15 Years of Partnership and Advocacy. Making a Difference

Transcription

1 15 Years of Partnership and Advocacy Making a Difference

2 THE HISTORY OF THE AJC IN GERMANY Imprint Deidre Berger, Director of the AJC Berlin Ramer Institute, speaks at the 10 th Anniversary celebration, Berlin, March 11, 2008 Editor: AJC Berlin Lawrence & Lee Ramer Institute for German-Jewish Relations Leipziger Platz 15, Berlin, Germany Editorial Staff: Deidre Berger Research: Yoni Cohen V.i.S.d.P.: Deidre Berger Berlin, January 2013 AJC Berlin Lawrence & Lee Ramer Institute for German-Jewish Relations The American Jewish Committee (AJC) was founded in 1906 by a distinguished group of American Jews of German origin with the purpose of combating anti-semitism and other forms of bigotry. For more than 100 years, AJC has promoted democracy, pluralism, and human rights. Following the vision of its founders, AJC advocates mutual understanding among a broad coalition of nations, religions and ethnic groups. AJC s history is inextricably intertwined with Germany, particularly the rise and fall of Nazism and the emergence of post-wwii Germany as a strong democratic partner in the heart of Europe. AJC in its early years maintained close contact with German Jewish leaders, who alerted them to the spread of anti-semitism. In the 1920s, AJC raised concerns with the U.S. government about the anti-jewish content of German passion plays and their potential impact on American visitors. In 1933, AJC published the first of a threepart series of books, The Jews in Nazi Germany, a chilling account of the condition of Jews under the new regime. When the war started in 1939, AJC spearheaded several campaigns imploring the League of Nations to provide refuge to Jews suffering under Nazi oppression. AJC was also concerned about the spread of Nazi ideology to the U.S. In the late 1930s it created a Survey Committee tasked with exposing Nazi agitators in the U.S. and educating Americans on racial and religious goodwill. In conjunction with partner organizations and law enforcement agencies, AJC s efforts helped counter the spread of Nazi ideology in the U.S. Following the success of the Survey Committee, AJC launched a research division in 1944 staffed by two prominent German Jewish refugees, Max Horkheimer and Theodore W. Adorno, who produced seminal work on the nature of authoritarianism and fascism. AJC never abandoned hope in the triumph of reason over despair. On September 10, 1944, U.S. forces liberated the first German city from the Nazis, Aachen in western Germany. Six weeks later, on October 29, 1944, AJC sponsored a moving ecumenical religious service on an antitank field in Aachen, broadcast on NBC radio, expressing the hope that the years of horror and destruction were nearing their end. After World War II, AJC focused on the reconstruction of a democratic society in Germany, monitoring the situation of Jewish refugees, continuing anti-semitism, and developments toward democracy. To this end, in 1947 AJC produced Make Way for Youth, a film about promoting tolerance that the U.S. government screened in Germany to promote democratic values. AJC also helped organize the Citizens Council for Democratic Germany, a coalition of American labor unions and other organizations promoting democracy education for the German public.

3 AJC officials meet German Foreign Minister Willy Brandt April 1966 AJC also continued to monitor the threat of a compensation to the state of Israel as well as to resurgence of Nazism. As early as 1947, AJC individual Holocaust survivors. conducted a survey of anti-semitism in Germany that indicated widespread prejudice. An equally AJC delegation visits to Germany in the late alarming trend at the time was the large number 1950s raised concerns about the lack of contemporary history in German classrooms as well of ex-nazis in the West German government and the military. In 1950, AJC released a report, The as an outbreak of anti-semitism in AJC New Threat From Germany, that warned of the warned that official German explanations attributing the incidents to juvenile delinquency were an threat to democracy posed by the large number of Nazis in the government. oversimplification. At a meeting with Chancellor Konrad Adenauer in June 1960, Jacob Blaustein Two years later, AJC conceived an ambitious program, Operation Candle, which sought to unify Nazism and anti-semitism, urging the German reiterated concerns about a resurgence of neodemocratic forces in Germany, create a national government to enact a strong system of democratic education. Beginning in the fall of 1960, conference there on human rights, sponsor visits by German leaders to the U.S. and create an through 1971, AJC sponsored numerous visits by educational program to promote an appreciation leading West German educators and academics of Judaism in Germany. Although the program selected by Dr. Max Horkheimer, then head of lacked sufficient support by additional organizations to be launched, AJC continued its work of Frankfurt, to the U.S. to observe American the Institute for Social Research at the University undeterred. That same year, AJC President Jacob methods for teaching democratic values. The Blaustein played a leading role in the successful program was supported by the Ford Foundation, conclusion of an agreement between the Conference of Jewish Material Claims against Germany man government and German foundations. In line the New World Foundation and later by the Ger- and the West German government to provide with its continued dedication to obtaining justice for the victims of Nazism, in 1965 AJC convinced West Germany to extend the statute of limitation for the prosecution of Nazi war criminals. In 1977, AJC representatives met with leaders of the German village of Oberammergau to try to convince them to remove anti-jewish elements from their renowned passion play depicting the last days of Jesus. It was first performed in Oberammergau in the seventeenth century and continues to be performed every ten years to popular acclaim. AJC interreligious leaders remain in dialogue with play authors to promote accurate portrayals of Jews and Jewish life. AJC realized early on that exchange programs are a powerful tool in German-Jewish relations for reconciliation and the promotion of democracy. Accordingly, AJC launched an annual leadership exchange program with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in 1980, the first of its kind. Since its inception, the program has enabled more than 400 American Jewish participants, as well as a similar number of German political and civic leaders, to travel to each other s respective country to discuss transatlantic relations, American- German-Israeli relations, and Jewish life. In 1983, AJC and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation launched an ongoing series of cooperative programs that include co-sponsorship of AJC missions to the Federal Republic of Germany and visits by Social Democratic opinion leaders to the United States, as well as annual transatlantic conferences. AJC s agenda in Germany after WWII included the revitalization of Jewish life in the country. In 1954, AJC Honorary President Jacob Blaustein wrote a letter to German Jewry, published in the national German Jewish newspaper, pledging that AJC would do its best to help American Jewry understand the situation of their brothers in Germany, adding that I pray to God that from the tragedies of the past you will draw the strength to look to the future with hope, secure in the knowledge that we have not forgotten you. In addition to contacts with the Jewish community in West Germany, an AJC mission in 1983 became the first American Jewish group to meet with members of the small remaining Jewish community in the German Democratic Republic in Eastern Germany. In 1983, AJC assisted the community by providing a rabbi to conduct services. Subsequently, AJC convinced the GDR to permit a resident rabbi in East Berlin for the first time in 25 years. In 2008, AJC awarded Charlotte Knobloch, then serving as President of the Central Council of Jews, its Sidney Lefkowitz Award for International Jewish Renewal, in recognition of her tireless efforts to revive Jewish life in Germany after the Holocaust, donating as well Torah scrolls to Jewish communities in Hamburg and Schwerin. In 1987, AJC started working closely with the Atlantic Bridge (Atlantic-Brücke), Germany s premiere transatlantic organization cofounded in 1952 by German-Jewish banker Eric Warburg. Together, AJC and Atlantic Bridge have co-hosted conferences in the U.S., Germany and Israel on issues of Holocaust remembrance, Jewish- German relations and German-Israeli relations. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, AJC was the first Jewish organization to advocate for German unification. Mindful of potential consequences, AJC initiated a pioneering program in 1992 for emerging public leaders, co-sponsored by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, to promote respect for diversity in Central and Eastern Europe. AJC also began cooperation with the then newly founded Heinrich Böll Foundation to raise awareness of troubling surges of anti-semitism, nationalism, and historical revisionism emerging in the post- Cold War era. Working with an ever-growing array of partners AJC continued to support democracy-building activities in Germany.

4 AJC Berlin Lawrence and Lee Ramer Institute For German-Jewish Relations AJC Executive Director David Harris speaks at the Bundeswehr s Golden Cross of Honor award ceremony where he was honored, Berlin, November 22, 2004 Based on AJC s longstanding relationships in Germany, in 1994 the AJC and the Federal Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) began a unique and ongoing dialogue. Since then, hundreds of officers from the German armed forces, with a high concentration of youth officers, have visited AJC headquarters in New York and AJC Berlin s Ramer Institute to learn more about American Jewry and AJC s Germany outreach programs. Together, AJC and the Bundeswehr have created officer training programs in Germany and Israel on Jewish life and Mideast affairs for officers teaching at German military academies. AJC representatives lecture frequently at Bundeswehr universities and academies. In 1998, AJC convinced the German government, through dialogue and a public affairs campaign, to provide pensions for concentration camp survivors living in the Soviet Union. Also in 1998, AJC became the first and only American Jewish organization to establish a permanent presence in Germany. Since AJC opened its Berlin headquarters in 1998, the AJC Berlin Lawrence and Lee Ramer Institute for German-Jewish Relations has become a crossroads for transatlantic dialogue in the heart of Europe. Today, the AJC Berlin Ramer Institute organizes conferences, seminars, meetings of experts, roundtable discussions and media outreach. It also provides information on key developments in transatlantic relations and Mideast affairs to political and diplomatic contacts. The Ramer Institute has become a trusted and influential voice in Germany through its strong partnerships with key institutions and opinion leaders. In addition to nurturing existing relationships, the Ramer Institute continues to foster new partnerships in Germany. After a century of engagement with Germany including a now 15-year presence in Berlin AJC remains committed to its partnership with Germany as an example of the power of dialogue and diplomacy in overcoming prejudice. AJC s leaders remain among the foremost partners in the German-American-Jewish relationship, convinced of the importance of working together to strengthen transatlantic security and to safeguard Israel. May the spirit that imbues this unique cooperative bond inspire all those trying to achieve a better world where peace and dignity reign, overcoming the base hatreds that threaten the dignity of man. Since establishing its presence in Berlin in 1998, AJC has worked to deepen and expand its cooperation with German organizations, expanding a network of partners that began long before the office opened. A path-breaking leadership encounter program established between AJC and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in 1980 launched the beginning of AJC s ongoing exchange with German political foundations and transatlantic foundations. Additional exchanges and programs on defining issues in American- German-Israeli relations followed in subsequent years with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and the Heinrich Boell Foundation. Other important partners include the Atlantic Bridge and, in a unique partnership with an American Jewish organization, the German Armed Forces. The Central Council of Jews has accompanied AJC s work as a valued partner and advisor to the transatlantic voice in German-Jewish affairs. In recent years, AJC Berlin s Ramer Institute has worked closely with Germany Close Up and Allianz to bring a younger generation into the American Jewish- German dialogue. Since its opening, AJC s Berlin Ramer Institute has worked with a broad range of partner organizations and experts to promote democracy, advocate for a more secure world and foster a deeper understanding of transatlantic affairs. Examples of program highlights include: Israel and Mideast Affairs: AJC Berlin s Ramer Institute published a 2002 academic study on the image of Israel in the media that challenged commonplace stereotypes and led to a reevaluation of media coverage. The office has sponsored numerous trips to Israel for public opinion leaders with AJC s Project Interchange Institute. AJC Berlin s Ramer Institute provides background papers for decision-makers on current topics, such as Hezbollah activities in Europe and sanctions against Iran s nuclear program. Anti-Semitism: In 2002, the AJC Berlin Ramer Institute launched the ongoing network Task Force: Education on Antisemitism for educational experts dealing with anti-semitism, Holocaust education and Israel and Mideast affairs. In 2008, the office initiated the European Forum on Antisemitism for European Jewish community representatives, translating the EUMC s Working Definition on Antisemitism into 30 languages. Jewish Continuity: AJC Berlin s Ramer Institute has partnered with the Central Council of Jews on leadership programs and conferences on Jewish security and Jewish life after the fall of the wall. In the 2012 debate about circumcision, the Institute published Facts and Myths in the Circumcision Debate, a much-praised overview of stereotypes and unsound assertions in the debate that created greater understanding of the key importance of circumcision in Jewish community life.

5 AJC BERLIN LAWRENCE & LEE RAMER INSTITUTE FOR GERMAN-JEWISH RELATIONS FIFTEEN YEARS OF TRANSATLANTIC DIALOGUE: MILESTONES Chancellor Angela Merkel, AJC Executive Director David Harris and AJC Berlin Ramer Institute Director Deidre Berger at the presentation of AJC s highest honor, the Light unto the Nations Award, to Chancellor Merkel at the Federal Chancellery, Berlin, January 20, 2011 Diversity: Since 2001, AJC Berlin s Ramer Institute has been in continuous dialogue with representatives of the German-Turkish community and with other minority groups. The popular Turkish-Jewish Young Professionals Roundtable has provided an ongoing forum for issues of particular interest to minority groups in Germany. Holocaust Remembrance: In 1999, during the discussion about compensation for former Nazi slave and forced laborers, AJC Berlin s Ramer Institute published a widely publicized list of current German firms with links to those who employed slave and forced labor during the Nazi era. The list contributed to a greater public understanding of the universal use of slave labor in Germany during WWII and established AJC s Berlin office as an important partner in Germany for the politics of memory : The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) / AJC Exchange Program Now in its 33rd successful year, the KAS/AJC Program was the first and remains the only annual exchange program jointly co-sponsored by an American Jewish and a German organization. This leadership exchange program has brought hundreds of AJC leaders and young German public opinion leaders to each other s countries to learn more about modern Germany, U.S. politics and Jewish life. AJC s Ramer Institute has coordinated the program since 1998, and also organized conferences in Berlin and Jerusalem with the Adenauer Foundation on transatlantic affairs : AJC-Friedrich Naumann Foundation Cooperation on the Promotion of Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe The two organizations launched an ongoing program that has brought together hundreds of emerging leaders from Central and Eastern Europe at sites in Europe and in the U.S. for in-depth examination of issues of tolerance and democracy. AJC Berlin worked with the Naumann Foundation to plan the May 23, 2012, 20th anniversary symposium, Promoting Tolerance in Central, East and Southeast Europe: Experiences and Prospects for the Next 20 Years, focusing on democracy, human rights, historical memory, European values, nationalism, xenophobia and anti-semitism : AJC-Friedrich Ebert Foundation Annual Conference on Transatlantic-Mideast Issue AJC Berlin and the Ebert Foundation launched an annual high-profile conference series in 1997 bringing together policy makers and opinion leaders from the U.S., Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Israel to reflect on transatlantic security and society. AJC-Ebert cooperation includes occasional joint events on issues of integration, diversity, right-wing extremism and antisemitism, as well as jointly planned trips to the U.S. for opinion leaders from Germany s Social Democratic Party, in order to deepen transatlantic understanding. AJC Alumni of the AJC Konrad Adenauer Foundation Annual Leadership Exchange Program visiting the German parliament on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the program, Berlin, July 1, 2005

6 Film producer Steven Spielberg, AJC National President Bruce Ramer and AJC Berlin Ramer Institute Founding Director Eugene DuBow at the Institute s first anniversary, Berlin, February 7, : The Future of the Future Fund Conference AJC Berlin, together with Against Forgetting/For Democracy and Action Reconciliation/Service for Peace, brought together key diplomats, industry executives, government officials, academics, NGO representatives and Jewish community representatives to discuss the planned education fund of the Compensation Fund for Slave and Forced Laborers. The conference helped define the nature of projects to be supported by the fund. AJC Berlin subsequently coordinated a group of NGO partners that advised the then newly founded Foundation EVZ (Remembrance Responsibility Future), writing recommendations that contributed to the final guidelines of the foundation : Publication of Names of Companies that Used Slave Labor and Forced Labor during the Nazi Era On December 7, 1999, AJC s Berlin office released a list of hundreds of German firms that used slave and forced labor during the Nazi era, followed later by a list of Berlin firms. The list sparked nationwide reporting on the issue, heightening public awareness of the widespread usage of slave and forced laborers during the Nazi era, in Germany as well as in eastern Europe. On December 17, 1999, the German government and major German corporations announced the establishment of a compensation fund of $5.2 billion for the victims and their families : Task Force: Education on Anti- Semitism The Task Force was launched by AJC Berlin, together with the Fritz Bauer Institute and the Anne Frank Youth Center in Frankfurt, as a professional forum for experts and practitioners dealing with anti-semitism, Holocaust education, and Israel and the Mideast. The network advances innovative approaches to dealing with anti-semitism and convenes bimonthly seminars for professional evaluation and exchange on educational and political trends. Members have collaborated on projects that offer educational guidelines, for instance on dealing with anti-semitism among immigrant youth. The Task Force was commended by the Expert Commission on Anti-Semitism as an exemplary network : AJC-University of Frankfurt Pilot Study on Holocaust Education The path-breaking University of Frankfurt pilot study, conducted at Frankfurt schools in , identified growing gaps between the teaching of the Holocaust and actual knowledge of the subject by an increasingly diverse student body. The study, initiated and supported by AJC, recommended new approaches to reach pupils who grow up in an era with few Holocaust survivors and influenced ever more by the media. A 2003 academic conference in Frankfurt focused on the findings of the study, which set new para meters for Holocaust education : Study on Israel s Image in the Media The release of an AJC-commissioned study, The Mideast Coverage of the Second Intifada in the German Print Media, with Particular Attention to the Image of Israel, uncovered anti-semitic and anti-israeli clichés in reports about Israel, as well as a lack of historical contextualization. The analysis, prepared by the Duisburg Institute for Language and Social Research, was the first major study to examine this subject. The analysis, created controversy at the time of its release; scholars later deemed it a defining study for the ways in which it revealed underlying assumptions and prejudices in some media coverage of the Mideast conflict : Cooperation with the Central Council of Jews in Germany (Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland) In 2003, AJC leadership met for the first time with the late Zentralrat President Paul Spiegel and the full executive committee of the Zentralrat. Bothsides deemed the meeting a milestone. The meeting built on decades of relations, documented in a 1954 letter by AJC Honorary President Jacob Blaustein to German Jewry pledging that AJC would do its best to draw attention to the situation of Jews in Germany. AJC Berlin and the Zentralrat have cooperated on numerous projects, including OSCE work combating anti- Semitism, a 2005 joint Russian-Jewish leadership seminar, a 2010 international conference, Jewish Dimensions of 1989/90 and the current Protecting Memory pilot project to protect Holocaust mass grave sites in the western Ukraine. 2003: Defusing Transatlantic Tensions about the Iraq War AJC Berlin s Ramer Institute convened a timely series of roundtables with journalists to examine the impact on transatlantic relations of German media coverage on Iraq. The meetings brought together key journalists troubled by the growing tensions and helped bridge transatlantic divides on the war : AJC-Böll Foundation Joint Seminars on Issues of Remembrance, Anti- Semitism and Transatlantic Cooperation on Iran and Israel In response to a wave of European anti-semitism, AJC Berlin s Ramer Institute and the Heinrich Böll Foundation held a special high-profile series of meetings in to raise public awareness about anti-semitism. The resulting recommendations were published in Action against the New Old Antisemitism. Since then, the two organizations have hosted thought-provoking events on issues of historical memory and shared responsibility for democracy. In 2012, AJC Berlin and the Böll Foundation launched an ongoing European roundtable dialogue on sanctions against the Iranian nuclear program, with the participation of policymakers from Berlin, Paris and London : German Opinion Leaders Exposure Trips to Israel The AJC Berlin office launched an ongoing series of information trips to Israel for government officials, parliamentary staffers, journalists, academics and NGO representatives, in cooperation with AJC s Project Interchange Institute : Hands Across the Campus In the fall of 2003, AJC s Berlin office, together with the Berlin State Institute for Education and Media and the Berlin state government, and with additional support from the Federal Alliance for Civic Education, launched a three-year pilot project adapting the AJC core values education program used in numerous U.S. schools, Hands Across The Campus, for German high school

7 students. An updated version of the popular program was issued in In the fall of 2010, AJC and its partners, together with the Society for Democratic Education, issued the grade-school version, Hands for Kids, which the Berlin government in 2013 reprinted for all 365 public grade schools in the city. AJC and its German education partners also launched the highly popular annual Children s Conference on Human Rights in 2010, which more than a thousand children from Hands schools have attended. Following the 2009 Israeli Cast Lead Operation in Gaza, and in response to ongoing Palestinian terrorism, the Hands team has offered special background seminars for teachers : Coordination Meetings on Israel Advocacy in Germany AJC Berlin s Ramer Institute launched an ongoing series of occasional meetings bringing together directors of organizations working to promote a better understanding of Israel in Germany. The meetings are chaired by AJC Berlin Director Deidre Berger and the German-Israeli Society s President Reinhold Robbe, and serves as a platform for exchanging information about upcoming events related to Israel and responding to political developments that impact public opinion. 2004: NGO Forum Berlin AJC and the Central Council of Jews in Germany launched a one-day seminar, prior to the highlevel OSCE Berlin Conference on Anti-Semitism, that defined the conference issues. These included new manifestations of anti-semitism, such as exaggerated criticism of Israel and extremism in the Muslim community. The seminar concluded with an NGO resolution signed by dozens of organizations and individuals that contained recommendations for concerted action on the part of the OSCE, national parliaments, NGOs and other institutions to combat anti-semitism. Some of the recommendations were adopted at the subsequent OSCE Berlin conference. The seminar was co-organized with the Amadeu-Antonio Stiftung, the Centre for Research on Antisemitism at the Technical University Berlin, the Heinrich Böll Foundation, and Honestly Concerned, with additional support from the Konrad Adenauer and Friedrich Ebert Foundations and the Academic Forum of Social Democracy of Berlin and Brandenburg. It established procedures for NGO participation that has since become a standard feature of OSCE conferences on the fight against anti-semitism and other forms of hatred : Raising Public Awareness of Iran s anti-israel Al-Quds Campaign in Europe In 2004, AJC supported an emerging coalition of NGOs that were exposing the anti-israel nature of the annual Iranian Al-Quds celebration, enabling them to convene an international conference in Berlin in Further cooperation with the coalition led to the AJC Berlin publication, in German, English and French, of Anti-Semitism Made in Iran : The International Dimensions of Als-Quds Day, which revealed the extent of anti-israel propaganda spread by Iranian government supporters throughout Europe : Law Enforcement Training Seminars on Anti-Semitism, Islamic Extremism and the Mideast Conflict In connection with the 2004 Al Quds Campaign, the AJC Berlin Ramer Institute and the Berlin Police Academy organized a daylong seminar for Berlin police commissioners on Iranian anti-semitic propaganda. Subsequent training seminars organized with the Berlin Police Academy and the Community Security Trust, London, have focused on relations with minority communities and extrem- ism in the Islamic world. In cooperation with the OSCE s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), AJC Berlin organized a Polish-German-British seminar for law enforcement professionals on February 27, 2012, entitled Preventing and Responding to Hate Crimes: Presentation of Good Practices in Poland and Germany : Turkish-Jewish Young Professionals Roundtable Building on a continuing dialogue established by the AJC Berlin Ramer Institute in 2001 with representatives of the German Turkish community, AJC Berlin started an ongoing roundtable for young professionals from the German-Turkish and German-Jewish communities. This popular forum, the only one of its kind in Germany, meets several times a year to explore issues of joint interest, defining common ground while respecting historical and societal differences : The Political Salon AJC Berlin Director Deidre Berger and Green Party politician Cem Ozdemir launched a salon for writers, politicians, film directors, and other public figures coming from immigrant backgrounds with the aim of bringing new perspectives into German politics. The discussion prompted some participants to publish articles on diversity in Germany. 2006: Holocaust Denial: The Holocaust in Transnational Memory AJC initiated and supported the conference, organized by the German Federal Agency for Civic Education in cooperation with the Berlin Center for Research on Anti-Semitism, that examined the international ties amongst Holocaust deniers. The conference took place on December 11, 2006, the same day as a Holocaust denial conference staged by the Teheran government. The event was the first of an ongoing series of biannual conferences on trends in Holocaust research : NGO Integration Summit berlin In the summer of 2006, AJC Berlin s Ramer Institute convened more than 30 dele gates from NGOS representing various ethnic and religious groups in Germany. The summit was planned to shadow a national summit organized by the Federal Chancellery on issues of integration and diversity. Members of the NGO Integration Summit met for a year, producing a paper presented to the press on May 30, 2007, entitled For a New We in Germany: Migrant and Minority Organizations Take A Stand on the Migration and Integration Debate. 2007: Antisemitism and Racism in European Soccer Sparked by security measures taken for the World Soccer Cup championship in Germany in the summer of 2006, AJC Berlin was the first to undertake a comprehensive review of the problem of hate on European sports fields. The brochure surveyed the dimensions of the problem in various countries, highlighting as well emerging initiatives to combat prejudice in sports, concluding with suggestions of measures that might bring the matter greater public attention : AJC Young Leader Visits to Germany AJC Berlin and AJC ACCESS, with support by the German economics ministry, launched an ongoing series of visits to Germany by emerging AJC leaders and AJC Goldman Fellows. Since 2008, there have been multiple visits per year in cooperation with Germany Close Up, AJC ACCESS and AJC Berlin.

8 2008 : European Forum on Antisemitism AJC Berlin launched an electronic forum for representatives of Jewish communities in Europe to exchange information and advice on monitoring and combating incidents of anti-semitism. The forum was launched via an opening conference at the German Parliament, with support from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. There were representatives from ten European countries. The most recent conference, in August 2012, outlined mounting challenges for European Jewish communities. 2008: Translation of the Working Definition of Anti-Semitism into 33 Languages In December 2008, the AJC Berlin office, in conjunction with its European Forum on Antisemitism, made available translations in 33 languages of the European Union Monitoring Center s Working Definition of Anti-Semitism. The definition identifies certain forms of criticism of Israel as forms of anti-semitism : Launching of Jewish Educators Circle AJC Berlin brought together Jewish educators from Jewish and non-jewish schools to discuss classroom treatment of Jewish history, ethics and continuity, as well as Holocaust instruction and the depiction of Israel. The network provides a discussion space for reflection on these matters and serves as a platform for participants to advise governments and parliaments. 2009: AJC Suit Against Amazon Regarding Anti-Semitic Literature In July 2009, AJC s Berlin office filed suit against Amazon Germany for selling dozens of anti- Semitic books that are banned in Germany. Although Munich prosecutors later dropped the charges, Amazon stopped selling the books shortly after the suit was filed : Protecting Memory: Preserving and Memorializing the Holocaust Mass Graves of Eastern Europe The AJC S Berlin office launched Protecting Memory: Preserving and Memorializing the Holocaust Mass Graves of Eastern Europe, a pilot project, in Generously supported by the German Foreign Office, the project will create memorials and educational materials for five sites in the western Ukraine. AJC Berlin is spearheading a European coalition of key partners, working closely with the Central Council of Jews in Germany and the German War Graves Commission, to focus greater attention on the mass shootings of Jews in Eastern Europe, a long-neglected chapter of the Holocaust : AJC Israel and Jewish Life Program with the German Military In 2010, AJC Berlin s Ramer Institute launched a program for officers at German military academies to deepen understanding of Jewish- German-American history and culture. The annual program, which takes place alternately in Berlin and Israel, intensifies the 19-year-old partnership between the two institutions, focusing attention on joint efforts to advance transatlantic strategic affairs, promote democracy and raise awareness about Israeli security : AJC-Allianz Third Generation Initiative in Cooperation with Germany Close Up AJC s ACCESS young leadership program, AJC Berlin, Germany Close Up and Allianz launched a novel German-American-Jewish leadership program for young German managers and American Jewish professionals to explore German-Jewish relations, learn about Jewish life in Germany, and serve as multipliers for strong transatlantic relations. The program, which takes place in Germany, brings together German and American counterparts for a week of intensive reflection on commonalities, differences and new paths for the future : International Conference Jewish Dimensions of 1989/1990 Twenty years after the fall of the wall, this major event in Berlin on March 25, 2010, brought together Jewish leaders from nine countries to evaluate the dramatic changes in Jewish life triggered by the collapse of the former Soviet Union. The conference was organized by AJC Berlin s Ramer Institute and the Central Council of Jews in Germany, with support from the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility, and brought together participants from the Jewish world with political opinion leaders. The conference program reviewed the impact of unification on Jewish communities in Europe, the contribution of Jewish communities to the unification process, and attempts to better secure and protect Jewish life in contemporary Europe. 2011: Survey on European Hate-Crimes Legislation On June 10, 2011, AJC unveiled Prosecuting Hate Crimes In the U.S. And Europe: A Comparative Study, written by lawyers at Hogan Lovells offices in Europe and the U.S. The study examined legislation related to hate crimes in Germany, France, Poland, the United Kingdom, the U.S. and the European Union, examining as well cases where the legislation has been applied. The study concluded that existing legislation could be used more effectively to combat manifestations of hatred and anti-semitism : AJC Berlin Launches Occasional Background Briefing Series on Mideast Affairs Starting with the background briefing paper United Nations Admission of Palestine? An Analysis of Possible Consequences, AJC Berlin launched a well-received series of background research papers in German and English on Mideast affairs for members of parliament, government officials, journalists and other public opinion leaders : Launching of AJC-LISUM Active Against Antisemitism Curriculum Together with the Berlin State Institute for Education and Media, AJC coordinated an innovative curriculum project on Jewish life, Holocaust issues and Mideast topics, bringing in angles of special interest to youth with minority backgrounds. 2012: Combating Efforts to Outlaw Circumcision in Germany In response to a June 2012 Cologne court judgment that ruled circumcision to be a criminally liable procedure, AJC produced a report that helped shape debate on the legal and medical consequences of circumcision. AJC Berlin s Facts and Myths about the Circumcision Controversy exposed distortions, fallacies and prejudices in claims made by anti-circumcision activists about alleged medical dangers of male circumcision. In a 2012 acceptance speech for the Berlin Jewish community s highest award, Chancellor Angela Merkel singled out the AJC Berlin report in remarks on the circumcision controversy.

9 15 Years of Partnership and Advocacy Making a Difference