Between 16 – 18.03.2024, the ENE Council organized a seminar on anti-Semitism entitled “Bridges of Resilience: Understanding and Combating Antisemitism”. The seminar was held in Thessaloniki, at the Youth Center of I.K. Thessaloniki (IKTH), and was attended by 39 participants from all over Greece, but also from many other European countries (Spain, Czech Republic, Serbia, Germany, etc.).
The seminar was organized based on the needs of ENE members to talk about the rapid rise of anti-Semitism in the aftermath of 7 October. Therefore, it was deemed necessary to examine this phenomenon from multiple angles.
For this reason, many worthy speakers were invited to speak, each of whom offered their own unique piece to the event.
More specifically, Dr. George Antoniou, assistant professor of AUTH, spoke about modern forms of anti-Semitism, the Dr. Xenia Eleftheriou, scientific director of the Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki, offered a historical overview of anti-Semitism in Thessaloniki, the Rabbi of Athens Gabriel Negrin, referred to biblical accounts of anti-Jewish discrimination, o Mr Máté Zsédely-Holler, delegate of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), analyzed anti-Semitic conspiracies and the myths surrounding them, Dr. Danny Brom, clinical psychiatrist, director and founding member of Metiv: The Israel Psychotrauma Center, offered trauma management tactics, knowledge that unfortunately proved very useful after October 7, the Mrs. Hanna Holland, representative of the Jewish Agency for Israel for Turkey and the Balkans, together with her colleague Mr. Eduardo Huberman, talked about how the war between Israel and Hamas has affected Jewish communities everywhere, the Mr. Mike Mendoza, program manager of Junction by JDC, spoke about the Jewish youth revival effort in the Balkans, as well as how Greek Jews can also be part of this effort, the Mr. Ari Hechel, envoy of the Anti Defamation League (ADL), provided practical advice on dealing with anti-Semitic incidents in everyday life, and the Dr. Jacko Levi moderated a panel of various speakers on the subject of possibilities within the Jewish world.
The panel included some of the speakers mentioned above, but also Caterina Cognini (Treasurer of the Council of the European Union of Jewish Students, EUJS) and Hanna Veiler (Vice President of EUJS and member of the Council of JSUD, Jüdische Studierendenunion Deutschland, Jewish Student Union of Germany).
It is also worth noting that within the framework of the program, ENE gave a strong presence to Memory Walk which took place on Sunday 17/03, in memory of the first train that left Thessaloniki for Auschwitz.
The event that followed was also greeted by President of ENE, Eliezer Solomon Kampelis, with Vice President Elizabeth Detsi, who chose to tell the story of her grandfather, Leo Batis, the first Greek Jew to return from Auschwitz. Also, on the same night, a Halloween party was held at the community center, as part of the Seminar.
The program ended the next day, Monday 18/03, with a short and relaxing walk in Sheikh Shu.
The ENE board would like to thank the seminar speakers and partners for their excellent cooperation. He would like to give special thanks to IKTH for the hospitality and for the continuous support it provided in this effort. Finally, he would like to thank the participants who attended the program and showed such a good disposition to be part of this very important project.
The Council of ENE consists of:
Eliezer Solomon Kampelis, Chairman
Elizabeth Detsi, Vice president
Victor Moses, Secretary
Leonardo Cohen, Treasurer
Sam Mosios, Member
Markos Soussis, Member
