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Dear AJC Friend, Shabbat Shalom. Welcome to the latest edition of AJC Dispatch [link removed], bringing you everything you need to know about Israel and the Jewish world from the past week.
If you like what you see, forward it to your friends! They can sign up at AJC.org/Dispatch [link removed].
This week, American Jewish Committee (AJC) mourned the death [link removed] of Israeli teenager Yehuda Guetta, shot by a Palestinian terrorist in the West Bank, and marked the milestone of having engaged more than 90 million Arabic speakers across its Arabic Facebook [link removed], Twitter [link removed], and YouTube [link removed] accounts. Also this week, AJC partnered with IsraAID to provide emergency coronavirus relief [link removed] to virus-ravaged India. And don't forget, we're just one month away from AJC Virtual Global Forum 2021 [link removed].
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SAVE THE DATE: Make plans to participate virtually in AJC Virtual Global Forum 2021, a four-day online event featuring appearances by world leaders and spirited debates on some of the most important issues facing America, Israel, and the Jewish people. [link removed]
People of the Pod
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AJC’s weekly podcast analyzing global affairs through a Jewish lens
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Facebook’s Israeli Watchdog; Celebrating Jewish American Heritage
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Emi Palmor, former Director-General of Israel’s Ministry of Justice and member of the independent Oversight Board advising Facebook, discusses the board’s work leading up to its ruling on Facebook’s ban of former President Trump. And preeminent historian Jonathan Sarna offers a mantra for Jewish advocates: “There is nothing more important than to remember that we make history, we shape the future, it doesn’t just happen.”
LISTEN NOW
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Top Stories
West Bank Shooting Victim Dies of Injuries
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The Times of Israel | 3-minute read
Patches of violence erupted across Israel this week. On Friday, three Palestinians opened fire at an IDF base [link removed] on the border of the West Bank. Meanwhile, Yehuda Guetta, a 19-year-old student who was shot in the head in a drive-by shooting attack at Tapuah Junction in the West Bank earlier this week, died of his wounds Wednesday night. Less than an hour later, the Shin Bet security service announced [link removed] that it had apprehended the suspect in the attack. Guetta was laid to rest Thursday morning in Jerusalem. READ MORE
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AJC responds: “AJC extends deepest condolences to the family and friends of Yehuda Guetta, an Israeli student shot on Sunday by a Palestinian terrorist, who died of his wounds this evening. He was just 19. We join the people of Israel in solidarity and mourning. May his memory be a blessing.” [link removed] (Share on Twitter [link removed] )
AJC’s Engagement with the Arab World Reaches New Heights
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AJC Global Voice | 2-minute read
AJC’s groundbreaking social media outreach to the Arab world has reached new heights, having engaged more than 90 million Arabic speakers across its Arabic Facebook [link removed], Twitter [link removed], and YouTube [link removed] accounts since their launch in early 2020. READ MORE
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AJC extra: More than 20 million viewers, mostly from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Tunisia, the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates, have watched AJC's groundbreaking Arabic video series, ‘An al-Yahud (“About the Jews”) [link removed]. (Watch on AJC.org/Arabic [link removed] )
AJC Partners with IsraAID to Provide COVID-19 Relief in India
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AJC Global Voice | 1-minute read
AJC is partnering with IsraAID, the Israeli humanitarian relief organization, to provide urgent coronavirus relief in India. “India has long been a friend to Israel and to the Jewish community, and we are glad to be able to provide assistance in this time of need,” said Shira Loewenberg, Director of AJC’s Asia Pacific Institute. READ MORE
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More News
Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council Launches Digital Initiative to Counter Hate and Division
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AJC Global Voice | 3-minute read
For five years, the Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council (MJAC), co-convened by AJC and the Islamic Society of North America, has worked to combat hate, most recently urging Congress to pass the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act [link removed]. Now a new series of short videos is telling the story of how Muslims and Jews are partnering on issues of shared concern. READ MORE
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AJC spreads the word: The videos and other stories of Muslim-Jewish cooperation have been featured on MJAC’s new social media accounts also launched this week. (Follow MJAC on Facebook [link removed] and Twitter [link removed] )
AJC takes action: Join MJAC and urge your representative in Congress to address rising hate in America by passing the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act. (Send a letter at AJC.org/NOHATE [link removed] )
Hoboken’s first Sikh mayor is on the front lines of fighting antisemitism
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Jewish Insider | 4-minute read
Mayor Ravi Bhalla of Hoboken, New Jersey, the first Sikh to hold elected office in the Garden State, has made fighting discrimination a priority. He has cultivated close ties with the city’s Jewish community, reaching out after the 2018 massacre at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue. Following the 2019 shooting in a Jersey City kosher supermarket, Mayor Bhalla met with community members, including parents at his daughter’s Jewish preschool, to address fears of antisemitic violence. READ MORE
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AJC responds: Nearly 600 American city leaders have signed the Mayors United Against Antisemitism statement, an initiative of The U.S. Conference of Mayors and AJC. Bhalla was one of New Jersey’s first. Has your mayor joined? (See on AJC.org/mayors [link removed] )
A New Face Tries to Form Israel’s Coalition Government
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The Jerusalem Post | 2-minute read
After Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s mandate to form a new government expired Wednesday night, President Reuven Rivlin tapped Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, head of the Yesh Atid party, to do so. Lapid has 28 days to present a viable governing coalition. READ MORE
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What’s happening next week? (And what you may have missed this week!)
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Advocacy Anywhere [link removed] is AJC’s online platform bringing you top-quality content during the pandemic. View the Advocacy Anywhere page for information on past and future programs: Tuesday,
May 11 at Noon ET: High Stakes: What’s Next for U.S. Policy on Iran? [link removed]
In a special live recording of People of the Pod, co-host Seffi Kogen interviews AJC Jerusalem Director Avital Leibovich, AJC Transatlantic Institute Director Daniel Schwammenthal, and AJC Chief Policy and Political Affairs Officer Jason Isaacson on what the next few months could mean for relations with Iran. Register
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Friday, May 14 at Noon ET: Enduring Friendship: President Truman’s Israel Legacy [link removed] Dr. Kurt Graham, Director of the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, will take viewers on an exclusive tour of the museum’s newly-renovated exhibit on the founding of the State of Israel and discuss Truman’s almost immediate recognition of the Jewish state. Register
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Did you miss...
Where’s the Outrage? The Normalization of Antisemitism
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AJC CEO David Harris, one of the Jewish world’s leading experts on global trends, examined the dangers of what he has called “the growing normalization of antisemitism.” Watch
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Tidings
All Aboard Except Astronauts
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Tree of Life Plans New Beginning
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Will Eleven Madison Park Go Kosher?
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*The articles highlighted above do not necessarily reflect AJC’s positions.
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