By Simon Williams
An Israeli alongside five other people aged between 21 and 24 took centre stage at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last Friday to launch their idea for a Global Fund for Education in front of an audience of world leaders and the international press.
Members of the group came from across the world including, Israel, Australia, Egypt, Mauritius, South Korea and Switzerland. They shared the platform with the British Chancellor, Gordon Brown, Queen Rania of Jordan during a session called Wisdom of Youth that was chaired by Jonathan Charles of BBC Television.
The initiative named ‘The Global Fund for Education” aims to get quality education for all, delivered across the globe with key characteristics being a good curriculum and teacher development; being the brainchild of meeting held by the British Council in Greenwich, London. The Greenwich forum consisted of 60 young people from 49 countries; giving them the challenge to come up with a clear, actionable proposal on the potential role of education.
““It was deeply enriching, the other participants were intelligent and a joy to meet. I am still in touch with them daily. They were very open-minded and every day we would share stories from our countries” Maayan Galili, 24 from Israel attended the Greenwich Forum said.
The forum lasted three days with ten groups of six people brainstorming ideas against one another in debates saw Israeli Jad Kheir,21 and her team mates flown to Davos.
Kheir was thrilled at the invitation to one of the world’s most influential international gatherings and delivering a vision for the future.
“The World Economic Forum is the sort of place where the rich and famous mingle with the rich and powerful, and where big announcements are often made. Letting six young people in is a radical and welcome move,” said Simon Moss, 23 of Australia one of the other team-mates who attended the Davos conference.
“This session will mark the end of an extraordinary fortnight for all of us who have been involved in helping these young leaders grasp this huge opportunity. At the Greenwich Forum, we were delighted and amazed at the sheer quality of the ideas the whole group produced” said Martin Davidson, Deputy-Director General of the British Council,
Sunday, 28 January 2007
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Israel's image hits nadir
No great honor being an Israeli at Davos this year, but we deserve it
Sever Plocker
My advice to those planning to attend the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting at the prestigious Swiss ski resort of Davos is, I beg you, stay away if you haven't yet boarded the plane. Please don't come, because it's no great honor being an Israeli this year at Davos. In fact, it’s humiliating.
Israel is no longer viewed as a thriving, high tech superpower or even as a brutal occupation power. It is viewed in a completely different light:
It's seen as a declining and dysfunctional country whose president is about to face charges of rape, whose prime minister will be interrogated on suspicion of advancing his associates' interests, whose finance minister will be ousted from his post due to an affair involving finances and non-profit organizations, whose army chief already resigned due to the failures of the war, and whose defense minister will soon be forced to follow suit.
This is the sate of affairs in Israel in the winter of 2007 as seen by the world's surprised economic, political and academic elites, arriving in Davos for four days of sessions focusing on the fate of humanity.
Israel's image is at an all-time low. On Wednesday, when the conference's participants arrive at the local congress center to attend lectures, sessions, workshops and symposiums, they will be carrying European newspapers on whose front pages Israel will be prominently featured. And what kind of Israel emanates from these pages? The picture they will get is of a country of rapists and corruption at high levels, a country that is falling into moral decline.
'What happened to you Israelis?'
Reports of the indictment against the president open every news broadcast in Europe, and the presenters sound as though they find it difficult to read the text in front of them: The State of Israel and sex scandals at the top? Jews and rape? Jews and corruption.
A dark shadow has fallen on Israel's image worldwide. Until we remove it, these honorable people will hesitate to shake our hands, identify with us and invest in Israel. They are already hesitating.
Our long term friends, veterans of the Davos conferences, are pulling me aside and asking me in an embarrassing whisper: "What's happened to you Israelis? How did you get this way? Are you a country full of rapists and corrupt people?"
The International Monetary Funds' rosy reviews and the positive quotes forced out of some polite and stammering international CEO, or some Arab-Muslim statesman who didn't understand the question, will be of no avail.
The bitter and embarrassing truth of the matter is that Israel's image in Davos – a prism of the world's elite – has reached its nadir.
It's very unpleasant being an Israeli at Davos 2007; it's unpleasant but we deserve it.
Check out YNET http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3356475,00.html - to understand why many Israelis are depressed about this meeting - but they deserve to be!
- they chose the government
- they have a pointless presidency
- they have chosen to not sort out internal conflicts.. what do you expect?
The MESSIAH?
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