Transcript [00:00] Thank you very much, Daniel. It's really [00:01] my honor to be here today. Um, [00:04] distinguished representatives of [00:07] permanent missions, dear friends, dear [00:09] colleagues, 15 years after the adoption [00:12] of the United Nations Declaration on [00:14] Human Rights, Education and Training, I [00:15] believe there's uh I I believe there is [00:19] value in reflecting not only on how [00:21] effectively we teach young people about [00:22] human rights, but also on whether [00:24] educational institutions provide them [00:26] with the practical capacity to exercise, [00:30] defend, and uphold those rights. Today I [00:33] speak here as a young woman that was [00:36] born in Belarus, Europe's so-called last [00:39] dictatorship. [00:41] And I am the first one in my family to [00:43] ever have democratic rights. I'm the [00:46] first one in my family to ever have the [00:48] right to vote or to live as in my Jewish [00:52] identity freely. And therefore I [00:54] precisely know what it means to live [00:57] under the power of a regime that will [00:59] not grant you any sort of human rights [01:02] and democratic rights. But I also speak [01:06] here as the president of the European [01:08] Union of Jewish students representing [01:10] more than 160 young Jews across the [01:13] continent. Much of our work takes place [01:16] in universities and other educational [01:18] environments. Precisely the spaces in [01:21] which young people oftentimes first [01:23] encounter democratic institutions where [01:26] they organize collectively where they [01:29] engage or where they are supposed to [01:31] engage with opposing views and in many [01:33] cases where they become politically and [01:35] socially active. Our experience of the [01:39] past years has shown us that these [01:41] environments can be extraordinarily [01:44] powerful spaces for democratic [01:46] participation, but also that there can [01:49] be a considerable distance between [01:51] teaching human rights as a set of [01:53] principles and ensuring that those [01:56] principles actually shape in [01:58] institutional practice. And I also, and [02:01] this is a very important point for me to [02:03] make, I do come from an organization [02:05] that has built all of its efforts of the [02:07] last decades upon the belief and the [02:10] principle that Jewish rights are human [02:12] rights and human rights are Jewish [02:14] rights. And unfortunately, after the [02:17] last couple of years, we have to come to [02:19] the realization that there aren't many [02:22] people who would agree with that [02:25] statement. [02:28] This has become particularly visible for [02:31] Jewish students and young Jews since the [02:33] mass massacre of the 7th of October 2023 [02:36] and the subsequent war. Universities [02:39] across Europe have become important [02:41] spaces for political debate about Israel [02:43] and the Middle East. Such debate is [02:46] legitimate and necessary and a necessary [02:48] part of academic and democratic life. [02:51] And at the same time, Jewish students [02:53] and individuals across Europe have faced [02:56] harassment, intimidation, exclusion, and [03:00] in some cases, severe physical violence. [03:04] Their connection to Israel, which for [03:05] many us are an integral part of Jewish [03:08] identity, family life, and community [03:11] have repeatedly been turned against has [03:14] repeatedly turned uh been turned against [03:16] them. Jewish students have been expected [03:18] to justify the actions of the Israeli [03:20] government. They've been pressured to [03:23] publicly distance themselves from Israel [03:26] or treated with suspicion simply for [03:28] expressing a connection to the only [03:31] Jewish state in the world. Most [03:33] concerningly, the experiences continue [03:36] way too often to be dismissed, [03:38] relativized, or explained away. While [03:40] the anti-semitic nature of in incidents [03:43] targeting Jewish students is questioned [03:45] or even denied, these experiences have [03:48] demonstrated the difficulty that [03:50] educational institutions can face when [03:53] abstract commitment to human rights have [03:55] to be translated into decisions in [03:57] highly polarized environments. And [03:59] unfortunately, it has also demonstrated [04:02] far too often how little political will [04:04] will and knowledge those in [04:06] responsibility oftentimes have when it [04:08] comes to taking action. Universities [04:11] must be capable of protecting freedom of [04:13] expression and political participation [04:15] while also recognizing when political [04:17] discourse crosses into discrimination, [04:20] harassment, anti-semitism, other forms [04:23] of discrimination and the collective [04:25] attribution of responsibility to [04:27] individuals because of their identity. [04:30] Human rights education therefore cannot [04:32] end with knowledge of legal frameworks [04:34] or international declarations. Young [04:36] people also need to understand how those [04:38] principles apply when rights come into [04:40] tension and when public debate becomes [04:43] contentious and when defending the right [04:45] of another person may be politically or [04:48] socially uncomfortable. There's also a [04:51] broader lesson that that extends far [04:53] beyond that extends far beyond the [04:55] experience of the Jewish students alone. [04:57] If human rights education is to be [04:59] genuinely universal, it must equip young [05:01] people not only to defend the rights of [05:04] communities to which they themselves [05:05] belong, but also to recognize and defend [05:08] the rights of others. And this has been [05:10] a principle by which the European Union [05:11] of Jewish Students have fulfilled all of [05:13] their work and all of their commitments [05:15] for the past decades since its creation. [05:18] for Jewish organizations combating [05:20] anti-semitism cannot be separated from a [05:22] broader commitment to challenging racism [05:25] and other forms of discrimination. [05:27] Equally, the defense of democratic [05:29] freedoms cannot depend on whether we [05:31] agree with the person exercising them. [05:34] The credibility of the human rights [05:35] framework ultimately depends on the [05:37] consistent application of its [05:39] principles. This is particularly [05:41] important at a time when young people [05:42] encounter political misinformation, [05:45] mobilization, and increasingly [05:47] and increasingly misinformation far [05:49] beyond formal educational settings. And [05:52] I'm of course speaking about social [05:54] media, which we have to consider in this [05:56] conversation as well. Universities and [05:59] schools therefore have a responsibility [06:00] that co goes beyond transmitting [06:03] knowledge. They should provide young [06:04] people with the capacity to evaluate [06:07] information critically, understand [06:09] democratic and human rights [06:10] institutions, engage constructively [06:12] across profound disagreement, recognize [06:15] discrimination, [06:17] danger, recognize dangerous ideologies, [06:20] and know which mechanisms are available [06:22] to them when those rights are violated. [06:24] They should also provide meaningful [06:26] opportunities for young people to [06:28] organize, participate in decision-m and [06:30] assume responsibility within their [06:32] institutions. And most importantly, [06:35] young people need to be taught how to [06:37] fight back against dangerous um [06:40] ideologies against misinformation. And [06:43] when the human rights of another person [06:45] are um in danger, there's also a broader [06:49] institutional dimension that we should [06:51] not ignore. Human rights education [06:53] cannot be separated from the credibility [06:55] of the international system in which we [06:57] ask young people and in my case [07:00] especially young Jewish people to place [07:02] their trust in. Around the world, young [07:04] people are taking extraordinary risk to [07:06] defend fundamental freedoms. Often in [07:09] the face of a Victorian governments that [07:11] repress descent, restrict civil society [07:13] and systematically violate human rights. [07:16] Yet some of those same governments [07:17] continue to participate in international [07:19] institutions, build political alliances, [07:22] and seek to weaken, obstruct, and [07:24] discredit mechanism designed to hold [07:26] states accountable. The Islamic Republic [07:28] of Iran is one example, but [07:30] unfortunately, by far not the only one [07:33] for young human rights defenders living [07:35] under repression, this contradiction is [07:37] not only a problem. It directly affects [07:40] whether international international [07:42] mechanism mechanisms can meaningfully [07:44] support their struggle. And if we want [07:46] young people to believe in the [07:47] international human rights system, that [07:49] system must demonstrate that political [07:51] influence cannot be placed in [07:53] governments cannot place governments [07:56] beyond accountability. For those of us [07:58] working with young people, this also [08:00] means recognizing them as not simply [08:02] recipients of human rights education, [08:05] but actors in the protection of human [08:07] rights across Europe. Young people and [08:10] the young Jewish community that I'm [08:11] representing here today already is [08:14] leading civil society organizations, [08:16] responding to discrimination, supporting [08:18] the most vulnerable communities, which [08:20] should be at the center of this [08:21] conversation, and participating in [08:24] democratic institutions no matter what [08:26] it might cost. If I were to leave one [08:28] practical recommendation, it would [08:30] therefore be to strengthen the [08:31] connection between human rights [08:33] education and human rights practice. A [08:35] young person completing their education [08:37] should should understand the principles [08:39] contained in international human rights [08:40] and instruments. But they should also [08:43] know how to recognize when those [08:45] principle principles are violated by [08:48] vicious regimes and ideology. Know to [08:51] make the use of institutions designed to [08:54] protect them. how to participate [08:56] democratically and crucially how to [08:58] defend the rights of people whose [09:00] identities, experiences or political [09:03] views may be very different from their [09:05] own. If we succeed in doing that, human [09:07] rights education becomes far more than [09:09] the transmission of knowledge. It [09:11] becomes part of building the democratic [09:12] resilience of the next generation. Thank [09:15] you.
