14th Annual Shira Herzog Symposium

14th Annual Shira Herzog Symposium
Voices of Determination: One Year Since October 7th

Sunday, September 29th at 4 PM

Commemorate October 7th in solidarity with Israeli civil society, both Jewish and Palestinian

October 7th was the darkest day in Israel’s history. It brought with it immense pain and suffering. It ushered in a disastrous war that is still ongoing and exacerbated a series of crises within Israel.

As we approach the one-year mark since October 7th, we must take stock of what we have lost and consider where we go from here. Over the past year, NIF-fueled civil society initiatives helped to push back against Israel’s extremist government, to bolster democratic norms, to support the hostage families, to promote Jewish-Arab partnership, and to defend Palestinian human rights. What lessons can we learn? How will we leverage our pain to drive change?

Gathering with us in-person as we commemorate this day with Israeli women civil society leaders – one Jewish and one Palestinian – who are determined to turn tragedy into a better future of democracy, equality, and peace: Esther Sivan, Director of Shatil, and Raghad Jaraisy, Co-Director of Sikkuy-Aufok, moderated by Prof. Sylvia Bashevkin.

Event Details

Main event 4:00-5:30 PM, casual community reception 5:30-6:30 PM.

Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street, Appel Salon (Second Floor).

The annual symposium is named after Shira Herzog (z”l). Shira Herzog was a Canadian-Israeli leader, a loving critic of Israel, and a major supporter of NIFC before she passed away in 2014. Learn more about her here.

If you would like to help us to convene and host this important event, please click here to consider joining our Host Committee.

Can’t make it? Sign up here to receive the recording.

Our Panelists

Attorney Raghad Jaraisy was appointed Sikkuy-Aufoq’s Co-Executive Director in April 2023 after serving three years as Co-Director of the Equality Policy Department. As an attorney, Raghad brings with her extensive knowledge of human rights issues in general, and Palestinian civil rights in Israel in particular. She has a wealth of management experience: before joining Sikkuy-Aufoq, Raghad worked for nine years at the Civil Rights Association in various positions, including Manager of the Department for the Promotion of the Rights of the Arab Minority in Israel. Raghad graduated with honors (majoring in public and international law) in the joint LL.M degree program of Tel Aviv University and Northwestern University in Chicago. She received her bachelor’s degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in a joint degree program in Law and Cognitive Sciences. Raghad lives with her partner and their two sons in Nof HaGalil.

Esther Sivan is the Director of Shatil, the NIF Initiative for Social Change, which she began serving as director in October 2018. Esther’s background in philanthropy and her executive experience in Israeli social change organizations make her uniquely prepared to lead Shatil in addressing the most pressing challenges facing Israeli society. In the past two decades, she has served in leadership roles in civil society organizations and initiatives; most recently, she was with the Merchavim Institute, where she served as Director of Kulanana, a multi-year civil-society partnership to promote social cohesion, led by the Arison Foundation. Prior to that, she served as legal counsel to the Israel Women’s Network (IWN), was the first Executive Director of NIF grantee Bimkom: Planners for Planning Rights, where she served for a number of years, and was Director of B’Zchut: The Israeli Human Rights Center for People with Disabilities. Esther has a BA in Law and an MA in Public Policy from Hebrew University.

Our moderator Prof. Sylvia Bashevkin is a board member of NIFC and a Toronto-based writer and researcher, best known for her work on women’s political participation. A professor emerita in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto, she is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and holds an honorary doctor of letters degree from Memorial University of Newfoundland. Bashevkin’s scholarly distinctions include the Canadian Political Science Association Prize in International Relations, the Bertha Lutz Prize for highest quality public writing and research on women in diplomacy from the International Studies Association/SOAS, the Mildred Schwartz Lifetime Achievement Award in Canadian Politics from the American Political Science Association, the Jill Vickers Prize from the Canadian Political Science Association and the Ursula Franklin Award in Gender Studies from the Royal Society. She has won numerous public recognitions including the 2020 Woman of Distinction award in the field of education from YWCA Toronto. Bashevkin is the author of books including Women as Foreign Policy Leaders: National Security and Gender Politics in Superpower America (Oxford University Press, 2018).

Advance registration is now closed, but you can register at the door – so please join us!