|
Euroasian Jewish News
Session of General Council of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress and Conference of the Federal Jewish National and Cultural Autonomy
11.12.2008
On December 8-10, 2008 two important events of the Euro-Asian Jewry took place in the city of Kazan', the capital of the Tatarstan Republic. Those were the session of General Council of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC), which involved Jewish leaders of the CIS countries, Japan, Mongolia, Bulgaria and Georgia, and the Third Annual Conference of the Federal Jewish National and Cultural Autonomy (FJNCA), which gathered the representatives of 38 regional and local Jewish national and cultural autonomies.
A joint session of the EAJC General Council and the FJNCA Conference had been planned , which included the welcoming speeches by Boris Pavlov, the first vice prime minister of the Tatarstan Republic, Gulnara Sergeyeva, State Duma deputy, Shamil Ageyev, chairman of Tatarstan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as well as representatives of ORT-Russia and the Jewish Agency. The Deputy Minister of Regional Development Mikhail Travnikov, the Authorized Representative of the RF President in the Povolzhskiy Federal District Grigoriy Rapota, Chief Rabbi of Russia Adolf Shaevich, and Chairman of the Council of the Assembly of Peoples of Russia Ramazan Abdulatipov sent their messages of greetings. The EAJC leaders also had a meeting with the Chairman of Tatarstan State Council Farid Mukhametshin.
In their speeches the EAJC leaders summarized the results of the expiring year. Mikhail Chlenov summed up the political activities of the Congress, Josef Zissels presented the Congress Program Report, while the EAJC Vice President Yuriy Raskin commented on the ongoing implementation of the Development project.
The Chairman of the FJNCA Supervisory Council Alexander Mashkevich noted in his speech that a national and cultural autonomy is the only organization which has the legal right to represent the Jewish nation in all governmental bodies, and encouraged all the Conference participants to do their best to make the FJNCA a powerful, mobile, professional and highly efficient organization.
The EAJC General Council members also discussed a series of important issues concerning the state of Jewish communities in conditions of the global financial crisis, problems of Jewish education in the FSU countries, as well as antisemitism, xenophobia and hate violence.
Jewish rabbis, Christian Orthodox and Catholic priests all took part in the round table "Interreligious Dialogues – a Way to Tolerance". The participants of the EAJC General Council session listened to Chaim Chesler, leader of the Limud international Jewish educational program for Russian-speaking users, who showed a movie about the first Limud in Israel. A.Mashkevich underscored his intention to continue supporting this international program and placed special emphasis on the tremendous personal contributions of Chaim Chesler and his Russian colleague Mikhail Chlenov. The famous refusenick Iosif Begun, who had spent 14 years in Soviet concentration camps for his Zionistic beliefs and underground teaching of Hebrew, presented his movie In Struggle Will You Gain Your Right.
A business forum for Tatarstan businessmen and the EAJC General Council representatives was also conducted. The crux of the discussion was formed by the financial and economic crisis, as well as means of overcoming it.
The FJNCA Conference managed to reaffirm its competence and, having overcome inevitable contradictions, secured the unity of Jewish national and cultural autonomies. The election of Mikhail Skoblionok, the Tatarstan Jewish National and Cultural Autonomy leader, as Chairman of the All-Russian Jewish organization caused a sensation, as for the first time in twenty years the elected was not a Moscovite, but a representative of a regional Jewish community. The Conference elected the Auditing Committee and the FJNCA Council. The latter recieved 13 members plus the President. As advised by the President, The FJNCA Council elected two Vice Presidents with equal rights: the President of the VAAD of Russia Professor Mikhail Chlenov and Executive Director of the Association of Public Jewish Organizations of Russia Valery Engel.
A concert of Jewish performers concluded the official events.
EAJC Public Relations Department
|
|
