European Union of Jewish Students speak out at the UN Human Rights Council

For the fourth consecutive year, the European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS) brought a student delegation to the Human Rights Council in Geneva. The delegation expressed its concern about the upcoming Durban Review Conference and spoke out against Human Rights violations around the world. The EUJS delegation met with several heads of diplomatic missions in order to express their concern over the integrity of the upcoming Durban Review Conference, and spoke with the Slovenian, German, Finish, Turkish, Italian, and Egyptian Ambassadors to the United Nations. “We do support, in principle, the next international conference against racism. However we would ask for your vigilance.

The Previous conference organized in Durban, in 2001, was a disastrous failure and showed with which ease some countries and NGO’s diverted, canted, and trampled the fundamental values of the United Nations” said EUJS delegate Lisa Levy, addressing the Human Rights Council of on Wednesday. A delegation of Jewish students, lead by former EUJS Chairperson Joelle Fiss, was present at the UN World Conference Against Racism in Durban in 2001 which turned into a spectacle of hatred and demonization, reawakening an entire panoply of anti-Semitic stereotypes. EUJS is deeply concerned that the Durban Review Conference will once again become a venue for Anti-Semitic vitriol. Through its commitment to diplomatic engagement, EUJS is dedicated to supporting the voice of Jewish youth at the UN and strives to take an active role in the upcoming preparatory meetings for the Review Conference of the World Conference Against Racism and in speaking out with against human rights abuses and injustice.

The EUJS delegation included Lisa Levy (France), Margherita Sacerdoti (Italy), Aviva Guttman (Switzerland), Ruben Koekoek (the Netherlands) and EUJS vice-Chair, Aleksander Belevski (Serbia). The delegation was assisted and supported by United Nations Watch and Stand With Us. Watch the EUJS address to the Human Rights Council (Realplayer only):

English:  rtsp://webcast.un.org/ondemand/conferences/unhrc/seventh/hrc080319am-eng.rm?start=02:55:15&end=02:58:25 French: Original version rtsp://webcast.un.org/ondemand/conferences/unhrc/seventh/hrc080319am-orig.rm?start=02:55:15&end=02:58:25