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AJC VIRTUAL GLOBAL FORUM 2020
For the first time in AJC history, we will be holding a Virtual Global Forum [link removed], which will take place during the same week we were scheduled to be together in Berlin – June 14-18! The five-day online event will feature appearances by world leaders and spirited debates on some of the most important issues facing America, Israel, and the Jewish people. This week, AJC announced appearances by Benjamin (Benny) Gantz, Alternate Prime Minister and Defense Minister of Israel, and Dr. Mohammad Al-Issa, Secretary General of the Muslim World League, as well as debates on the West Bank and hate speech. View the AJC Virtual Global Forum page and register today. [link removed]  ADVOCACY ANYWHERE

Advocacy Anywhere, Powered by AJC
[link removed], is our online platform bringing you top-quality content during the pandemic. Tune in Monday, June 8, for a conversation about the prospects of Middle East stability and intensified cooperation with H.E. Dina Kawar, Ambassador of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to the United States [link removed]. On Tuesday, June 9, hear from European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi [link removed], who is responsible for strengthening relations with 16 of the European Union’s neighbors. View the Advocacy Anywhere page for information on past and future programs. [link removed]  

ON AIR
Lonnie Bunch on Race Relations; Isaac Herzog on Israel, Diaspora [link removed]
People of the Pod / 42-minute listen
Protests have erupted across the United States following the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis. Lonnie G. Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Founding Director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and AJC Project Interchange alumnus, joins us for a comprehensive discussion on race relations and Black-Jewish cooperation in the United States. Then, we’re joined by Isaac 'Bougie' Herzog, Chairman of The Jewish Agency for Israel, to discuss Israel-Diaspora relations. Listen Now [link removed]   

MUST-READS

What to Read or Watch to Understand Fight for Racial Justice [link removed]
AJC Global Voice / 4-minute read
The impetus for the protests rocking America can be explained in less than eight minutes and 46 seconds – the amount of time a Minneapolis police officer knelt on George Floyd’s neck, crushing the life out of him while three other officers watched. But it takes more time and effort to learn how our nation got to this point, how to make sure these senseless slaughters of African Americans end, and how American Jews can join the fight. AJC offers ten pieces of literature, journalism, and film to help American Jews understand what’s at stake. Tune into Advocacy Anywhere, Powered by AJC, to hear what Lonnie G. Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution [link removed], also suggests you read during a wide-ranging conversation on race relations in the United States. Read more [link removed]

Neo-Nazis Call for Attacks on Synagogues During Protests [link removed]
Vice / 2-minute read
Far-right extremists are calling for attacks on U.S. cities and synagogues where protests have turned violent and police forces are spread thin. The calls for bloodshed have been circulating on Telegram, a messaging platform popular with white supremacists. Though officials in New York, Minneapolis and Atlanta have [link removed] suggested white supremacists might be hijacking peaceful protests to sow more chaos, Telegram chatter indicates neo-Nazis who ascribe to accelerationism are plotting other kinds of terrorism. Accelerationists believe Western governments are prime targets for terrorism because they are on the edge of collapse. Read AJC’s primer on the white supremacy behind synagogue attacks [link removed] in Pittsburgh and Poway. Read more [link removed]

Iran Tried to Contaminate Israeli Water Supply [link removed]
The Times of Israel / 2-minute read
During a cyberattack against Israel’s water systems in April, Iran tried to create dangerous levels of chlorine in the water flowing to residential areas. The Financial Times reported this week that if the attack [link removed] had succeeded, scores of Israelis would have been poisoned. Additionally there was a chance that the attack would have triggered a fail-safe, shutting down the pumps and leaving thousands without water during the recent deadly heatwave in Israel. The covert attack on civilian infrastructure prompted Israel to retaliate with its own cyberattack on an Iranian port facility. Read more [link removed]   

GOOD TO KNOW

U.S. Courts Hold Syria, Iran Liable for U.S. Victims of Palestinian Terror [link removed]
The Associated Press / 2-minute read
A U.S. court has ruled that Iran and Syria must compensate the families of American citizens wounded and killed in seven terror attacks carried out by Palestinians in Israel. Judge Randolph D. Moss in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the American victims were eligible for damages from Iran and Syria because those countries provided “material support” to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, two terror groups in Gaza bent on eliminating Israel. One of the victims, Taylor Force, a U.S. Army veteran, was studying in Israel in 2016 when he was fatally stabbed by a Palestinian terrorist in Tel Aviv. Congress later approved the Taylor Force Act [link removed] withholds U.S. aid to Palestinians until the Palestinian Authority stops rewarding terrorists and their families. Read more [link removed]

Supreme Court Urged to Hear Nazi Art Case [link removed]
The Art Newspaper / 2-minute read
Siding with the German government, the U.S. Solicitor General has asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on a legal tussle over a trove of German medieval church reliquaries now housed at a museum in Berlin. The lawsuit, which is scheduled to go to trial in Washington, D.C., is brought by heirs of Jewish art dealers in Germany who transferred the collection known as the Guelph Treasure to Nazi-controlled banks during the Holocaust for a third of its value. The heirs call the exchange a “genocidal taking,” a violation of international human rights that can be litigated in an American court. Citing a yearlong negotiation between the dealer and bank at the time, the German state museum argues that the lawsuit is a domestic issue and does not fall under U.S. jurisdiction. Listen to experts on the subject of Nazi-looted art discuss the complexity of finding and returning lost artwork to Holocaust victims and their heirs on a recent episode [link removed] of People of the Pod. Read more [link removed]

Swastikas Removed From Cemeteries [link removed]
Military Times / 2-minute read
After two weeks of pressure from Jewish groups including AJC, Veterans Affairs [link removed] officials have announced they will remove the three headstones of war prisoners inscribed with Nazi swastikas and tributes to Adolf Hitler from two national cemeteries [link removed]. “It is understandably upsetting to our veterans and their families to see Nazi inscriptions near those who gave their lives for this nation,” VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said, reversing his prior statements that he wanted to preserve the headstones in the proper historical context. AJC tweeted [link removed] : “It’s never too late to do the right thing. Thank you @DeptVetAffairs, for removing gravestones etched with Nazi swastikas from military cemeteries in Utah and Texas. These symbols of hate have no place in America.” Read more [link removed]   

TIDINGS

COVID in Congo [link removed] (The Jerusalem Post)

Neutralizing Hitler [link removed] (BBC)

Bibi Biopic [link removed] (JTA)

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

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