The following is the text of the final program received today from the organizers:
International Conference on Anti-Semitism
on the occasion of 100th anniversary of the Beilis Trial
15-16 October, 2013, Kyiv, Ukraine
Fairmont Grand Hotel
| Tuesday, October 15, 2013 | |
| 08:30-10:00 | |
Registration
Fairmont Grand Hotel (1 Naberezhno-Khreshchatytska Str, Kyiv, Ukraine)
10:00-11:15 Plenary Session 1: Opening of Conference
Oleksandr Feldman, MP, President, Ukrainian Jewish Committee
H.E. Oleksandr Vilkul, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine
Greeting from OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Mr. Leonid Kozhara delivered by Mr. Volodymyr Yatsenkivskyi, Director General, Directorate General of Ukrainian Diasporas, Cultural and Humanitarian Cooperation, MFA)
H.E. Geoffrey R. Pyatt, Ambassador of the United States
H.E. Christof Weil, Ambassador of Germany
Mr. Jay Beilis, Mendel Beilis’s Grandson (USA)
H.E. Leonid Kravchuk, First President of Ukraine11:15-11:30Coffee Break11:30-13:00Panel 1: Beilis As History: Warning, Relic, or Roadmap?
Moderator: Dr. Jonathan Brent, YIVO (USA)
Prof. Robert Weinberg, Swarthmore College (USA)
Edmund Levin, ABC News (USA)
Prof. Leonid Katsis, Russian State Humanitarian University (Russian Federation)
Dr. Shimon Samuels, Simon Wiesenthal Center (France)
13:00-14:00 Lunch
14:00-15:45 Plenary Session 2: What is the state of anti-Semitism in the region, and what are the overarching challenges in combating it? Are OSCE member states fulfilling their commitments?
Amb. Gideon Behar, Director of the Department for Combating Anti-Semitism, Foreign Ministry of Israel
Andrew Baker, Director of International Jewish Affairs, American Jewish Committee; Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office on Combating Anti-Semitism
Prof. Gert Weisskirchen, M P, Germany; Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office on Combating Anti-Semitism 2006-2008 (Germany)
Dr. Maram Stern, World Jewish Congress (USA)
Marvin Nathan, National Commissioner, Anti-Defamation League (USA)
Lesley Weiss, NCSJ: Advocates on behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States & Eurasia (USA)15:45-16:00Coffee Break16:00-18:00
Panel 2: Review of International Mechanisms and National Practices
Moderator: Mark Weitzman (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance)
H.E. Emanuelis Zingeris, Lithuanian Parliament
H.E. Rina Frenkel, Israeli Knesset
Vladimir Sloutsker, MP, Israeli Jewish Congress
Deidre Berger, American Jewish Committee Berlin Office (Germany)
Anne Giebel, OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
Panel 1 (continued, in parallel)
Dr. Darren O’Brien, University of Queensland
Prof. Dovid Katz, Editor, DefendingHistory.com
Prof. Alexander Merezhko, Kiev Linguistic University
Shimon Briman, Israeli journalist
Sam Kliger, American Jewish Committee
Peter Zalmayev, Eurasia Democracy Initiative18:15-19:30
Special meeting with leaders and representatives of Jewish communities
Fairmont Grand Hotel 20:00-21:30
Evening Gala Reception
Mr. James C. Temerty C.M., Ukrainian Jewish Encounter
Musical Performance by Ukrainian Folk Instruments National Academic Orchestra
Atrium Hall, Fairmont Grand Hotel
| Wednesday, October 16, 2013 | |
| 10:00 – 12:00 | |
Concluding Plenary: Role of Religious and Political Leaders
Moderator: Shai Franklin, Institute on Religion and Public Policy
MЕP Michal Kaminsky, European Parliament
Ambassador Omur Orhun, Organization of Islamic Cooperation
Rabbi Moshe Reuven Asman, Chief Rabbi of Kyiv
MP Hanna Herman, Member of Verkhovna Rada
Mark Weitzman, International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance
Benny Briskin, Executive VP, Russian Jewish Congress
Verkhovna Rada (The Parliament of Ukraine)
Address: str. Hrushevskogo, 5 , Kyiv
Optional historical tour of sites related to the Beilis Trial
The Beilis “Blood Libel” Case
In Autumn 1913, Mendel Beilis, a Jew, was tried in a Kyiv court on charges of ritually murdering a Christian child. From his initial arrest in 1911 through the trial and its aftermath, the Beilis case captured the attention of Western governments and leading intellectuals. The obviously trumped up charges and anti-Jewish rhetoric exposed the official nature of Tsarist anti-Semitism, and galvanized international action. October 2013 marks the 100th anniversary of Beilis’ acquittal, and the Kyiv Anti-Semitism Conference provides the opportunity to consider the Beilis legacy, the evolution of anti-Semitism and response, and lessons for the future.
OSCE Mechanisms
The 57 Member States of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE, or Helsinki Process) have committed to specific policies and mechanisms to measure and combat anti-Semitism across Europe and North America. The Kyiv Anti-Semitism Conference will review recent developments and discuss what more can be done at the political, professional and community levels, through the OSCE and other frameworks.