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René Cassin @Limmud #RefugeeDay

13 Dec, 2016 | Asylum and Detention, Campaigns, Education, Events, Latest, News

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*** UPDATE ***

Read our Storify Report of the Refugee Day we organised at December’s Limmud:

https://storify.com/Rene_Cassin/refugee-day-limmud-conf-2016

 

Are you coming to Limmud this year? If so we look forward to seeing you there! This year we are putting on more sessions than ever before as well as being involved with organising a whole day’s worth of sessions with a special focus on refugee and asylum issues.

Refugee Day

Read the Jewish Chronicle’s story about the refugee focus on limmud here.

Over the past year, refugee issues have become a central concern not only for the British public, but for the British Jewish community too. To reflect this interest we have created a day’s worth of sessions to attend at Limmud 2016, on Tuesday 27th December. The aim is for everyone on conference to go to at least one session this year connected to these issues.

There will be speakers from some of the leading national refugee and asylum charities, including the Chief Executive of the Refugee Council, Maurice Wren, as well as speakers from Refugees at Home, Detention Action and Freed Voices. You’ll be able to hear activists, campaigners, academics, Rabbis, singers, poets and personal testimony from those who have either fled from Syria or spent time in the UK’s immigration detention system.

Have a look at the full refugee day schedule here or download it here.

Whilst walking the halls of Limmud you might pass by a big world map. Come and help us create a Limmud community migration map and see where we have all come from. Help us capture the Refugee Day’s learning by filming a quick video in front of the map telling us one thing you’ve learnt from any of the sessions you attended. Don’t forget to tweet to #RefugeeDay and #LimmudConf16

We’ll be leading and taking part in the below sessions:

Sunday 25 December

1.The Nuremberg Trials and human rights: the hidden link Adam Wagner (Rights Info) and Sam Grant (René Cassin) 16:40-17:50

Tuesday 27 December

2. The Refugee Crisis – Where are we now? Maurice Wren: Chief Executive of the Refugee Council with Mia Hasenson-Gross (René Cassin) 13:15-14:15

3. The refugee crisis: the next ten years Maurice Wren (Refugee Council), Edie Friedman (JCORE), Mia Hasenson-Gross (René Cassin) and Sam Cozens (LJS Drop-In) 14:30-15:30

4. Let me tell you about my time in immigration detention… Sam Grant (René Cassin), Ben Du Preez (Detention Action) and two members of Freed Voices 18:10-19:10

5. Refugees in the Torah, Mishnah and today Rabbi Benji Stanley (Movement for Reform Judaism) and Sam Grant (René Cassin) 20:10-21:20

As well as sessions for Young Limmud throughout the conference.

http://renecassin.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Limmud-Sessions-Poster-.pdf

We can’t wait to see you there.

Today, 10th December, is International Human Rights Day – the 76th anniversary of the signing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. 

 

 

The Declaration was a reaction to the horrors of the Holocaust. So, for Jews, today has a particuar significance. 

Although rooted in response to atrocity, the Declaration was forward-looking and optimistic. It spoke for the majority of people who knew a better world was possible. The fact that it’s co-author , the French-Jewish lawyer Monsieur Rene Cassin, could draft such a hopeful document so soon after 26 members of his family were murdered by the Nazis is a testament to his humanity and the power of human rights in general. 

Today, as the organisation that works in Cassin’s name, we are determined to ensure his Declaration’s vision of human rights for all is fully realised. Central to that work is a focus on so called ‘socio-economic rights’ – rights to everyday essentials like food, housing and health. This vision was best articulated in Article 25 of the Declaration: 

‘Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control’.

Bolstering these rights would ensure everybody has access to the foundations on which to build a dignified, prosperous and meaningful life. They have been neglected for too long.

 

Let’s stay in touch!

We are constantly developing our campaigns, planning events, and cultivating discussions on Human Rights issues, sign up for our email updates and we’ll keep you informed on all we are working on and how YOU can get involved.

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