In keeping with the International Day for Countering anti-Semitism held each year on January 27, the World Zionist Organization’s Department for Countering Anti-Semitism will stage a central event at the Mediatheque Theater in Holon, Israel. During the event, the WZO will broadcast rallies from around the world on the big screen: France, the USA, South America and Australia.
Attending the central conference are Mr. Natan Sharansky, Chairman of the Jewish Agency; Mr. Yaakov Hagoel, Head of the World Zionist Organization’s Department for Countering Anti-Semitism; and Mr. Eli Hacohen, Expert on Internet Studies, of Tel Aviv University. The central conference will take place on January 27, 2013, at 7:00 PM at the Holon Mediatheque, 6 Golda Meir Street, Holon, Israel.
In light of the steady and alarming rise of anti-Semitic events, statements and violence around the world, and in light of the International Day for Countering Anti-Semitism on January 27, 2013, the World Zionist Organization will stage dozens of rallies in several major cities around the world under the slogan “Hate Stops Here!”
Throughout the central event, participants will have the chance to view the global rallies against anti-Semitism on a split-screen and hear the sounds of globalization. The gathering will open with addresses by Sharansky, Hagoel, and Hacohen and end with an outstanding and moving video-art dance performance “Anne Frank,” directed by Offer Zaks and María Barrios, former owners of the flagship dance company of Venezuela.
When Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez heard about the company’s rehearsals for “Anne Frank,” he demanded that Mr. Zaks change the subject to the suffering of the Arab community of Israel. When Mr. Zaks refused, soldiers came to shut down the company. Mr. Zaks fled to Israel with his family to stage “Anne Frank.” The performance uses the language of dance and a combination of passages from Anne Frank’s diary and video clips to tell the story of the transition from childhood to maturity in the shadow of war, and how optimism and growth were interwoven in the events of the time.
Hagoel said, “The sharp rise in the numbers, data and type of anti-Semitic events must shock the world. The entire world must wake up and take a hard line against the anti-Semitism and hate speech which make hundreds of thousands of Jews live in fear simply because they are Jews. We mark the International Day for Countering Anti-Semitism once a year, whereas Jews over the world do so every day. It is time to fight this plague.”