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The government of Israel and UNESCO will sign an agreement to reinforce their cooperation in developing and promoting Holocaust education and combating denial of the mass murder of Jews and other groups in World War II.

Prior to the screening (2.30p.m), Irina Bokova and Israel’s Ambassador and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, Nimrod Barkan, will sign an agreement to provide additional resources for UNESCO’s Holocaust education, remembrance and research activities. The agreement also concerns the development of Holocaust education curricula in various languages for primary and secondary schools.

UNESCO works to mobilise networks of professionals, academics, scientists and civil society, including UNESCO/UNITWIN university chairs and UNESCO’s Associated Schools, in favour of Holocaust remembrance. Special attention is given to teacher training activities. UNESCO’s partners in this area include the Yad Vashem centre for documentation, research, education and commemoration of the Holocaust (Israel), and other relevant institutions.

The emphasis on empathy here and in schools nationwide is the latest front in a decade-long campaign against bullying and violence.

In Seattle, seven public elementary schools are using a Canadian-based program, Roots of Empathy, in which a mother and her baby go into the classroom to explore questions like “What makes you cry?”

some schools are focusing more on empathy, with lessons about the Holocaust, role-playing and a “values jingle” sung to the tune of “Jingle Bells.”