American Jewish Committee

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The American Jewish Committee, also known by its initials, AJC, was "founded in 1906 with the aim of rallying all sections of American Jewry to defend the rights of Jews all over the world"; see H. H. Ben-Sasson reference below. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organization in the United States. [1] [2] [3]

"The American Jewish Committee has worked since 1906 to safeguard and strengthen Jews and Jewish life worldwide by promoting democratic and pluralistic societies that respect the dignity of all peoples."

Like the American Jewish Committee, another institution prominent in American Jewish life is the American Jewish Congress. It often goes by the intials AJC. For ease of identification, the two organizations are often referred to as the AJCommittee or the AJCongress.


Contents

[edit] History

The American Jewish Committee was established in 1906 by a small group of American Jews concerned about pogroms aimed at the Jewish population of Russia. "According to the official statement of the committee...it is to prevent infringement of the civil and religious rights of Jews and to alleviate the consequences of persecution." (New York Times, Nov. 11, 1907, pg 16). AJC has since headed advocacy campaigns on issues such as Holocaust denial, church-state relations, and American dependence on oil. Today, the organization has local chapters in 33 American cities, as well as in 8 countries around the globe.

The President elected in 1907 was Judge Mayer Sulzberger of Philadelphia. He served as President until at least 1912.

In 1908 the Executive Committee consisted of: Dr. Cyrus Adler of Philadelphia, head of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington; Joseph Cohen of New York, Henry Cutler of Providence, Rev. Dr. Emil G. Hirsch of Chicago, the Rev. Dr. J.L. Magnes of New York, Louis Marshall of New York; Jacob H. Schiff, New York; Isador Sobel, Erie, Penn., and Cyrus L. Sulzberger, New York." (New York Times, Nov. 9, 1908, pg. 3)

Louis B. Marshall served as president from 1912 until 1929. Under his tenure, AJC helped create in 1914 the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, established to aid Jewish victims of World War І, and later to play an instrumental role in aiding Jewish victims of World War ІІ and the Holocaust.

In January 1941, Sol M. Stroock (d. Sep 1941) became President. He had been a member of the Jewish Theological Seminary since 1906. He had also served on the Executive Committee of the AJC since 1930, and since 1934 as its Chairman. The Sep 12 column of the New York Times has quite a lengthy series of eulogies about Mr. Stroock.

In the years leading up to the Vatican’s 1965 issuance of Nostra Aetate, AJC played a leading role in forging the Church’s new attitude toward Jews, paving the way for a significant upturn in Jewish-Christian relations over the ensuing decades. In the 1970s, AJC spearheaded the fight to pass anti-boycott legislation to counter the Arab League’s economic boycott of Israel. In 1975, AJC became the first Jewish organization to campaign against the UN’s infamous “Zionism is Racism” resolution.

In December 1987, AJC’s Washington representative, David A. Harris, who would later become the organization’s executive director, organized the “Freedom Sunday Rally” on behalf of Soviet Jewry. 250,000 people attended the D.C. rally, which was a major factor in pushing the Soviet government to allow Jewish emigration from the USSR.

In 1992, Japan, citing AJC’s diplomacy, reversed its policy of supporting the Arab League’s boycott of Israel.

In 2000, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Dore Gold, cited AJC as playing a central role in Israel’s gaining acceptance into the UN’s Western Europe and Others Group.

In 2003, AJC opened in Brussels the Transatlantic Institute [4], aimed at fostering improved relations between Europe, Israel, and the U.S. That same year, AJC opened a Russian Affairs Division [5] to identify and train new leaders in American Jewish public advocacy.

In 2005, as part of its continuing efforts [6] to respond to humanitarian crises, AJC contributed $2.5 million to relief funds and reconstruction projects for the victims of the South Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina.

AJC's American offices include the Belfer Center for American Pluralism, the Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights, Contemporary Jewish Life, Domestic Policy and Legal Affairs, Interreligious Affairs, Latin American Affairs, Middle East and International Terrorism, the Office of Government and International Affairs, Russian Affairs, and Special Projects. The organization is also affiliated with many other human interest groups and projects in numerous other countries.

The organization's mission statement is “to safeguard the welfare and security of Jews in the United States, in Israel, and throughout the world; to strengthen the basic principles of pluralism around the world, as the best defense against anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry; to enhance the quality of American Jewish life by helping to ensure Jewish continuity and deepen the ties between American and Israeli Jews.”

AJC publishes the American Jewish Year Book.

[edit] Controversy

In an essay, “‘Progressive’ Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semitism,” by Alvin H. Rosenfeld, published on its web site,[1] the AJC attacked Jewish critics of Israel by name, particularly the editors and contributors to "Wrestling With Zion: Progressive Jewish-American Responses to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict" (Grove Press), a 2003 collection of essays edited by Tony Kushner and Alisa Solomon. The essay accused them of supporting a rise in anti-Semitism, and of participating in an "onslaught against Zionism and the Jewish State".[2] The Forward called the essay "a shocking tissue of slander" whose intent was to "turn Jews against liberalism and silence critics". [3] Richard Cohen remarked that the essay "has given license to the most intolerant and narrow-minded of Israel's defenders so that, as the AJC concedes in my case, any veering from orthodoxy is met with censure or, from someone like Reinharz, the most powerful of all post-Holocaust condemnations -- anti-Semite -- is diluted beyond recognition". [4] The essay was also criticized by rabbi Michael Lerner [5] and in op-eds in The Guardian [6], and The Boston Globe [7], where Stanley I. Kutler noted that the AJC itself had opposed the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine until 1946.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Alvin H. Rosenfeld (December 2006). "Progressive" Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semitism (PDF). American Jewish Committee. Retrieved on February 8, 2007.
  2. ^ Patricia Cohen (2007-01-31). "Essay Linking Liberal Jews and Anti-Semitism Sparks a Furor". The New York Times. Retrieved on February 8, 2007.
  3. ^ "Infamy". The Forward (2007-02-01). Retrieved on February 8, 2007.
  4. ^ Richard Cohen (2007-02-06). "Cheapening a Fight Against Hatred". The Washington Post. Retrieved on February 8, 2007.
  5. ^ Michael Lerner (2007-02-02). There Is No New Anti-Semitism. The Boston Chronicle. Retrieved on February 8, 2007.
  6. ^ Matthew Yglesias (2007-02-08). "Are we all anti-semites now?". The Guardian. Retrieved on February 8, 2007.
  7. ^ Stanley I. Kutler (2007-02-07). "All critics of Israel aren't anti-Semites". The Boston Globe. Retrieved on February 8, 2007.
  • A History of the Jewish People
ed. H. H. Ben-Sasson
trans. George Weidenfeld and Nicolson Ltd
(Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1976)
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 75-29-29879
ISBN: 0-674-39731-2 (paper)

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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