American Jewish Committee

Don’t Stand on the Sidelines

We can’t afford to be bystanders in times like these. It’s up to us to fight antisemitism and defend Israel. That’s why AJC’s work is so critical. If you support AJC now through December 31, a generous donor has offered to double your contribution, dollar-for-dollar, up to $350,000.

Advocacy Anywhere

Much has changed since the days of the Maccabees. The holiday season is no exception. On Monday, December 14, Archbishop Elpidophoros, leader of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, joins Rabbi Noam Marans, AJC Director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations, for a Hanukkah conversation about rising antisemitism, faith during this challenging holiday season, the strong cooperative bond between Israel, Greece, and Cyprus, and Orthodox Christian-Jewish relations. View the Advocacy Anywhere page for information on past and future programs.

On Air

Israeli Political Rumblings; Jersey City Attack: One Year Later
People of the Pod / 29-minute listen
This week, Tal Schneider, political correspondent at The Times of Israel, joins us to unpack the latest twists and turns in Israeli politics as the country hurtles toward its fourth election in two years. Then, Rabbi David Levy, regional director of AJC New Jersey, reflects on the one-year anniversary of the attack at the JC Kosher Supermarket in Jersey City, Manya Brachear Pashman shares her thoughts on what Hanukkah means to her family, and Seffi Kogen tells a story about sufganiyot (Hanukkah jelly doughnuts). Listen now

Must-reads

Israel and Morocco Establish Diplomatic Relations
AJC.org / 2-minute read
On the first night of Hanukkah, Morocco became the sixth Arab state to normalize ties with Israel. “Morocco’s announcement is further affirmation of the growing recognition by Arab leaders that establishing relations with Israel will be mutually beneficial,” said AJC CEO David Harris. Meanwhile, the Abraham Accords have continued to spark cultural, business, and sports partnerships. This week, the Crossroads of Civilizations Museum in Dubai and the new Jerusalem-based Heritage Center for Middle East and North Africa Jewry agreed to cooperate on projects highlighting the common history of Jews and Arabs. The Israeli international news network, i24NEWS, and Abu Dhabi Media also announced an agreement to share content and collaborate in a variety of ways. Even the famous, to some notorious, Israeli soccer club Beitar Jerusalem has sold a 50 percent ownership stake to a member of a United Arab Emirates royal family. Read more

AJC Says Hello to Hanukkah
The New York Times / 3-minute read
For centuries, the story of Hanukkah has inspired with its timeless lessons about faith. But for the second time in two years, The New York Times chose to run a negative approach to the Festival of Lights. In this unfortunate parenting column titled “Saying Goodbye to Hanukkah,” author Sarah Prager recounts lighting the menorah when she was a child as nothing more than a perfunctory nod to her father’s Jewish upbringing. Years later, she and her wife have decided to leave Hanukkah out of their own children’s holiday celebrations because it holds no personal meaning. In response, AJC invited members of the Jewish community to share the reason they love the season, using the social media hashtag #WhatHanukkahMeansToMe. For a more inspiring and hilarious take on Hanukkah this year, read this essay in Tablet Magazine about one suburban woman’s decision to jump on the inflatable decoration bandwagon. Read more

Trump Years Changed International Lines of Conflict
Tagesspiegel / 2-minute read
President-elect Joe Biden is well known to decision makers in Europe, as are his early picks for key diplomatic and national security posts. In one of Germany’s leading newspapers, AJC CEO David Harris shares his perspective on what transatlantic relations and Middle East policy may look like under the Biden administration. “What is certain is that the rhetoric will change and Washington’s first instinct will be to seek European partners,” Harris writes. “Whether that, in turn, produces greater global progress and security will depend not only on lofty language, but, no less, on a common vision and strong backbones on both sides of the Atlantic.” Read more

AJC Shabbat Table

This week, in AJC’s Shabbat Table, we consider how the coincidental juxtaposition of Hanukkah and the Biblical story of Joseph forces us to think in a nuanced fashion about the Jewish relationship with the external cultures in which we live. We invite readers to discuss the troubling column in The New York Times titled “Saying Goodbye to Hanukkah,” and flood social media with more positive messages about the holiday. We also mark two moments in history when Jewish vigilance and self-advocacy paid off: the capture and trial of Adolf Eichmann and the reversal of Ulysses S. Grant's injustice against the Jews during the Civil War, which ended up strengthening Jewish standing in America. Read more

Good to Know

As Hate Crimes Increase, So Must Our Understanding of the Problem
Aspen Institute / 2-minute read
The rise in hate crimes documented annually by the FBI Hate Crimes Report erodes American social cohesion and jeopardizes our constitutional freedom of religious expression. But as Ari Gordon, AJC Director of Muslim-Jewish Relations, points out in the prestigious Aspen Institute’s Inclusive America Project, we actually know far less than we should to adequately address the scourge against Americans of all backgrounds. Despite being just 2% of the U.S. population, Jews were the targets of an alarming 60% of anti-religious offenses. These horrible numbers do not even include the victims who stay silent, as AJC’s State of Antisemitism Report found that 76% of Jews did not report the antisemitism they had experienced over the last year. To improve reporting nationwide, join AJC and the Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council in urging the Senate to pass the NO HATE Act before the end of the year so that President Donald Trump can sign it into law. Read more

One Year Later: Jersey City Remembers Kosher Market Shooting
The Forward / 3-minute read
A year after two armed members of an antisemitic sect of the Hebrew Israelites targeted the JC Kosher Supermarket, claiming four lives, the nearby synagogue, Congregation B’nai Jacob, held a virtual memorial to remember the victims. The virtual ceremony is the culmination of a year-long effort to strengthen neighborhood ties after the shooting exposed deep rifts between longtime residents and the Hasidic Jewish families who had moved there. Watch AJC’s U.S. Director of Combating Antisemitism Holly Huffnagle explain how the Jersey City shooting illustrates the unexpected sources of antisemitism and its widespread impact. AJC tweeted: “One year ago, two armed assailants entered a Jersey City kosher supermarket with one intention: to kill Jews. Today, we remember the lives of the four innocent souls Moshe Deutsch, Mindy Ferencz, Douglas Miguel Rodriguez, and Joseph Seals killed in this horrific attack.” Read more

Roald Dahl Family Apologizes for Author’s Antisemitism
The New York Times / 2-minute read
Roald Dahl, the creator of delightful characters such as Willy Wonka, Matilda Wormwood, and the BFG, made it no secret of his dark feelings toward Jews. In one of many troubling interviews, he told a reporter: “There is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity, maybe it’s a kind of lack of generosity towards non-Jews. I mean, there’s always a reason why anti-anything crops up anywhere; even a stinker like Hitler didn’t just pick on them for no reason.” Now, thirty years after his death, Dahl’s family has apologized. “Those prejudiced remarks are incomprehensible to us and stand in marked contrast to the man we knew and to the values at the heart of Roald Dahl’s stories,” the family wrote in a statement quietly posted to the Website. “We hope that, just as he did at his best, at his absolute worst, Roald Dahl can help remind us of the lasting impact of words.” In this October episode of People of the Pod, co-host Manya Brachear Pashman reflected on whether she should read Roald Dahl to her children. Listen at 20:40. Read more

Tidings

Netanyahu Unplugged (The Jerusalem Post)
Holocaust in the High Court (Los Angeles Times)
Chelsea Football Honors Holocaust Victims (Sky Sports)

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

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