Press Releases and Statements

American Jewish Committee (AJC) lauded Estonia’s announcement today that it will designate Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization.

“This is an important step in the global fight against rising antisemitism — and the broader threat it poses to liberal democratic values,” said AJC CEO David Harris, who has long been interested in Albanian affairs.

An initiative launched by academics and AJC Central Europe voicing concern over the nomination of Dr. Przemysław Czarnek MP as Poland’s Minister of Education and Science has brought together universities, NGOs, popular publicists, and religious leaders to send a clear message that experimenting with education is unacceptable. A statement supported by 122 intellectuals was published by Poland’s top online media outlets.

Ambassador Nathan Sales, the U.S. State Department’s Coordinator for Counterterrorism, announced today on an American Jewish Committee (AJC Advocacy Anywhere program that Hezbollah weapons caches, including significant stores of ammonium nitrate, have been discovered and destroyed across Europe.

American Jewish Committee (AJC) praised Spain for adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism.

“The truth is that for Argentines, the AMIA attack is very painful. This was not an attack against the Jewish community only, it was an attack against Argentina,” President Fernandez said on an American Jewish Committee (AJC) Advocacy Anywhere program today. “The victims, many of them, were members of the Jewish community. But they were Argentines first and foremost and it hurts us as such.” In a 45-minute conversation with Dina Siegel Vann, director of AJC’s Belfer Center for Latino and Latin American Affairs, President Fernandez discussed the AMIA bombing, Hezbollah, antisemitism, his visit to Israel, the coronavirus pandemic, and Argentina’s relations with the United States.

“We are deeply troubled to learn that the Seimas will entertain a resolution which would dedicate 2021 the Year of Juozas Lukša-Daumantas, an active member of the World War II-era Lithuanian Activist Front,” wrote Rabbi Andrew Baker, AJC Director of International Jewish Affairs, and Faina Kukliansky, Chairwoman, Lithuanian Jewish Community, in their letter to Seimas Speaker Viktoras Pranckietis.

The Latino Jewish Leadership Council (LJLC) applauds the Supreme Court decision to uphold the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA).

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas today addressed more than 6,500 people attending the American Jewish Committee (AJC) Virtual Global Forum.

“Remko Leemhuis has the unique experience, passion, and vision to lead AJC Berlin into a new era that will deepen relations across Germany — a country that could not be more important to the prosperity and health of a democratic Europe, to transatlantic relations, to Israel, and to the Jewish people,” said Simone Rodan-Benzaquen, Director of AJC Europe.

AJC Transatlantic Institute applauded the European Parliament for condemning the Palestinian Authority’s failure to act against incitement in textbooks, insisting that educators receiving EU-funds abide by UNESCO standards against hate, and calling on the EU’s executive body to ensure funds promote peace and tolerance in schools.

American Jewish Committee (AJC), the global advocacy organization, praised Germany’s decision today to ban Hezbollah’s activities on the country’s soil, determining that the organization in its entirety is engaged in terrorist activity. The government’s action will ban all activity, prohibit public display of all symbols, and confiscate all assets of Hezbollah in Germany.

American Jewish Committee (AJC) welcomed newly elected Labour Party head Keir Starrmer’s public apology to the British Jewish community for the failure to address rising antisemitism within the party’s ranks and in the United Kingdom.

“Silviu Vexler is the perfect person for this position,” said Rabbi Andrew Baker, AJC Director of International Jewish Affairs.

AJC Berlin Acting Director Dr. Remko Leemhuis released the following statement after the terrorist attack in Hanau, Germany:

On the second day of a groundbreaking interfaith mission to Poland, the leaders of American Jewish Committee (AJC) and Muslim World League (MWL) reaffirmed their new partnership by committing to ensure memory of the Holocaust, combat hatred and racism, and foster a new era in Muslim-Jewish relations.

Muslim World League (MWL) Secretary General Dr. Mohammad bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa and American Jewish Committee (AJC) CEO David Harris led today a groundbreaking joint visit of Muslims and Jews to Auschwitz, the infamous Nazi German death camp.

“Antisemitism has become a concern for French society as a whole,” said Anne-Sophie Sebban-Bécache, Director of AJC Paris. “It is not considered anymore as only the concern of Jews. We are not as alone as we could have felt in the past to fight this scourge.”

American Jewish Committee (AJC) praised French National Assembly adoption today of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism.

American Jewish Committee (AJC) CEO David Harris praised Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for endorsing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism.