August 31, 2009

UJC/The Jewish Federations of North America have been invited to play an important role in an upcoming first-of-its-kind conference about the social impact of terrorism.

The conference, “The Psycho-Social Aftermaths of Terror Attacks -- Theoretical and Therapeutic Perspectives,” is being organized by the UJC/Federation-supported Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI)’s Fund for the Victims of Terror with the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya.

The event, set for Sept. 13-15 at the IDC campus in Israel, will be Webcast live, and Federations will have the opportunity to submit questions via email in real time. Event organizers are hoping to engage many Federations, which support the highly critical terror victims’ fund through the Israel Emergency Campaign.

The conference will feature an array of top experts in the field, including leading researchers from Columbia University, University College London, Dartmouth Medical School, the University of New South Wales in Australia and most of Israel’s leading academic, medical and research institutions.

“In the most tangible ways possible, JAFI’s Fund for the Victims of Terror cares for each victim of these horrendous acts,” said Midge Perlman Shafton, former chair of the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago and former member of the UJC/Federation IEC Committee.

“It helps heal wounds that often go unseen. And it tells those in pain, and all our fellow Jews, they are not alone. Through the fund, the Jewish Federations and UJC embrace each person touched by terror, and this conference is an important part of that process. We strongly urge North American Jewry to participate, either online or in person.”

The conference’s final session, a round-table discussion with key foreign experts, has been designed to enable Federations to email discussion questions. The session will take place from 10:15 a.m.-11 a.m. EST on Tuesday, Sept. 15

Those wishing to participate in the conference online can visit www.idc.ac.il. Questions for the panel can be emailed to: votidc@walla.co.il. To attend in person, please contact sardes.shulli@idc.ac.il.

For details, please contact Dani Wassner, director of communications, UJC Global Operations-Israel & Overseas at daniw@ujc.org.il.