AJC Global Forum, Celebrating 110 Years of Jewish Advocacy, Convenes June 5-7 in Washington

NEW YORK, May 25, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice, European Union Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini, and Mexican Foreign Secretary Claudia Ruiz Massieu will headline the World Leaders Plenary at the AJC Global Forum 2016.

The AJC Global Forum is the advocacy organization's signature annual event, currently bringing together more than 2,600 participants from across the United States and 70 countries around the world. This year's Global Forum marks 110 years since AJC's founding, and the attendance is the highest in the agency's history.

"Our annual Global Forum is a unique, energizing, highly informative experience, a must for engaged Jewish advocates," said AJC CEO David Harris. The AJC Global Forum will take place June 5-7, in Washington, D.C. The program is available at www.ajc.org/globalforum.

Among the other world leaders who will speak during the 48-hour conference are Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Corker (R-TN); MK Isaac Herzog, chair of the Zionist Union and head of the opposition in the Israeli Knesset; Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer; Ilir Meta, Speaker of the Albanian Parliament; and Katharina von Schnurbein, the European Commission's coordinator on combating anti-Semitism.

Yossi Klein Halevi, Senior Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute, will kick off the AJC Global Forum on June 5 with an address on the "Jewish World of Tomorrow," followed by a panel discussion with Jeffrey Goldberg, national correspondent for The Atlantic; Richard Haas, president of the Council on Foreign Relations; and Julia Ioffe of Politico.

For the seventh annual AJC Global Forum "Great Debate," U.S. Representative Steve Israel (D-NY) and Republican strategist Dan Senor, author of Start-Up Nation, will make the case for which political party Jewish voters should favor in this year's elections.

Confronting rising anti-Semitism will be addressed by MP John Mann of the British Labour Party, recipient of AJC's Jan Karski Award in 2009, and the mayors of Baltimore, MD, Newton, MA, and Thessaloniki, Greece, three of the 497 U.S. and European mayors who signed AJC's Mayors United Against Anti-Semitism statement.

Leading Israeli journalists will discuss the future of the Jewish state. They are Boaz Bismuth of Israel Hayom, Herb Keinon of The Jerusalem Post, Amir Oren of Haaretz, and Dana Weiss of Israel TV Channel 2.

Three college students will share their experiences confronting the BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement against Israel on campus: Anthony Berteaux of San Diego State University; Daniella Greenbaum of Barnard College; and Jonathan Kamel of Northwestern University.

The ongoing mistreatment of Israel at the UN will be explored by Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon in conversation with AJC CEO David Harris. Former Israeli Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor will also be participating in several sessions.

During the Global Forum, AJC will present its prestigious Moral Courage Award to three remarkable individuals:

• Vian Dakhil, a Yazidi member of Iraq's Parliament, whose impassioned speech to fellow lawmakers in August 2014 garnered international attention to the ISIS genocide of the Yazidis.
• Michel Bacos, the pilot of the Air France jet hijacked to Entebbe, Uganda, 40 years ago, who refused to obey the terrorists' directive to leave with the released non-Jewish passengers, and instead stayed with the Jewish, mostly Israeli, hostages.
• Tzvi Har-Nevo, the lead navigator in the July 4, 1976, Israeli commando Entebbe rescue operation that freed 91 passengers and the Air France crew.

In addition, a special highlight each year for AJC Global Forum attendees is the opportunity to engage with top officials directly in a series of private dinners. This year there are more than 40 such dinners with ambassadors from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.

Among those participating in this year's AJC Global Forum will be all 50 consuls general of Mexico serving in the U.S.; diplomats from many countries stationed in Brussels and Israel; student leaders from the European Union of Jewish Students, World Union of Jewish Students, and other international student groups; a large delegation of Muslim students from Azerbaijan; and hundreds of members of ACCESS, AJC's young leadership program.

Moreover, AJC Global Forum attendees will participate in informational and training sessions before leaving the hotel on Tuesday afternoon for advocacy sessions on Capitol Hill.

Earlier on Sunday, June 5, before the AJC Global Forum officially opens, AJC ACCESS members will gather for a round of sessions. In addition, more than 130 college and university students attending the AJC Global Forum will convene for an afternoon of workshops dedicated to their particular concerns.

AJC, founded in 1906 and with headquarters in New York, maintains 22 regional offices across the United States, 10 overseas posts, and 32 international associations.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee

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