‘Unlearning Intolerance’
Series opens with discussion on confronting anti-Semitism
21 June 2004, United Nations Headquarters, New York
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On 21 June, Secretary-General Kofi Annan opened a seminar-conference on “Confronting anti-Semitism: Education for Tolerance and Understanding” at UN Headquarters in New York. This seminar was the first in a series entitled “Unlearning Intolerance”, organized by the Educational Outreach Section in the Outreach Division of the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI) and was aimed at examining different manifestations of intolerance, as well as exploring means to promote respect and understanding among peoples. As its name suggests, the series will also offer opportunities to discuss how intolerance, wherever it exists and for whatever reason, can be "unlearned", through education, inclusion and example.
Part of the DPI mission is to bring together voluntary organizations, educators and other components of civil society for discussions with the United Nations system on issues that are not just universal in their scope, but have a direct and palpable impact upon the lives of children, women and men everywhere. This series falls squarely within that effort. It also responds to a specific request to DPI from the Committee on Information (a committee of the United Nations General Assembly), asking that the Department help disseminate information relevant to the “dialogue among civilizations” and the “culture of peace”.
Following the opening statement by the Secretary-General, his fellow Nobel Peace Prize-laureate Elie Wiesel delivered a keynote address. There were then panel discussions offering different perspectives on anti-Semitism today, on the role of education in fostering tolerance and understanding, and on ideas for confronting anti-Semitism more effectively. Panellists included eminent writers, scholars and experts on anti-Semitism and other issues relating to tolerance and education. The discussions were chaired by Shashi Tharoor, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, and allowed the audience, as well as the panellists themselves, the opportunity to make comments and ask questions. In the afternoon, the panellists joined in an overview of the day's discussions and further interaction with the audience.
The day-long programme was open to the delegations of UN member states, UN-affiliated non-governmental organizations, media representatives, and members of the public who registered in advance. (Please see contact details at end.)
It was webcast live.
View Webcast: [Morning] [Afternoon]
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The Unlearning Intolerance series has been launched at the mid-point of the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World, proclaimed by the General Assembly in 1998. The DPI Educational Outreach Section, which is organizing the seminar series, also seeks to stimulate informed discussion on global issues, including those relating to discrimination and human rights, through the print and online editions of the UN Chronicle (http://www.un.org/chronicle). On the Cyberschoolbus website (http://www.cyberschoolbus.un.org), the Section has produced a general introduction to human rights for schools, including an in-depth focus on ethnic and racial discrimination. The Section's UN Works Programme has also worked with RCN Entertainment and Showtime Networks on the television series, What's Going On? (http://www.un.org/works/about/wgo), to promote a message of tolerance, putting a human face on critical global problems and on possible ways to resolve them. The Outreach Division has also partnered with Court TV to produce a programme on the International Day for Tolerance, entitled "We Are Family: Educating Our Children for a Safer World"; and its NGO Section (http://www.un.org/dpi/ngosection) arranges public briefings, including a well-attended one earlier this year on anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and racism.
A photo exhibition titled Diaspora: Homelands in Exile, by renowned photographer Frederic Brenner, will be open to the public until 9 July at the Visitors' Entrance to United Nations Headquarters (First Avenue, opposite 46th Street). This exhibition has been arranged by DPI in collaboration with New York's Center for Jewish History.
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| 9:00am - 9:30am |
Registration: United Nations visitors' lobby. Enter at First Avenue and 46th Street |
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| 9:50 am - 10:30am |
Welcoming Remarks from
Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information Shashi Tharoor
Opening Statement by Secretary-General Kofi Annan
Keynote Address by Nobel Peace Prize-laureate Elie Wiesel
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| 10:30am - 11:45am |
Panel I — Perspectives on anti-Semitism Today
1. Anne Bayefsky, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute; Adjunct Professor, Columbia University Law
School; Professor of Political Science,York University, Toronto.
2. James H. Charlesworth, George L. Collard Professor of New Testament Languages and Literature, Princeton Theological Seminary
3. Jacob Levy, Founder, Gallup, Israel; co-Chairman Trendum, Israel.
4. Melvyn I. Weiss, Israel Policy Forum; founding-partner Milberg Weiss
5. Mark Weitzman, Director, Task Force Against Hate, Simon Wiesenthal Center
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| 11:45am - 1:00pm |
Panel II — Education for Tolerance and Understanding
1. Swami Adiswarananda, Minister and Spiritual Leader, Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center of New York
2. Edgar Bronfman, President, World Jewish Congress
3. Abraham Foxman, National Director, Anti-Defamation League
4. Sister Ruth Lautt, O.P. Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville
5. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, President, American Sufi Muslim Association
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| 1:00pm - 3:00pm |
Break |
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| 3:00pm - 4:15pm |
Panel III - Confronting anti-Semitism
1. Stephen P. Cohen, President, Institute for Middle East Peace and Development
2. Felice Gaer, Director, Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights of the American Jewish Committee
3. Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice-Chairman, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
4. Ephraim Isaac, Director, Institute of Semitic Studies, Princeton
5. Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, Executive Vice-President, New York Board of Rabbis
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| 4:15pm - 5:15pm |
Unlearning Intolerance
Open Discussion between and among the day's panellists and the audience.
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| 5:15 pm |
Closing Remarks by Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information Shashi Tharoor
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Thank you for the overwhelming response!
Registration has now been closed.
Educational Outreach Section
Outreach Division
United Nations Department of Public Information
E-mail: Sura@un.org
Fax: 1-917-367-6075
For media accreditation, please visit:
http://www.un.org/media/accreditation/index.htm
Mr. Abdellatif Kabbaj, Chief
Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit
United Nations Department of Public Information
Tel: 1-212-963-6937
Fax: 1-212-963-4642
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