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Highlights from Sebastian Kurz's Keynote Speech on EU-Israel Relations and Jewish Life in Europe
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Europe, Do Better At The UN
The UN General Assembly is poised to pass a total of 17 resolutions targeting Israel while omitting Palestinian terror and attempting to erase the millennia-old Jewish ties to Jerusalem. In comparison, the world’s worst human rights abusers like Iran will get a slap on the wrist. Writing in New Europe, the AJC Transatlantic Institute’s Deputy Director Michael Sieveking calls on the EU – currently under Germany’s presidency – to oppose this diplomatic assault on the Jewish state.
Europe Must Fight Political Islam
Islamist radicalism and violent extremism are on the rise in Western societies, as the deadly attacks recently in Vienna and the beheading of a French teacher chillingly reminded us. Writing in Europe’s best-selling newspaper BILD, AJC Europe Director Simone Rodan-Benzaquen and AJC Berlin Director Remko Leemhuis urge governments to cut ties with Islamist groups propagating anti-Western ideologies, like those linked to Iran’s regime or the Muslim Brotherhood: “We must set our sights on the organizations of political Islam, which are not violent themselves but create the climate for such murders.”
Briefing: Hezbollah in Europe
AJC and the Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) have produced an exhaustive, fact-based analysis that makes the case for the full designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. This brochure titled Hezbollah in Europe offers a more specific focus on our continent. It will...
Iran Is More Aggressive Than Ever Before
On 18 October the international arms embargo on Iran expired. The regime can now legally purchase upgraded and advanced weaponry. “This is bad news for the Middle East and sets the conditions for even more bloodshed,” writes AJC Berlin Director Remko Leemhuis in Switzerland’s biggest newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung. Germany, one of the JCPOA’s signatories, must live up to its special responsibility to help end Tehran’s quest for nuclear arms, its aggression in the region, and its support for terror proxies such as Hezbollah.
France’s Fight Against Islamist Extremism
The horrific beheading of the French teacher Samuel Paty at the hands of one of his students, a recently radicalized Islamist of Chechen descent, sent shock waves across France and the entire world. In conversation with AJC Europe Director Simone Rodan-Benzaquen, journalist and former Charlie Hebdo columnist Caroline Fourest discusses France’s fight against extremism, the country’s challenges integrating parts of the Muslim population, and its efforts through public school education to preserve laïcité and Western values, including freedom of speech.
Europe Can’t Fight Antisemitism Without Defining it
Antisemitism can only be overcome if it is correctly identified in all its forms. Writing in The Times of Israel, AJC’s Rabbi Andrew Baker and Holly Huffnagle call on governments worldwide to adopt and implement the Working Definition of Antisemitism of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). The definition, which recognizes anti-Zionism as a form of antisemitism and was endorsed by the EU Council in 2018, is a critical tool to train law enforcement, judges, and educators and should serve as guideline for social media platforms to effectively fight anti-Jewish hate speech online.
Mapping Hezbollah’s Global Terror and Crime Network
AJC hosted Matthew Levitt, Director of the Washington Institute's Counter Terrorism and Intelligence Program, for a one-hour webinar on his recently launched Hezbollah Worldwide Activity Map, the largest database of open-source information about Hezbollah's worldwide illicit activities. Hosted on the Washington Institute’s website, the interactive map highlights the operations of Iran’s proxy in France and in Europe, including Hezbollah’s role in money laundering, drug trafficking, support of other terrorist organizations, and organized crime.
2020 Election Debate: The Jewish Vote
With just days to go before the U.S. presidential election, Halie Soifer, Executive Director of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, and Matt Brooks, Executive Director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, examined trends related to the Jewish vote in 2020. In the debate moderated by AJC’s Jason Isaacson, Soifer and Brooks sparred on their candidates’ positions and track records on issues of importance to American Jews, ranging from rising antisemitism to the future of the U.S.-Israel partnership.
TFI Virtual Meeting with Knesset Member Avi Dichter and Michael Doran (Hudson Institute)
The Transatlantic Friends of Israel (TFI) group held an exclusive briefing entitled “The Central European Case for Banning Hezbollah.“ Moderator Avital Leibovich, AJC Jerusalem Director, discussed with MK Avi Dichter, Member of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs Committee, and Michael Doran from...
The Transatlantic Friends of Israel Meet on Hezbollah
Over 20 legislators from the Transatlantic Friends of Israel (TFI) network discussed the Hezbollah threat with leading Knesset Member Avi Dichter, Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Michael Doran, and AJC Jerusalem Director Avital Leibovich. In light of Poland’s V4 Group presidency, TFI members Michał Jach, Chair of the Sejm's National Defence Committee, and Michał Kamiński, Deputy Speaker of the Polish Senate, hosted the exclusive virtual gathering in the presence of Israel’s ambassadors to Poland and Czechia.