Excerpts from AJC Weekly Update: May 30, 2007
VIDEOCAST: Ann Schaffer Discusses Intergroup Relations
In a video interview, Ann Schaffer, director of AJC's Belfer Center for American Pluralism, discusses interethnic dialogue and cooperation in the U.S., and AJC's leading role in strengthening relationships with African, Latino, and Asian Americans. This is the third in a series of excerpted video interviews with AJC staff experts conducted by Suzanne Lasky-Gerard of Jewish Family Television, with the assistance of Felice Traktman of AJC's Miami Chapter. WATCH VIDEO at: www.ajc.org/site/c.ijITI2PHKoG/b.2740605/k.4A92/Film_Ann_Schaffer_on_AJC_Plu ralism.htm
Teaching Florida Judges
Richard Foltin, AJC's legislative director and counsel, taught a two-day course, Religion Traditions and the Courts, as part of a continuing education program for Florida state judges. The course focused on issues impacting the courts regarding the accommodation of various religious traditions and beliefs. Other faculty members included representatives from the Baptist Joint Committee and the U.S. Catholic Conference.
PODCAST: Jews and Higher Education
Harold Shapiro, president emeritus of Princeton University and chair of AJC's Koppelman Institute on American Jewish-Israeli Relations, sits down with Steven Bayme, director of AJC's Department of Contemporary Jewish Life, in the AJC studio to discuss Jewish involvement in higher education. Shapiro explores the "war of ideas" regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on campus, the history of Jewish quotas in the Ivy League, and the growth of Jewish studies on the university level. LISTEN at: www.ajcarchives.org/ajchomepage/audio/BaymeShapiro050907.mp3
British Academic Boycott of Israel - TAKE ACTION NOW
The United Kingdom's University and College Union voted today to endorse the principle of a boycott of Israeli academic institutions, and called for an educational campaign among UCU members in support of such a boycott. "We emphatically reject the premises of these motions. They are based on a one-sided interpretation of the Middle East conflict, and inflict collective punishment on Israeli academics," said AJC Executive Director David A. Harris. READ STATEMENT at: www.ajc.org/site/c.ijITI2PHKoG/b.851561/apps/nl/content2.asp?content_id=%7b9 00999AA-CCAE-4046-A30E-3280E1C7C80A%7d¬oc=1
What's New at AJC's Blog: ajcwire
Eran Lerman responds to the controversy surrounding the remarks of U.S. Ambassador Richard Jones about Jonathan Pollard. In a separate entry, Ari Fridman, AJC Legacy Heritage Fellow, explores the lack of coverage by the New York Times of Arab-on-Arab fighting in Lebanon. Read more at: www.ajcblog.org
Remember Wallenberg
Congressional staffers attended an AJC-sponsored event on Capitol Hill honoring the legacy of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust. Held in conjunction with the Congressional Human Rights Caucus briefing on Wallenberg, speakers included Congressman Tom Lantos; former Congressman Richard Gephardt; Swedish Ambassador Gunnar Lund; Professor William Korey, author of The Last Word on Wallenberg, published by AJC; and attorney Morris Wolff. The event was supported by Thanks to Scandinavia, an AJC institute. Annette Lantos, wife of the congressman and herself saved by Wallenberg, has often noted that AJC was the first national Jewish organization in the U.S. to take up the Wallenberg issue and the mystery surrounding his disappearance in 1945.
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