A group of thirty young Jewish and Rwandese activists from the US, South Africa, Israel and Europe, including a survivor of the genocide in Cambodia and in Bosnia returned from a trip to Rwanda this weekend after spending ten days in Rwanda on a “Fact Finding Mission”.
The initiative, organized by the European Union of Jewish students in Brussels and the Cercle Rwandaise Etudiants de Belge Association and was sponsored by the World Jewish Congress (WJC) and the Fondation pur le Mémoire de Shoah.
In the course of the mission the group met and discussed the political situation of the country with the Minister of Youth and Education Joseph Habineza, the President of the Senate Vincent Biruta, the German Ambassador Dr Hubert Ziegler and President of Rwanda H.E. Paul Kagame.
All Rwandese officials suggested that the Jewish people dealt with Nazi perpetrators and trauma in a manner which serves as a model for Rwanda. They asked that Jewish NGO's such as the World Jewish Congress and the European Union of Jewish students will help preserve the memory of genocide and initiate genocide prevention educational programs for future generations.
Adam Mouchtar, the project coordinator at EUJS who initiated the mission , promised: "We will continue forging alliances in order to foster collective action between European Jews and Rwandans”. Peleg Reshef, the WJC Director of Future Generations, said: "the World Jewish Congress has been on the forefront of assisting Holocaust survivors and will continue to bring its expertise in this field to help link the Jewish community to those who have experienced other genocides. We will continue to engage young leaders in educational and political actions to prevent future genocides ."
“I am proud to now also be counted one of the leading ambassadors in our efforts and hope to promote the idea of ‘Never Again’. Our Rwanda trip has been a testament to the importance and value of shared experience as EUJS continues along its path of inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue alongside with the World Jewish Congress”, said EUJS Development Coordinator and Legacy Heritage Fellow Arielle Herzog, who also participated in the fact finding mission to Rwanda.
A trip to the Yad Vashem Shoah Museum in Jerusalem is planned as a follow up to the successful Rwanda trip. Young Rwandan genocide survivors will meet Jewish Holocaust survivors in Israel and will learn how Israel has dealt with the trauma and the memory of the Holocaust.
Read more about the Shared memories - Collective action project