Mideast Briefing: Building Trust with Israel
"To make peace, the United States must engage in building trust, both between Israelis and Palestinians, and between them and the U.S. itself, an arbiter of the conflict. But the perception on the Israeli street, across the political spectrum, is that the American administration neither remembers Palestinian failures nor recognizes Israel's well-grounded doubts," writes Ed Rettig, acting director of AJC's Israel/Middle East Office. Read Briefing
|
Coming up
Saturday- Sunday,
August 29-30
Mexican-American Emerging Leaders Workshop
Sunday, Aug. 30
10:15 am to 12:30 pm
Diplomatic training and board briefing with Dina Siegel Vann, AJC's Latin American Institute director
Sunday, Sept. 13
media and
advocacy workshop
for Latino organizations
America's Table
Friday, Nov. 20
AJC Consular Corps Chanukah Party
Thurs., Dec. 3
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
|
|
|
|
Local delegation meets new Indian Ambassador
AJC Houston board members Tracy Stein, Jack Lascar, Iris Mushin, Richard Schechter and Helene Zadok met privately with India's new Ambassador to the US Meera Shankar this afternoon in Houston. Hosted by Consul General Sanjiv Arora, the conversation focused on AJC's strong support of the US-India and US-Israel relationship and the strong relationships AJC has across the country with officials. The group also noted that AJC was the only American Jewish organization that supported the US - India nuclear agreement and its office in Mumbai continues to work closely with the government. The Ambassador arrived in the US in late April after serving as India's Ambassador to Germany.
AJC Berlin Challenges Amazon on Sale of Neo-Nazi Literature
The Berlin Office of AJC filed a charge of public incitement against Amazon.de for selling Holocaust denial and other extreme right-wing literature, which is illegal in Germany. "We must not allow the laws against denying the Holocaust and hate against minorities in Germany to be eroded," said AJC Berlin director Deidre Berger. Read News Release
AJC Leadership Meetings on Capitol Hill
An AJC leadership group met with Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, to discuss the Iranian threat, Israeli-Palestinian and broader Israeli-Arab peace, and U.S.-Israel relations, among other topics. AJC also raised the same issues in meetings with the chairs of the House subcommittees for Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, and Foreign Operations.
Welcoming UN Recognition of Hezbollah Violation
AJC welcomed UN recognition, at a closed-door Security Council briefing, that Hezbollah committed a "serious violation" of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 by stockpiling weapons in southern Lebanon. "The UN has finally acknowledged what has long been obvious - backed by Iran and Syria, Hezbollah is rearming for another terror war against Israel," said AJC. "Responsible nations should stop pretending that Hezbollah is a 'political party,' and should treat it as the terrorist organization that it is. Since when do political parties have massive stockpiles of artillery shells?" AJC repeatedly has called attention to Hezbollah's grave breaches of Resolution 1701, which implemented a ceasefire to end the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah conflict.
AJC Co-Hosts Video Conference on Obama Moscow Visit
AJC's Russian Division, in cooperation with the Moscow Bureau of Human Rights and the Public House of the Russian Federation, co-hosted an international video conference on President Obama's visit to Moscow. Sam Kliger, director of AJC's Russian Division, and Alexander Brod, director of the Moscow Bureau of Human Rights, who co-hosted the two-hour event, focused discussion on the role of non-governmental organizations in strengthening U.S.-Russian relations.
South African Jewish Students, AJC Sign Association Agreement
AJC and the South African Union of Jewish Students have signed an association agreement, cementing the close cooperative relationship between the two organizations. "SAUJS is delighted to be associated with AJC, said SAUJS National Chairperson Benjamin Shulman. "It will help connect us better to international Jewry and have an impact for our members on the ground." The agreement is the twenty-ninth international association AJC has established with Jewish communities around the globe, including Jewish student organizations in Australia, Canada, Europe and Latin America.
|
|
Behind the Scenes
AJC is actively engaged in the domestic and international scene as a GLOBAL JEWISH ADVOCACY organization.
With Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison's announcement that she plans to resign her Senate seat this fall, the Houston World Affairs Council and AJC Houston are communicating with announced candidates for the US Senate that the organizations will co-host a foreign policy forum with all the candidates invited prior to the special election.
Irving Pozmantier, chair of this year's Max Nathan Award dinner honoring Joe Williams, Barbara and Mark Brookner, dinner co-chairs, and Randy Czarlinsky met this week to discuss the evening.
Thank you to Rabbi Dr. Shari Lander, new director of the Bnoiuk Center for Religious Tolerance at Rice University and board member Jackie Barish for getting together separately this week.
AJC's Asian Pacific Institute director Jim Busis provided an update on India to the delegation planning to meet with India's new Ambassador to the US this week.
Dena Palermo and Iris Mushin are working putting together the consular corps teams. AJC director of the Latin American Institute Dina Siegel Vann will brief the board and the consular teams on Sunday, August 30 on Latin American and diplomatic engagement.
|
|
|
|
