American Jewish Committee

Advocacy Anywhere

Advocacy Anywhere is AJC’s online platform bringing you top-quality content during the pandemic. Join AJC and the Embassy of Israel to the United States on Wednesday, November 4, as we honor the life and legacy of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin 25 years after his assassination. Then on Thursday, November 5, hear former U.S. Senator Norm Coleman, National Chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition, and Mark Mellman, renowned political strategist, pollster, and President and CEO of the Democratic Majority for Israel, discuss what the election’s outcome means for the Jewish community, Israel, and the world. View the Advocacy Anywhere page for information on past and future programs.

On Air

Debra Messing; AJC’s Groundbreaking State of Antisemitism in America Report
People of the Pod / 45-minute listen
This week’s episode features a conversation with actress and philanthropist Debra Messing about her new podcast, The Dissenters, and how her experiences with antisemitism shaped her identity. Then, in a live podcast recording with the Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center in New York earlier this week, we break down the results from AJC’s groundbreaking report, The State of Antisemitism in America 2020, with Avi Mayer, AJC’s Managing Director of Global Communications, and Holly Huffnagle, AJC’s U.S. Director for Combating Antisemitism. Listen now

Rabbi Noam Marans on Black-Jewish Relations
Cannon’s Class / 1:23 listen
Three months after ViacomCBS fired him for making antisemitic remarks on his podcast, entertainer Nick Cannon hosted Rabbi Noam Marans, AJC's Director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations, for the most recent episode of Cannon’s Class. The two discussed hate crimes based on race and religion and the threat they pose to both the Jewish and Black communities, as well as society at-large. “The racial injustice is real,” Marans said. “And it’s way bigger than Black-Jewish relations, because those who would persecute or bias or discriminate, they were doing it to both of our peoples.” Listen now

Must-reads

Nearly Half of Americans Aren’t Familiar With the Term ‘Antisemitism’
AJC Global Voice / 4-minute read
This year, for the first time, AJC carried out parallel surveys of American Jews and the general public, to measure perceptions and experiences of antisemitism. The combined results comprise the first-ever AJC State of Antisemitism in America Report, which reveals the very different ways American Jews and the general public understand antisemitism. In this in-depth analysis, AJC Managing Director of Global Communications Avi Mayer breaks down the key findings that will inform our advocacy efforts going forward. Then, in a column published by Fox News, AJC U.S. Director of Combating Antisemitism Holly Huffnagle calls on all Americans to learn more about the threat of antisemitism and join the fight. “The disconnect between what the American Jewish community is facing and the lack of knowledge among wider American society is deeply problematic, especially because effectively countering antisemitism requires the partnership of non-Jews,” she writes. Read more

AJC Presents Survey Findings to Israeli Knesset
The Times of Israel / 2-minute read
A day after the release of the State of Antisemitism in America 2020, the Israeli Knesset’s Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs invited AJC to present its findings as part of a roundtable to mark the second anniversary of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. “That nearly half of all Americans do not know what antisemitism is or have never even heard of it was as shocking to the legislators as it was to us,” AJC Managing Director of Global Communications Avi Mayer told The Times of Israel after the meeting. “We appreciate the Israeli government’s partnership in eradicating the scourge of Jew-hatred throughout the world.” Read more

Behind the Numbers: American Jews’ Personal Experiences with Antisemitism
AJC Global Voice / 2-minute read
The numbers in the most recent AJC survey on antisemitism speak for themselves. More than one in three American Jews (37%) say they have been the victims of antisemitism over the past five years. More than one in four American Jews say their institutions have been targets of antisemitism. But the concerns of American Jews, as expressed in their own words, are just as telling. In the wake of antisemitic attacks in New York, New Jersey, Pittsburgh, and Poway over the past two years, many fear simply walking down the street, entering a supermarket, or answering a knock at the door. Here are some of the stories that give voice to the report’s findings. Read more

AJC Shabbat Table

This week, in AJC’s Shabbat Table, we ponder some of the most powerful verses in the Torah where God tells Abraham to leave his birthplace and become the father of a great nation. What can we learn from Abraham’s lonely and courageous journey? We then pay tribute to a poet and a peacemaker. More than a century ago, Jewish poet Emma Lazarus, who wrote poems and essays protesting the rise of antisemitism, composed “The New Colossus,” the verse inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty that welcomed millions of immigrants seeking refuge in America. Then we recall the tragic circumstances behind the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was murdered 25 years ago this week. Lastly, we provide some talking points for discussing the rise of antisemitism in America. Read more

Good to Know

UK Labour Party Suspends Jeremy Corbyn for Antisemitism
The New York Times / 2-minute read
A long-awaited report released by Britain’s Equalities and Human Rights Commission sparked an unexpected domino effect on Thursday. The report by the independent official watchdog group found the Labour Party responsible for “unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination” against Jewish members under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn. It also found that Labour’s political leadership had interfered in the party’s own investigations of antisemitic incidents, including a complaint about Corbyn himself. While the report drew remorse and pledges of reform from the current Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer, Corbyn pointed fingers at political opponents and the media for exaggerating the problems. Hours later, the party suspended Corbyn for his comments, pending investigation. Read more

U.S. to Add Israel to Passports of Americans Born in Jerusalem
Politico / 2-minute read
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Thursday that U.S. passports of Americans born in Jerusalem now can include Israel as the country of birth. The question of how to list Jerusalem in U.S. passports led to a 2015 Supreme Court decision in which the majority ruled that the president, not Congress, had the exclusive authority to determine the nation’s stance on diplomatic affairs. American passports have not used the phrase “Jerusalem, Israel” until now because the status and borders of the city were under dispute between Israelis and Palestinians. But in December 2017, President Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and the U.S. has moved its embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. AJC tweeted: “This is an important policy shift that further solidifies the reality of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. We welcome this long-overdue step.” Read more

Malaysian Prime Minister Condones Deadly Terrorist Attacks in France
The New York Post / 1-minute read
Mahathir Mohamad, the former prime minister of Malaysia, tweeted on Thursday that Muslims have “a right to be angry and kill millions of French people” just hours after a terrorist beheaded a woman and killed two others at the Notre Dame church in the French city of Nice. Mohamad, who has previously engaged in grossly antisemitic rhetoric, lambasted French President Emmanuel Macron for refusing to denounce the caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad that have sparked three recent attacks, including another beheading of a schoolteacher in suburban Paris. Instead, after dozens of terrorist attacks in the last eight years, Macron has condemned and vowed to combat “Islamist separatism.” AJC called on Twitter to immediately remove the offending tweets: “We are sickened by this incitement to murder by former Malaysian PM Mohamad, hours after the gruesome terrorist attack in Nice.” The social media company deleted Mohamad’s tweets later in the day. Read more

Tidings

Natan Sharansky Has a New Book (Tablet Magazine)
Did Twitter Ban Holocaust Denial? (JTA)
Hebrew in a Hurry (Israel 21c)

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

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