May 16, 2018 — New York
More than 1,100 religious leaders across the United States have joined with AJC in calling for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to appoint a new State Department Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism. The congressionally-mandated position has remained unfilled for sixteen months.
“We are gratified that our friends from Christian, Muslim and other faith communities have joined this appeal to Secretary Pompeo and that they too recognize both the threat of antisemitism and the need for U.S. leadership in mobilizing concrete actions to combat this cancer,” said Daniel Elbaum, AJC Chief Advocacy Officer. “It is our hope that the collective moral voice of religious leaders impels Secretary Pompeo to fill this critically important State Department position.”
The religious leaders’ letter, coordinated by AJC, follows on repeated calls by the global advocacy organization to fill the State Department position that was established by Congress in 2004.
“We are a diverse group of religious leaders from across America who have joined together to call upon you to swiftly appoint a new State Department Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism,” states the religious leaders’ letter to Pompeo. “Antisemitism starts with Jews but doesn’t end there. When any minority is threatened, everyone is less safe.”
The State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism has kept the U.S. at the forefront of international efforts to raise consciousness about the rising menace of antisemitism and press governments and multilateral institutions to safeguard vulnerable Jewish communities.
“From AJC offices in Berlin, Brussels, Paris, Rome and Warsaw, and from our international partners in other capitals throughout Europe, we hear almost daily reports of antisemitic incidents,” Elbaum said. “Appointing the special envoy will make clear that mobilizing governments to take on antisemitism is indeed a U.S. priority.”
Among the signatories are rabbis, several hundred Christian leaders, and faith representatives of the Baha’i, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh communities.
The full list of statement signatories is available at www.ajc.org/envoypetition.
