AJC Welcomes Israeli Cabinet Initiative on Energy Independence
AJC praised the Israeli Cabinet for dedicating its weekly meeting to the ongoing environmental challenge, highlighting the centrality of energy independence. Opening the meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his intention to "initiate a national project to reduce and cancel global dependence on petroleum." AJC said, "The Prime Minister's pledge to focus Israel's finest minds on the grave problems posed by current energy consumption patterns - from water shortages to pollution to the funding of brutal regimes which finance terrorism - is enormously encouraging."
AJC Warns Congressional Committee of Iran Threat in Latin America
AJC's expert on Latin America told members of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs that Iran's expanding ties to countries in the Western Hemisphere pose a threat to all nations in the region, including the United States. "Venezuela is the gateway to heightened cooperation between Iran and other countries in Latin America," said Dina Siegel Vann, director of AJC's Latino and Latin American Institute, in testimony before members of three House Foreign Affairs subcommittees. AJC first began raising awareness of the increasing Iranian presence in the region in 2005, when Caracas and Tehran made a strategic decision to expand their economic and political relations.
AJC Houston hosted briefings last Spring on Iran's and Hezbollah's expansion throughout Latin America. AJC Houston will host Iranian jouranlist Mohsen Sazegara on Thursday, Nov. 19 for two briefings. Sazegara, the founder of Iran's revolutionary guard and one of the leaders of the revolution, will address a joint World Affairs Council Houston/AJC luncheon at the Westin Oaks (for reservations please call 713 522 7811).
On the evening of Nov. 19 Sazegara will hold a private parlor dessert discussion by invitation only. A leader of the Green Movement, Sazegara will discuss the current power struggle in Iran.
AJC Calls for Vigilance in Face of Iranian Delaying Tactics
AJC called for extra vigilance in the face of Iranian deceit and delaying tactics, after Tehran ignored an international deadline to respond to an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) proposal to ship most of its uranium abroad for enrichment. "Let's recall that since 2006, this brutal regime has defied three UN Security Council resolutions, continuing to enrich uranium and refusing to disclose the full extent of its nuclear program. The United States has said that negotiations will not continue indefinitely, but the Iranians seem determined to prove otherwise," said AJC.
AJC Challenges Egyptian Exclusion of Israeli Breast Cancer Researchers
"It is absolutely intolerable for Israeli scientists and advocates to be excluded from a conference like this, apparently on the basis of their nationality," said AJC, after the Egyptian government blocked a team of Israeli breast cancer researchers from entering the country for a major conference sponsored by Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a leading breast cancer awareness group based in the U.S.
AJC Applauds President Obama's Signing of Hate Crimes Act into Law
AJC applauded President Barack Obama's signing into law of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. "By signing this Act into law, President Obama has brought our country to another milestone in the struggle for civil rights, justice and tolerance," said AJC Executive Director David Harris. "This Act - named for a gay man brutally murdered because of his sexual orientation and an African-American brutally murdered because of the color of his skin - puts on notice those who would turn their bigotry into violence."
Embattled Bangladeshi Muslim Journalist Visits AJC
Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, editor of the Weekly Blitz, the largest tabloid English-language weekly in Bangladesh, urged AJC leadership today to join his campaign to press the Bangladesh government to return a synagogue to the Dhaka Jewish community. He said there are 3,500 Jews in Bangladesh, who hide their identity out of fear of radical Islamic forces. Choudhury has been on trial for sedition in Bangladesh since he attempted to visit Israel six years ago. An outspoken, courageous foe of radical Islam in Bangladesh, he received AJC's Moral Courage Award in 2006.
AJC Addresses Wilson Center Immigration Conference
Richard Foltin, AJC's director of National and Legislative Affairs, was a featured speaker at a conference, "Fixing a Broken Immigration System," held at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC, convened in cooperation with Vanderbilt University, Columbia University and the University of Southern California. "It is critical that our elected officials-and all of us-conduct the immigration reform debate in a civil and respectful manner, mindful not to blame immigrants for our social and economic ills or for the atrocities committed by the few who have carried out acts of terrorism," said Foltin. "A polarized process lacking in civility hinders deliberative discourse and fails to serve our nation's best interests."
Prestigious Media Award for AJC Berlin Office
The CD-ROM Against Antisemitism, produced by AJC's Berlin office with local partner organizations, won the 2009 Erasmus EuroMedia Award in the category of "Education & Ethics." Based on the program "Get Fit for Democracy - Youth Engage with Antisemitism," the CD was deemed by the judges to "open up new opportunities to educate and to face young people with this sensitive subject."
Project Interchange Honors Ambassador Schifter
The Hon. Steny Hoyer, majority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, is the keynote speaker this week at the Project Interchange gala honoring Ambassador Richard Schifter. A Holocaust survivor, Schifter served with distinction for more than two decades in the State Department and the National Security Council.
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