One of the featured speakers at the annual WUJS Congress taking place this week
will be chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat.
Erekat, along with opposition head Tzipi Livni and Jewish Agency chairman Nathan Sharansky, will address
the more than 200 elected Jewish student leaders from 52 countries who have come
to participate in the congress taking place through Thursday at the Jerusalem
Gate Hotel.
Chaya Singer, outgoing chairwoman of the World Union of
Jewish Students, told the
Post on Monday, “There is no doubting the Zionist
content of the conference. Bringing voices such as Erekat’s opens the debate in
an educational forum and this kind of diversity is the strength of Jewish
students world over. It is an answer to the boycott and an opportunity to show
our openness to dialogue in the face of extremism.”
Jono Lazarus,
chairman of the Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS), said, “I think it
is important that WUJS hosts Dr. Erekat as well as a host of Israeli
representatives from the government and opposition, in our attempt to stand up
for and with the State of Israel for now, as well as securing its future as a
Jewish and democratic state.”
Mike Immerman, one of the delegates, said,
“It is of paramount importance that we engage with alternative or even
conflicting points of view. Listening to just one narrative may be comfortable
to the ears, but it should be stressed that comfort isn’t what were
after.”
Other speakers at the conference being hosted by the Foreign
Ministry and the Knesset will include Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon,
Welfare and Social Services Minister Isaac Herzog, Fiamma Nirenstein, vice
president of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Italian Chamber of
Deputies, and former Government Press Office head Danny Seaman.
“In a
tradition dating back to 1924, under the chairmanship of Albert Einstein, the
WUJS Congress once again brings together representative student leaders from
around the world to assess and confront the contemporary face of the age old
challenges facing Jewish students,” chairman Singer, from South Africa,
said.
This year, at the General Assembly that will take place on the
third day of the Congress, a new chairman will be elected to a two-year
term.
There are five candidates contesting for this position, three
student representatives from Israel and one each from the United Kingdom and
France.
“Jewish students are at the forefront of the battle against
assimilation, anti-Semitism and the delegitimization of Israel on campuses
around the world,” Singer said.
Topics for the 2010 Congress include the
battle against anti- Semitism, assimilation and anti-Israelism
worldwide.
Advocacy professionals, academics and community leaders alike
recognize the growing need for student-to-student peer led advocacy and
programming.
Through its programming and the annual congress, WUJS aims
to sustain a worldwide network through which a global advocacy agenda can be
advanced. At congress, student leadership from around the world will pool their
resources to build effective campaigns.
“WUJS provides a crucial platform
and network through which global advocacy ideas and campaigns can be developed
and shared,” Aaron Vomberg, president of the Canadian Federation of Jewish
Students, told the
Post on Monday.
“The Canadian delegation comprising
six students from six campuses across Canada looks forward to participating in
this important dialogue, helping craft the vision for WUJS over the next year,
and sharing our campaigns. One of our recent campaigns, one that we are very
proud of, is Size Doesn’t Matter, a viral campaign that highlights the multitude
of Israel’s accomplishments and contributions in a new, edgy and attractive
way. WUJS provides a platform through which we are sharing SDM globally.”