Check out this week's episode of People of the Pod! Click here to view in browser [link removed] [link removed] [link removed]
AJC SHABBAT TABLE This week, in AJC’s Shabbat Table [link removed], we discuss the two creation stories in the Book of Genesis and what they can teach us about valuing different perspectives. We also provide some resources for discussing Holocaust denial in light of this week’s decisions by Facebook and Twitter to ban content that denies or distorts the systemic murder of six million Jews during World War II. Finally, we share the story of how one man revived the Hebrew language as a spoken mother tongue and the historic moment when the first ordained woman rabbi became the first woman ever to offer the opening prayer before the U.S. House of Representatives. Read more [link removed] [link removed]
ADVOCACY ANYWHERE Advocacy Anywhere [link removed] is AJC’s online platform bringing you top-quality content during the pandemic. Tune in Monday, October 19 [link removed] for a conversation about Israel, rising antisemitism, and combating bigotry with U.S. Rep. Andy Kim, the incumbent Democrat representing New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District, and Republican challenger David Richter. Then, on Tuesday, October 20 [link removed], we welcome Jewish Insider National Politics Reporter Jacob Kornbluh for a live recording of AJC’s podcast, People of the Pod, in which he’ll discuss his experience being attacked in his own neighborhood while reporting on anti-lockdown protests in New York’s ultra-Orthodox community. Join us on Wednesday, October 21 [link removed] for a conversation with Matthew Levitt, Director of the Washington Institute's Counter Terrorism and Intelligence Program, on his recently launched Hezbollah Worldwide Activity Map, the largest database of open-source information about Hezbollah's illicit activities worldwide. Finally, join us on Friday, October 23 [link removed], for a conversation with Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), founding members of the Inter-Parliamentary Task Force to Combat Online Antisemitism, for a bipartisan discussion on the importance of combating online antisemitism on a global scale. View the Advocacy Anywhere [link removed] page for information on past and future programs. [link removed]
ON AIR Facebook Bans Holocaust Denial Content [link removed]
People of the Pod / 22-minute listen
This week, Facebook announced that it would ban Holocaust denial content from the platform. We’re joined this week by Jordana Cutler, Facebook’s Head of Policy for Israel and the Jewish Diaspora, to discuss this important decision and the role AJC played in making it happen. Listen now [link removed] [link removed]
MUST-READS Social Media Giants Take Steps to Stop Hate [link removed]
AJC Global Voice / 2-minute read
Facebook on Monday amended its hate speech policy to ban any content that denies or distorts the Holocaust. The move comes two years after Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in an interview that while he found Holocaust denial deeply offensive, he did not think the social media platform should block such content. He said this week that his thinking has evolved since then. In a conversation with AJC CEO David Harris, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandburg praised AJC as an indispensable partner in the evolution: “Our experience with AJC has been that you are people who we can really trust and learn from.” By Thursday, Twitter had imposed [link removed] a similar ban on Holocaust denial. Meanwhile, YouTube cracked down [link removed] on the antisemitic QAnon conspiracy theory. Listen to a conversation about Facebook’s decision on this week’s episode [link removed] of People of the Pod. Read more [link removed] Guatemala to Enforce Ban on Hezbollah with Anti-Terrorism Legislation [link removed]
The Algemeiner / 2-minute read
The Guatemalan government on Tuesday added teeth to its ban on Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy in Lebanon, by announcing new legislation to crack down on the terrorist group’s money laundering. Guatemala joins 14 other countries that have banned the terrorist group in its entirety, not just its so-called military wing. AJC tweeted [link removed] : “Bravo, Guatemala… We call on all countries to follow Guatemala’s lead and take this important step in order to stop Hezbollah’s nefarious activities.” Join AJC and urge the rest of the international community [link removed] to ban Hezbollah. Read more [link removed] AJC Study: Germany Cooperates with Radical Shiite Organization in Hamburg [link removed]
The Berlin Spectator / 1-minute read
AJC Berlin published a study that revealed Germany has a history of collaborating with the Islamic Center Hamburg, a hub for supporters of Hezbollah, the global terror group that the German government banned in April. Still, the center, the head of which is appointed by the Ayatollah, acts as a reputable partner to political parties, the government, religious organizations, and universities. AJC Berlin Director Remko Leemhuis demanded an end to all cooperation with the center, which is clearly an arm of the Iranian regime. “Iranian Islamists are not the right partners for democratic parties," he said. Read more [link removed] [link removed]
GOOD TO KNOW U.S. Adds Sanctions on Iran as Arms Embargo Nears End [link removed]
Foreign Policy / 1-minute read
The U.N. arms embargo on Iran is set to expire on Sunday, October 18, despite pressure by the United States to extend the moratorium. To effectively replace the arms embargo, the U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday imposed additional sanctions on 18 banks due to their links to Iran and the Iranian military. This follows penalties imposed late last month on the Iranian defense ministry, others involved in the country’s nuclear and weapons programs, and those who buy or sell Iranian weapons. Still, the lapsed arms embargo could open new ties between Iran and Russia. Read this column [link removed] by AJC Berlin Director Remko Leemhuis as he laments October 18 as “a bad day for the Middle East.” In a statement about the embargo [link removed], AJC CEO David Harris said: “No doubt, Iran’s neighbors and countries far beyond the Middle East will suffer the consequences of the Security Council’s abject failure to call out the true nature of the regime in Tehran and contain it.” Read more [link removed] Brooklyn Anti-Lockdown Protest Leader Arrested [link removed]
The Times of Israel / 2-minute read
Heshy Tischler, a radio host turned leader of the Brooklyn anti-lockdown protests, was arrested this week for inciting attacks against a well-known journalist while he was covering protests in his own Orthodox Jewish neighborhood. Jacob Kornbluh, a political reporter for Jewish Insider, was attacked by a mob who called him a traitor for reporting on violations of coronavirus restrictions. AJC tweeted [link removed] : “We are pleased to hear that [Heshy Tischler] has been taken into custody and will faces charges in connection with the assault on [Jacob Kornbluh].” Tune in next week for a live recording of People of the Pod featuring a conversation with Kornbluh about the protests and his personal experience. Read more [link removed] Israel to Welcome 2,000 More Ethiopian Jews [link removed]
BBC / 2-minute read
Israel has moved forward on a plan to bring 2,000 Ethiopian Jews to the Jewish state, part of a community who for years have awaited an opportunity to immigrate to Israel. Known as Falash Mura, the community descends from members of the Beta Israel who converted from Judaism to Christianity in the late nineteenth century but have since returned to practicing Judaism. Israel’s first-ever cabinet member of Ethiopian descent, Immigration and Absorption Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata, had been pressing the government to welcome as many of the community as possible and welcomed this week’s decision. Read more [link removed] [link removed]
TIDINGS And the Nobel Goes To … [link removed] (NYT)
Cleopatra Kerfuffles [link removed] (JTA)
Football League Adopts Working Definition [link removed] (JTA)
The articles featured here do not necessarily reflect AJC’s positions.
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