Press Releases

American Jewish Committee (AJC) President Harriet Schleifer and Jason Isaacson, AJC’s Chief Policy and Political Affairs Officer, presented today to members of Congress a six-point action plan addressing the pernicious legacy of racism in the United States. They addressed a roundtable hosted by the Black-Jewish Congressional Caucus entitled: “Where do we go from here? How the Black and Jewish Communities Can Collectively Dismantle Racism.”

The 2020 American Jewish Committee (AJC) Global Forum will take place as scheduled, June 14-18, with a change of venue from gathering in Berlin to convening online. It will be the first time in AJC history that the leading global Jewish advocacy organization’s signature annual event is held virtually.

Worldwide viewership of AJC Advocacy Anywhere online sessions has passed 2.7 million since the program was launched in March.
“Advocacy Anywhere is AJC distance advocacy and learning at its best,” said AJC CEO David Harris.

AJC continues to mourn the tragic death of George Floyd, whose life was crushed out of him May 25 under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer, while three other officers stood by and watched, if not abetted, this harrowing act of murder. He was the latest victim of a chronic and insidious affliction.

We condemn the wanton acts of vandalism and violence committed by a small minority of those taking to the streets in protest across America – acts that dishonor the memory of George Floyd, whose death in police custody brought a country besieged by contagion and economic misery to yet another rendezvous with its history of racial injustice. Those who disrupt and subvert peaceful protest set back, not advance, the cause of racial justice.

Ten weeks after American Jewish Committee launched its pioneering online series AJC Advocacy Anywhere, more than 2.5 million people have logged on to view the almost daily offerings. “AJC has not missed a beat during the pandemic in our educational and advocacy work in the U.S and around the world,” said AJC CEO David Harris. “AJC Advocacy Anywhere is delivering probing, thoughtful conversations on the most topical issues of the day.”

The number of viewers watching AJC Advocacy Anywhere sessions, since the program’s inception in March, now exceeds 2.4 million worldwide. The online series examines timely political, geopolitical, diplomatic, and other issues in the COVID-19 era.

More than 2.2 million people have watched AJC Advocacy Anywhere programs since the leading global Jewish advocacy organization launched the online series of programs on March 20. The first eight weeks have featured conversations with diplomats, political figures, policy analysts, religious leaders, and AJC staff experts on timely, topical issues.

“On behalf of AJC, we extend to you our heartfelt congratulations on the inauguration of a new Israeli Government under your leadership,” wrote AJC President Harriet Schleifer and CEO David Harris in a letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu.

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) applauds the Missouri Legislature for overwhelmingly passing today SB 739, the "Anti-Discrimination Against Israel Act."

“While dealing with the immediate impact of the coronavirus on both the Latino and Jewish communities, we must also consider the implications on concerns that have long topped our shared agenda,” said Dina Siegel Vann, AJC Director of Latino and Latin American Affairs.

Viewers across the United States, and in at least 45 other countries around the world, are logging on to watch AJC Advocacy Anywhere, which begins its eighth week of conversations with diplomats, political figures, policy analysts, and AJC staff experts on pressing issues. “In response to heavy demand, we are continuing to offer timely and topical online programs to an ever-expanding global audience,” said AJC CEO David Harris. “More than 1.6 million viewers have watched our programs to date.”

Today, in a virtual briefing, more than 125 participants from the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS), members of their staff and others, discussed with Israeli elections officials how to keep polling places safe, and ensure voter turnout during the coronavirus pandemic. In partnership with American Jewish Committee’s (AJC) Project Interchange, the Israeli officials participating were Israeli Central Elections Committee Director-General Orly Adas and Chief Legal Counsel Dean Livne.

AJC Advocacy Anywhere programs are attracting hundreds of thousands of viewers from more than 45 countries worldwide every week. Since the programming began on March 20, more than 1.2 million viewers in total have logged on to watch.

The report, Antisemitism: A Persistent Threat to Human Rights, and its annex survey incidents of antisemitic expression and violence in countries around the world from October 2019 to April 2020, both before and since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. The JBI report comes six months after an unprecedented report by a United Nations expert recognizing global antisemitism as a serious human rights challenge.

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.

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.

More than one million people have watched Advocacy Anywhere programs since American Jewish Committee (AJC) launched the online series on March 20. “Advocacy Anywhere offers insightful, probing conversations with leading diplomats, political figures, and policy analysts on issues of top concern to Jews and others across the United States and around the world,” said AJC CEO David Harris.

“The robust interest in our online education, advocacy, and diplomacy inspires us to develop fresh programs each week,” said AJC CEO David Harris. “And with a social media platform of over 2.3 million followers, our global reach continues to expand.”

In the Jewish tradition, we are commanded to remember (zachor) and not to forget (lo tishkach). This week we commemorate Yom HaShoah, the Day of Holocaust Remembrance.