Check out this week's episode of People of the Pod!

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SPOTLIGHT
After three elections in the space of a year, Israel now appears to be on the verge of having a functioning government again. On this week’s People of the Pod [link removed], New York Times Jerusalem Bureau Chief David Halbfinger joins us to discuss the latest developments. Then we hear from Tablet Senior Writer Yair Rosenberg, AJC Director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations Rabbi Noam Marans, and AJC Associate Director of Contemporary Jewish Life Laura Shaw Frank on how to make Passover especially meaningful this year. Listen now [link removed]   

MUST-READS

Crises and Conspiracies
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The Times of Israel / 4-minute read
It is almost a law of nature: in any crisis, financial or otherwise, people will share dangerous misinformation and wild conspiracy theories to satisfy their desire to blame someone for the emergency. The novel coronavirus is no exception. For antisemites, the unprecedented global health crisis, “presents an opportunity to pin the blame on, who else, the Jews, even as the outbreak began in Wuhan, China, where, incidentally, no Jewish community exists,” AJC CEO David Harris wrote in an op-ed published [link removed] in The Times of Israel. Warning against an attitude of complacency, Harris stressed the importance of rigorously confronting the threat posed by antisemitism. “In the past, such conspiracy theories have too often had real-life consequences for Jews, from ostracism to pogroms,” he said. Read more [link removed]

AJC Supports Worldwide Efforts to Combat Coronavirus
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AJC / 2-minute read
In a press release on April 1, AJC announced [link removed] a $150,000 donation in support of efforts to aid victims of the coronavirus pandemic and to support medical teams and critical research. The recipients of the AJC donation include Health Research, Inc., affiliated with the New York State Department of Health; Elmhurst Hospital, in Queens, New York, for purchasing life-saving equipment; MIGAL Galilee Research Institute, located in Kiryat Shmona, Israel; as well as the hard-hit Jewish community and government of Italy. “As the pandemic spreads, straining precious medical resources, assisting those on the frontlines of care and research is imperative,” said [link removed] AJC CEO David Harris. “To save a life, a core Jewish value, is critically important in this time of a global health crisis. Each of us must do whatever we can. I only wish we could do more at the present time.” The support is made possible by AJC’s Robert and Harriet Heilbrunn Humanitarian Fund, as well as Stephne and Kerrin Behrend. Read more [link removed]

Gov. Cuomo Renames State Hate-Crime Bill to Honor Monsey Stabbing Victim
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JNS / 2-minute read
The governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, announced [link removed] on March 30 that he will rename the state’s Domestic Terrorism Act in memory of Rabbi Yosef Neumann, who was brutally stabbed in his home along with several other Jews during a Hanukkah lighting celebration in Monsey in December 2019. Neumann had been in a coma from the time of the attack and succumbed to his injuries on March 29. Cuomo said in a statement, “We owe it to Mr. Neumann, his family and the entire family of New York to get it done now.” On April 2, New York state legislators passed a package of legislative measures to combat antisemitism and domestic terrorism, including the “Josef Neumann Hate Crimes Domestic Terrorism Act.” The assailant, Thomas Grafton, has pleaded not guilty to ten federal hate crime charges, along with six counts of attempted murder and assault. AJC expressed [link removed] its condolences on the death of Neumann. Read more [link removed]

COVID-19: UN Secretary General Hails Strong Israel-PA Cooperation
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The Times of Israel / 6-minute read
In a rare move, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has praised the close cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) in fighting the coronavirus. “The Palestinian Authority and Israel have been able to work together, even if we know the extreme division that exists politically between the two,” noted Guterres. The Palestinian branch of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs also acknowledged the “unprecedented cooperation on efforts aimed at containing the epidemic” in an emergency briefing on March 31. The Times of Israel reported [link removed] that a senior Palestinian government official confirmed that Israel and the PA have set up a special mechanism to share “moment by moment” information on all issues related to the pandemic. Israel recently transferred 3,000 coronavirus test kits and 50,000 protective masks that had been donated by the World Health Organization to the PA. AJC started [link removed] the #BeAMensch campaign to share and honor these acts of courage and decency and even inspire more of them. Read more [link removed]

A Rabbi in Riyadh
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Tablet Magazine / 5-minute read
AJC has been at the forefront of building bridges between Israel and the Arab Muslim world. In February, AJC’s Jerusalem-based International Interreligious Director Rabbi David Rosen became the first rabbi to be received by King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in Saudi Arabia. Recalling the unprecedent and historic visit in an article published [link removed] in Tablet Magazine, Rosen said: “The most amazing moment for me was when one of the young women, completely covered except for her eyes, approached me and said in hesitant Hebrew “Shmi Reem. Ani rotzah lvaker b’yisrael”—“My name is Reem, I want to visit Israel.” This, Rosen argued, is powerful testimony to the “internal transformation that is meant to change mindsets within the Kingdom, in order to prepare it for a new era.” In January, Muslim World League Secretary General Dr. Mohammad bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa and AJC CEO David Harris led [link removed] a groundbreaking joint visit of Muslims and Jews to Auschwitz. In addition, AJC launched a new series of Arabic-language video explainers [link removed] about Jews and Judaism, called An al-Yahud or “About the Jews.” Read more [link removed]   

GOOD TO KNOW

No Substitute for Cooperation in Confronting the Pandemic
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The Arab Weekly / 4-minute read
Global problems — from international terrorism to epidemics to climate change — “require urgent, thoughtful, fact-based leadership and uninhibited international cooperation”, AJC Chief Policy and Political Affairs Officer Jason Isaacson wrote in an article published [link removed] in The Arab Weekly. He observed that the MENA region and the world are “learning this lesson the hard way” with incalculable consequences. “After close to three months, the learning curve on international cooperation has yet to catch up with the growth curve of coronavirus infections,” Isaacson argued, hampered by unhealthy competition, misinformation, and conspiracy theories. Instead, Isaacson said, the global response to the coronavirus pandemic should be informed by four key principles: informed leadership, global cooperation, openness, and civility. Read more [link removed]

Over 80 Israeli MedTech Companies Fight on the Frontline Against Coronavirus
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Forbes / 4-minute read
Israel is a strong contender for the development of a coronavirus vaccine, including treatments based on proteins found in human plasma and other known viruses, Forbes reported [link removed]. More than 80 Israeli medical and technology companies are involved in the fight against the disease with their cutting-edge expertise raging from remote monitoring of patients to protection and prevention. Other Israeli companies are seeking solutions to the social and mental health impact of the pandemic. A large part of the research is directed at the remote monitoring of patients, including high-risk populations, such as the elderly, and those quarantined with suspected coronavirus symptoms. “It seems likely that Israel’s digital health sector, with its unique strengths, will make a meaningful contribution toward addressing this global crisis,” said Forbes. To learn more about Israel’s experience in fighting the coronavirus, visit Advocacy Anywhere [link removed], powered by AJC. Read more [link removed]

Pennsylvania Man Charged with Online Threats Against Jews, Other Minorities
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JTA / 2-minute read
A Pennsylvania man has pleaded guilty to federal charges accusing him of making social media threats toward Jews and other minority groups. Corbin Kauffman was first charged in April 2019 and faces up to five years in prison, after posting a threatening image online that featured a digitally created photo of his hand aiming a semi-automatic weapon at Jews praying in a synagogue. Kauffman used various aliases to post hundreds of antisemitic, anti-Muslim, and anti-black messages on social media. One post expressed a desire to commit hate crimes against various minority groups. He also shared pictures of acts of vandalism he committed, including against the Chabad Lubavitch Jewish Center in Ocean City, Maryland, that he vandalized with white supremacist and antisemitic stickers. Join AJC in urging Congress [link removed] to address rising hate crimes. Read more [link removed]  

U.S. Believes Iran “Directly Involved” in Killing of Dissident in Turkey
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Reuters / 3-minute read
The U.S. believes that an Iranian intelligence agency was “directly involved” in the killing of an Iranian dissident in Turkey, a senior U.S. official told [link removed] Reuters on April 1. Masoud Molavi Vardanjani was shot dead in Istanbul on November 14, 2019. "Given Iran's history of targeted assassinations of Iranian dissidents and the methods used in Turkey, the United States government believes that Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) was directly involved” in the killing, the official said. Two senior Turkish officials told [link removed] Reuters that two intelligence officers at Iran’s consulate in Turkey instigated the assassination. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reacted [link removed] to the news, saying: “Iran’s ‘diplomats’ are agents of terror and have conducted multiple assassinations and bomb plots in Europe over the past decade.” Read more [link removed]

TIDINGS

What to Watch in Quarantine: 10 Great Jewish Films, Selected by AJC [link removed] (AJC Global Voice / 6-minute read)

Jerusalem Orchestra goes virtual with original piece written by conductor [link removed] (JNS / 2-minute read)

Amid shortage, Israeli chefs cook up egg-ceptional Passover alternatives [link removed] (The Jerusalem Post / 5-minute read)

Daily distraction: A book talk, klezmer concert and exhibit of Soviet-Jewish art [link removed] (The Forward / 2-minute read)

The articles featured here do not necessarily reflect AJC’s positions. 

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