American Jewish Committee

AJC Shabbat Table

This week in AJC Shabbat Table, we discuss the Torah portion, Ki Tavo, which reminds us that achieving a goal does not give us the right to rest on our laurels. We must express our gratitude to those who helped us and share our bounty with those in need. We provide some conversation starters to help families explore the long and complex relationship between Blacks and Jews and we commemorate moments of joy and tragedy in Jewish history: the 1945 coronation of the only Jewish Miss America and the murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. And lastly, for fun, we invite you to replay an AJC cartoon that aired during the 1952 World Series. Read more

#BlackJewishUnity Week

AJC and the National Urban League are uniting against surging levels of antisemitism and racism. Starting on September 6, we will partner on a weeklong national initiative called #BlackJewishUnity Week, to strengthen ties between our nation’s Black and Jewish communities and combat all forms of hate. This initiative represents an important new chapter in the storied legacy of close collaboration between the Black and Jewish communities. Share on social media what you are doing to promote #BlackJewishUnity by using the hashtag on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram and applying the campaign’s special frame to your Facebook profile photo. Please join AJC, along with Jews and African Americans across America, as we come together to stand against antisemitism, racism, and hate of all kinds, showing our country and the world the power of #BlackJewishUnity.

Advocacy Anywhere

Join AJC for a conversation on Tuesday, September 8 between AJC CEO David Harris and National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial. On Wednesday, September 9, hear from leading voices in the Black-Jewish community, who are crucial in the fight against antisemitism, anti-Black racism, and strengthening diversity within the Jewish community. And on Thursday, September 10, we will discuss whether religious leadership has sustained the example of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. What role do houses of worship and religious communities play in the future direction of Black-Jewish relations? What challenges need to be overcome on the path of progress? Register now

On Air

Celebrating #BlackJewishUnity Week with the National Urban League
People of the Pod / 31-minute listen
To kick off #BlackJewishUnity Week, we’re collaborating in an exciting crossover event. On this week's People of the Pod, we sit down with Clint Odom, the National Urban League’s Senior Vice President for Policy and Advocacy, Executive Director of the National Urban League’s Washington Bureau, and co-host of For The Movement, to talk about the connections between the Black and Jewish communities and how we can use #BlackJewishUnity week to strengthen those ties. Meanwhile, on this week's episode of For The Movement the co-hosts sit down with AJC Chief Advocacy Officer Daniel Elbaum for a reciprocal conversation. Listen now

All Together Now
UnOrthodox / 1 hour 25-minute episode
This week on Tablet Magazine’s podcast, Unorthodox, AJC’s U.S. Director for Combating Antisemitism Holly Huffnagle joins former British Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks to discuss why antisemitism is a societal problem, not a Jewish one, and how we can build a more moral society. Huffnagle discusses the surprising Twitter backlash following the announcement of her new role, and shares what she told entertainer Nick Cannon when she met with him after his recent antisemitic remarks. Listen now

Must-reads

AJC To Open First Office in Arab World
The Times of Israel / 1-minute read
After more than a quarter century of engaging with Arab states, AJC announced Wednesday that it would open its first office in the Arab world—in the United Arab Emirates. “The establishment of diplomatic relations between the UAE and Israel realizes a vision that AJC has helped to pursue for decades,” said AJC CEO David Harris in a statement. In the months leading up to the UAE’s recent normalization agreement with Israel, Emirati officials dropped hints on AJC platforms that they were open to cooperating with Israel. UAE Ambassador to the UN Lana Nusseibeh addressed an Advocacy Anywhere audience in May and UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash spoke at AJC Virtual Global Forum a month later. A day before the announcement, Saudi Arabia opened air space for Israeli flights to the UAE, cutting the direct flight time in half. The next day, Bahrain announced the same, potentially trimming a few more minutes. AJC tweeted: “We welcome this historic milestone on the path toward broader Arab-Israeli reconciliation, cooperation, and peace.” Read more

15 Things to Watch and Read on Black Experiences in America
Medium / 2-minute read
For #BlackJewishUnity Week, September 6-11, AJC and the National Urban League both created resource lists to provide each community with films, articles, and books about the Black and American Jewish experiences. Add Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration to your reading list, enjoy a movie marathon featuring Selma, Boyz N the Hood, and Do the Right Thing, and both read and watch Hair Love with your children or grandchildren, exploring the story of a man who must figure out how to do his 7-year-old daughter’s hair for the first time. Read more

The Abuse of History
The Times of Israel / 2-minute read
Those on the right have repeatedly compared rules for wearing masks, social distancing, or quarantines to the tyranny of Hitler and the Nazis. Meanwhile, those on the left have compared President Trump’s leadership to Soviet methods. But these analogies in the political discourse dishonor the memories of the tens of millions who perished at the hands of both regimes, writes AJC CEO David Harris in The Times of Israel. “Let’s not misrepresent history, distort and trivialize the Nazi and Soviet eras in the service of partisan aims, and make facile comparisons to today’s America in the process,” he writes. “Whatever one’s thoughts about politics today, America is not lurching towards Nazism or Bolshevism. To suggest otherwise is to misunderstand, at a fundamental level, the nature of these totalitarian ideologies and their legacies.” Read more

French Figures Call Macron to Back Ban of Hezbollah
The Arab Weekly / 2-minute read
A group of prominent French figures has called on French President Emmanuel Macron to declare all of the Iran-backed Hezbollah a terrorist organization and encourage the European Union to do the same. Their call came in the form of a petition published by the French daily Le Figaro as Macron headed to Lebanon for the second time since the Beirut port explosion on August 4. Signatories include former Prime Minister Manuel Valls, former Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, former Environment Minister Corinne Lepage and philosopher and novelist Pascal Bruckner. Join AJC in urging the international community to ban Hezbollah in its entirety. Read more

Good to Know

U.S. Lifts Arms Embargo on Cyprus
Bloomberg / 3-minute read
The U.S. has announced plans to lift a 33-year arms embargo on Cyprus and deepen its security cooperation with the island nation. Thirteen years after a Turkish invasion in 1974 divided the island, Washington placed restrictions on the transfer of arms to Cyprus to encourage reunification efforts and avoid an arms race. But since then Cyprus has become a key ally for Greece, Israel, and the U.S. in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act of 2019 was a joint legislative priority of AJC and the Hellenic American Leadership Council last year. Both AJC and HALC tweeted: “[AJC] welcomes [the U.S. State Department’s] announcement to lift the US arms embargo on #Cyprus. HALC is proud to partner with AJC over the last 7 years to advocate for a more comprehensive US strategy in the region, and peace and stability in the #EastMed.” Read more

Iran’s Ali Khamenei Slammed for Antisemitic Tweets
The Jerusalem Post / 2-minute read
In a series of tweets this week, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei singled out Jared Kushner as “the Jewish member of Trump’s family” and called him and other pro-Israel Americans “filthy Zionist agents” for brokering the Israel-UAE agreement. AJC tweeted: “This is not legitimate criticism. It is antisemitism! How much longer will [Ali Khameini] be allowed to spew his hate-filled and genocidal doctrines on this platform? @TwitterSafety has guidelines. It is time to apply them.” Read more

Army Removes Officer from Leadership After Antisemitic TikTok Post
Stars and Stripes / 2-minute read
U.S. Army officials said Monday that they had suspended 2nd Lt. Nathan Freihofer from leadership duties and launched an investigation into an offensive post on TikTok by the 23-year-old field artillery officer and social media influencer. In the short video, Freihofer told a so-called joke about the Holocaust and Jewish people. In text alongside the video, he added: “For legal reasons this is a joke.” AJC tweeted: “Thank you, Eighteenth Airborne Corp, for suspending Lt. Nathan Freihofer from his leadership duties and launching an investigation following his extremely offensive ‘joke’ about the Holocaust. This is what a zero-tolerance approach to antisemitism looks like.” Read more

Tidings

An InterMOO with Antisemitic Cow (The Forward)
Fighting Fires With Familiarity (Israel 21c)
Austria Offers Citizenship to Descendants of Nazi Persecution (JTA)

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