Jewish, Muslim and ally leaders from across politics and the student movement united at the inaugural Yad Fellowship Summit here at Cumberland Lodge to start sketching out a shared future.
The Fellowship exists to fill the dialogue gap that has grown on UK campuses and in civil society, to tackle antisemitism and Islamophobia together, and to foster the next generation of leaders in the UK.
Following the launch of the groundbreaking Drumlanrig Accords in February, the Summit on 27-28 February brought together 40 leaders from the student movement, Higher Education sector, and interfaith space.
A panel, chaired by Co-Founder Noah Katz, explored what leaders in the student movement can learn from expert interfaith practitioners. Attendees heard from Laura Marks CBE (founder of Mitzvah Day, co-founder of Nisa-Nashim, and outgoing Chair of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust); Dilwar Hussain MBE (founding Chair of New Horizons in British Islam); Dr Lindsay Simmonds (Research Fellow at the London School of Jewish Studies), and Zaynab Albadry (Director of Programmes at Future Leaders UK).
Saranya Thambirajah (VP Liberation & Equality, NUS UK) chaired a wide-ranging after dinner conversation with The Lord (John) Mann (HM Government’s Independent Adviser on Antisemitism); the Revd Canon Professor James Walters (founding Director of LSE’s Faith Centre); Tito Molokwu (LSE Students’ Union’s General Secretary); Professor Adam Habib (Vice Chancellor of SOAS University of London), and Rabbi Charley Baginsky (CEO of Liberal Judaism and Co Lead of Progressive Judaism). Topics spanned the future of leadership in a fractured society to the role of faith groups in society.
The second day was spent focusing on leadership and co-creating the next steps for Yad Fellowship’s growth, with Co-Founders Irfan Zaman and Noah Katz guiding participants through their vision and learning of their needs to ensure the success of the project.
Professor Melissa Butcher, Programme Director at Cumberland Lodge, said: “Projects and partnerships that work to bridge the dialogue gap have never been more crucial than they are today, and it was our privilege to be able to support the Yad Fellowship in bringing diverse voices together here at Cumberland Lodge, in order to build a stronger future.”
Lord Mann said: “At this moment of deep societal division, it’s more important than ever that diverse student leaders are brought together. As discussed throughout the summit, all of the young people I spoke to will be leading their communities in the next 20 years if they’re not doing so already. I’m looking forward to see where the Yad Fellowship goes.”
Signatory of the Drumlanrig Accords and after dinner speaker at the event, Rabbi Charley Baginsky said: “I was honoured to join Yad Fellowship’s inaugural Summit. On the heels of the Drumlanrig Accords, this groundbreaking initiative is precisely what is needed to act as a salve for the tensions we’ve been seeing on our campuses and in wider society.”
Dilwar Hussain MBE said: “I’m really happy to see universities play their part in developing mutual understanding between a new generation of Jewish and Muslim leaders. This is long overdue and can have a positive impact on social cohesion far beyond education and academic life.”
Participants left the summit empowered with a renewed sense of urgency to maintain the political centre ground, to repair broken Muslim/Jewish interfaith relations, and to ensure social cohesion in the UK for the years to come.
The Yad Fellowship Summit was supported by Lord Mann and the National Union of Students (NUS Charity).
Find out more about the Yad Fellowship.