European Union of Jewish Students - Crisis at Durban

Crisis At Durban

A delegation of EUJS students, led by then President Joelle Fiss, joined the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS) and the South African Union of Jewish Students (SAUJS) at the World Conference Against Racism in Durban from August 26th until September 7th 2001. The EUJS delegates were present at the Youth Summit, the NGO Forum and the Governmental Conference. As the EUJS delegation arrived, they realized to what extent their role as young Jews would counterbalance the accusations imposed on the Jewish people. The event—in addition to spurring EUJS delegates to action on site—led to EUJS signing a common declaration with the Roma student delegation, setting forth the possibility of a partnership to promote Holocaust education, and subsequently resulting in an EUJS-led seminar in Budapest in November 2003. During the Youth Summit at Durban, EUJS, together with WUJS and SAUJS put forward a proposal calling for an end of the violence on both sides of the Middle East conflict. The proposal condemned the use of violence and called for students to take an active role in advocating peace in the region. Sadly, a group led by a delegation of Palestinians students voted down this proposal. During the governmental conference, EUJS met with political leaders such as Louis Michel, the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Walter Schwimmer, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.