Analysis
Counterpoint: Shimon Peres Addresses the European Parliament
On 12 March 2013, Israeli President Shimon Peres delivered a historic speech to the European Parliament's plenary in Strasbourg, France. To mark the moment, Counterpoint played the speech in its entirety the following day. Afterwards, Daniel Schwammenthal (Director of the AJC Transatlantic Institute) joined host Joshua Goodman by phone to discuss the significance of President Peres' address and EU-Israel relations overall. Listen to that conversation below.
The State of Antisemitism in France
In late January, American Jewish Committee (AJC) released its 2022 Survey on Antisemitism in France, the largest and most comprehensive of its kind ever conducted. The troubling results, reported by both Jewish and non-Jewish respondents, underscore the persistence of prejudice targeting Jews. Watch AJC Europe Managing Director Simone Rodan-Benzaquen and AJC Paris Director Anne-Sophie Sebban-Bécache, in conversation with AJC Chief Advocacy Officer Belle Yoeli for an in-depth analysis of the report’s findings and what they mean for efforts to combat antisemitism in France.
AJC Surveys French Jewish, Muslim, and General Populations’ Perspectives on Antisemitism
As the COVID-19 pandemic has breathed new life into centuries-old antisemitic conspiracy theories, AJC Paris released a historic poll on the state of antisemitism in France. Exceptional by its size, the survey includes the perceptions of respondents of both Muslim and Jewish faith and culture, as well as an overall sample representing the French population as a whole according to various criteria. The poll reveals widespread concern about rising antisemitism, with 74% of French Jews saying they have been victims of acts of Jew-hatred at least once in their lifetime.
Amnesty International Claim That Israel Is An Apartheid State Is Recklessly Ill-Informed
In this column for Religion News Service, AJC CEO David Harris explains that the fundamental problem with the Amnesty International report is that it tries to show that Israeli Arabs, who have full citizenship and serve alongside Jewish citizens as ambassadors, doctors, and judges in the Supreme Court, are subject to what Amnesty labels “apartheid.” The brazen lies are nothing more than a false narrative that seeks to delegitimize the lone Jewish-majority state in the world.
Amnesty’s Outrageous Lie, its Big Problem with Jews, and the Truth About Israel - AJC Reacts
On February 1st, Amnesty International-UK presented an unbalanced, inaccurate, and incomplete review accusing Israel of forcing the Palestinians in the “Occupied Palestinian Territories,” and in Israel itself, to live with “cruel segregation, dispossession and exclusion”. This libelous document resorts to baseless ‘apartheid’ accusations against Israel commits a double injustice: It fuels those antisemites around the world who seek to undermine the only Jewish country on earth, while simultaneously cheapening and downplaying the horrific suffering that was a result of apartheid in South Africa. AJC exposes the report’s most glaring biases and myths, and why they couldn’t be further from the truth.
2022 Holocaust Remembrance Day Commemoration
On January 27th 2022, the AJC Transatlantic Institute, the Mission of Israel to the EU and NATO, and the European Office of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung jointly commemorated International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Prominent guests included Vice-President of the European Commission for Promoting the European Way of Life Margaritis Schinas, European Commission Coordinator on Combating Antisemitism Katharina von Schnurbein, and Belgian Holocaust Survivor Regina Sluszny who shared her poignant testimony.
Normalization of Holocaust Parallels In COVID Era
The COVID-19 pandemic has breathed new life into centuries-old antisemitic conspiracy theories. Everywhere opponents of COVID-19 safety measures are pushing the false narrative that these policies are comparable to the anti-Jewish policies of Nazi regime before and during the Holocaust. AJC Director of Media Relations Ken Bandler sets the record straight in The Jerusalem Post: These comparisons are deeply offensive and desecrate the memory of victims and survivors.
The Zionism = Racism Lie Isn’t Over
Thirty years ago, the UN General Assembly revoked Resolution 3379, which equated Zionism with racism. In a column for The Times of Israel, AJC Director of Diplomatic Affairs Aaron Jacob reveals how that decision still reverberates three decades later in shaping anti-Israel narratives within the UN.
Did German History End with the Holocaust?
At the conclusion of the Holocaust and World War II, the German Federal Republic adopted the slogan “Never Again,” the obligation to fight antisemitism in all its forms, as well as the commitment to fight for and defend the existence of the Jewish state. These cornerstones of German policy still exist today, but after more than 70 years, they are increasingly under a spotlight. What does the rise of antisemitism and extremism mean for the Jewish community in Germany? And what does Germany’s growing political and economic weight in the 21st century mean for German history? Join AJC and Tablet Magazine as they answer this question and more.
Shine a Light on Antisemitism
Recent years have seen rising antisemitism on the streets, in schools, on college campuses, and expressed by elected officials across the political spectrum. As Hanukkah is a profound symbol of the resilience of the Jewish people, AJC experts joined the Shine a Light on Antisemitism campaign, a global movement to raise awareness of Jew-hatred and empower individuals to stand against it, and mitigate ignorance.
Israel and the News Coverage in German Media
German media coverage of incidents and events in and around Israel frequently gives cause for debate and irritation, pens AJC’s Berlin Annina Fichtner in Belltower News. Earlier this month, reports of a Hamas-affiliated terrorist who murdered a 26-year-old South African Israeli, and seriously wounded several others, dangerously reversed the perpetrator-victim narrative. Headlines such as “Israel: One Palestinian Shot Dead” without mentioning neither the Israeli victims nor the Islamist ideology of the martyrdom-seeking gunman, undermine basic journalistic standards, one of the cores of our democratic societies.