Youth Festival of Peoples’ Friendship of the World IPACS RANEPA “Russia – Israel”
On May 6th, at the Institute of Public Administration and Civil Service (IPACS) of the Presidential Academy, a Youth Festival of Peoples’ Friendship of the World IPACS RANEPA “Russia – Israel”. The event took place within the framework of the annual May conference session “Public Administration and Development of Russia: Civilizational Challenges and National Interests”.
The Festival of Peoples’ Friendship of the World IPACS RANEPA is a traditional event of the Institute, organized by the IPACS International Cooperation Department. The event has been held since 2019: the Institute annually becomes a platform for cultural, scientific, and practical interaction between the expert, scientific and student communities, allowing students to immerse themselves in current international issues. Over the past years, more than 30 festivals have been held, which are aimed at deepening knowledge of key aspects of history, culture, linguistics, regional studies, and developing political dialogue between partner countries in a bilateral format.
The Russia-Israel festival allowed participants to deepen their knowledge of Israel culture, get to know the characteristic traditions of Israel, and study the socio-political and economic aspects of the State of Israel.
Mr. Chechek Omer Katz, Counselor for Economics, Energy and Environment of the Embassy of the State of Israel addressed the participants of the youth festival with a welcoming speech.
“Thank you for the invitation, it is a great honor to work with such an outstanding university,” – he addressed the audience. – I am very happy to see you all here today and would like to wish all the participants of the festival a fruitful and interesting day. The program of the event looks promising!”.
The moderator of the event, Head of the IPACS International Cooperation Department, Karolina Sikirinskaya noted the importance of holding such events at the Academy and emphasized successful examples of interaction with the Embassy of the State of Israel, thanking her colleagues for their support.
“We are pleased to welcome the speakers and participants of the festival and thank everyone for their interest in Israeli culture. Cooperation between Russia and Israel is an important area for our country, which, we hope, will become stronger in the future,” – the speaker emphasized.
At the end of the grand opening, the experts delivered profile reports, highlighting various aspects of Russian-Israeli relations. According to Tatiana Ilarionova, Professor of the Department of State and Municipal Administration of the Institute of Civil Engineering and Public Administration, RANEPA, the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel is a good reason to draw attention to the cooperation of the Academy with Israeli partners.
“Our countries have great opportunities for developing relations. Many thanks to the Institute of Public Administration and Civil Service and the IPACS International Cooperation Department for organizing such an event,” – said the professor.
Olga Kiyanova, Professor of the Department of State and Legal Disciplines, IPACS RANEPA, paid special attention to cooperation in the field of linguistics. According to the professor, modern Israeli universities are ready to develop cooperation with Russian universities in the scientific and technological fields, as well as to implement student mobility programs, which is an important component of establishing international relations.
An important part of the festival was student performances that touched upon the peculiarities of holding national and state holidays in Israel, issues of trade and economic relations and other important aspects of interstate cooperation.
Alexander Komissarov, a postgraduate student of the program “International Relations, Global and Regional Studies” of the RANEPA, spoke about Russian organizations in Israel. In 2023, about 2 million Russian-speaking compatriots were recorded in Israel, whose contribution to the strengthening and development of Russian-Israeli ties, according to the speaker, has always been very significant.
The 2nd year student in the program “Production and Cultural Policy” Kristina Osipyan in her speech revealed the topic “Conversion in the modern world”, paying special attention to the specifics of the rites of converting non-Jews to Judaism.
“Indigenous Jews are not the only ones who claim to be repatriated to Israel,” – the student notes. “The current Israeli legislation gives the right to return, including those who have completed conversion.”
The youth festival turned out to be a vivid impression for the students of the IPACS RANEPA.
“The festival gave me the opportunity to express myself at an international event, to meet people who are interested in the development of international relations, like me,” – shared Anna Petrovskaya, a 1st year student in the program “Politics and Law (with in-depth study of foreign languages)”. – The event will be remembered for a long time – the reports of the speakers were very impressive. Such meetings allow establishing international communications, sharing experience and knowledge, as well as strengthening partnerships between states.”
The event ended with an exciting quiz “What do I know about Israel?”, which was prepared by activists of the International Student Club “IPACS InterClub”. The interactive immersed the festival participants in the atmosphere of Israeli culture and introduced them to the characteristic traditions of the Israelis.
Watch more about the event in the story of the IPACS RANEPA International Cooperation Department.