Israeli Foreign Minister, President of the Autonomous Community of Madrid, Mayor of Madrid, Ambassadors, Authorities, Distinguished Representatives of Jewish organizations worldwide, Ladies and Gentlemen - good morning. Today is a historic day for the Jewish communities, for Israel and for Spain. With this ceremony we achieve a long-standing and legitimate goal, and settle an ancient debt with the people of Sepharad; thus, we draw a line under our past in order to address the present and the future.
This we do after having commemorated Holocaust Memorial Day and after promoting specific measures to combat anti-Semitism, both in Spain and within the European Union, and also in multilateral organisations such as the United Nations and the OSCE.
This year, the Holocaust Memorial Day has enabled a group of Judeo-Spanish people to symbolically recover their roots. The delegation, comprised of survivors from Auschwitz, Mathausen and Bergen-Belsen, who are now resident in Israel, France, Belgium, the USA and Argentina, have left us a vivid testimony of admiration for our common heritage. León Arditti remarked on his experience, when he and his brother left the Nazi death camps behind them. At that moment of profound emotion, there came into his mind a song from his Judeo-Spanish childhood, which sounded "like a cry of victory over death itself".
The Second World War took away the voice of the Judeo-Spanish, leading to their diaspora and plundering. Ladino-speaking communities are concentrated, nowadays, in Israel, Turkey, around Salonica (Greece) and in Morocco, where a very numerous community has become established. This language, which has been jealously guarded in the memories and households of thousands of families, will be the object of further research and standardisation, challenges that will be addressed with the help of contributions from the different Academies of the Spanish Language and from the Instituto Cervantes.
These profound relations are also reflected in the many activities contained in the programme for the twentieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and Spain, which is now complemented with the inauguration of Casa Sefarad-Israel.
This latter institution was born from the heartfelt, sincere commitment of the people of Spain, who have outstanding representatives, many of them present today, engaged in the structuring and development of our society and of relations between the Judeo-Spanish, Spain and Israel. And their contribution is much appreciated and highly valued. Their collaboration, together with institutional resolve, has made it possible for Casa Sefarad-Israel, an instrument of public diplomacy, to come into being.
With this event today, we are providing the necessary and sufficient means for transmitting awareness of Sepharad and its future evolution, while confirming and intensifying our commitment to the diverse Jewish communities and to Israel. This will open the way to strengthening our relations and enable us to work together for noble, worthy goals, and thus achieve social, economic, cultural and political exchanges, as well as institutional reinforcement.
As Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Government of Spain, I am especially moved and proud to have contributed to creating the institution we are inaugurating, one that constitutes a meeting point for Jewish organisations, for the State of Israel and for Spanish society; it will be a forum for dialogue, exchange and cooperation that will contemplate not just the past and the present, but also the future. Today, we possess a sophisticated instrument that will promote the communication and extension of our heritage and will open up new horizons for relations between Israel, Spain and the Judeo-Spanish.
Casa Sefarad-Israel is a key element in the institutional network comprised of Casa América, Casa Asia, Casa Árabe and Casa África, regions in which Spain has extended and enhanced its relations and exchanges. Within the above context, Casa Sefarad-Israel is a very special collaboration, as its creation arose from a debt to ourselves and to historical coherence. This collaboration strengthens our ties with Israel and with Jewish organisations worldwide.
I am sure that this institution will have a multiplier effect on our knowledge, confidence and spirit of collaboration, because we are destined to build our futures together and to reconstruct our common heritage, one that on occasion has fared badly, during the vicissitudes of history.
The first testimony of the Jewish presence in the Iberian peninsula dates from the end of the second century AD. In Adra, in the province of Almería, a tombstone was found with the Latin inscription Annia Salomonula, thus bearing witness to the Jewish presence in Iberia.
And moving from the archaeological background to the future, represented by another Ana Sálomon, who is our Special Ambassador for Relations with the Jewish Community and Director General of Casa Sefarad-Israel - their names span a period of over 18 centuries, and will allow us to renew the collective vision of Sepharad and to strengthen the ties between our societies, engaged in processes of internationalisation that influence politics, the economy, culture, science and technology.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Casa Sefarad-Israel is located in Madrid, the capital of Spain. This was made possible, among others, by the determination of the Autonomous Community of Madrid and Madrid City Council, committed to promoting peace, dialogue and cooperation among peoples and cultures. Our society today is a melting pot and its energies and vitality make Madrid a cosmopolitan territory, open to peaceful coexistence and innovation.
Spanish foreign policy, after diplomatic relations were established with Israel, once again addressed the Mediterranean in its entirety. And since then it has cooperated to make it a sea of encounter for peace, democratic coexistence and the progress of the peoples and nations around its rims.
Spain is a friend and ally of Israel. Thus, it will not cease in its endeavour to find formulas that are not merely rhetorical and it will cement understandings for the security and welfare, for the peace and progress of Israel and its citizens, who have so greatly suffered the scourge of terrorism. These goals require an environment of trust that will foster social and economic growth, which requires guarantees of respect and peaceful coexistence in a region that must take the path of dialogue and social, democratic and institutional stability.
Our relations with the Jewish world and with Israel have never ignored Sepharad: from Tetuan to Istanbul, from Salonica to Cairo, the brilliant history of the Sephardic people is a moving one, for it is one of love for this land and it is still nourished in the sweet, living echo of Ladino and of memory. Sepharad, the Spain we share, was enriched, and still is today, by the Judeo-Spanish, who reinforce our enterprising and hard-working spirit. Their imprint has reached our days and has permeated homes, customs and traditions, while at the same time being reinterpreted in the light of modernity.
The network of Jewish Quarters in Spain, Caminos de Sefarad, the public association created in municipalities, whose sole objective is the defence of the urban, architectural, artistic, cultural and historical heritage of the Jewish legacy in Spain, is called upon to cooperate with Casa Sepharad-Israel. We are entrusting these 21 cities that contain the heartbeat of our history with the task of intensifying and providing visibility to the network of our relations. Now we will promote knowledge of and research into our common roots, and at the same time we seek to enhance social, economic, cultural and political exchange.
The resolve of Spain´s citizens, institutions and Government to defend democratic values and the spirit of collaboration has enabled us to adapt to Spain´s current multicultural reality, whose mythical background is part of our idiosyncrasy. This was what inspired the June 2005 Córdoba Declaration, which was the result of the OSCE Ministerial Conference on Anti-Semitism and on Other Forms of Intolerance. This Conference analyzed traditional and new challenges in the fight against anti-Semitism, and specific measures were agreed on, to denounce and prevent anti-Semitic expressions, demonstrations and acts.
The High Level Conference on Tolerance and Non-Discrimination, to be held in Bucharest under the Spanish OSCE Chairmanship, will strengthen our fight against anti-Semitism, intolerance and discrimination. This Organization´s human dimension will follow the path set out in Córdoba. We trust we will make progress along this path in fulfilling goals concerning education for peaceful coexistence, the defence of Human Rights and of the principle of international legality, as well as effective measures to combat crimes involving anti-Semitism and intolerance, information regarding them, the religious dimension and their social impact.
Meeting goals in these and other aspects leads us to harbour the hope of building a future for an international community that engages more in dialogue and solidarity, that is more respectful and committed, both in the diversity of its societies and in the complex system of international relations, which nowadays demands that pressing challenges be urgently addressed.
Please allow me to conclude my words by expressing a shared wish and demand, which is that the institution we are setting up today be the cornerstone of 21st century Sepharad, and the all-embracing Jewish and Israeli house in Spain. Its work will be inspired by the wisdom of Maimonides, because as Rambam himself said, "love wisdom, seek it as you would silver, search for it as for hidden treasure. Stay at the doorstep of wise men, of those who learn, of those who teach. You will find your leisure there".
Thank you very much and congratulations to all. "Alajá i berajá" . Shalom