Press Releases and Statements

Largely unseen by western publics, a humanitarian catastrophe is playing out in Iran. Almost no country has been hit harder by the coronavirus than the Islamic Republic.

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.

At an American Jewish Committee (AJC) reception, Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Šimašius was praised for his efforts to correct the narrative around Lithuanian complicity in the Holocaust.

AJC Paris launched a social media campaign – “Words Against Ills” – comprised of videos and other materials that explain, with vivid examples, how prejudice against Jews and hatred of Israel are intertwined. The campaign aims to garner support for the working definition among the public and National Assembly members.

AJC praised Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Šimašius for removing a plaque on the Lithuanian Academy of Science building honoring Jonas Noreika, an anti-Soviet fighter who was responsible for the deportation of Šiauliai Jews and seizure of their property during the Holocaust.

Mithal Jamal Al-Alusi, an Iraqi politician who has reached out to Israel and world Jewry, was honored today with the American Jewish Committee (AJC) Jan Karski Award.

AJC is calling on Catholic leadership in Poland to reprimand the Bishop of Tarnow for his Holy Thursday sermon that was filled with attacks on the Jewish people.

Poland Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich, with AJC Central Europe assistance, held an interfaith service in memory of the victims of recent terror attacks in New Zealand, California, and Sri Lanka.

American Jewish Committee (AJC) announced today that it will donate funds to help repair Notre Dame Cathedral, severely damaged in a massive fire.

An American Jewish Committee (AJC) New York Region delegation has met with Portugal President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

“Lithuania had made considerable progress in confronting its Holocaust-era past,” said Rabbi Andrew Baker, AJC Director of International Jewish Affairs. “That is why this latest reversal is so troubling. No one today can claim ignorance about the role of Lithuanian collaborators.”

“Recognition of the IRGC as a key arm of Iran’s global terrorism strategy is vitally important to the U.S., which first designated Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism in 1984,” said AJC CEO David Harris. “We applaud President Trump for taking this highly significant step.”