More than 60 UN Ambassadors attend Passover Seder co-hosted by ECI at the UN
New York, March 28th, 2018 – The European Coalition for Israel and the Forum for Cultural Diplomacy arranged for a High Level Diplomatic Passover Seder to take place at the UN headquarters in New York, just three days ahead of the Jewish Feast. The pre-Passover Seder on Tuesday was co-hosted by the Israeli Permanent Mission to the UN. The speakers reminded the more than 60 UN-ambassadors and senior diplomats who attended the event of the unique set of circumstances which led to the Exodus, the liberation of the Jewish people from 400 years of slavery in Egypt and their well-documented path to freedom and self-determination in Eretz Israel - the Land of Israel. “It was a long journey, but now you are home”, ECI Founding Director Tomas Sandell said in his opening remarks as he reminded the audience of the upcoming 70th anniversary of the modern State of Israel.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, explained that the Hebrew word ‘Seder’ means ‘Order’. “At a time of upheaval around the world it is critical that we all come together and ensure that ‘order’ is kept. As representatives of our countries, we have the responsibility to ensure that the UN is not blinded by bias and that it stands up to the Pharaohs of today who threaten freedom, peace and security", he said.
In his speech, ECI Director of UN Affairs and Co-founder of the Forum for Cultural Diplomacy, Gregory Lafitte, referred to the Passover story as “the first written account of diplomacy”. “It is a story that tells about the exodus out of Egypt and the birth of a people, which led to the receiving of the Torah”, he explained.
“The Jewish insight is that freedom is not the ability to do whatever we please — that's anarchy. True freedom is to be able to relive the story, to ask questions, to know the truth, and to choose what is right. True freedom is not what we obtained at the crossing of the Red Sea, it is what we received at Sinai”, he added.
This is the third consecutive year that a Passover Seder has been held inside the UN headquarters in New York. In 2016 ECI, together with the Israeli Permanent Mission to the UN, initiated and hosted the first ever Passover Seder at the UN headquarters which was attended by some 40 ambassadors and senior diplomats. Three years later the event has grown to over 80 participants, including 60 UN ambassadors and senior diplomats from four different continents.
The diplomatic success of the event was enhanced by the fact that the Turkish Ambassador to the UN, Feridun Hadi Sinirlioğlu, also participated in this year´s ceremony, despite many years of frosty relations between Jerusalem and Ankara.
The ECI delegation consisted of Tomas Sandell, Gregory Lafitte, J. Rudolf Geigy andFaith Collins Childress. The Passover Seder was one of the many ongoing ECI activities at the United Nations in New York which since 2014 are held under the name of the Forum for Cultural Diplomacy.
London, January 16th, 2018
Thank you for helping us close the fiscal year with a small plus on the account. Thanks to your generous support we are able to prepare for another important year ahead of us in which we will aim at broadening our support base in order to raise an even stronger voice in 2018. Together we can do it!
As we enter a new year it is high time to take account of the past year and look at the challenges ahead of us.
Conventional wisdom had it that a recognition of Jerusalem at this time would open the gates of hell. No such thing happened. Instead Israel came out stronger from this declaration with some ten nations currently considering a similar recognition. A total of six EU-member states* broke ranks with Brussels at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in abstaining in the vote on the resolution against the US recognition. At the same time, EU-member states such as Denmark, Norway and Netherlands are reconsidering their funding of the PA because of serious concerns regarding the on-going financing of hate and violence.
Since 2011 ECI has been consistently focusing on the importance of keeping Jerusalem united as the capital of the State of Israel. During last year’s 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem we were the only organization to mark this event both at the European Union in Brussels and the United Nations in New York. Many want to keep the status of Jerusalem on the negotiating table as a bargaining chip in future peace negotiations over one of the final status issues, whereas we have consistently argued that a united Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is non-negotiable. This is also the official position of the Israeli government.
With the 70th anniversary of the State of Israel just around the corner, the debate over the legitimacy of Israel will again intensify. Is Israel a repressive colonial power which is suppressing its indigenous population like South Africa in the past, or is Israel, as we believe, the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people which is clearly founded and recognized in international law? As the false narratives will be presented in international media again this year and the BDS movement will try to sell their apartheid state narrative to a young generation, Israel needs a solid defence based on international law and historical facts. We have played a part in providing this defence since 2010 when we rediscovered the significance of the San Remo Resolution of 1920. It was probably no coincidence that the young member of the Knesset who joined us for that event would later become the Israeli Ambassador at the UN, Danny Danon. Together we will continue to fight for Israel´s right to self-determination also in 2018.
The Middle East conflict could perhaps have been solved many years ago if it was not for the generous European funding of the corrupt Palestinian Authority which has been investing millions in brainwashing their children into hating the Jews and inciting violence. This is the greatest obstacle to peace between Israel and the Palestinians and one of the greatest miscalculations of the European Union as it disqualifies Europe from the role as an even-handed negotiator in the region.
As well as fighting what is wrong, we should not forget to present the positive side of the story. While the international media is clearly dominated by negative news from Israel, we want to make known how Israel is indeed becoming a “light to the nations”, through, for example, introducing new technology and innovations to benefit developing countries in Africa and providing humanitarian relief to victims from hostile countries such as Syria and Iraq. Zionism continues to impact the nations. The more the nations learn about the history of the Jewish people and their aspirations, the more likely they are to understand the necessity of standing with Israel today. In 2018 we will continue to bring this message to the European Union and the United Nations, as through these institutions we can reach all the nations in the world.
Whenever there is a crisis in the world, the blame is directed towards the Jewish people. The Jews are today being targeted by radical Islam, neo-Nazis, as well as left-wing extremists. But apart from these groups whose attitudes are nothing new, we now have to take note of the “sophisticated anti-Semites”- those who say they oppose Israel and the Jewish people on humanitarian grounds! (
Brussels - This month will mark the 73rd anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps. In a day and age of Holocaust denial and rising anti-Semitism in Europe, it is even more important to remember and honour the victims of the greatest crime against mankind and to learn how to take action to prevent it from happening again.
How will UK policies toward Israel change with the decision to leave the EU? What are the opportunities and what are the threats when Britain leaves the EU? How can British citizens support Israel in this new environment?