Video
AJC CEO David Harris on International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, AJC CEO David Harris gave a stirring speech to some 150 EU officials, Members of the European Parliament, diplomats, and civil society representatives. David Harris, who is himself the son of Holocaust survivors, shared his own family’s painful history, highlighted the importance of remembering the past, and underlined the need to protect Jewish life, whether in the diaspora or in a thriving Israel.
AJC, Alongside Partners, Issues Recommendations to EU on Fighting Antisemitism
2 June 2021, Brussels – The AJC Transatlantic Institute alongside other major international Jewish organizations published a set of recommendations to combat antisemitism and foster Jewish life in Europe....
Remembering the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
On 19 April 1943, the vastly outnumbered and outgunned Jewish members of the Warsaw Ghetto underground rose up against the German Nazi occupiers. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the single largest act of Jewish resistance during the Holocaust. Marking 78 years since the courageous uprising, Dr. Sebastian Rejak, Acting Director of AJC Central Europe, hosted Marian Turski, a 94-year-old Auschwitz death camp survivor, for a special conversation commemorating this heroic chapter in Jewish history and its enduring legacy.
Kuwait Airways Denies Boarding to Israeli in Germany
Five years ago, Kuwait Airways denied boarding to a student living in Germany because of his Israeli citizenship. The state-owned airline cited the country's own antisemitic 1964 boycott law. AJC Berlin Senior Associate Annina Fichtner argues in Jüdische Allgemeine that Berlin must urgently take decisive action to end this anti-Jewish discrimination on German soil: “If the fight against antisemitism is not to be simply lip service, and as long as Kuwait Airways is not prepared to make any changes, Germany should resort to suspending the airline's take-off and landing rights.”
Launch of AJC-Inspired “Community of Conscience” Coalition
Twelve prominent Polish community leaders launched the AJC-inspired “Community of Conscience – A Coalition of Mutual Respect,” an interfaith group that aims to fight discrimination against religious, ethnic, and cultural minorities. At the virtual launch ceremony, AJC Central Europe Acting Director Sebastian Rejak, who last year initiated the process to establish the group, said: “Truth and righteousness are like a symphony: many voices, many experiences together form a new whole – a harmony that we hope will transform people’s minds and hearts.”
International Holocaust Remembrance Day
The AJC Transatlantic Institute partnered with the Mission of Israel to the EU and NATO and the European office of the Konrad Adenaeur Stiftung (KAS) on an online ceremony to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Marking 76 years since the liberation of Auschwitz, European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas delivered a powerful address, underscoring the need for Europe to not only remember the horrors of the Shoah but also address all forms of antisemitism. Concluding the moving speech, the Vice President lit a personal memorial candle with the name of one of the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust.
AJC Welcomes EC Handbook for Antisemitism Working Definition
Paris -- January 08, 2021 - AJC Europe welcomes the European Commission’s publication of the Handbook for the Practical Use of the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism. This new publication offers clear guidance and examples of how the definition is already being used throughout Europe by ...
AJC Condemns EU Court Ruling on Religious Slaughter
Brussels, 17 December 2020 - The AJC Transatlantic Institute condemned today’s decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to effectively ban ritual and kosher slaughter.
“We are shocked by the EU Court of Justice decision, which is nothing less than a frontal...
Press Release: AJC Welcomes EU Council Declaration on Fighting Antisemitism
Brussels, 3 December 2020 – The AJC Transatlantic Institute welcomes the European Union’s decision to extend the fight against antisemitism across all of the EU’s policy areas. The bloc renews its 2018 call on all member states to adopt and implement the Working Definition of Antisemitism of...
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.
Black-Jewish Unity
AJC and the National Urban League wrote a new chapter in the history of Black-Jewish relations in the United States. #BlackJewishUnity week featured groundbreaking online events viewed over 100,000 times and - as part of the campaign - AJC President Harriet P. Schleifer and National Urban League head Marc H. Morial published an op-ed in USA Today, America’s largest circulation paper: “Blacks and Jews can draw from a long history spanning many decades to tackle today’s monumental challenges. Once again, we stand shoulder to shoulder as Lewis did in 1965 with Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.”