A Roadmap for America

The best practices American Jewish Committee (AJC) uses to combat antisemitism in Europe are now helping America with its fight.

The best practices American Jewish Committee (AJC) uses to combat antisemitism in Europe are now helping America with its fight.

The best practices AJC uses to combat antisemitism in Europe are now helping America with its fight.

A roadmap for America

Antisemitism is not a problem that threatens one city or one country or even just one group of people.
It is a global problem that threatens us all.

Paris 2015As attacks on Jews rise across America, we need to address the issue from a global perspective. That’s why American Jewish Committee (AJC)—the global advocacy organization for the Jewish people—is best equipped to lead us in this fight.

Because before it happened in Pittsburgh, it happened in Paris. Before it happened in Brooklyn, it happened in Brussels. Before it happened in Colleyville, it happened in Copenhagen. And AJC was there.

More than 20 years ago, AJC was the first to sound the alarm about the resurgence of antisemitism in Europe. hoboken, NJ, 2022For decades, our teams have been on the ground, gathering the data, partnering with governments, educating policymakers, and forming coalitions with civil society leaders to help keep Jews and society safe.

Our unique expertise, honed in Europe, is needed in the United States right now. AJC leverages strategies we designed across the Atlantic to take on rising antisemitism here at home.

The global perspective that only AJC can offer is one of the many reasons leaders in the U.S., in Europe, and around the world have come to rely on us as a trusted partner and resource. 

The best practices AJC uses to combat antisemitism in Europe are now helping America with its fight.

 

 

Promote Data-Driven Advocacy

AJC CEO Ted Deutch details the alarming findings of our 2022 antisemitism report on CNN.
AJC CEO Ted Deutch details the alarming findings of our 2022 antisemitism report on CNN.

 

For years, AJC commissioned breakthrough studies in Europe on the growing threat of antisemitism. Our research made clear the importance of understanding the multiple sources of antisemitism and the need for tailored solutions in education and public policy. It also drew extensive media attention to the issue. Using the data to support our advocacy, AJC helped drive the European Union and individual member states to take significant steps to counter antisemitism.

Now, here in the U.S., AJC’s research is again serving as a wake-up call. Our annual surveys of American Jews and the general public on their perceptions of antisemitism in America are bringing to light the severity of the problem. Government officials and agencies, law enforcement, social media companies, and other leaders have come to rely on AJC’s data to understand the threat.

Create a Comprehensive Call to Action

In 2022, AJC issued our Call to Action Against Antisemitism in America, the most robust set of guidelines and policy recommendations for combating the problem in the U.S. This nonpartisan guide helps leaders in various sectors of American society—from government to law enforcement to business to academia—understand how to address and prevent antisemitism.

Our Call to Action for America was modeled after a similar resource AJC issued in Europe in 2015. It mobilized European leaders to act and shaped important policy initiatives, including the first-ever European Union strategy to fight antisemitism and foster Jewish life. The American version of our Call to Action has already started making an impact.

AJC's Call to action against antisemitism - a society wide nonpartisn guide for america

 

Develop a National Antisemitism Strategy

AJC CEO Ted Deutch (r.) attends the White House Roundtable on Antisemitism in December 2022.
AJC CEO Ted Deutch (r.) attends the White House Roundtable on Antisemitism in December 2022.

 

In December 2022, the White House announced the creation of a special interagency group tasked with developing a national strategy to tackle antisemitism in the U.S. This was a direct recommendation from AJC’s Call to Action Against Antisemitism in America, and one that AJC CEO Ted Deutch urged the Biden administration to take while at a White House Roundtable on Antisemitism the week before the announcement was made.

AJC long advocated for this step in the U.S., based on our experience in Europe. We have advised governments, including those of Germany and France, as they crafted similar strategies, as well as the European Commission as it launched its first antisemitism strategy for the entire EU.

Appoint Antisemitism Monitors at the Federal Level

With the help of AJC advocacy, several governments in Europe—and other regions of the world—have appointed special envoys at the federal level to monitor and combat antisemitism in their countries. Felix Klein, the first person to hold this role in Germany and who traveled to Israel with AJC Project Interchange, said: “Without the help of AJC, the position…would not have been established.”

In February 2023, AJC convened a meeting at the White House for these international envoys to share best practices from their countries as the U.S. develops its own national antisemitism strategy. AJC leaders also accompanied the envoys to meet with the FBI, members of Congress, and other officials.

AJC leaders and international antisemitism envoys meet with members of Congress.
AJC leaders and international antisemitism envoys meet with members of Congress.

 

AJC will never stop fighting the scourge of antisemitism. Join us.

 

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