Excerpts from AJC Weekly Update
January 16, 2008
AJC President on Asia Mission
AJC President Richard J. Sideman led a series of in-depth meetings in Beijing and Seoul, part of a three-nation tour that will conclude in Tokyo. The AJC delegation met in Beijing with Liu Jieyi, Assistant Foreign Minister of China (see photo), and with non-governmental organization representatives, policy analysts, foreign diplomats and journalists. In Seoul, the group met with Minister of Trade Kim Jong-Hoon, Deputy Foreign Minister Shim Yoon-Joe, and the U.S. and Israeli ambassadors. AJC's Asia Pacific Institute organized the trip.
My Israel Video Contest
AJC members, and their family and friends, ages 18-26, are invited to participate in a video contest in honor of Israel's 60th anniversary. Participants can submit short videos at www.my.israel.org, where full rules are available. The contest is co-sponsored with Hillel, The David Project, and the Israel on Campus Coalition.
In Other News
-David Harris, in his national radio commentary, recalls the powerful messages of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., including his admiration for Israel. Harris's weekly messages can be heard on the CBS radio network air during the Osgood File, on Bloomberg radio, WBBR-AM, and on WQXR-FM in New York. www.ajc.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=849241&ct=4946923
-AJC was dismayed by the Nevada Democratic and Republican parties' failure to provide for Sabbath observant voters to participate in the caucuses. www.ajc.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=849241&ct=4942619
-AJC expressed disappointment over the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) does not apply to allegations of religious discrimination by Guantanamo Bay detainees. www.ajc.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=849241&ct=4941549
- AJC filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court, asserting that the District of Columbia's strict gun control laws do not offend the Constitution. www.ajc.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=849241&ct=4927437
January 23, 2008
AJC Audio: Project Interchange, African American Leaders
Ann Schaffer, director of AJC's Belfer Center for American Pluralism, discusses the recent Project Interchange trip for senior officials of the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture. The group met with their counterparts at several Israeli museums. Listen at www.ajcarchives.org/ajchomepage/podcast/SchafferInterview011708.mp3
World Economic Forum in Davos
David Harris will be a featured speaker at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He will join with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair; Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi; the Rev. Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in California; Theodore Cardinal McCarrick, former Archbishop of Washington, DC; and Ayatollah Mahdi Hadavi of Iran, for the Faith and Modernization session, a major plenary panel, and the part of the public session of the West and Islam dialogue group. While in Davos, AJC met with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan (see photo). The hourlong exchange focused on energy security, Azerbaijan's Euro-Atlantic aspirations, its bilateral ties with the U.S. and Israel, and the unresolved dispute with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh. Rabbi David Rosen, AJC's international director of interreligious affairs, also is participating in Davos.
Holocaust Remembrance Day - January 27
Sunday is Holocaust Remembrance Day, Yom HaShoah. David Harris, in his weekly radio commentary, recalls the horrors of the Holocaust and the lessons learned from this period. (www.ajc.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=849241&ct=4966667)
View two important AJC films - Belzec Memorial (youtube.com/watch?v=H5AHEZTHHW4), commemorating the Nazi death camp in Poland where 500,000 Jews were murdered, and Live from Aachen, Germany: The Jewish Service Heard Around the World (youtube.com/watch?v=zZihm6VlYjo), which has been viewed by over 200,000 people at YouTube. Mimi Alperin, chair of AJC's Board of Governors, will represent AJC at the Italian Consulate's annual Yom HaShoah commemoration on January 28.
Meeting with Polish Officials
David Harris met with former Polish Foreign Minister Adam Daniel Rotfeld; Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka, undersecretary of state in the presidential office; and Krzysztof Kasprzyk, Polish consul general in New York. The discussion focused on the reaction in Poland to Jan Gross' new book Fear: Anti-Semitism in Poland after Auschwitz; current issues in Polish-Russian relations; and ways to further strengthen the bonds between Jewish and Polish young people.
In Other News:
- Rabbi David Rosen represented AJC at the UN's Alliance of Civilizations annual conference in Madrid. The Alliance of Civilizations aims to improve understanding and cooperative relations among nations and peoples, across cultures and religions, to help counter polarizing and extremist forces.
- AJC welcomed reports from Rome on the imminent clarification by Pope Benedict XVI concerning the prayer for the Jews in the Latin liturgy. www.ajc.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=849241&ct=4965387
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