Youthful celebrations of diversity
MORE than 400 young Australians representing a multitude of faiths came together to engage in dialogue and celebrate multiculturalism at the inaugural Youth Parliament of the World’s Religions (Youth PoWR) last month.
MORE than 400 young Australians representing a multitude of faiths came together to engage in dialogue and celebrate multiculturalism at the inaugural Youth Parliament of the World’s Religions (Youth PoWR) last month.
The event on September 17 at the Sydney Baha’i Centre featured speakers representing the Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Baha’i, Hindu and Sikh communities, Indigenous and other dance groups, and spoken word poetry.
Representing the Jewish community on the evening were Glen Falkenstein, who helped to organise the event and also acted as co-emcee on the night, and Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS) vice-chairperson Elenore Levi.
Falkenstein, who is a policy analyst with the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC), said the event was a “huge success”.
“We had amazing responses from hundreds of people from different communities,” he said.
“The people who participated were energetic, enjoyed the discussions and established commitments for moving forward – to contribute to interfaith dialogue and enhancing multiculturalism in NSW.
“These commitments ranged from participating in joint events, visiting each other’s houses of worship, learning from each other’s cultures and in all respects providing a basis for ongoing cooperation between different communities.”
It was also an opportunity to see how they could work together to combat discrimination, he added.
He said that, given the reception, organisers were hopeful “the project will continue well into the future”.
“Just going among the groups and chatting with different participants, you could see that people were enthusiastic and keen to be more involved,” he said. “We’re hoping it becomes an annual thing, but more importantly that it’s the basis for ongoing cooperation between different groups.”
Delivering her speech on the night, Levi said AUJS, along with the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, felt privileged to be part of the event.
“This forum tonight is such an important way in which, through dialogue, we can break down any perceived or real barriers between communities, celebrate diversity, and share our experiences as young people in our respective religious and cultural groups,” she said. “This kind of interfaith dialogue leads to action, and action evokes change.”
She also spoke of the need to combat anti-Semitism, alongside all kinds of discrimination on campus.
“There is still a way to go in combating all forms of discrimination, albeit at universities and beyond – from within our political system, the media, wider society, or that espoused across social media platforms.”
GARETH NARUNSKY
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