World Jewish Congress Applauds Progress Toward Israel’s Entry into U.S. Visa Waiver Program;Srebrenica genocide commemoration reminds us that ‘there are no humans more human than others’

  

View this message in a browser     July 21, 2023         World Jewish Congress Applauds Progress Toward Israel’s Entry into U.S. Visa Waiver Program “This is a huge step forward. I applaud and commend President Biden, Secretary Blinken and the entire Biden administration for their leadership, painstaking participation in sensitive negotiations and, with today’s MOU, near-completion of what is a major priority for both countries," said WJC President Ronald S. Lauder. Read More... Latin American Jewish and Muslim umbrella groups gather for landmark meeting | JTA “In other latitudes, an initiative like this would be considered a miracle,” said Claudio Epelman, executive director of the Latin American Jewish Congress and WJC Commissioner for Interfaith Relations. “From Latin America we are spreading hope to those places where an encounter between Jews and Muslims is an unthinkable event.” Read More... OpEd | Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA): No news, bad news "When it comes to justice, to date, we have no news. We only have judicial processes that culminate and begin again, while still no one has been convicted of the bloodiest attack in Argentine history," writes Executive Director of the Latin American Jewish Congress Claudio Epelman. Read More... OpEd | Srebrenica genocide commemoration reminds us that ‘there are no humans more human than others’ “Amid the political challenges, and all the distortion and denial that continues to pervade public discourse about Srebrenica, a deeply moving memorial ceremony was hosted at the SMC on Tuesday. Menachem Rosensaft, who headed the WJC delegation, delivered the keynote address where he reminded us that hatred unleashed leads to Auschwitz, Kigali and Srebrenica,” writes Africa & Australia Jewish Congress Chair Mary Kluk. Read More... Watch | Jews and Muslims commemorate Srebrenica massacre “It is absolutely critical for the future of both the Jewish people and the (Muslim) Bosniak people for us to join forces in remembrance in order to make sure that this type of atrocities not be allowed to occur in the future,” Menachem Rosensaft, the general counsel of the World Jewish Congress, told The Associated Press. Watch Now...   Rosensaft: Genocide began when individuals started talking about victories over the other "What happened in Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen did not start with the gas chambers. It didn't start with the murders. It started with words. It started with discrimination. It started when society accepted that one group was treated as inferior to another. It started when it became possible to say: Jews are less valuable than us. Roma are less valuable than us," said WJC General Counsel and Associate Executive Vice President Menachem Rosensaft. Read More...   WJC and Jewish groups call on Bertelsmann to drop Waters | Jewish News “We believe that artists, given their massive influence in the world today, have a unique and important responsibility to speak out against bigotry,” the joint letter signed by the WJC said. “Mr. Waters has repeatedly shown that he’s determined to do the opposite – and would instead use his voice, his platform, and his public microphone to fan the flames of hatred.” Read More... OpEd | The Burning of Religious Texts in Sweden is an Unmistakable Act of Hate "Whether it is a Quran, Torah, or Bible, when a religious book is burned, it is neither “just a book” that is going up in flames, nor a “critique” of the religious practice. Rather, the book is a proxy for the targeted minority with a clear message sent: Your words, beliefs, and traditions do not belong in this society, nor do you," writes WJC Jewish Diplomatic Corps Member Eric Adamson. Read More... Podcast  | The dangers of antisemitism  WJC General Counsel and Associate Executive Vice President Menachem Rosensaft joined the WTAE Listens podcast to discuss the rise of antisemitism and the steps the World Jewish Congress is taking to combat it. Listen Now... Foreign Ministry Condemns Antisemitic Collage against Former Foreign Minister Passy The Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemns the circulation of an antisemitic collage against former Foreign Minister Solomon Passy. Such actions are completely unacceptable, and the perpetrators must be held accountable as provided by law, the Ministry said in a statement on its website on Tuesday. Read More... OpEd | The Most Shocking Aspect of RFK Jr.’s Antisemitism On the heels of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s comments regarding COVID-19 and ethnicity, The Atlantic’s Yair Rosenberg argues that antisemitism is an inevitable outcome of belief in conspiracy theories. “Because antisemitism has produced centuries of material pinning humanity’s problems on its Jews, a person convinced that an invisible hand is conducting world affairs will eventually discover that it belongs to an invisible Jew.” Read More... In speech to Congress, President Herzog lauds strong judiciary, says democracy in Israel’s DNA | Times of Israel  “Although we are working through sore issues, just like you, I know our democracy is strong and resilient. Israel has democracy in its DNA,” Herzog declared to loud applause. “As head of state, I will continue doing everything to reach a broad public consensus, and to preserve, protect and defend the State of Israel’s democracy. Read More.. House Democratic leaders reject Jayapal’s remarks: ‘Israel is not a racist state’ | Jewish Insider  “Israel is not a racist state,” House Democratic leadership team, Reps. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Katherine Clark (D-MA), Pete Aguilar (D-CA) and Ted Lieu (D-CA), said in a joint statement. “As House Democratic leaders, we strongly support Israel’s right to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people.” Read More.. House passes resolution saying Israel isn't a 'racist or apartheid state' | ABC The vote was 412-9-1 with nine Democrats voting no, including Reps. Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Jamaal Bowman, Summer Lee, Cori Bush, Ayanna Pressley, Andre Carson and Delia Ramirez. Notably, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, whose recent comments sparked the move, voted yes. Read More... Inside America’s failed, forgotten conference to save Jews from Hitler | Washington Post President Franklin D. Roosevelt had convened at the site an international conference, beginning July 6, 1938, to facilitate and finance the emigration of “political refugees.” Adolf Hitler said at the time that he was willing to put Jews who wished to depart “at the disposal of these countries, for all I care, even on luxury ships.” Instead, the fateful Evian conference, now largely forgotten, failed disastrously. Read More.. 16-17 July 1942 | Thousands of Jews detained in Vél d’Hiv Roundup The arrests, which were coordinated and facilitated by the collaborationist Vichy regime, came about two years after France surrendered to Nazi German forces in June 1940. Overall, it is approximated that 77,000 Jews living in France perished in concentration camps during the Holocaust, with the overwhelming majority passing away at Auschwitz. Read More..   20 July 1944 | Operation Valkyrie: Plot to assassinate Hitler fails The primary cause of failure can be traced to a colonel’s decision to move the suitcase minutes before it went off, unaware of its contents. The failure led to the arrest of approximately 7,000 co-conspirators and the execution of 4,980. Read More..   20 July 1949 | Israel signs armistice agreement with Syria to end War of Independence Israel, having increased its territory by about 5,000 square kilometers while withstanding the invasion of several Arab armies, declared victory. With over 6,000 dead and 15,000 wounded, this was the bloodiest war in Israeli history. Read More..   18 July 1994 | Bombing at AMIA building in Buenos Aires kills 85 people and wounds hundreds more Nearly thirty years after the horrific bombing, no participants in the attack have yet been brought to trial, despite arrest warrants being issued and constant calls for justice. Read More..   Follow Us:          World Jewish Congress |  www.worldjewishcongress.org | contactus@worldjewishcongress.org The World Jewish Congress, American Section, supports the vital work and projects of the World Jewish Congress. For more information on the World Jewish Congress, visit worldjewishcongress.org.