AJC has defended the values that unite us, built coalitions against hate and bigotry, and advanced concrete measures to keep Jewish communities—and all communities—safer and more secure.

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IT’S NOT TOO LATE

For over a century, AJC has defended the values that unite us, built coalitions against hate and bigotry, and advanced concrete measures to keep Jewish communities—and all communities—safer and more secure. We can’t do this work alone. It’s not too late to make your year-end gift to AJC and have it doubled. [link removed]   

THE GOOD NEWS STORIES OF 2019

A Geostrategic Breakthrough For Israel [link removed]

As democratic neighbors who share the Mediterranean coastline, Israel, Greece, and Cyprus have forged an unprecedented alliance. While Israel has long been considered part of the Middle East and Greece and Cyprus have long belonged to Europe, a new way of looking at their shared region emerged last week. The Eastern Mediterranean was at the heart of a geostrategic breakthrough for Israel years in the making: Congress passed bipartisan legislation to lift the arms embargo on Cyprus and establish a United States-Eastern Mediterranean Energy Center to facilitate energy cooperation with Israel, Greece, and Cyprus. The package also authorizes Foreign Military Financing (FMF) assistance for Greece and increased International Military Education and Training (IMET) assistance for Greece and Cyprus. The swift passage of this legislation, coupled with the recent adoption of the Working Definition of Antisemitism by both Greece and Cyprus, shows how integral AJC is to the trilateral Eastern Mediterranean alliance [link removed], and how important this relationship is for Israel and the Jewish people.  
Countries Take Crucial Step in Combating Antisemitism [link removed]

Imagine trying to stop, report, – or even call out blatant antisemitism – and being turned away by police or local government officials. In order to protect Jews from rising antisemitism, it’s essential that nations, especially those in Europe, adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism, which provides law enforcement with a clear and compact description of antisemitism in its various forms. The Definition sends a message that governments understand the threat, which is the obvious first step in addressing it. AJC was involved in the original drafting of the definition 14 years ago. Over the past year, 10 countries, thanks to AJC’s advocacy, adopted the IHRA Working Definition: Luxembourg, Hungary, Canada, France, Greece, Cyprus, Moldova, Czech Republic, Hungary, and North Macedonia. [link removed] AJC also launched its Translate Hate campaign [link removed], which helps people understand what fits the definition and why.  
Senate Launches Antisemitism Task Force, House Task Force Nearly Doubles [link removed]

With antisemitism rising in the U.S., according to a landmark survey conducted by AJC earlier this year [link removed], the issue has reached the highest levels of government, including in the Senate where Republicans and Democrats have set aside their discord to address the troubling trend. Shortly after her trip to Israel with AJC Project Interchange [link removed], U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) teamed up with U.S. Senator James Lankford (R-OK) to launch the Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism. The mission of the task force is to collaborate with law enforcement, federal agencies, state and local government, educators, advocates, clergy, and other stakeholders to take on the disturbing rise of antisemitism. Since February, the same task force in the House of Representatives has grown from 110 members of Congress to 175. AJC encouraged the formation of the task force in 2014 and has backed its efforts since its creation.  
Countries Ban Hezbollah [link removed]

Hezbollah, the anti-Israel, antisemitic terror organization founded by Iran, has, for its entire 34-year existence, been allowed to operate, raise funds, and recruit freely throughout most of Europe and Latin America, despite carrying out major terror attacks in both locations. But that firewall was significantly breached in 2019: first, the UK and Argentina blacklisted Hezbollah activity, then Paraguay announced a ban of the group’s military wing, and Guatemala’s incoming president promised to take action as well – and just last week, the Bundestag made the unprecedented move to ban all Hezbollah activity on German soil – currently more than 1,000 Hezbollah operatives call Germany home. Ahead of this year’s AJC Diplomatic Marathon at the UN General Assembly, AJC and the Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) [link removed] produced a fact-based analysis to make the case that calling Hezbollah what it is – a hybrid terrorist group – would serve to strengthen Lebanon, protect the West, and promote stability across the Middle East.  
A Year After America’s Worst Antisemitic Attack, A Day of Action Around the Nation [link removed]

Last year, in response to the assault on Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue, millions of people of all faiths rallied around AJC’s #ShowUpforShabbat initiative, packing synagogues throughout the country, in what became the largest-ever expression of solidarity with the American Jewish community. A year later, on the anniversary of that tragic attack, AJC launched a Day of Action Against Antisemitism [link removed]. Hundreds of elected officials, including the governors of Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Iowa, and Virginia; the mayors of Cleveland, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., issued proclamations declaring October 27, 2019 a day of awareness [link removed] about the rise of antisemitism in America and held events in solidarity with America’s Jewish community.  
Lebanese Billionaire Gifts Hitler Souvenirs to Pro-Israel Institution [link removed]

Citing the spread of far-right populism, a Lebanese diamond magnate living in Switzerland spent $601,000 on Adolf Hitler’s top hat, cigar box, typewriter, and other possessions at a controversial auction in Germany to keep the artifacts out of the hands of neo-Nazis. Abdallah Chatila, who made his fortune in diamonds and real estate in Geneva, didn’t stop there. He turned around and donated the memorabilia to the Israel-based Keren Hayesod [link removed], an umbrella body for Israel fundraising.  
United Nations Addresses Antisemitism as Human Rights Issue [link removed]

In October, the United Nations General Assembly received the first UN human rights report focused exclusively on antisemitism [link removed]. The report, prepared by the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, examined and documented antisemitic violence, discrimination, and hostility that are “increasing in magnitude” and creating a “climate of fear” in Jewish communities around the world. The report found that antisemitism is “toxic to democracy” and “threatens all societies in which it goes unchallenged” and it recommended all countries adopt the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism. AJC’s Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights convened an expert consultation on antisemitism in the U.S. that informed the Special Rapporteur’s report. The Special Rapporteur shared insights from his report on People of the Pod, a weekly podcast analyzing global affairs through a Jewish lens. Listen now. [link removed]     

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