Challenges for Minority Religions in the Middle East: Council of Christians and Jews (Vic)

Council of Christians and Jews (Victoria) invites you to:

Challenges for Minority Religions in the Middle East
With keynote speaker:  Dr Debbie Weissman, President International Council of Christians and Jews

Date: Sunday, 1 June 2014  Time: 2.30 pm
Location: Edmund Rice Education Australia - 9 The Vaucluse, Richmond (off Church Street, ample parking)
Vehicle entry from St Kevin’s Waterford Campus on the Vaucluse opp. St Ignatius Church.

Keynote Speaker: Dr Deborah Weissman is Co-Chair of the Inter-Religious Coordinating Council in Israel, as well as President of the International Council of Christians and Jews.  A prize-winning Jewish educator, Deborah worked for twelve years at the Hebrew University, primarily in the Melton Centre for Jewish Education and the School for Overseas Students. Other affiliations have include the Pardes Institute, the Hartman Institute and the education branch of the Israel Defence Forces.

Panel Speakers:

Dr Varga Tarfi (Baha’i member): Dr Vargha is the son of Fariba Kamalabadi, one of seven Baha’i leaders unjustly jailed in Iran for their faith for the last six years.  She was arrested on 14 May 2008 for being a member of an ad hoc committee looking after the basic needs of the 300,000 members of the Baha’i community, Iran’s largest non-Muslim religious minority.  Fariba and her colleagues are serving 20-year sentences, the longest sentences handed down for any prisoners of conscience in Iran.  Vargha has advocated on behalf of his mother and her colleagues, being interviewed on radio and television.

Mr Jimmy Morcos (Coptic Christian): Melbourne based lawyer who is heavily involved in working with the Coptic community and has helped countless persecuted Christian Copts particularly in Egypt. He has acted on behalf of many multicultural communities based in Australia and represents, and is the official government liaison for, the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Melbourne in its Offshore Humanitarian Program.  He also represents the Syrian Melkiite Church and the Syrian Orthodox Church and the Chaldean Iraqi Church in protection/humanitarian matters and is the appointed government liaison for all their matters.

Cost: Entrance $10.00
RSVP: Please advise attendance by ringing or emailing
CCJ office Tel:  (03) 9429 5212,  Email:  ccjvic@bigpond.net.au