Worldwide viewership of AJC Advocacy Anywhere online sessions has passed 2.7 million since the program was launched in March.
“Advocacy Anywhere is AJC distance advocacy and learning at its best,” said AJC CEO David Harris. “I would especially like to highlight this week, as an example of AJC’s extensive, decades-long relations in the Arab world, our conversation with Jordanian Ambassador to the U.S. Dina Kawar. She will be the second ambassador from the Arab world, following the UAE Permanent Representative to the UN, participating in the AJC Advocacy Anywhere series. Moreover, we are honored to host a distinguished EU Commissioner (which is the equivalent of a Cabinet minister), Olivér Várhelyi, for a timely discussion on EU-Israel ties and other issues.”
Registration for AJC Advocacy Anywhere is free and programs can be viewed via Zoom and Facebook. Previous programs are available for viewing on AJC.org.
Programs last week included:
Why Are Student Governments Obsessed with Israel? The June 1st program featured Mara Davis, New York University ’19; Zachary Kimmel, Columbia University ’21; and Jack Langen, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign ’20, in conversation with Jackie Subar, AJC Assistant Director, Political Outreach. They discussed student governments that have become platforms for constant vilification of Israel, and of Jews for supporting the Jewish state, instead of working with diverse groups of student leaders to improve campus life, and plan fulfilling programs for their peers.
Israel-Diaspora Relations: Past, Present, and Future with Isaac Herzog, June 2. While the longstanding special relationship between Israeli and American Jews remains strong, there are challenges facing the two largest Jewish communities in the world. Isaac ‘Bougie’ Herzog, Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel and former head of Israel’s Labor Party, engaged in a probing discussion with AJC CEO David Harris on Israel-Diaspora relations — where we are, how we got there, and the future we need to build together.
The Ongoing Struggle for Racial Justice in America: A Conversation with Lonnie G. Bunch III, June 3, has garnered more than 61,000 views on Facebook. Lonnie G. Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and Founding Director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, discussed race relations in the United States in the wake of the nationwide protests following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. In the conversation with Melanie Maron Pell, AJC Managing Director of Regional Offices, Bunch also discussed historical and current Black-Jewish relations in the U.S., and his visit to Israel with AJC Project Interchange, a trip he said influenced the development of the African American museum in Washington, D.C.
Journalism and Politics in the Age of COVID-19: A Conversation with Jeffrey Goldberg, Editor in Chief, The Atlantic, June 4, has been seen by more than 36,000 on Facebook. Even before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) deemed it a “massive infodemic.” This proliferation of misinformation has led to the spread of conspiracy theories and hate. How will this impact the United States, the world, and the fate of our democracies? What will be the geopolitical implications of this pandemic? Jeffrey Goldberg, acclaimed journalist and Editor in Chief of The Atlantic, answered these questions and more in conversation with Simone Rodan-Benzaquen, Director of AJC Europe.
The Six-Day War: Why It Still Matters 53 Years Later with AJC CEO David Harris, June 5, has garnered more than 44,000 views on Facebook. “Without an understanding of what happened in the past, it’s impossible to grasp where we are today — and where we are has profound relevance for the region and the world,” David Harris has written about the June 1967 Arab-Israeli war. He reviewed the lead-up to, and aftermath of, those six fateful days, when Israel was threatened with destruction by an alliance of Arab countries led by Egypt and Syria, and why the history still matters. Belle Yoeli, Harris’s Chief of Staff, moderated.
This week’s Advocacy Anywhere programs are:
Monday, June 8, 12:00 PM (ET) – Strengthening a Strategic Partnership: A Conversation with H.E. Dina Kawar, Ambassador of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to the United States. A valued strategic partner of the United States in a turbulent region, peace partner for more than 25 years with Israel, and promoter of interfaith understanding, Jordan confronts an array of challenges, including the burden of hosting a refugee population of some 1.4 million and a scarcity of natural resources. Ambassador Kawar will explore the prospects for Middle East stability and intensified cooperation, as well as the regional impact of Covid-19 and its economic fallout. Jason Isaacson, AJC Chief Policy and Political Outreach Officer, who regularly visits Amman, will be the moderator.
Tuesday, June 9, 1:00 PM (ET) – A Conversation with Olivér Várhelyi, European Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement. European Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi, a Hungarian lawyer and diplomat, is responsible for strengthening relations with 16 of the European Union’s closest Eastern and Southern neighboring countries. Commissioner Várhelyi joins AJC CEO David Harris to discuss the European Union’s relationships with Israel, the Western Balkans, and Ukraine; the challenges posed by Turkey; and the state of the transatlantic alliance.
To date, the three most viewed programs in AJC’s Advocacy Anywhere series are:
AJC CEO David Harris: An Improbable Jewish Journey, with more than 196,000 Facebook views.
David Harris on the Soviet Jewry Movement (Part 1), with more than 136,000 views on Facebook.
From Tragedy to Triumph with AJC CEO David Harris, with more than 96,000 views on Facebook.
https://www.ajc.org/news/ajc-advocacy-anywhere-viewership-passes-27-million
SOURCE American Jewish Committee
http://www.ajc.org