Muslim Jewish Alliance for Information & Interaction & Cooperation
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MUSLIM JEWISH CONFERENCE LAUNCHING MUSLIM JEWISH ALLIANCE FOR INFORMATION & INTERACTION & COOPERATION VIENNA 2017 WE TALK TO EACH OTHER, NOT ABOUT EACH OTHER. MUSLIM JEWISH CONFERENCE 2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................4 MOTIVATION ..................................................................................................................................................... 5 MUSLIM JEWISH CONFERENCE ............................................................................................................... 6 CONNECTING ACTIONS ...............................................................................................................................7 OUR CONNECTING ACTIONS PARTNERS ............................................................................................8 ALUMNI PROJECTS ........................................................................................................................................ 9 LOCAL CHAPTERS .........................................................................................................................................10 MUSLIM JEWISH ALLIANCE .........................................................................................................................11 FACTS & NUMBERS .......................................................................................................................................12 THE MJC SCOPE ............................................................................................................................................ 14 MEDIA COVERAGE ........................................................................................................................................16 WHAT THEY SAY .............................................................................................................................................17 INTERNATIONAL SUPPORTERS ............................................................................................................... 18 BOARD OF ADVISORS .................................................................................................................................19 HONORARY COMMITTEE ...........................................................................................................................19 THREE-YEAR PLAN .......................................................................................................................................20 DONORS & SUPPORTERS ..........................................................................................................................21 www.mjconference.org CONNECTING ACTIONS PROJECTS LOCAL CHAPTER 3 EXPERTS IMPACT COALITION BUILDING MUSLIM JEWISH CONFERENCE 2017 INTRODUCTION We started the Muslim Jewish Conference 8 years ago. My family's history is closely tied to intercultural experiences, as a German soldier saved my Grandfather's life and a Christian Priest saved my Grandmother's life during WW2 in Europe. Without people doing the right thing at the right time I would not be alive. I have committed almost a decade now to forming innovative networks of cooperation amongst a new generation of Muslim and Jewish change makers, entrepreneurs and allies, humanizing each other, in order to do the right thing, at the right time. With a budget of less than 800.000 Euro from 2010 to 2016 we have managed to become not only the main convener of grassroots and young leaders as well as experts in this field, but also the most efficient one. Our reputation is known in organizations such as the United Nations as well as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and Embassies and Consulates throughout this world. We have convened more than 800 multipliers through the Muslim Jewish Conference and the Connecting Action summits with a minimum of resources. We only dare to imagine what we could be able to achieve with more support. This presentation serves to illustrate MJC’s activities and present its plans for 2017 and beyond. 1. Produce MJC’s annual, global conference in Sarajevo in August 2017. 2. Relocate MJC’s headquarters from Vienna, Austria to Berlin, Germany by the end of 2017. 3. By 2018, incorporate in Germany a new entity titled, “Muslim Jewish Alliance” (MJA), that contains MJC as well as other new organizational entities that will perform an expanded scope of programs that advance MJC’s vision and mission, including: • MUSLIM JEWISH CONFERENCE • CONNECTING ACTIONS • PROJECTS • LOCAL CHAPTERS ILJA SICHROVSKY Founder | Muslim Jewish Conference CONNECTING ACTIONS PROJECTS LOCAL CHAPTER 4 EXPERTS IMPACT COALITION BUILDING MUSLIM JEWISH CONFERENCE 2017 MOTIVATION By sustaining interpersonal and intercommunal separation, Muslims and Jews miss opportunities that may be of mutual benefit, including: ● HUMAN RIGHTS ● BUSINESS AND COMMERCE ● EDUCATION ● AGRICULTURE ● ARTS AND CULTURE ● SCIENTIFIC AND MEDICAL RESEARCH ● STANDARD OF LIVING ● INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND COOPERATION MJC identified a significant, widely overlooked opportunity to enhance mutual understanding, respect and cooperation among Muslims and Jews by convening young leaders of each community for an intensive, weeklong conference. CONNECTING ACTIONS PROJECTS LOCAL CHAPTER CONNECTING ACTIONSEXPERTS PROJECTSIMPACT LOCALCOALITION CHAPTER BUILDING 5 EXPERTS IMPACT COALITION BUILDING MUSLIM JEWISH CONFERENCE 2017 MUSLIM JEWISH CONFERENCE VISION MJC envisions a world where global Muslim and Jewish communities exhibit mutual understanding and respect, and cooperate to enhance and preserve peace and prosperity. MJC envisions itself as a perpetual creator and sustainer of relationships among global Muslim and Jewish leaders. MISSION MJC endeavors to conceive, plan, and produce events that attract professional and academic Muslim and Jewish leaders from around the ORGANIZATION world to dedicate time to learning about each MJC is led by professionals based in Vienna, other’s communities and sharing the knowledge Austria and supported by a robust team of with their local communities at home. volunteers from across the world, including North and South America, Europe, Middle East, APPROACH Australia, and Africa. MJC hosts annual, week-long conferences that provide a safe space for ~150 global METRICS participants and staff to engage in meaningful dialogue on topics including: confronting MJC maintains a network of over 800 alumni stereotypes, discrimination and prejudice, across 50 countries who work in their own religion of “the other”, inter-faith and Intra- communities to promote the MJC vision, faith dialogue, Israeli/Palestinian conflict, and support alumni-led projects that amplify and genocide awareness. A major initiative the message and ripple the effect of the during the week is ‘sharing the pain’, where conference. we visit memorial sites of genocide having affected both communities. (Srebrenica HISTORY 2013, Mauthausen 2014, Bab Yar 2011, Since its founding in 2010, MJC hosted a Sachsenhausen 2016) Visits to holy sites are conference every year in cities including: also included in the program. Participants Vienna, Austria; Kiev, Ukraine; Bratislava, coproduce grassroots projects, including Slovakia; Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegowvina; programs focused on tolerance and education, and Berlin, Germany. The 2017 MJC interfaith or art, which create global and local Conference will be held in Sarajevo, Bosnia and impact. Herzegovina. CONNECTING ACTIONS PROJECTS LOCAL CHAPTER 6 EXPERTS IMPACT COALITION BUILDING MUSLIM JEWISH CONFERENCE 2017 CONNECTING ACTIONS PROBLEM Europe’s significant minority populations of Jews and Muslims are both afflicted by rising tides of Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. Recent influx of Muslim refugees into Europe challenged the institutions’ ability to integrate immigrants. Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and support for far left and right politicians threaten the integrity of the EU and Western alliance that provided a relatively safe place for Muslims and Jews. Interfaith institutions that improve integration are often fragile, locally focused and small scaled. VISION Connecting Actions (CA) envisions regional and global interfaith organizations cooperating with each other to maximize their impact. ORGANIZATION MISSION CA has been initiated by the MJC leadership CA seeks to create cooperative relationships and operates as a network of professionals among interfaith organizations to maximize their working in dialogue based organizations. efficiency and effectiveness. IMPACT APPROACH Having completed two conferences so far, we CA hosts a four-day symposium for leaders are proud to say that we were able to convene of interfaith organizations and facilitates more than 35 leaders of 20 organizations, discussions on best practices and drives active in the field. coordination among organizations to strengthen the network of organizations and HISTORY sustain and maximize their impact. The name draws from a network created by the MJC on social media in response to the refugee crisis. Called Connecting Actions, the group mobilized a few hundred young Muslims and Jews around Europe to create innovative networks of cooperation in order to assist refugees upon their arrival in Europe. CONNECTING ACTIONS PROJECTS LOCAL CHAPTER 7 EXPERTS IMPACT COALITION BUILDING MUSLIM JEWISH CONFERENCE 2017 OUR CONNECTING ACTIONS PARTNERS 19 PARTNERS SO FAR Coexister (FRANCE) Faith Matters (GB)