Conference on Jewish-Kurdish relations opens in London
A two-day international conference, “Jewish-Kurdish Relations in a Changing Middle East: History, Identity and Future Cooperation,” has opened in London, United Kingdom. The event brought together Jewish and Kurdish leaders, scholars, journalists, activists and civil society representatives from Israel, the United Kingdom, Europe, the United States and Kurdistan, The Jerusalem Post reports.
Organizers and program
The conference was organized by the Jewish Kurdish Network London jointly with the London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and the Kurdish Studies Department of the Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University. The organizers noted that Jewish and Kurdish communities had lived alongside each other in Kurdistan and the wider region for around 2,700 years.
The program includes seven expert panels on Jewish life in Kurdistan and shared heritage; Zionism and Kurdish national identity; regional changes and Western policy; genocide, trauma and collective memory; women and civil society; diaspora politics and advocacy; as well as the role of young people. The cultural program included a screening of Kai Bahar’s film “No Friends But Mountains” and traditional live Kurdish music.
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Participants’ statements
Participants were shown a video address by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar. He spoke of the longstanding friendship between the Jewish people and the Kurdish nation and supported strengthening ties among Middle Eastern minorities, including between Jews and Kurds. Sa’ar also noted that the Kurds are a minority divided among four countries and have still not achieved political independence.
Israeli Lisa Mira, who spends time in Iraqi Kurdistan supporting people who survived the Yazidi genocide, spoke about the psychological trauma of women and children rescued from ISIS captivity. Kurdish-Swedish journalist Susan Kvitaz said that the former mayor of Diyarbakır presented a symbolic gift to Tel Aviv University professor Ofra Bengio, who was called the “mother of the Kurds” at the conference.
On the second day, a roundtable is planned on moving from dialogue to practical cooperation among universities, civil society organizations, cultural institutions, politicians and young people. The organizers hope that the conference will mark the beginning of a long-term international network of Jewish-Kurdish partnership.
