Stories & Voices
Training French Jewish Student Leaders to Tackle Anti-Semitism
January 15th, 2016
UJA Federation of New York >> <p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m proud of living in my country where my ancestors are from. I want to help other Jews do the same.&rdquo; &mdash; Sacha Reingewirtz (left], president, Union of French Jewish Students</p>

“I’m proud of living in my country where my ancestors are from. I want to help other Jews do the same.” — Sacha Reingewirtz (left], president, Union of French Jewish Students

With the recent terror attacks in Paris, mounting anti-Semitism, and the rise of the far right in France, the Union of French Jewish Students understands well the importance of training Jewish student leaders to respond to these pressing issues without being paralyzed by fear.

And because UJA-Federation of New York is committed to strengthening French Jewry, we provided essential support for the student union to hold training seminars this past fall and in December, reaching more than 200 students from universities throughout France. More seminars are planned for this spring and summer.

In probing discussions, the students explored Jewish identity and fighting anti-Semitism as well as leadership training in speaking to the media, setting up watchdog programs to monitor the far right, and organizing to decrease hate speech on the Internet.

“Jewish students want to know that they and their future children can live safely and be open and proud of their identity,” Sacha says. “We face threats from the far right and terror in our communities and throughout the country. “

“On the other hand,” he adds, “there is a great deal of organized Jewish community support, strong support from the government, and increased security. And there have been no attacks on student campuses.”

Over the past year, student leaders with the Union of French Jewish Students have provided workshops that combat stereotypes to nearly 5,000 teens in schools across the country. The program, CoExist, received the 2015 La France s’engage prize from Francois Hollande, president of France.

“I believe that we can only be proud of our identity if we know how rich it is,” Sacha says. “We make students aware of how their Jewish identity offers tremendous potential to tackle the difficult challenges they are facing in Europe.”