Montenegro's Chief Rabbi Luciano Moshe Prelevic and Jelena Djurovic, vice-president of the Jewish Community of Montenegro, were among the guests of the 5th Interfaith Conference held in Pristina, Kosovo from last week.
During the opening ceremony Djurovic thanked the organizers and participants and greeted the members of the Jewish Community of Kosovo.
The conference is titled 'Role of Woman in Promoting Interfaith Dialogue and Countering Extremism' and has been organized by several organizations promoting dialogue, with support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Assembly of Kosovo, the embassies of Canada, Norway, and the United States, as well as the United Nations.
Participants took part in various panels intended for topics related to the family, role of woman, and hate speech in social networks.
The International Interfaith Conferences held in Kosovo gather civil society activists, faith leaders, diplomats, journalists, artists and academics in discussing a broad range of challenges facing countries in ensuring reconciliation in post-conflict times and zones as well as countering violent extremism in today's societies.
Meanwhile Jewish community representatives held discussions with the government and with municipal authorities in Kosovo to establish a synagogue or a Jewish community center. The talks were held in Pristina, Kosovo's capital and largest city, and in Prizren, the historical town where much of the country’s tiny Jewish community of 56 is concentrated, according to JTA.
Of Kosovo’s Jewish community of 551 before World War II, 220 are estimated to have been murdered by the Nazis. Its synagogues and Jewish institutions were destroyed during Yugoslavia’s communist period.
Kosovo, formerly part of Serbia, is a majority Muslim country that declared independence in 2008 with the backing of the United States. It has striven to emphasize its secular, pro-Western outlook and each spring invites leaders of faith communities worldwide to discuss inter-religious cooperation at a conference.
