Excerpt's from AJC's Weekly Update: March 5, 2008
AJC Video Blog: Latin Mass Controversy
David Rosen, AJC's international director of Interreligious Affairs, discusses the Catholic Church's new latin prayer for the Jews. VIEW AT: http://www.ajc.org/site/c.ijITI2PHKoG/b.3935467/
CNN Responds to AJC Letter
AJC thanked CNN President Jim Walton for his response to a complaint regarding the cable network's coverage of immigration. AJC sent a letter to the heads of CNN, FOX and MSNBC, urging them to ensure the background of "immigration experts" was revealed to the viewing audience. CNN agrees "that it is important to inform our viewers about the backgrounds and affiliations of the guests or commentators that appear on our air," said Walton. READ NEWS RELEASE at: www.ajc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=849241&ct=5082085
JBI Letter on Torture
AJC's Jacob Blaustein Institute for Human Rights (JBI), in a letter to President Bush, urged him to pass the Intelligence Authorization conference report and affirm his stand against torture. "A veto would be viewed as a repudiation of your assurances that America does not resort to torture," wrote E. Robert Goodkind, chair of JBI. AJC has been a leading voice against torture, passing a resolution in December condemning waterboarding.
Mubarak Greets AJC President
AJC President Richard Sideman led an AJC Board delegation in a one-hour meeting today with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak during their visit to Cairo. The conversation focused on the regional threat of extremism; the ascendance of Hamas in Gaza and its grave repercussions in Egypt; longstanding tensions with Iran; and the challenges to Israeli-Palestinian peace. Moshe Dunie, president of AJC's Seattle Chapter, and Jason Isaacson, AJC director of Government and International Affairs, also participated in the meeting with Mubarak at the presidential palace.
Energy Independence in California
AJC's Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego and San Francisco Chapters spent two days in Sacramento focusing on energy independence. Participants heard from R. James Woolsey, former CIA director, and Robert Hertzberg, former California Assembly Speaker. AJC also met with experts from the state legislature, state agencies, and advocacy organizations about California's energy opportunities. The group met with 20 state legislators urging the reduction of California's oil consumption. This was the first time AJC's California Chapters coordinated together a mission to Sacramento to lobby for a legislative issue.
Latino and Latin American Institute in Spain
Dina Siegel Vann, director of AJC's Latino and Latin American Institute, traveled to Spain and met with Spanish government officials, Jewish community leaders, and journalists who visited Israel with AJC's Project Interchange. Siegel Vann met with Ramon Santos, assistant director of foreign policy toward Latin American from the Spanish Foreign Ministry; officials dealing with the U.S. Hispanic community; Ana Salomon, Spanish ambassador-at-large for relations with the Jewish community and director of Casa Sefarad, which fosters Jewish culture in Spanish society; and Raphael Schutz, Israeli Ambassador to Spain. AJC has an international partnership agreement with the Federation of Spanish Jewish communities. Siegel Vann was previously in Israel with Jacob Kovadloff, AJC's senior consultant on Latin America, as featured speakers at Hebrew University's symposium on 40 years of Latin American-Jewish affairs.
Condemning UN Human Rights Council Report
AJC expressed outrage over the report by John Dugard, the UN Human Rights Council's Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian areas. Dugard, who has often expressed anti-Israel sentiments, concedes that Palestinian terrorist acts are to be deplored, but adds that "they must be understood as being a painful but inevitable consequence of colonialism, apartheid or occupation." READ NEWS RELEASE at: www.ajc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=849241&ct=5082359
In Other News
-- AJC called on the National Republican Party to disassociate itself from a recent statement by the Tennessee Republican Party seeking to tar Senator Barack Obama. READ NEWS RELEASE at: www.ajc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=849241&ct=5077781
-- AJC Legislative Director Richard Foltin addressed a joint leadership conference of the Japanese American Citizens League and the Organization of Chinese Americans, held in Washington, DC, on coalition-building. Also on the panel were Charles Kamasaki of the National Council of La Raza and Hilary Shelton of the NAACP.
-- AJC's Pittsburgh Chapter sponsored Hindu-Jewish Heritage Day.
-- Take Action Now: Urge your senators to support voting rights for the District of Columbia. www.ajc.org/c.ijITI2PHKoG/b.1122051/k.8A96/Action_Center/siteapps/advocacy/i ndex.aspx
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