Featured UN Briefing: The Moroccan Jews and Their Legacy of Survival

On January 28, 2010, DPI-NGO conducted its second briefing of the 2010 season. The briefing, entitled "The Moroccan Jews and Their Legacy of Survival", was informative, refreshing, and uplifting.
The briefing contained a discussion of the peaceful history of Jews in Morocco amidst a world that was often violent and aggressive toward them. During World War II, thousands of European Jews poured across Morocco's borders, where Muslim King Mohammed V provided for them a safe haven, resisting the anti-Semitic policies of Nazi Germany and the Vichy-regime. One of the major themes of this briefing was that the widely unknown story of Jews in Morocco--their safety and peaceful coexistence under a Muslim king--is a lesson that should be taught and even emphasized when studying the Holocaust. Teaching this example of mutual peace and coexistence could serve as a burning torch for nations throughout the world with religious turmoil. A summary of this briefing will be mailed out separately, but I wanted to include a small story I feel illustrates the sentiment of the morning's briefing.

In attendance at the briefing was a Jewish-American scholar who had lived and studied in Morocco for a short period in hopes of learning some of the personal stories of the Jews that lived there. He traveled to a Berber village in northeast Morocco, a small village no longer inhabited by any Jews (after the creation of Israel, many Jews left Morocco). The man entered a gathering place in the center of the village and asked if anyone knew the story of the Jews there. They said they could not help him, but directed him to find an elderly man named Hareem, whom they said could answer his questions. The man began to walk down the main street when he came upon an older man with a staff and beard. After he introduced himself, he told Hareem that he was a Jewish man looking to learn about the history of Jews in this village. At that, Hareem smiled, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a wooden key. He said, "I have been waiting for you for 45 years!"

When the rabbi of this Berber village left almost a half century ago, he entrusted the key to the synagogue to Hareem, and told him to give it to the Jews when they return.

Augustinian Schools to Learn About UN, NGO's

In the coming weeks and months, several area Augustinian schools will be visiting the United Nations to learn about the organization, the role of NGO’s, and the role of the Augustinian NGO. From March 1-7 and March 8-15, respectively, Villanova University and Merrimack College will send groups of students to New York as part of their spring break service programs. The groups will be serving at the worksites of the Augustinian Volunteers in the Bronx: Siena House, a women’s shelter; St. Nicholas of Tolentine School; and St. Rita’s Center for Immigrant Services. In addition, they will be learning about the United Nations, and some will attend the Thursday NGO briefings.

Additionally, a group from St. Augustine Prep in Richland, NJ will be coming to the United Nations in February for a tour and to learn about the Augustinian NGO. The Merrimack College Model UN group has expressed interest in a similar type of experience.

All of these institutions have the study of the UN and NGO’s as part of their curriculum, and we are excited to have them coming to learn about our NGO’s mission!

UN Links of Interest
United Nations Home
DPI-NGO Section
The UN and Haiti

Augustinian Links of Interest
Augustinian.org
Augustinian NGO Home
Augnet
Midwest Augustinians
Augustinian Volunteers

Haitian Relief Efforts
United Nations World Food Program
UNHCR

UN refugee agency
CERF

Central Emergency Response Fund, sponsored by United Nations
American Red Cross

Haiti Relief and Development
Habitat for Humanity
Re-building in Haiti

NEWS: 63rd Annual DPI/NGO Conference

The 63rd Annual DPI/NGO Conference will be held in Melbourne, Australia from September 1-3, 2010. The general theme of the conference will be global health as it relates to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

The Conference will be chaired by Dr. Mary E. Norton, Associate Dean and Professor, Global Academic Initiatives at Felician College in Lodi, NJ. More information will be released shortly by the Department of Public Information and provided in future newsletters. Fr. Jack Deegan has been in contact with the Australian Augustinians to consider a place for the Augustinian course to be held in conjunction with the DPI-NGO conference.

Justice and Peace Commission to Meet in Rome

The Justice and Peace Commission for the Order will meet in Rome on March 10-11. The agenda will include a discussion of the steps to be taken for achieving ECOSOC status, and an updating of the NGO by-laws and statutes. As announced in our previous newsletter, the Augustinian NGO will seek to achieve ECOSOC status in the coming year. A full listing of the necessary components to apply for ECOSOC status can be found here.

Spring 2010 Briefings

The 2010 spring DPI-NGO briefing season officially commenced on January 14 with a screening of a new film entitled "The End of Poverty?". Upcoming briefings are listed below, and the entire listing of this winter/spring's briefings can be found here:

Periodic summaries of these briefings will once again be sent out beginning with this week's briefing. If did not receive these summaries in 2009 and would like to be added to the mailing list, please contact brian.roe@villanova.edu

Upcoming 2010 Briefings:
--- 28 January - The Moroccan Jews and Their Legacy of Survival
--- 4 February- Why the Numbers Continue to Rise: Cancer Today
--- 11 February - The Prevention, Prosecution, and Protection of the Trafficking of Women and Girls
--- 18 February - Promoting Global Tolerance and Harmonious Communication through Multilingualism
--- 25 February - Communications Workshop

*** Thursday briefings can normally be seen LIVE via UN webcast, which can be seen here: http://www.un.org/webcast/

*** It should also be noted that all briefings can be heard IN THEIR ENTIRETY by visiting the audio library section of the UN website, located here: http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/library/. Briefings take place on Thursdays.

Please Keep UN Haiti Staff in Prayers

As of January 28, 85 UN staff working in Haiti have been confirmed dead, and there are at least 50 more still missing. The devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on January 10, 2010 is believed to have killed 150,000 in the capital city of Port-au-Prince alone. Please keep all of our departed brothers and sisters as well as their families in your prayers.

There is a lot of terrific work being done on behalf of Haitian relief. Links to a few of these efforts have been included in the left column of this newsletter. Please encourage your colleagues to donate to whichever appeals most to them, so that we may continue the outpouring of love and generosity that we’ve had for the past three weeks.