Iraq Study Group Report Complicates Quest for Peace

AJC has produced an analysis of the Iraq Study Group Report, available on the AJC website. While appreciative of the work done by the panel that produced the report, AJC is deeply concerned about the group’s key recommendations to advance U.S. interests in the Middle East, some of which could seriously complicate the quest for Middle East peace and stability, rather than advance it. Of most concern are the assessments and recommendations concerning Iran, Syria and the Palestinians. READ AJC ANALYSIS.

President Carter’s Book Harms Palestinians, Prospects for Peace

AJC has been at the forefront in responding to the one-sided misconceptions and factual inaccuracies in former President Jimmy Carter’s new book, Palestine: Peace or Apartheid. The Jerusalem Post published an op-ed by AJC Executive Director David A. Harris, and the Chicago Sun-Times will carry the piece tomorrow. READ HARRIS OP-ED. The JTA published an op-ed by Eran Lerman, director of AJC’s Israel/Middle East Office, and it will appear in Jewish papers across the country. READ LERMAN OP-ED. David Bernstein, associate director of AJC's Community Services Department, appeared live on MSNBC to discuss the book. AJC Chapters have been provided with materials for use with local media and to respond to any visits by the former president who is on a book tour.

AJC Applauds John Bolton’s Service at UN

AJC expressed deep appreciation to former Ambassador John Bolton after he announced his resignation as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the UN. “Over the past 15 months, Ambassador Bolton led the U.S. efforts in one of the most challenging arenas for American diplomacy. He has done so with skill and courage,” AJC said. “AJC has always valued Ambassador Bolton’s friendship toward the American Jewish community, and his deep commitment to the security and well-being of Israel, America’s staunch democratic ally in the Middle East."READ STATEMENT.

Campaign to Free Bangladeshi Journalist

The New York Jewish Week will carry in its Dec. 8 issue an op-ed by David Harris about AJC’s campaign to help Bangladeshi journalist Shoaib Choudhury, who is on trial for sedition because of his work as an outspoken critic of radical Islamic forces and call for friendly relations with Christians, Jews and Israel. Send a letter today to your members of Congress to support a resolution to gain Choudhury’s freedom. Take Action Now.

AJC Charitable Gift Annuity

AJC’s highly competitive charitable gift annuity is an opportunity to increase personal income while standing up for democratic values, Israel and the Jewish people worldwide. You may have seen the AJC ads in the New York Times and Forward. VIEW AD. For more information contact Robin Ann Phillips, AJC’s national director of planned giving, at phillipsr@ajc.org.

Anti-Semitism in European Sports

The growing phenomenon in Europe of racist and anti-Semitic violence in sports is explored in a special report by Valérie Hoffenberg, AJC's representative in France. The report was inspired by a recent racist and anti-Semitic assault in Paris that ended with the death of one of the attackers at a French-Israeli soccer game. READ REPORT.

AJC Mideast Briefing: Israeli Cease-Fire Gamble

In his weekly analysis of political developments in Israel and the Middle East, Eran Lerman discusses the various reasons Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert undertook and extended a cease-fire with the Palestinians, despite sporadic rocket attacks from Gaza. READ.

AJC Campaign on Iran Nuclear Program

Toward a Nuclear Iran is the latest initiative in AJC’s education and diplomacy campaign to encourage international action aimed at thwarting Iran’s efforts to cross the nuclear threshold. The 25-page booklet reviews the history of Iran’s nuclear program, and the threat that an Iran, with nuclear weapons, would pose to moderate Arab and Muslim countries, Israel, Europe and the U.S. “There is no greater challenge today for the world than Iran’s nuclear weapons program,” said David Harris. “Only a united, meaningful response by the international community stands a chance at deterring Iran from acting on its foreboding intentions.” AJC’s efforts have included full-page ads in the Financial Times, International Herald Tribune and New York Times, as well as national radio messages in the U.S. The Iranian nuclear issue continues to top the agenda in AJC leadership meetings with world leaders. READ REPORT.

AJC Radio Message: Refuting Ugly Myths about Israel

There are two ugly myths circulating about Israel, says David Harris. “The first is that Israel is an obstacle to peace,” he says in his national radio message. “The second myth is that pressuring Israel will solve all the Middle East’s problems.” LISTEN. Harris delivers weekly messages on the CBS radio network, which is aired in the greater New York area during the Osgood File on WCBS NewsRadio 880AM at 6:40 a.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays. All AJC radio commentaries since 2001 are available at www.ajc.org.

Brussels Rally Calls for Israeli Soldiers’ Release

AJC’s Transatlantic Institute participated in a pro-Israel rally at the European Parliament building in Brussels. Organized by the French Jewish organization Tziona, with the help of the Jewish Agency, the rally called for the release of kidnapped soldiers Gilad Shalit, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. Jewish community leaders from France, Germany, Holland and Luxembourg attended the rally, as well as members of the European Parliament.

New Interreligious Director Visits Chicago

Rabbi Gary Greenebaum, AJC’s new U.S. director of interreligious affairs, has been visiting AJC Chapters to meet with AJC members and with local faith partners. On a visit to Chicago, Greenebaum (left) was joined by AJC National Interreligious Affairs Commission Chair Ken Levine (right) in a meeting with the Rev. John Buchanan, senior pastor at Fourth Presbyterian Church and editor/publisher of the Christian Century magazine, and other leaders of the local Presbyterian and Catholic communities.

Koppelman Institute Honors Jehuda Reinharz

Gershon Kekst, D. Ronald Daniel, E. John Rosenwald, Jr, and Harold T. Shapiro joined a wide array of Jewish community leaders honoring Jehuda Reinharz, president of Brandeis University, at AJC’s Dorothy and Julius Koppelman Institute on American Jewish-Israeli Relations annual dinner. Noted Middle East scholar Bernard Lewis delivered the keynote address. The event raised more than $600,000.

Los Angeles Chapter Dinner Honors Two Local Leaders

Over 450 of Los Angeles’ outstanding attorneys, judges and community leaders gathered to pay tribute to two distinguished honorees, and to hear from keynote speaker Tom Brokaw and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The Centennial Leadership Award was presented to Harriet Hochman, a member of AJC’s National Executive Committee, and the 27th Annual Learned Hand Award was given to Alan Friedman of Munger, Tolles & Olson. In his remarks, Mayor Villaraigosa said: "I was deeply honored to speak at the AJC's centennial celebration in Washington earlier this year. I am deeply honored to be here tonight. For a century, AJC has been in the forefront of fighting for the inclusion of everyone in American society. I salute your work."

UN Watch Advocacy at Human Rights Council

UN Watch continues to be the most active non-governmental organization at the current session of the UN Human Rights Council. In a plenary dialogue with the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, the AJC-affiliated monitoring group urged action on Darfur and accountability for Palestinians firing Qassam rockets from civilian areas. UN Watch’s five other speeches included a statement on the remarks of Iranian President Ahmadinejad and a summary of 19 of the world’s worst human rights situations that are currently ignored while the Council continues to focus almost exclusively on criticism of Israel.

Project Interchange Brings Immigration Specialists to Israel

Project Interchange hosted an educational seminar for immigration and integration specialists from Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Morocco, the Netherlands and Turkey. The group, visiting Israel this week, participated in a workshop to share best practices in immigration and integration with some of Israel's leading authorities. In addition, the group attended panels on the role of ethnic media in Israel, together with Israel's foremost Russian and Ethiopian journalists.

AJC Brief Opposes Proselytizing in Prisons

AJC filed a brief arguing against government funding for a pervasively sectarian prison inmate rehabilitation program. The case, Americans United for Separation of Church and State v. Prison Fellowship Ministries, Inc., is a challenge to an Iowa Department of Corrections rehabilitation program called InnerChange that receives state funds, endorses Evangelical Protestant Christianity, coerces inmates in the program to accept the endorsed faith and discriminates against those unwilling to relinquish their own deeply-held beliefs. READ NEWS RELEASE.

New Publication Tackles Jewish Progressive Anti-Semitism

A new AJC report, “Progressive” Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semitism, by Alvin H. Rosenfeld, examines the growing trend among Jewish personalities on the political left to espouse anti-Semitic and anti-Israel views, foment hatred and violence, and create new rituals in Jewish spiritual life denying connections to the State of Israel. This report is the fourth in a series by Professor Rosenfeld tracing manifestations of anti-Semitism. The previous reports were Anti-Zionism in Great Britain and Beyond: A “Respectable” Anti-Semitism?; Feeling Alone Again: The Growing Unease Among Germany’s Jews; and Anti-Americanism and Anti-Semitism: A New Frontier of Bigotry. DOWNLOAD REPORT.

In the Media

In addition to the media mentioned above in the briefs on President Carter’s book and on Bangladeshi journalist Choudhury, AJC experts were quoted in:

The Wall Street Journal published a letter to the editor by UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer on the UN Human Rights Council’s credibility deficit. The Jerusalem Post published an op-ed by Neuer on the one-sided report of the Council’s inquiry on the Lebanon war. UN Watch was cited by Le Temps, Agence Télégraphique Suisse, and Cybercast News Service on the UN Human Rights Council’s weak resolution on Darfur.

The Presbyterian Record quoted Rabbi David Rosen, AJC’s director of international interreligous affairs, in an article about the World Conference of Religions for Peace in Kyoto, Japan.

The Associated Press quoted Rabbi Andrew Baker, AJC’s director of international Jewish affairs, in an article about plans to modernize the permanent exhibition at the Auschwitz museum.

The Jewish News Weekly of Northern California published a letter to the editor from Ernest H. Weiner, director of AJC’s San Francisco chapter, about that paper’s editorial on disputed land in the West Bank.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a story about an AJC Atlanta Chapter program on immigration reform.

The Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) profiled Danielle Levin, the new director of AJC’s Palm Beach chapter.