Supreme President George E. Loucas provided a welcome address, and Supreme Secretary George Horiates presented as a panelist, at an international conference titled, “New Realities in the Eastern Mediterranean” held at the Konrad Adenauer Conference Center, Mishkenot Shaananim, Jerusalem, December 11, 2018. The Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies (JISS) and B’nai B’rith International (BBI) sponsored the conference which was held in cooperation with AHEPA and the American Hellenic Institute (AHI).
“Developments in the Eastern Mediterranean amid the growing alliance between Greece, Cyprus and Israel across many sectors, have elevated the region’s geopolitical importance,” Loucas said. “We are proud to support and participate at such a significant international conference to examine these developments. We sincerely thank its organizers, JISS and B’nai B’rith International, and we are happy to hold the conference in cooperation with AHI.”
Also, Loucas stated his gratitude for the participation of the expert panelists.
“We look forward to learning from the panelists as we—the diaspora groups with a vested interest to see the Eastern Mediterranean be a safe, stable, secure region that contributes to global prosperity—continue to plot our course going forward in support of the burgeoning trilateral partnership between Greece, Cyprus and Israel,” Loucas said, adding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently described the trilateral partnership as “an alliance for good.”
Supreme Secretary Horiates spoke on the topic, “Promoting Mediterranean Awareness in the U.S.” He approached the topic by examining how the region is promoted in two distinct areas–in Washington, DC and throughout the grassroots of the United States. Horiates touted the work of the Congressional Hellenic Israeli Alliance and relayed the high-level of engagement of U.S. State Department officials in the region. However, he added diaspora groups can do more, working together, to promote the importance of the Mediterranean to mainstream America.
Canadian President Christos Argiriou and Executive Director Basil Mossaidis also attended the conference.
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Founded in 1922 in Atlanta, Georgia, on the principles that undergirded its fight for civil rights and against discrimination, bigotry, and hatred felt at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan, AHEPA is the largest and oldest grassroots association of American citizens of Greek heritage and Philhellenes with more than 400 chapters across the United States, Canada, and Europe.
AHEPA’s mission is to promote the ancient Greek ideals of Education, Philanthropy, Civic Responsibility, and Family and Individual Excellence through community service and volunteerism.