American Jewish Committee

AJC Shabbat Table

This week, in AJC’s Shabbat Table, we discuss what lessons we can apply in 2020 from the Biblical story of Noah and the flood. We are, in many ways, different people than we were back in February before the pandemic. Can we, like Noah, accept that this experience has changed us and constructively consider what changes should be permanent and which should be overcome? We also provide some resources for discussing fault lines in the American Jewish community regarding politics and connection to Israel. Finally, we recall the day Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian Prime Minister Anwar el-Sadat won the Nobel Peace Prize for reaching the first peace agreement between Israel and an Arab nation and the day in 1939 when the Dominican Republic stepped up to accept Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany when no other nation would. Read more

Advocacy Anywhere

Advocacy Anywhere is AJC’s online platform bringing you top-quality content during the pandemic. On October 27, 2018, 11 Jews were murdered at prayer during Shabbat services inside a Pittsburgh synagogue. Join us on the second anniversary, Tuesday, October 27, for a hard-hitting conversation on the state of antisemitism in America with Avi Mayer, AJC Managing Director of Global Communications, and Holly Huffnagle, AJC U.S. Director for Combating Antisemitism. View the Advocacy Anywhere page for information on past and future programs.

On Air

COVID-19 in New York's Ultra-Orthodox Community with Jacob Kornbluh; Iran Sanctions with Mark Dubowitz
People of the Pod / 50-minute listen
This week we’re joined by Jewish Insider National Politics Reporter Jacob Kornbluh, who has spent months reporting on the state of COVID-19 in New York’s ultra-Orthodox communities. On October 7, Kornbluh, a resident of Borough Park, was attacked while reporting on anti-lockdown protests in his neighborhood. We’ll hear a portion of this special live podcast recording, on why the ultra-Orthodox community has been so hard-hit by the pandemic, what is fueling the recent protests, and where the community should go from here. Then, we sit down with Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, to talk about the ramifications of this week’s end to the UN arms embargo on Iran. Listen now

Must-reads

AJC Surveys American Jewish Voters
JTA / 2-minute read
The 2020 AJC survey of American Jewish opinion, released this week, offers a piercing look at where American Jews stand ahead of the U.S. election. Respondents were asked about the most important issue in deciding how to vote, which candidate would do a better job on key issues facing the U.S., as well as questions regarding U.S.-Israel relations and prospects for peace between Israel and the Arab world and between Israel and the Palestinians. As in prior election year surveys by AJC, there is a pronounced division of opinion by Jewish religious affiliation, in addition to political party connection. Watch Halie Soifer, Executive Director of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, and Matt Brooks, Executive Director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, debate which party should serve as a political home for American Jews on Advocacy Anywhere. Read more

AJC Ad Urges Labeling Hezbollah a Terror Organization
AJC Global Voice / 1-minute read
In a full-page ad published in The Wall Street Journal this week, AJC called on the European Union (EU) to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization in its entirety. The ad is the latest effort to raise awareness about the reality of the global terrorist network, and to press the international community to accurately label the Iranian-supported, Lebanon-based group. The list includes seven more countries than appeared in a similar AJC ad a year ago. Estonia joined the list on Thursday, after the ad was published. AJC CEO David Harris said he hopes other countries will “confront the stark truth that Hezbollah is one indivisible organization, and that organization is terrorist through and through.” Watch Mathew Levitt of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy talk about the institute’s digital mapping of Hezbollah’s illicit activities around the world on Advocacy Anywhere. Join AJC and urge the international community to stop Hezbollah. Read more

Albania Becomes First Muslim Majority Country to Adopt Working Definition
The Jerusalem Post / 2-minute read
The Albanian parliament has adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism, making the Balkan nation the first Muslim-majority country to endorse it. The comprehensive definition developed by the IHRA with AJC’s support in 2016 has been adopted by nearly 30 countries as a tool to help government authorities and civil society recognize antisemitism in its multiple forms. AJC tweeted: “Albania has been a steadfast friend of the Jewish people. We will never forget the nation's extraordinary efforts to save Jews during WWII.” Read more

Good to Know

Strong Jewish Identities Will Safeguard Israel’s Future
The Jerusalem Post / 2-minute read
Only 29% of American Jews consider their connection to Israel “very important,” according to the AJC survey of American Jewish opinion released this week. That waning bond concerns Laura Shaw Frank, Director of AJC’s Department of Contemporary Jewish Life, which focuses on key issues facing the Israel-Diaspora relationship. Jewish identity is rooted in peoplehood, she writes in The Jerusalem Post. It means feeling connected with Jews around the world, sharing a link with the Jews of the past and the future, and having a sense of responsibility for the entire Jewish people. “Jews understand that we are part of something far bigger than ourselves, and that our place in that bigger story should influence the way we think and behave. That understanding is the foundation of Jewish identity, and without it, the Jewish people cannot survive.” Read more

Rocket Fired from Gaza After Cross Border Tunnel Uncovered
The Times of Israel / 2-minute read
This week, several rockets fired from Gaza into Israel were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system, hours after The IDF announced that the terror tunnel had been dug by Hamas, the terrorist group that controls Gaza. Israel struck back, hitting a Hamas target. The discovery of the tunnel and exchange of fire came as tensions flared over a convicted terrorist held by Israel who has been on a hunger strike for nearly 90 days. Terror groups in Gaza have vowed revenge if the prisoner, believed to be an operative for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, dies. AJC tweeted: “Peace will never be achieved through violence. These incidents remind us why Israel must be able to defend herself.” Read more

Report Finds Anti-Vaxxers Promote Antisemitism
The Jewish Chronicle / 2-minute read
A report co-written by Lord John Mann, the United Kingdom’s Independent Adviser on Antisemitism, found antisemitic content on 79% of the top 27 anti-vaxxer networks operating on Facebook and Twitter. This includes the social media network of Piers Corbyn, the leading activist calling Covid-19 a hoax and the brother of former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. The report, co-written by an expert in molecular cell biology in health and disease, predicts that even after a coronavirus vaccine emerges, “it will be essential to quickly sideline the conspiracy theories and misinformation of the anti-vaxxers.” Watch Lord John Mann discuss rising antisemitism in the UK and the government’s attempts to combat it on Advocacy Anywhere in August. Read more

Tidings

Debra Messing Has a Message (The Jerusalem Post)
Terrorist Denied by Zoom (Jewish Journal)
Bahrain and Israel: From Friends to Family (TOI)

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

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