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(July 2, 2008 - Jerusalem) More
than 700 educators from across the globe will participate in a
unique international conference, “Teaching the Shoah: Fighting
Racism and Prejudice” at Yad Vashem that opens Monday, July 7,
2008. Participants from 52 countries as varied as Rwanda,
South Africa, Poland, Germany, Greece, Turkey, China, Japan,
Korea, The United Kingdom, Brazil, Mexico, Panama, the
Ukraine, Serbia, Australia and the United States will attend
the conference. The largest educators’ conference in Israel on
Holocaust, the central theme will deal with teaching the
Holocaust in a multi-cultural society. The three-day
conference will serve as a forum for dialogue among educators
dealing with the challenges of Holocaust education in
countries with large multi-ethnic populations.
The conference will take place from July 7-10, 2008 at Yad
Vashem and the Jerusalem International Convention Center. It
will address three topics: racism and antisemitism in the 19th
and 20th centuries, Holocaust education in a multi-cultural
classroom, and the legacy of the survivors for celebrating
Israel in its 60th year.
Participants from around the world will conduct 164
educational workshops in English, Spanish, Russian and French,
during the conference. Topics will include: teaching the
Holocaust in Rwanda, the challenge of Holocaust education for
students with a Muslim background, using the diary of Anne
Frank to combat prejudice in the classroom, teaching the
Holocaust in Germany in a multi-cultural classroom, Greek
students’ attitudes toward others and teaching the Holocaust
and genocide in Europe today - the challenge of anti-Zionism
and antisemitism.
“As a result of the pedagogical questions raised by hundreds
of teachers from around the world who come to us for seminars,
the need arose to place the theme of Holocaust education in a
multi-cultural society at the core of the conference. We hope
that the three days of the conference will provide hundreds of
educators with the tools necessary to deal with the challenges
of teaching the Holocaust in their countries,” said Avner
Shalev, Chairman of Yad Vashem.
“The unprecedented response that brought 700 educators to the
conference is a result of the awareness that Holocaust
education is vitally important for shaping a future
generation, and strengthens the commitment to the struggle
against antisemitism, racism, and prejudice - widespread
phenomena in multi-cultural societies,” remarked Dorit Novak,
Director of the International School for Holocaust Studies at
Yad Vashem.
Among the speakers at the conference will be Professor Yuli
Tamir, Minister of Education, Yitzhak Herzog, Minister of
Social Affairs, MK Rabbi Michael Melchior, Former Minister and
MK Natan Sharansky, Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, Chief Rabbi of Tel
Aviv, Professor Yehuda Bauer, Academic Advisor to Yad Vashem,
Professor Omer Bartov, Brown University, USA, Artist and
Holocaust Survivor Samuel Bak, Prof. Dina Porat, Tel Aviv
University, and the Hon. Daniel Rafecas, Esq., Federal Judge,
Argentina.
The opening ceremony will take place on Monday, July 7, 2008
at 20:30 at Yad Vashem, in the presence of Education Minister
Professor Yuli Tamir, Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev, and
International School for Holocaust Studies Director Dorit
Novak. The keynote speaker will be Rabbi Israel Meir Lau,
Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, who will speak on “The Legacy of
Holocaust Survivors: Jewish and Universal Implications.”
The conference is being supported through the generosity of
the Adelson Family Charitable Foundation and the Asper
Foundation.
The conference program
(pdf)
Contact: Estee Yaari / Foreign Media Liaison / Yad Vashem
estee.yaari@yadvashem.org.il
media.relations@yadvashem.org.il
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