Sharing Our Faith Sharing Our Pride An Interfaith Conference for Young People in the New Europe December 6-10, 2006 Brussels, Belgium WELCOME here is the place of faith today in Europe? Is it an ar- Wchaic remnant from earlier times that only breeds hate and intolerance, or is it a way of living a spiritual and meaningful life, embodying ethical and moral norms and re- sponsibilities towards humankind? During this conference, together with participants from all over Europe and from different faiths, you will have the opportunity to explore answers to these questions and more. Together we will ex- plore the role that faith may place in a united, but diverse and multi-cultural Europe. t this conference we will discuss challenges in Europe Ato members of the Muslim, Christian, and Jewish faiths respectively. Among the challenges that will be covered are integration issues, manifestations of hate and intolerance, and the often conflicting tensions between tradition and modernity for members of faith based communities. In or- der to accomplish this we have invited prominent experts from three different faiths to address the conference. Fur- thermore, there will be numerous workgroups where every participant will have the opportunity to have his or her voice heard on a variety of issues. his conference is taking place in Brussels, the home of the TEuropean Parliament, in order to emphasize the Euro- pean aspect of the inter-faith issues that will be discussed. Throughout the conference, guided by MEPs and different political experts, the political dimension will be emphasized in order to set a proactive agenda for the conference. ll of us, citizens of Europe, need to understand the chal- Alenges that members of other faith based communities face, to appreciate the similarities and tolerate the differences amongst us. Barriers will be broken down and the groundwork will be laid for Europe to be a secure and comfortable home for people of different faiths to practice and be proud of their faith. Together we will build a strong coalition of young Europeans who are proud of their religious identities and who can express it in a multi-cultural and integrated Europe. e wish you a meaningful stay in Brussels, W The EUJS Team P R OG R AMME Wednesday, DecembeR 6 - Arrival 18h30 Ice breakers at the Youth Hostel 20h00 Dinner - Introductory Address by Olga Israel, chairperson of EUJS ThuRsday, DecembeR 7 7h00 Breakfast 7h30 Meet for Departure to the European Parliament in the Lobby of the Youth Hostel 9h00 Religious Europe Today - Salle ASP A5G-3 -Chemsi Chéref Khan, President of the Institut européen de l’humanisme musulman -Baroness Sarah Ludford, Member of the European Parliament, Liberal Party 10h30 Break 11h00 Understanding the challenges of the Muslim Communities - Salle ASP A5G-3 Islamophobia, Integration issues in Europe, and the impact of radical religious factions - Yahya Sergio Yahe Pallavicini, Imam, Adviser to the Ministry of the Inte rior in the Council for Italian Islam - Lena Larsen, Vice-President of European Muslim Network 13h00 Lunch 15h00 Group discussion - Salle ASP A5G-3 16h30 Break 17h00 Understanding the challenges of the Jewish communities - Salle ASP A5G-3 Anti-Semitism and Anti-Israelism, Increas- ing security issues for the Jewish commu - nity, Jewish communitarianism - Rabbi David Meyer, executive mem- ber of the CEJI - Serge Cwajgenbaum, Secretary Gen- eral of the European Jewish Congress 18h30 Free Time 20h00 Dinner at the Youth Hostels FRiday, DecembeR 8 7h00 Breakfast 8h15 Meet for Departure to the European Parliament in the Lobby of the Youth Hostel 9h00 Group discussion- Salle ASP A5G-3 10h30 Break 11h00 Understanding the challenges of the Christian communities - Salle ASP A5G-3 How Christian is Europe today?, Relevance of Christian values in multicultural Europe, The new role of Christianity in a changing political environment - Father Norbert Hoffman, Secretary to the Vatican Commission for the religious - Oliver McTernan, Former Catholic parish priest, broadcaster, author and Fellow of Harvard University’s Centre for Interna- tional Affairs 13h00 Lunch 14h30 Group discussion - Salle ASP A5G-3 16h00 Free time 18h45 Shabbat Dinner followed by a discussion introduced by Professor Julien Klener, Presi- dent of the Belgium Consistoire, with the Chief Rabbi of Brussels, Albert Guigui and Father Norbert Hoffman . Departure from the Youth Hostels to the Synagogue SatuRday, DecembeR 9 8h00 Breakfast 10h00 Workshop (Gidon Van Emden, CEJI) Do I feel at home in Europe? Is Europe tolerant enough? Is my religion a private or a public issue? At what point does the State stop ensuring its secular character and begin interferring with religius freedom? 13h00 Lunch 15h00 Workshop (Bogdan Popescu) How do we make Europe a better, more tolerant place? Does religion belong in the public realm (& vice versa)? How can we use religion as a reconciliation reference point? 17h00 Exhibition “Dieux: mode d’emploi” guided tour by Eli Barnavi, author. 20h00 Dinner- Closing Ceremony SPEAKE R S hemsi Chéref Khan was born in Turkey, to a Kurdish Cfather and a Turkish mother. He is a man of debate and dialog as well as an involved intellectual. He studied at the Turkish French high School of Galatasaray, Istanbul. He obtained a master in social sciences and a doctorat in Law from the Free University of Belgium. Chemsi Chéref- Khan directed a center on market studies and marketing (at the Sociology institute), up to 1979, then followed with a career in the private sector, as an administrator of di- verse businesses. As an active member of Human Rights and Thoughts, Chemsi Chéref-Khan was the main organis- er of two symposiums: “Islam and Muslims in the Europe: Challenges of secularity” and “Europe, a luck for the Muslim woman”, (both of them at the European Parliament). erge Cwajgenbaum was born in Lyon, France in Septem- Sber of 1946. He joined the World Jewish Congress in 1974. In 1979, he was elected Secretary General of the French Sec- tion of the WJC and in 1982, General Director of the Euro- pean Branch of the WJC. Since 1986, when the European Jewish Congress (affiliated to the WJC) was created, Serge Cwajgenbaum has retained the position of Secretary Gen- eral. Mr. Cwajgenbaum has been at the initiation of numer- ous programs and events. Amongst these are the “Commit- tee for Holocaust Information for High School Students”, a program created in coordination with the French Ministry of Education to educate and inform French high school stu- dents about the Shoah. In addition Mr. Cwajgenbaum is the founder of the CERA -European Center for Research and Action on Racism and Anti-Semitism and most recently, actively participated in the establishment of Medbridge - an organization gathering parliamentarians across Europe with the objective of forging a better understanding of the reality of Israel. In 1994 Mr Cwajgenbaum was awarded by the French Government the medal of «Chevalier dans l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur». r. Dr. Norbert Hofmann is a Catholic Salesian priest or- Fdained in 1990. Biblical scholar in the field of apocry- phal literature, he was trained in Rome at the Pontifical Biblical Institute and the Gregorian University. He has served as Secretary of the Vatican’s Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews since November 2002. lbert Guigui is the Chief Rabbi of Brussels and the Rabbi Afor the Central Consistoire of Belgium. Within these po- sitions, he plays a particularly active role in community life, and in teaching Judaism. He is member of the Conference of European Rabbis and he is involved in several institutes. He is the author of a large number of articles published in different books and magazines. He is also coauthor of vari- ous works, including “Health towards Human Rights, ethics and moral a Conseil of Europe Publication. ena Larsen was the first woman to be the head of Islamic LCouncil Norway, is vice president of the European Mus- lim Network, and is on leave from the position of Coordina- tor of the Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief. She is doing her PhD project at University of Oslo at the research program of ‘Cultural Complexity in the New Nor- way.’ Her research topic is Islamic jurisprudence facing ev- eryday challenges with a focus on women’s issues. aroness Sarah Ludford is London’s Liberal Democrat BEuro-MP and a life peer in the House of Lords. She is spokeswoman for the British Liberal Democrats in the Eu- ropean Parliament on the Civil Liberties, Justice & Home Affairs committee and Vice-Chairwoman of the European Parliament’s temporary committee on extraordinary ren- dition. She is also a member of the Economic & Monetary Affairs committee and the European Parliament delegation to South-East Europe, the Balkans. As a specialist in justice matters, Sarah Ludford has been particularly active in the construction of a common EU asylum system and coherent migration policy, combating discrimination and promo- tion of human rights. But she insists on the respect of in- dividual freedoms and avoidance of stereotyping Muslims in the context of anti-terrorism measures. She has been EP lead member on anti-racism, on rights for EU-resident legal immigrants, and on internment of prisoners in Guantana- mo Bay. She is active in the Parliament’s ‘intergroups’ on anti-racism & diversity (vice-President) and gay & lesbian rights. liver McTernan is Director and Co-Founder of Forward OThinking. Mr McTernan is also a senior advisor to the Club of Madrid. In 1998, he was awarded the Gold Medal- lion from the International Council of Christians and Jews in recognition of an outstanding contribution to interfaith dialogue. In April 2004, he was appointed a Senior Associ- ate Fellow of the UK Defence Academy.