Excerpts from the weekly update: May 22, 2007
Jewish-Latino Conference
U.S., Israeli, and Latin American government officials, Latino policy activists, and top academics joined leaders from the Latino-Jewish Working Group for a conference exploring Latino-Jewish relations and the challenges both groups face on foreign policy and immigration reform. Speakers included Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ); Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL); Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL); Mexican Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan; Israeli Ambassador Sallai Meridor; former National Council of La Raza executive director Raul Yzaguirre; and AJC Executive Director David Harris. The conference in Washington, D.C., was co-sponsored by AJC's Latino and Latin American Institute and the Heinrich Boll Foundation North America.
New Immigration Bill
AJC welcomed aspects of a bipartisan Senate package on comprehensive immigration reform legislation, but urged lawmakers to improve the proposed bill. "The Senate bill has positive aspects worth applauding in the areas of legalization and border enforcement," said Jeffrey Sinensky, AJC's general counsel, but "we cannot endorse this bill at this time because other provisions, such as those calling for a reduction in slots for family reunification and a problematic temporary worker program, give us serious pause."
AJC Radio Message: United on Memorial Day
David Harris urges listeners to remember those who gave their lives in the name of American freedom and democracy. "Theirs was the highest sacrifice," says Harris. "On Memorial Day and every day, a grateful nation owes its fallen a debt of thanks that mere words can never fully convey." Harris's weekly messages air across the country on the CBS radio network during the Osgood File. LISTEN at: www.ajc.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=838485&ct=3884323
New at ajcwire
Steven Bayme, AJC's director of Contemporary Jewish Life, writes in his latest blog: "Our challenge in mapping out an agenda of Jewish identity today is to inspire people to lead a Jewish life, based on formulations that are sufficiently exciting, and sufficiently inspiring to make Jewish life worth living. To be sure, in so doing we run the risk of giving offense, of diminishing consensus, of saying things that are meaningful to some yet divisive to others. However, if we are serious in the pursuit of Jewish continuity, that is a risk well worth taking." READ BLOG at: ajcblog.org/2007/05/18/changing-the-language-of-jewish-identity/#more-43
Ari M. Gordon Assistant Director Department of Interreligious Affairs American Jewish Committee 165 E56th St. New York, NY 10022 (212) 891-6768 (212) 751-4000 x266 www.ajc.org www.engagingamerica.org