AJC Will Build Resilience Center in Sderot

Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal thanked AJC for donating $300,000 to construct a resilience center that will provide psychological services to the city's beleaguered residents. "AJC's contribution is great news for the city during these hard times. The center and the psychological services it will offer are the real cure for the challenge of supporting our residents," said Moyal. The contribution comes from AJC's Israel Emergency Assistance Fund, launched in July, which has raised more than $2.4 million. "The citizens of Sderot are on the front lines, and continue to be the targets of daily rocket assaults from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip," said AJC Executive Director David A. Harris. AJC solidarity delegations have visited Sderot since the rocket barrages began shortly after Israel disengaged from Gaza more than a year ago. READ NEWS RELEASE.

One-Sided UN Resolution Condemned

AJC thanked the U.S., Australia, the Marshal Islands, Micronesia, Nauru and Palau for joining with Israel in voting against a UN General Assembly resolution sharply criticizing Israel regarding the situation in Gaza. "In censuring Israel, the General Assembly ignored the political realities on the ground and failed to understand the severity of the terror campaign perpetrated by Palestinian terror organizations against Israel and its citizens," AJC said. READ NEWS RELEASE.

UN Human Rights Council Hears UN Watch Testimony

UN Watch testified before an anti-Israel emergency session of the UN Human Rights Council. "As of today, this Council has now held more special sessions to denounce Israel than it has held regular sessions concerning everything else in the world," said UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer. "Perhaps these definitions ought to be reversed - and the special sessions denouncing Israel become the regular sessions." READ TESTIMONY.

AJC Charitable Gift Annuity

If you missed AJC's ad in the New York Times Giving Section last week, then you should contact our national director of planned giving, Robin Phillips, to learn more about AJC's Charitable Gift Annuity, a secure way to increase your income while standing up for democratic values, Israel and the Jewish people worldwide. The AJC rates are very attractive. For more information or a confidential consultation, please contact Robin at phillipsr@ajc.org or at 212-891-1371.

AJC Analysis: The Midterm Elections

In a report on the 2006 midterm elections, Jason Isaacson, AJC's director of government and international affairs, and Richard Foltin, AJC's legislative director, examine the outcome of the elections, and how it will impact the domestic and foreign policy concerns of the Jewish community. READ REPORT.

AJC Mideast Briefing: A Hamas-Lite Government?

In his weekly analysis of political developments in Israel and the Middle East, Eran Lerman discusses with concern the rising voices internationally of reducing the pressure on the Hamas-led Palestinian government. "The long-term risks this would entail might ultimately outweigh the short-term gains of a conciliatory policy," says Lerman. READ BRIEFING.

AJC Hosts Latin American Jewish Summit

The presidents of Jewish communities across Central and South America gathered in Miami for a weekend summit hosted by AJC's Latino and Latin American Institute and AJC's Miami Chapter. They were joined for Shabbat dinner by ten consuls general from Latin American countries stationed in Miami and AJC Executive Director David Harris. Over the weekend the Jewish leaders of Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Uruguay and Venezuela, and AJC leaders discussed the impact on Latin American Jewry of the rise of neo-populism in region, the fallout from the Lebanon crisis, and the current image of the U.S.

AJC Consultant to Train French in Combating Hate Crimes

France has offered to host an international symposium to train French and other European law enforcement officers in combating hate crimes. The program, scheduled for mid-December in Paris, would be the latest in a series of training programs sponsored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). The Law Enforcement Officers Training Program, established two years ago by the 55-member OSCE, operates under the direction of veteran American law enforcement expert and American Jewish Committee consultant Paul Goldenberg. The program brings together police professionals in European countries to learn how to recognize and respond to hate crimes. "France hosting the OSCE training program is significant in the aftermath of the anti-Semitic torture and murder of Ilan Halimi earlier this year," said Rabbi Andrew Baker, AJC's director of international Jewish affairs, who also participated in this week's OSCE experts' meeting in Berlin, where Goldenberg presented a report on the training program.

Hands Across the Campus Launches in Berlin

Germany's adaptation of AJC's successful Hands Across the Campus program was launched in Berlin. Hands is a program that promotes the inclusion of civic values, anti-bias education and conflict resolution skills in middle and high schools. Since Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, at a meeting in New York in September 2000, accepted AJC's offer to assist with tolerance-building programs in Germany to counter a rise in right-wing extremism, Deidre Berger, director of AJC's Berlin Office, and her team have worked to translate, adapt and publish a German-oriented version of the Hands curriculum, build partnerships with local educational institutions, government officials, and three schools that have piloted the program. Ann Schaffer, director of AJC's Belfer Center for American Pluralism, and Nancy Petschek-Kohn, a member of the AJC's Westchester Chapter, attended the launch and conducted training sessions for 40 teachers from several Berlin schools.

America's Table Celebrations Continue

Congressman Charles Rangel and New York Schools Chancellor Joel Klein joined AJC's New York Chapter's pre-Thanksgiving diversity celebration, honoring Guillermo Linares, New York's commissioner of immigrant affairs, who is profiled in this year's edition of America's Table. Civic, ethnic and religious leaders from across New York City came together to hear inspirational stories from immigrant New Yorkers, including Hunter College freshman and tennis star Evgeniya Kim. Successful America's Table intergroup community programs also were held in Atlanta, Boston, Houston and Milwaukee.

Campus AJC Societies Host AJC Executive Director

David Harris visited Colgate and Cornell universities to meet with members of the AJC societies on those campuses. Harris spoke with the students about challenges facing the Jewish community, the relationship between the UN and Israel, the role NGOs play in international and domestic policy-making, and how students can be empowered to make a difference. Working with students and faculty, AJC has established societies at Cornell, Colgate, Harvard and Princeton.

AJC Radio Message: Celebrating Thanksgiving

In his national radio message, David Harris sends his best wishes for a meaningful Thanksgiving holiday and reminds listeners to use AJC's America's Table reader to enhance their Thanksgiving celebrations. 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.

Turkey: A Model for Islam and Democracy

Turkey's capacity to serve as a model for democracy in the Islamic world was at the center of a series of discussions, in Ankara and Istanbul, conducted by Felice Gaer, director of AJC's Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights, with leading Turkish government officials. Topics discussed included the relationship between religion and state, the treatment of minority communities and the process to gain European Union membership. Gaer led a delegation in her capacity as chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a bipartisan federal body.

Italian Political Leader Visits AJC

Marcello Pera, former president of the Italian Senate and now a leading opposition figure in the legislature, met with AJC leaders in New York. Pera, a strong supporter of the transatlantic relationship and of Israel, has co-authored a book with then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (and now Pope Benedict XVI), Without Roots: Europe, Relativism, Christianity, and Islam. Pera discussed European identity, Europe's struggle to confront radical Islam, and the importance of integrating Muslim immigrants into European society.

AJC at National Indian American Convention

Jason Isaacson, director of AJC's Office of Government and International Affairs, was the keynote speaker at the opening dinner of the 14th biennial convention of the National Federation of Indian-American Associations, in Long Beach, California. He also was a panelist at a session on global terrorism. During the conference, Isaacson met privately with the Indian Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs, Valayar Ravi, who also addressed the group.

AJC Honors Head of New York's Mt. Sinai Medical Center

Dr. Kenneth Davis, president and chief executive officer of Mt. Sinai Medical Center and dean of Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, was honored at a major AJC dinner in New York at the St. Regis Hotel. AJC's National Human Relations Centennial Leadership Award was presented to Dr. Davis by Dr. David Hamburg, one of the world's leading scientists and medical researchers. Peter May, chairman of Mt. Sinai Medical Center, chaired the dinner, which attracted an overflow crowd and raised more than $600,000.

In the Media

Israel TV Channel 1, the Jerusalem Post, Ynet, and JTA carried stories about AJC's contribution to build a resilience center in Sderot.

The New York Jewish Week quoted David Harris in an article about Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's support for America's war in Iraq.

The Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA) published an interview with Barry Jacobs, AJC's director of strategic studies, before his talk to the Dubuque Area Committee on Foreign Relations.

Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, was quoted by SwissInfo and Agence Telegraphe Suisseon the anti-Israel bias of last week's emergency session of the UN Human Rights Council, and by Reuters about a UN report on Lebanon. Assistant Executive Director Elizabeth Cassidy was quoted in Canada's National Post on the latest UN human rights developments in New York and Geneva.

Eran Lerman, director of AJC's Jerusalem office, was quoted in the Hamilton Spectator, a Canadian newspaper, in an article about Yasser Arafat's history of financial corruption.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published a letter to the editor by Theodore Goldberg, president of AJC's Pittsburgh chapter, about Israel's right to self-defense in response to daily rocket attacks from Gaza.

The International Herald Tribune published a letter to the editor by Ari Fridman, an AJC Legacy Heritage Fellow, regarding the need for the Palestinian Authority to renounce ties with terrorists.