New AJC Report: Iran in its own Words  Iran is a clear and present danger to Israel, the Middle East and the international community. But don't take our word for it. Read what Iranian leaders themselves are saying about their nuclear ambitions as they threaten Israel and the West, and deny the Holocaust. Click for Iran in its own Words. Visit AJC's Advocacy Center to urge world leaders to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
AJC Addresses UN Ambassadors on Hamas South Africa's permanent representative to the UN, Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo, invited AJC senior leadership to a dinner at his home to discuss with the envoys of 15 countries, all members of the Non-Aligned Movement, and the implications of the Hamas electoral victory. The UN ambassadors hailed from Argentina, Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Nigeria, Peru, Senegal, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago and Vietnam. Stanley Bergman, chair of AJC's new Africa Institute, helped organize the event.
Russian Foreign Minister Meets AJC Leaders An AJC leadership delegation met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in New York. During the one-hour session, which followed meetings by Lavrov with President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington, the discussion focused primarily on the challenges posed by Iran's quest for nuclear weapons and the implications of Hamas's success in the Palestinian elections. Click for news release.
House Votes to "Graduate" Ukraine from Jackson-Vanik AJC welcomed today's overwhelming vote in the U.S. House of Representatives to lift trade restrictions against Ukraine that were imposed on the Soviet Union in 1974 when Congress adopted the Jackson-Vanik Amendment to press for freedom of emigration. "This landmark measure is a sound U.S. endorsement of democratic trends in Ukraine," said AJC Executive Director David A. Harris. "President Bush has indicated support for the bill. We look forward to his signature as early as possible." The U.S. Senate endorsed the measure in November. AJC had written to all Senators and House members urging the lifting of trade restrictions against Ukraine. Click for news release.
AJC Testifies at OAS on anti-Semitism Convention AJC urged the Organization of American States to support a draft Inter-American Convention against Racism and All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance. "In the new millennium, just as most countries are witnessing the consolidation of democracy with their societies embracing diversity, it is disturbing that discrimination, xenophobia and anti-Semitism are still expressed openly by some and are used as political tools," said Bruce M. Ramer, chair of AJC's Latino and Latin American Institute in testimony delivered before the OAS working group. Ramer declared that adoption of the Convention would be a "strong pronouncement against those who insist on using prejudice to sow the seeds of discord among peoples and nations." Read testimony.
Board Institute Set to Visit Israel, Eight Other Nations Nearly 200 AJC leaders will set off next week for Israel and nine other countries as the Board Institute brings AJC's international diplomacy to capitals across Europe as well as in the Arab world. Board delegations will visit Brussels, Geneva, Lisbon, Madrid, Paris, Rome and Warsaw on the way to Israel. The Board will continue on to Berlin after several days in Israel, including a gala dinner hosted by the Foreign Minster to celebrate AJC's centenary. Following Berlin, delegations will visit Morocco and Tunisia. In each country, AJC will meet with the highest government officials as well as local Jewish communities. More on the Board Institute in the next Update. Watch the website for breaking news from the visits.
Promoting Israeli-Polish Relations For the second year, AJC sponsored a national tour in the U.S. for Ambassador David Peleg, Israeli envoy to Warsaw, and Ambassador Maciej Kozlowski, Ambassador-at-Large for Polish-Jewish relations and Poland's former ambassador to Israel. The two diplomats, in cooperation with AJC Chapters, visited Chicago, Detroit, New York and Washington, D.C. They met with government officials, Jewish organizations, journalists, and, in Chicago, also met with the newly-elected leadership of the Polish American community. Since establishing diplomatic relations in 1990, Poland has become one of Israel's most important allies in Europe.
Nigerian-American Group Learns from AJC The newly formed Nigerians in the Diaspora Organization (NIDO), based in Washington, visited AJC headquarters for a daylong workshop in advocacy training. AJC experts discussed with 25 NIDO board members the institutional history of American Jewry and its potential relevance to the Nigerian diaspora experience, the basics of building an advocacy organization, and the relationship between Diaspora Jewry and Israel. Also attending were Dr. Umanna Humphrey Orjiako, Nigeria's Minister of Political Affairs, and I. Auwalu, Nigeria's Consul General in New York. AJC's new Africa Institute organized the gathering.
AJC Radio Message: A Voice of Reason and Courage In his biweekly national radio message, David Harris shares the views of a brave Arab-American psychologist who went on Al-Jazeera to challenge radical Islamists. "Why is it only within the Muslim world, she asks, that beliefs are defended 'by burning down churches, killing people and destroying embassies?'" says Harris, citing a MEMRI translation. Click to listen.
Germany State President Visits AJC The leader of Germany's largest state visited AJC to discuss a number of current world issues, including Germany's policies regarding Hamas and Iran. Minister President Juergen Ruettgers of Nordhein-Westfallen also updated the AJC leaders on the status of his country's Jewish community, the challenges of integrating his Germany's Muslim population, and dealing with extremism in that community.
Project Interchange French Connection Forty graduate students from one of France's most prestigious schools of higher education, the Institute for Political Sciences in Paris, are producing a film and writing a magazine article based upon their first-time experiences in traveling throughout Israel. The trip, organized by AJC's Project Interchange, marked the first time the French university sent its students to Israel. The students will share their new insights with the AJC Board delegation when they meet in Paris next week. The trip was planned in cooperation with the CRIF, the umbrella group for French Jewry.
Alabama Church Arsons Solved AJC commended Alabama law enforcement authorities for the arrest of three college students who have been charged in setting fires that damaged or destroyed nine Baptist churches. "We are grateful that the hard work of detectives led to today's arrests," said AJC. "We share in the sense of relief which our Baptist brothers and sisters in Alabama no doubt feel." Click for news release.
Javits Center Architect Controversy AJC expressed concern that the British architect tapped to re-design New York City's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center was involved in a group considering a boycott of Israel. In a letter to the Empire State Development Corporation, AJC said the $1.7 billion contract awarded to Lord Richard Rogers needed further scrutiny. Rogers has since disassociated himself from the group, Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine, and issued a statement rejecting any Israel boycott. Read letter.
Take Action Now - AJC Advocacy Center Visit www.ajc.org/advocacy and let your government officials know where you stand. Current action items include Stop Iran Now; Fix Our Broken Immigration System; Stop Genocide in the Sudan; Stand Against Hatred. The Advocacy Center prides background materials on each issue and makes its simple to send letters.
In the Media
The New York Times published a letter to the editor by David Harris, responding to an op-ed written by Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. Read letter. The New York Sun quoted David Harris in a story on the Javits Center architect controversy. The Jerusalem Post quoted David Harris and Kenneth Bandler, AJC Director of Communications, in a story on the same subject. Diane Steinman, director of AJC's New York Chapter, was quoted in the New York Jewish Week on the murder of a Jew in Crown Heights. The Forward quoted David Harris in a story on the cartoon controversy in Denmark, and in a separate story on Hamas. The New York Jewish Week quoted David Harris in a story on French Jewry. Jewish Week editor Gary Rosenblatt quoted Steven Bayme, AJC's director of Contemporary Jewish Life, in a column on intermarriage. The JTA quoted Richard Foltin, AJC Legislative Director and Counsel, in a story on immigration reform. Germany's Juedische Zeitung profiled AJC in celebration of our centennial. The New York Sun extensively quoted Yehudit Barsky, AJC's terrorism expert, in a column on the anniversary of the Brooklyn Bridge shooting and murder of Ari Halberstam, which the Sun noted was not mentioned at all in a three part series on the Islamic Society of Bay Ridge, where the terrorist Rashid Baez had attended the mosque. The Chicago Chapter's seminar for Consuls General on the ethnic and religious groups in the city was featured in the JUF News. The Jewish Exponent ran a full-page story about the AJC Philadelphia Chapter program on Darfur. The paper also published a letter on Hamas by Chapter President Harold Yaffe and Director Ilana Wilensik.
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