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Middle East Briefing: The Fayyad Statement
"A serious repetition of Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's recent statement, in both Hebrew and Arabic, would dramatically shore up the credibility of the Palestinian Authority's leadership in the eyes of Israelis," writes Ed Rettig, acting director of AJC's Israel/Middle East Office.READ BRIEFING
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Coming up
Saturday- Sunday,
August 29-30
Mexican-American Emerging Leaders Workshop
Sunday, Sept. 13
media and
advocacy workshop
for Latino organizations
America's Table
Friday, Nov. 20
AJC Consular Corps Chanukah Party
Thurs., Dec. 7
at 7 pm
AJC's Max Nathan Award Dinner
honoring
Joe Williams
Thurs., Dec. 10
at the Omni Houston Hotel
Board Meetings
Sept. 17 at 11:45 am featuring Dr. Steve Murdock, former US Census czar and professor of sociology at Rice;
Oct. 15 at 8:15 am
Jan. 21 at 11:45 am; March 18 at 8:15 am and
Apr 22 at 11:45 am.
AJC NATIONAL ANNUAL MEETING
APRIL 28-30
GRAND HYATT
WASHINGTON, DC
Chapter Annual meeting Mon., May 17
Executive Committee
Sept 3; Nov. 5; Jan. 7 and
March 4
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AJC Radio Message: Israel's Vibrancy Worth Exploring
"For the media, regrettably, Israel is largely a story of conflict, but the real Israel, up close, is about so much more," says AJC Executive Director David Harris in his national radio commentary. "My last trip to Israel, earlier this month, underscored the point." LISTEN
Harris's weekly messages on the CBS radio network air during the Osgood File.
The full text of this week's commentary follows:
There's nothing like seeing something with your own eyes!
My last trip to Israel, earlier this month, underscored the point.
For the media, regrettably, Israel is largely a story of conflict.
But the real Israel, up close, is about so much more.
It's about Tel Aviv, one of the world's most vibrant cities.
It's about Jerusalem, filled with religious pilgrims and tourists from the four corners of the earth.
It's about universities advancing the frontiers of knowledge.
It's about a full-throttled democracy that thrives on discussion and debate.
It's about a dynamic society whose diversity may surprise you. Among the most recent arrivals are refugees from Darfur seeking a new life.
It's about an ancient land, connected to the Jewish people for over 3,000 years.
And it's about a modern land, doing cutting-edge work for humankind in agriculture, technology, and medicine.
Israel. The more you know, the more you understand.
Visit ajc.org.
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Briefing before Senate Democrats
Taking Stock of US Policy toward Israel
"We fully embrace President Obama's commitment to peace - peace among Israel, its Palestinian neighbors, and the larger Arab world," writes David Harris, based on his remarks to the U.S. Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee. "At the same time, I wouldn't be honest if I didn't tell this audience that we have some specific areas of concern." Read Blog
AJC OP-ED: American Jews and the Settlements
"Whatever our disagreements over the wisdom of Israeli settlement policy, let us recall that American Jewry's fundamental role has been to strengthen ties between Washington and Jerusalem. The question of settlements challenges those ties but by no means fatally," writes Steven Bayme, director of AJC's Koppelman Institute on American Jewish-Israeli Relations, in the New York Jewish Week. Read op. ed.
New York Times Middle East Correspondent Visits AJC
Michael Slackman, Cairo bureau chief for the New York Times, addressed more than 50 top AJC leaders at AJC headquarters. Slackman, who covers the entire Arab world and Iran, shared his experiences as a U.S. reporter working in the Middle East and his perspectives on current political and social trends in the Arab world.
Dutch Senator Addresses AJC
AJC's Washington office hosted Dr. Sophie van Bijsterveld, a member of the Dutch Senate and a professor of law at Tilburg University, for a roundtable discussion on "Church-State Relations in the United States and the Netherlands: Comparative Perspectives." Richard Foltin, AJC Director of National and Legislative Affairs, moderated the session.
AJC Human Rights Institute Meets With UN Secretary-General
In a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, E. Robert Goodkind, chair of AJC's Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights (JBI), along with Robert Rifkind, Michael Hirschhorn and JBI staff, urged additional action regarding the crackdown on protesters in Iran following the recent disputed presidential elections. Also discussed was the importance of reforming the UN Human Rights Council, and the need to combat 'defamation of religions' initiatives planned as a follow-up to last April's Durban Review Conference.
Strenghtening Jewish-Indian Relations
AJC's Belfer Center for American Pluralism, in partnership with USAsian (a leading Indian-American group), hosted an Indian-Jewish American community reception welcoming the Indian Embassy's Deputy Chief of Mission (former Ambassador to Israel) Ambassador Arun K. Singh and his wife, Dr. Maina Singh. A Hadassah-Brandeis Fellow, Dr. Singh is completing a book on the 75,000 strong Indian-Jewish community living in Israel.
AJC Welcomes European Court Decision on Boycotts of Israel
AJC welcomed the decision of the Council of Europe's European Court of Human Rights that boycotting Israeli goods is illegal.
The court, an institution of the Council of Europe, upheld last Thursday an earlier French court ruling against Seclin Mayor Jean-Claude Fernand Willem, who in 2002 called for boycotting Israeli products. Willem petitioned the European Court of Human Rights in 2005, asserting that his freedom of expression had been violated when the French court fined him for provoking discrimination.
In its ruling, the Council of Europe court determined that Willem was originally convicted "for inciting the commission of a discriminatory, and therefore punishable act," and not for his political views.
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Behind the Scenes
AJC is actively engaged in the domestic and international scene as a GLOBAL JEWISH ADVOCACY organization.
Annica Gorhan, exec. dir. for Houston Interfaith Worker Justice, Ceasar Espinoza, president, FIEL, and Benito Juarez, senior community liason for the Mayor's Office for immigrant and refugee affairs, met with Richard Shaw, Chapter VP for domestic/Jewish affairs, Nat Levy, Chapter VP for intergroup/ethnic affairs and Barb Shepard to create a list of Latino organizations. The organizations, reflecting all segments of the Latino community, may be invited to an all day Latino workshop on media and advocacy on Sunday, Sept. 13 that the Chapter will coordinate. The workshop is part of the AJC immigration reform project that is being funded by a grant from the Ford Foundation.
The Development Committee, chaired by David Goldstein, met this week to discuss honorees, board contribution enhancement and issues and outreach for parlor meetings. Participants included: Deborah Kaplan, Syma Levy, Nat Levy, Melanie Lowther, and Tracy Stein.
Tracy Stein and Randy Czarlinsky met with Ben Warren to discuss his recent briefing in Paris with AJC's Valerie Hoffenberg.
More than half of the Chapter board have already signed up for consular corps teams. The teams will be reaching out to the consular corps to discuss pertinent issues of concern and build relationships with the country's third largest diplomatic corps.
France and Egypt recently celebrated their respective republics anniversaries. Randy Czarlinsky attended both receptions.
Barb Shepard participated in the Mayor's Immigrant and Refugee Task Force discussion this week.
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