Israel Rally At Geneva 2009

Israel Wants Peace

RALLY AT DURBAN II IN SUPPORT OF ISRAEL Geneva, 22 April 2009 In 2001, the United Nations world conference against racism in Durban, South Africa, became a venue for the worst display of anti-Semitism since the Nazi period. The conference declaration singled out Israel, while NGO activists and demonstrators called for the elimination of “racist” and “Apartheid” Israel. Supporters of Israel were vastly outnumbered and hardly seen in the international media. The U.N. is holding its follow-up Durban Review Conference in Geneva during the week of 20-24 April 2009. Libya chairs the planning committee, and Iran and Cuba are vice-chairs. The latest draft declaration reaffirms the 2001 text, which couples Israel with racism. In support of Durban II, anti-Israel and anti-Zionist extremists are organizing a series of public events in Geneva on 18-20 April, where they will call for a campaign of boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel, which they compare to Nazi Germany. In response, on Wednesday, 22 April, friends of Israel—Jews and non-Jews from across Europe and around the world—will gather in Geneva to stand with Israel as its very legitimacy comes under attack, supporting Israel as a democratic, multicultural, and humanitarian society that respects human rights and the UN Charter.

SPONSORING COALITION ACOM (SPAIN); AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE; AUSTRALIA/ISRAEL AND JEWISH AFFAIRS COUNCIL; B’NAI B’RITH EUROPE; B’NAI B’RITH INTERNATIONAL; BEN GURION UNIVERSITY OF THE NEGEV; CHRÉTIEN AMIS D’ISRAEL; CONFERENCE OF PRESIDENTS OF MAJOR AMERICAN JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS; CONSEIL REPRÉSENTATIF DES INSTITUTIONS JUIFS DE FRANCE ; COORDINATING COUNCIL OF GERMAN NGOS AGAINST ANTI-SEMITISM; EUROPEAN FRIENDS OF ISRAEL; ELNET-THE EUROPEAN LEADERSHIP NETWORK; EUROPEAN COALITION FOR ISRAEL; EUROPEAN UNION OF JEWISH STUDENTS; FRANCEISRAEL GENERAL KOENIG; HONESTLY CONCERNED; THE ISRAEL PROJECT; ISRAEL EMPOWERMENT FUND; INSTITUT CANADIEN DE RECHERCHE SUR LE JUDAÏSME ; JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL; KEREN HAYESOD SUISSE ROMANDE; SIONA; SHALOM INTERNATIONAL; STANDWITHUS; SWEDEN-ISRAEL FRIENDSHIP ASSOCIATION; SWISSISRAEL ASSOCIATION; SWISS FEDERATION OF JEWISH COMMUNITIES; UNION DES ETUDIANTS JUIFS DE FRANCE ; UNION DES PATRONS ET PROFESSIONNELS JUIFS DE FRANCE ; WOMEN’S INTERNATIONAL ZIONIST ORGANIZATION; WORLD UNION OF JEWISH STUDENTS; WORLD ZIONIST ORGANIZATION

RALLY AT DURBAN II IN SUPPORT OF ISRAEL “Israel Wants Peace” Geneva, 22 April 2009 Program 14:00 Chairman’s Welcome

Dr. Richard Prasquier, CRIF

ISRAEL, DEMOCRACY, AND THE SEARCH FOR PEACE Celebrating 60th Anniversary of UN Resolution 273 admitting Israel to the UN as a peace-loving state Moderator Roz Rothstein, CEO, StandWithUs Keynote Alan M. Dershowitz, Professor, Harvard Law School; acclaimed attorney, defender of civil liberties, author of The Case for Israel

15:00 THE MULTICULTURAL AND HUMANITARIAN FACE OF ISRAEL Moderator Amos Hermon, Jewish Agency for Israel Speakers Pnina Gaday, Ethiopian-born head of Hillel Society in Tel Aviv U. Jamal Alkirnawi, Bedouin academic counselor for Arab students at Ben-Gurion University Vaan Nguyen, Israeli poet, actress, daughter of Vietnamese refugees

16:00

THE HUMANITARIAN FACE OF ISRAEL Moderator Dan Mariaschin, Executive Vice President, B’nai B’rith International Speakers Gal Lousky, Humanitarian Hero with Israeli Flying Aid Dr. Sion Houri, Director of Wolfson Medical Center pediatric intensive care unit, co-founder of Israel’s Save A Child’s Heart program Kikonjo Agustin Isdoro Tamer and her daughter Venus Basheer, Sudanese refugees rescued by Israel

17:15 Departure by bus to Place des Nations 18:00 Rally for Israel — Place des Nations, in front of the U.N. ISRAEL, DEMOCRACY, AND THE SEARCH FOR PEACE Celebrating 60th Anniversary of UN Resolution 273 admitting Israel to the UN as a peace-loving state David Harris, Executive Director, American Jewish Committee Keynote Natan Sharansky, Zionist hero, democracy activist, author, former Soviet Refusenik and Israeli Cabinet Minister Irwin Cotler, Canadian MP, former Justice Minister, counsel for dissidents, international human right law scholar and activist Claude Goasguen, Member of French National Assembly, Mayor of 16th arrondissement of Paris, Head of France-Israel parliamentary caucus Gil Troy, McGill University historian, author of Why I am a Zionist?