Extremism threatens Jewish life, minorities, and Western democracies. The AJC Berlin Ramer Institute is at the forefront in the fight against extremism in all its forms.
We were honored to host the President of the Kurdish Community of Southern California (KCSC), Dyari Ahmed, last night. The Kurdish people are spread across a large swath of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria. Jews and Kurds share a history of persecution. We will not remain silent. We stand with the Kurds of Syria and beyond.
AJC LA Director Rick Hirschhaut and Assistant Director Saba Soomekh spoke at "The Untold Story of Jewish Refugees from Arab Lands and Iran." It was a pleasure to join Consul General of Israel in LA - Hillel Newman, JIMENA: Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa, Former LA Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, Iranian American Jewish Federation President Susan Azizzadeh, Rabbi Nicole Guzik and many others for this important event.
AJC Los Angeles met with Azerbaijani leaders from the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, including the Chairman of the community and survivors of the 1992 Khojaly Massacre. All are internally displaced persons (IDPs) who were forced from their homes by Armenian forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh War (1988-1994). They shared their personal stories of both tragedy and resilience and their desire to return home and promote peaceful coexistence between the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities. As AJC Regional President Scott Edelman shared in his opening remarks, AJC “is working to build a safer, more secure future not only for the Jewish people, but for all people.”
A historic United Nations report on global antisemitism was published by the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, in late 2019. It is the first-ever stand-alone human rights report dedicated solely to antisemitism. The report documents rising antisemitic violence and hate speech around the world, identifying it as a threat to Jews and as “toxic” to democratic societies.