NEW YORK, March 1, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In response to a full-page ad in today's New York Times, sponsored by the Emergency Committee for Israel, AJC issued the following statement:

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No one from the sponsoring group, an ideologically-driven organization to judge from its ads and other public activities, sought AJC's consent to include reference to us in today's ad. We want to make this absolutely clear to readers of the ad.

Yes, our comments on the Center for American Progress (CAP), which were cited, were in the public realm. That is not, however, the point at issue.

Rather, it is the blatant attempt to use a specific quote in a particular context to advance a broader political agenda. AJC is a strictly non-partisan organization. We are not affiliated with any political party, nor do we march in lockstep with any particular ideological camp.

AJC's quoted comment came in response to a Jerusalem Post reporter's question, last December, about perceived bias against Israel in several specific CAP media products. Since then, senior CAP representatives have acknowledged the inappropriateness of such bias, and assert they have instituted procedures – including personnel changes – to safeguard against its recurrence in CAP media.

We will continue to monitor CAP publications, as we do the output of other prominent think-tanks across the political spectrum. And we will continue to speak out when the views of our non-partisan agency are used for patently partisan purposes.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee

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