Last month in the city’s capital Kiev on 29 March 2011, the first-ever conference of World Religions and Civil Society United against Hatred and Extremism took place.

Oleksandr Feldman, Member of Parliament and President of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, was chairing a major global gathering of 400 religious leaders.

He shared his thoughts on this unique occasion. As a Parliamentarian who represents a nation that has been fraught by generations of internal divisions and persecution, combating the scourge of hatred is something which he firmly believes must be at the centre of global concern. Too much blood has been spilled to see this as anything less than a pressing issue that demands attention at the highest levels and with the greatest of intensity.