, in order to foster mutual understanding, tolerance and pluralism.
Visit the website here or contact Shoshi Norman snorman@galilcol.ac.il
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Online Diversity and Anti-Bias Course for Educators.

The Anti-Defamation League created Making Diversity Count through its A World of Difference Institute, a leading provider of anti-bias education and diversity training programs and resources. Enrol in Making Diversity Count, an online course to help you build equitable and inclusive classrooms.
Making Divesity Count was created with leading educators and anti-bias professionals, piloted with teachers from across the country and evaluated by researchers at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
The fees are $129 per individual. Bulk quantity pricing available
To learn more and register, click here.
Or email: makingdiversitycount@adl.org
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Staff News

CEJI welcomes two new interns to the office:
Ainara Ortiz, as part of her Masters in European Studies at the ULB, will be working with CEJI full-time until the end of June.

Katie Mayer, as part of a semester intensive in European Studies with American University, will be working with CEJI two days per week until the end of April.

Raphaλlle Paradis, as part of her Masters in European Studies at the ULB, has been working full-time with CEJI since November and will complete her internship at the end of February. Specifically Raphaelle has been working on current policy issues such as the proposed Equality Directive and the upcoming Durban Review Conference.

Laura Leysten has just completed her internship with CEJI, as part of her studies with the University of Liege. Specifically Laura helped with research into the current realities of discrimination in Europe today.

CEJI is grateful for the good work and team spirit that Raphaelle and Laura have brought to their internship!
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