AJC Dispatch

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Spotlight

On this week’s episode of People of the Pod, we speak to Simone Rodan-Benzaquen, Director of AJC Europe, about this week’s decision by the French National Assembly to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s Working Definition of Antisemitism. Then we’re joined by Aboud Dandachi, a former Syrian refugee, to share his perspective on the wave of anti-Zionism sweeping college campuses, and Yotam Polizer, co-CEO of IsraAID, an Israeli NGO that serves refugees and others in need around the world. Lastly, we sit down with Naomi Steinberg, Vice President of Policy and Advocacy for the Hebrew Immigration and Aid Society (HIAS), which is suing the Trump administration over the latest restriction on refugee resettlement in the United States. Listen now

Must-reads

France Adopts Antisemitism Definition, Confronts Hate Crimes
The Washington Post / 2-minute read
The French government is creating a national anti-hate crime office after this week’s decision by the French National Assembly to adopt the Working Definition of Antisemitism created by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). After a two-year decline, the number of anti-Jewish offenses reported to French police rose from 311 in 2017 to 541 last year. This AJC primer explains why the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism matters in the fight against Jew hatred. AJC tweeted: “In the fight against antisemitism in France, this move is a welcome step in the right direction ... Condemnations must be backed with actions, like this one.” Read more

Portugal Becomes Full Member of IHRA
The Times of Israel / 1-minute read
During a visit to Lisbon by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, IHRA approved Portugal as its 34th member country. The country, which in 2015 granted citizenship to the descendants of Sephardic Jews expelled during the Inquisition, had served in a probationary capacity over the past decade. AJC tweeted: “This is an important step in the effort to combat rising antisemitism.” Read more

13 Countries Vote Against UN Anti-Israel Resolution
Haaretz / 2-minute read
This week, the United Nations General Assembly passed five anti-Israel resolutions. But for the first time, 13 countries vetoed one particular resolution that expresses support for a pro-Palestinian UN division that does little more than bash Israel. In the past, Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Lithuania, Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Brazil and Colombia have abstained from voting on that measure, which is introduced annually. The UN General Assembly is singling out Israel for 20 resolutions during its 74th session. To put this in perspective, it will consider one resolution each on Iran, Syria, North Korea, Crimea, Myanmar and the United States. AJC tweeted: “We welcome this shift in voting patterns at the United Nations and hope it will usher in a permanent change in these pernicious, anti-Israel votes.” Read more

Campus Anti-Israel Activists Have Made Ignorance a Virtue
The Forward / 3-minute read
This week, the student government at McGill University in Montreal censured a Jewish student leader for breaching a conflict-of-interest policy after she accepted an educational trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories. Seffi Kogen, AJC Global Director of Youth Leadership, points out that students are no longer just condemning support of Israel; they are discouraging peers’ attempts to see the situation on the ground. Why? Seeing the situation firsthand could undermine and complicate the good vs. evil narrative peddled on college campuses. Learn more about how the BDS movement is targeting study abroad programs and challenging academic freedom. Read more

Good to Know

Wake Up, West! Jewish Blood Has Become Cheap
The New York Times / 2-minute read
Bari Weiss, author of How to Fight Anti-Semitism, argues that humanity is suffering from a “widespread social health epidemic” and a “moral calamity sweeping the West” -- the largely ignored and rising hatred of Jews. She provides a litany of antisemitic incidents around the world that have been downplayed or unreported in the mainstream press, and warns that the trend of scapegoating and attacking Jews has a long history of foreshadowing the downfall of many otherwise civilized societies. AJC tweeted: “She's right. Full-stop. AJC's Antisemitism in America survey found that 84% of U.S. Jews think antisemitism is rising.” See more results from AJC’s landmark survey of American Jews on antisemitism in the U.S. Read more

Angela Merkel Makes First Auschwitz Visit As German Chancellor
Reuters / 2-minute read
After 14 years as German chancellor, Angela Merkel made her first official visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial on Friday and pledged $60 million euros to help preserve the site where Nazis killed more than a million prisoners. The gift will make Germany the largest donor to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, which funds the conservation efforts for the site in what was, at the time of World War II, Nazi-occupied Poland. AJC tweeted: “Thank you, Chancellor Merkel, for helping ensure that Auschwitz will remain an important memorial and educational site for generations to come. We cannot let the memory of the Holocaust fade away.” Merkel has expressed gratitude to AJC – the first Jewish organization to establish a post-Holocaust presence in Germany – for choosing Berlin as the host site for Global Forum 2020. Spaces are still available. Make plans to join AJC in June. Read more

Field Hospital in Gaza Causes Tension
The Times of Israel / 2-minute read
A 50-bed tent hospital being built by a Louisiana-based evangelical group in the Gaza Strip has some Palestinians worried that the project is a cover for American and Israeli spies, an allegation that both Israel and Hamas have dismissed as “unfounded.” The organization, FriendSHIPS, aims to fill a void in medical care in Gaza by erecting its mobile hospital across from Israel’s Erez checkpoint crossing – part of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and the feuding terror groups in Gaza. But the evangelical organization is also exacerbating tensions by offering weekend tours of Israel to volunteers. Read more

Tidings

Tiffany Haddish Celebrates Black Mitzvah (NY Post)
No More Straight Talk From Female Israeli Politicians (Tablet magazine)
The Lost Jewish Fashion Brands of Berlin (The New York Times)

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

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