Washington University will host speakers discussing the promotion of relations between the Indian and Jewish American communities tomorrow night.
Nissim Reuben, senior fellow of international affairs and US-Israel-India relations, is one of the headlining speakers. He is an Indian Jew who has been working at the American Jewish Committee in Washington, D.C.
Joining Nissim will be Ambassador Senior Singh Jassal and Dr. Andy David. Jassal served as India’s ambassador to Israel from 2001 to 2004.
“During this period, relations between India and Israel took rapid strides forward in all areas,” said junior Avigail Goldgraber, co-sponsor of the program.”
Jassal has been serving as Deputy Chief of Mission Embassy of India in Washington, D.C. since 2005.
David, deputy consul general of Israel to the Midwest, will be speaking on the US-India-Israel relations, the importance of democracy in the region and other joint projects and interests.
According to Goldgraber, this event is a pioneer program.
“It’s important to show the relationship between different cultures that aren’t normally shown,” said Goldgraber.
Neil Kathuria, sophomore and president of Ashoka, agrees. Ashoka helped Jewish Student Union sponsor the program.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” he said. “We are trying to reach out to other student groups. It’s a way to diversify our groups and a great opportunity.”
Kathuria explained that Ashoka’s involvement is a great way to show people of different backgrounds new perspectives.
Ashoka primarily helped with the public relations for the event and with getting many of the Indian student groups involved. According to Goldgraber, it took perseverance to get the speakers.
“I think [this program] will hopefully show the possibility of bridging the cultural divides,” said Goldgraber. “We can host these events together, and don’t need to stay in the pre-existing framework.”
The event will be held tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m at the Saint Louis Hillel.