Since Hamas’ brutal attack on October 7, American Jewish Committee (AJC), the global advocacy organization for the Jewish people, has been advocating side-by-side with more than 50 hostage families—during their visits to the United States and Europe—to keep their stories front of mind for officials at the highest levels of leadership across society, including with more than 200 members of Congress, multiple national media outlets, the U.S. State Department, major U.S. administration officials, high-ranking diplomats, faith leaders, and more.
In addition to this in-person advocacy, AJC supporters around the world have been flooding the inboxes of members of Congress and UN officials with nearly 500,000 messages sent from AJC’s online action center, urging immediate action to bring the hostages home.
In addition to more than 450 meetings and press events for family members and released hostages to share their stories with lawmakers and other leaders, AJC has been helping to facilitate Congressional committee and caucus roundtable discussions with families, speeches on the House and Senate floor, and congressional vigils. AJC secured tickets for hostage families for both the State of the Union Address and for Prime Minister Netanyahu’s address to Congress.
This evening at the National Vigil for the Hostages, @AJCCEO Ted Deutch joined Jewish community members and leaders in Washington, D.C., to honor the lives of the hostages ruthlessly murdered while in Hamas captivity.
Join AJC and urge your elected officials to sustain pressure on Hamas, and to ensure that every hostage held in Gaza, regardless of age, gender, or nationality, is freed.
Across the globe, AJC has been engaging the diplomatic community in this critical advocacy mission, particularly connecting government officials from the 20+ countries with citizens held hostage with their families.
AJC Paris helped facilitate, in coordination with the Hostage and Missings Families Forum, high-level meetings for five hostage families with French leaders. These meetings included three different French Prime Ministers, politicians, Members of the French Legislative Assembly, the Mayor of Paris, diplomats, artists, famous singers, actors, intellectuals, and civil society leaders. AJC Paris also hosted a delegation of Nova Festival survivors and a released hostage, as well as two Israeli experts on sexual violence.
In Brussels, AJC’s Transatlantic Institute convened critical conversations with family members of hostages with influential diplomats and key policymakers in the European Parliament, in partnership with the European Center for Law and Justice.
In Washington, D.C., Co-Chairs of the Latino-Jewish Congressional Caucus, Reps. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL), Tony Gonzales (R-TX), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), hosted a former hostage and hostage families to share their stories with diplomats. The meeting included Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS); Agustin Cardena, the Political Counselor of the Embassy of Argentina, Jose Thovar, Counselor of the Embassy of Spain; Ambassador Jose Miguel Aleman from the Embassy of Panama, and Ambassador Francisco Duarte Lopez from the Embassy of Portugal.
In New York, in addition to the myriad of community events, roundtables, and rallies in which AJC has been proud to participate, we have also helped facilitate meetings for hostage families with the UN Secretary-General, other key UN officials, and U.S. Permanent Representative to the UN Linda Thomas Greenfield.
In Los Angeles, AJC and hostage families joined in an impactful breakfast meeting with celebrities, influencers, and content creators with millions of followers collectively, which was organized by a prominent industry leader. AJC facilitated meetings for the families with Los Angeles’ mayor, City Council members, and City Attorney. Honoring Carmel Gat, a hostage who guided fellow hostages through calming yoga and meditation sessions, AJC LA hosted a yoga event, entitled “Shine a Light: Bring Them Home.”
AJC Dallas facilitated discussions for hostage families with local religious groups, faith leaders, and elected officials, including the Lieutenant Governor and the Mayor of Dallas. Family members, including some Spanish speakers who have dual citizenship, spoke to Latino faith and civic leaders. At the Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, they reached a crowd of almost 15,000 attendees with thousands streaming online to over 70 countries.
AJC San Francisco facilitated meetings for a brother of a hostage. He met diplomats and elected officials from the Bay Area, including Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, mayors, a district attorney, and more. He engaged Indian and Hindu leaders to promote advocacy and to share his story, and spent time at Stanford University, holding meetings and promoting dialogue with faculty, students, and other community members.
AJC Houston facilitated meetings for relatives of hostages with various elected officials, Jewish organizations and groups, leaders in the Latino and Christian communities, local media outlets, and law enforcement. AJC Houston also convened the local Consular Corps in an event that welcomed the Consulate Generals of Israel, Germany, France, Argentina, Hungary, Spain, Ukraine, and Bangladesh.
AJC Philadelphia/Southern New Jersey hosted hostage family member and advocate Liz Naftali in August 2024 for numerous meetings with elected officials and media engagements. On Tisha B’Av, Liz Naftali and AJC Chief Advocacy Officer Belle Yoeli were the featured speakers at a widely-attended program following a screening of the Sheryl Sandberg-produced documentary Screams Before Silence at Congregation Beth Or.
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