The European Jewish Congress held its General Assembly on January 24th 2019 in Brussels. Leaders from EJC’s 42 affiliated Jewish communities were joined by political leaders, experts and opinion makers to discuss pressing issues concerning the future of European Jewry.
Ukraine was represented by JCU President Boris Lozhkin, JCU Honorary President Borys Fuksman, JCU Presidium Member, Chief Rabbi of Kiev and Ukraine Yakov Dov Bleich and JCU Executive Director Inna Ioffe.
The General Assembly was chaired by EJC Chairman of the Council and President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Marie van der Zyl, and EJC Executive Vice-President and CEO Raya Kalenova.
Subsequently, EJC Vice-President in charge of security Dr. Ariel Muzicant led a discussion on practical steps for Jewish communities following the landmark declaration by the Council of the European Union on the fight against antisemitism and and the development of a common security approach to better protect Jewish communities and institutions in Europe.
The General Assembly was honoured to welcome French philosopher, writer, activist and filmmaker Bernard-Henri Lévy, who presented his upcoming project “Looking for Europe” to European Jewish communities.
Isaac Herzog, Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, also addressed the General Assembly, insisting on the crucial role that Jewish communities in Europe play in strengthening relations between European countries and Israel.
Other speakers included Katharina von Schnurbein, European Commission Coordinator on combatting antisemitism; Mike Whine, MBE, SACC by EJC Expert Director at the UK’s Community Security Trust (CST); Dr Jonathan Boyd, Executive Director of the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR); and Elie Kagan, Director of Crisis Management at SACC by EJC.
Following the ceremony, the EJC hosted an opening dinner, which brought together ambassadors, Members of the European Parliament, Officials at the European institutions, members of the diplomatic corps, as well as Jewish leaders and professionals and experts.
The dinner included a keynote address by Prof. Fania Oz-Salzberger, as well as performances by Cantor Azi Schwartz and pianist Alexander Mogilevsky.