AJC maintains offices in Berlin, Brussels (Transatlantic Institute), Geneva (UN Watch), Paris and v, and association agreements with a number of European Jewish communities. Utilizing our expertise in community relations and intergroup dialogue drawn from the American experience, AJC works with European political leaders and Jewish communities to promote pluralism and respect for diversity. AJC forcefully condemns all manifestations of xenophobia and anti-Semitism in these countries, and supports the efforts of Jewish communities there to rebuild a vibrant Jewish life. Exchange programs bring new political elites from Europe to the U.S. to see firsthand the tolerance-building efforts undertaken here. AJC leadership conferences bring together Jewish leaders from these countries to develop common approaches to combating anti-Semitism and advancing Jewish communal goals.
AJC Offices:
Berlin, Germany
Immediately following World War II, AJC became the first Jewish organization to develop programs with Germany. In 1997, AJC became the first American Jewish organization to open a permanent office there. This office coordinates the work of the Lawrence and Lee Ramer Center for German-Jewish Relations.
Through its involvement with Germany, AJC seeks to achieve German-Jewish understanding and reconciliation in the aftermath of the Holocaust, a goal made especially urgent by the significant role that Germany now plays in European relations with Israel and in the promotion of democracy in Eastern Europe.
AJC has developed relationships and programs with all key government leaders and political foundations in Germany, and this has afforded AJC the opportunity to address difficult questions such as antiforeigner violence in Germany, and to convince the German government together with German industries and German insurance companies to complete the process of restitution. It has provided important points of contact to discuss German and European foreign policy toward the Middle East in difficult times.
Related Germany documents:
1. Overview of AJC office and programs in Berlin.
2. A Decade of Bundeswehr-American Jewish Committee Cooperation
David A. Harris, Executive Director
3. Ten Years of Cooperation Between the Bundeswehr and the American Jewish Committee
Dr. Peter Struck, German Minister of Defense
4. AJC Survey on German-Jewish Relations (2002)
Brussels (Transatlantic Institute):
Located in Brussels, the seat of the Council of the European Union and the headquarters of NATO, the Transatlantic Institute fosters ties among the European Union, Israel, and the United States. The Transatlantic Institute is an extension of AJC's worldwide diplomatic activity, unparalleled in the NGO world. The AJC presence in Brussels comes on top of its long established offices in Berlin, Geneva, Jerusalem and Warsaw. We were the first American Jewish advocacy organization to establish an official presence in each of these European cities. That again is the case in Brussels.
The Transatlantic Institute was made possible by the philanthropy of long-time AJC leaders Rhoda and Jordan Baruch, along with their children, Larry and Laurie Baruch, Marjory Baruch and Wu-te Hsiang, and Roberta (Bobi) Baruch and Jerry Ostrov, and their children's families.
Transatlantic Institute Website
Related Geneva (UN Watch) documents:
1. UN Watch Appoints New Executive Director
2. UN Watch website - http://www.unwatch.org
Related Paris documents:
1. David Harris Testimony in French Parliament
Testimony by David A. Harris, Executive Director, American Jewish Committee
before the Committee on Foreign Relations French National Assembly, Paris, April 14, 2005
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