(JTA) — Jewish groups applauded the introduction of a bipartisan bill in the Senate to sanction Burmese officials responsible for the persecution of the Rohingya people. The legislation calls for the United States to take a number of measures in response to the violence against the Rohingya perpetrated by the Burmese government. Sens. Ben Cardin,…
The first time I heard Cynthia Nixon was running for governor of New York, I was unsure what to think. Previously, I knew her only as an actress from Sex and the City and as the mother of one of my classmates. Sure, I’d heard about her activism, but taking on Andrew Cuomo? Seemed like…
As I have every August in recent years, I am busy preparing my children to return to school. While I am excited for them to continue learning and growing, I can’t help but think about the millions of children—especially girls—in other parts of the world who are denied the right to an education. Tragically, many…
Two weeks ago, I was in Haiti visiting AJWS’s grantee partner Kouraj, which is the Creole word for “courage.” What an apt name for an organization led by courageous activists who are fighting for a very simple human right that still eludes people in more than 70 countries around the world. That right is the…
NEW YORK (JTA) — Three Jewish groups called on President Trump to keep the United States as a signatory in the United Nations’ Paris climate change agreement. The Union for Reform Judaism, the American Jewish World Service and the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life joined 20 other religious groups in urging Trump to…
“America has established for itself a tradition of fine, open-handed generosity in its response to appeals for help that come from beyond its borders. The respect for human rights, the understanding of the dignity of the individual, the reverence for personality, which are part of the American way of looking at life, carry with them…
Almost immediately after Heidi Feldman, a professor at Georgetown Law, learned that Donald Trump had been elected president, she decided to make a range of donations to organizations that supported civil liberties. “In addition to supporting more general organizations,” she said, “I thought it was important, with the rise of anti-Semitism and anti-black rhetoric, to…
The hallmark of a good leader is not simply what she does while in office. It’s how she chooses to leave. The announcement in October that Ruth Messinger was stepping down after 17 years as president of American Jewish World Service wasn’t a complete surprise — despite her formidable stamina and almost youthful enthusiasm, she…
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