World Refugee Day 2022 in Israel - UNHCR Israel

On World Refugee Day, we celebrate the richness and diversity of refugee cultures in Israel, as well as their contribution to the host country. This year's global message is "Everyone has the right to seek safety and protection."UNHCR marked World Refugee Day 2022 in Israel with a celebration held on the Bialik Rogozin campus, which included the launch of a book written by the students, a musical performance, speeches and the reading of selected testimonies from the book written by the students.

Photo: UNHCR

Damtew Dessalegne, UNHCR's representative in Israel, gave opening remarks at the event, followed by selected readings from the book "Going Far," which includes the testimonies of six Eritrean girls, high school students, who recounted their experiences they went through on their journey from Eritrea to Israel at an early age. In addition to the readings there were short musical performances by the musical duo Lily and Taunton Kalupe from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Many guests were present, among them: representatives of the refugee communities, Haaretz literary correspondent Vered Lee, who hosted the event, Knesset Member Ibtisam Mara'ana, who worked extensively on behalf of asylum seekers in her capacity as chair of the Foreign Workers Committee in the Israeli Knesset, journalist Einat Fishbein, publisher of "Hamakom Magazine”.

The event was filmed in full and edited and can be viewed Here.