Nuclear Iran, global anti- Semitism dominate AJC forum

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release) – For the first time in its long history the Jewish people enjoys a secure and independent Jewish state as well as a free and vibrant Diaspora, but it also faces unprecedented challenges that can and must be addressed. That was the message that Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, the recently retired Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, conveyed in his State of the Jewish World Address to an audience of more than 2,000 at the opening of AJC’s Global Forum.

Rabbi Lord Sacks identified three looming threats to the Jewish people. One is the resurgence of anti-Semitism, especially in Europe, where it places the very future of Jewish communities in doubt. Second, he noted the campaign to delegitimize the State of Israel by impugning its very right to exist. This effort, he said, has become the new anti-Semitism, which targets the Jewish state rather than the Jewish “faith” or “race.” He identified the third threat as Iran, which supports anti-Israel terror groups, continues to pursue its nuclear program, and has stated its determination to wipe Israel off the map.

Rabbi Lord Sacks argued that Jews around the world must realize “the victim cannot stop the crime by himself,” and seek friends and allies. Anti-Semitism is bad for other minorities as well, he pointed out, and for society as a whole. The vast majority of victims of Islamist terror are other Muslims, and the Christian population of the Middle East has declined from 20% to 4% as a result of Islamist pressure. He said, “We will fight for the right of Christians to live without fear, but we need Christians to fight for Jews’ right to live without fear as well. We will fight against Islamophobia, but we need Muslims to fight against Judeophobia.”

Rabbi Lord Sacks emphasized the importance of Jewish solidarity and self-confidence in confronting the dangers facing them. “How can we expect the world to love us if we can’t love one another?” he asked. After all, while all Jews “do not share the same faith, we all share the same fate.” And he cited the example of AJC, with its long record of advocacy for the Jewish people as a whole, as an example of such solidarity. He went on to define Judaism as “celebration,” declaring, “We never loved power—we loved life.” Renewed recognition that Judaism is “less oy and more joy,” he suggested, would strengthen Jewish determination to persevere and prevail.
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Senator John McCain (R-Arizona), addressing the AJC Global Form, made an impassioned plea for American leadership in the world and global engagement.

“Withdrawal from the world is a luxury we can’t afford, not now, not ever,” said the 2008 Republican presidential candidate, since “if America does not lead, others will, and they will most likely be those who seek to do us harm.”

He was critical of the Obama administration’s position on Iran’s nuclear program, asserting that it was “intellectually dishonest” to claim that anyone opposed to current American policy was a warmonger.

“No responsible person is opposed to a diplomatic solution,” he said, but it would be disastrous to get a “bad deal” that leaves Tehran with nuclear capacity, adding, “I fear that is where we are headed.”

Senator McCain said he could “not recall another time in my life when our international challenges have been more complex and uncertain.” Particularly in the Middle East, the old order has collapsed, and extremists, whom he described as “anti-Semitic and hostile to Israel and the U.S.,” were on the rise.

The Senator acknowledged that “record numbers of Americans want to pull away from the world” due to the country’s unfortunate experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan, but that it was the responsibility of the country’s leaders, both Republicans and Democrats, to act on the knowledge that “the expansion of freedom, democracy and prosperity not only makes our world more just, but also more secure.”

Senator McCain stressed the importance of the U.S.-Israel relationship, noting that the two countries share common values and democratic traditions, and are similarly threatened by Islamic extremism.

The situation in Ukraine also drew the senator’s attention. “Shame on all of us,” he said, if the U.S. does not send “military assistance” to the Ukrainian government as it confronts attempts by Russia to undermine its sovereignty.

McCain also spoke of his long-time relationship with AJC, noting that the organization “has always spoken with moral clarity” and that “no organization has done more for the freedom and justice of the Jewish people and the Jewish state than AJC.”

He added that AJC’s global advocacy “has played a critical role in advancing American leadership in the world, and you must continue to do so.”
The Senator received AJC’s Congressional Leadership Award in 2002.

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Laurent Fabius, foreign minister of France, delivered a powerful speech to the AJC Global Forum on the Iranian nuclear threat, efforts to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace, the war in Syria and rising anti-Semitism.

With the July 20 deadline to achieve a comprehensive agreement on Iran’s nuclear program looming, Fabius was clear on his country’s firm posture. “France wants an agreement, but it is clear that we shall not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons,” he said.  “The P5+1 group must remain united” in negotiations to “guarantee the exclusively peaceful nature of the Iranian program.”

On the Syria civil war, Fabius said the France is determined to “halt the regime’s attempt to gain control by military force, with the help of Iran and Russia.” He called Assad’s re-election effort “a tragic farce devoid of any legitimacy.”

Fabius also stressed that the Syria conflict has global security implications. The growing power of terrorist groups “is a threat to the whole world because the jihadist networks will not stop at their borders.”

Fabius expressed support for Secretary Kerry’s efforts to achieve a negotiated Israeli-Palestinian peace, and France’s support for resuming the talks. “The security of Israel is by no means negotiable,” said Fabius, “but we know that it would be reinforced by a negotiated settlement.”

Fabius’s appearance at the AJC Global Forum comes at a time of rising anti-Semitism across Europe, and the foreign minister acknowledged that France is not immune. But he declared that racism and anti-Semitism “constitute a violation of human dignity,” and reaffirmed that his government is taking actions to counter such hate.

Even one act of anti-Semitism “represents a blow to France,” he said. “France has assembled a legal arsenal which places it at the forefront of the struggle,” including a measure to counter racist content on the internet.

He also spoke about Holocaust remembrance, noting that the year 2014 marks the 70th anniversary of the last departure from France of a train carrying deportees to the Nazi camps. Since President Chirac declared, in 1995, French responsibility for the deportations, compensation mechanisms have been established for victims.

France is also seeking to establish, in cooperation with the U.S. government, “compensation for Holocaust victims deported from France who were not eligible for benefits of the French reparation regime,” he said. “These negotiations, which aim in particular to respond to issues raised before American courts, are being carried out in a constructive manner and are progressing rapidly.

AJC leaders last met with Fabius in February at the Foreign Ministry in Paris. AJC maintains an office in Paris, headed by Simone Rodan-Benzaquen.

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AJC presented its Moral Courage Award on Tuesday, May 13, to Latifa Ibn Ziaten for her determined efforts to counter the influence of radical Islam and other extremism in France.

Ziaten’s son, Imad, a French soldier, was murdered in March 2012 by Mohammed Merah, a terrorist who went on to kill another two French soldiers, and then a Jewish teacher and three children at a Jewish school in Toulouse within a week after Imad’s death.

“I am very honored to receive this award,” said Ziaten. “This recognition is important for the fight I lead for peace between peoples and the fight against all forms of violence and hatred.”

Her son’s murder prompted Ziaten to probe the conditions and thinking that underlie the kind of hatred that motivated Merah to brutally kill seven people. “It was necessary for me to try to understand the reasons for my son’s death,” she said. What she discovered, initially by visiting with youths in the neighborhood where Merah had lived, was frightening — disaffected youths existing in difficult socio-economic situations, full of hatred towards France, Jews and others, and susceptible to twisted ideologies that promote hate and violence.

Determined to ensure that another Merah does not emerge and wreak violence in France, she established, in April 2012, the Imad Ibn Ziaten Association for Youth and Peace. During the past two years, Ziaten has visited dozens of schools to meet with students and teachers, as well as inmates in juvenile prisons. “I am going into difficult neighborhoods to talk to those young people,” she said.

Ziaten has also been in contact with AJC France, directed by Simone Rodan-Benzaquen, who has established a network of Jews and Muslims, working together for dialogue and pluralism, and against racism and anti-Semitism.

Presenting the award to Ziaten, Rabbi David Rosen, AJC’s International Director of Interreligious Affairs, said, “Latifa has overcome the enormous grief of personal tragedy and, with remarkable courage and fortitude, demonstrated that evil can be fought if only we choose to act.”

Recently, Ziaten also has focused on preventing French youngsters from joining jihadi groups in Syria. Several hundred French Muslims already are in Syria fighting. French authorities, like their counterparts elsewhere in Europe and the United States, are gravely concerned about the potential dangers when they return, after being exposed to further radicalization and violence in the Syrian civil war.

Past recipients of AJC’s Moral Courage Award include Tatyana Sapunova, a Russian who suffered serious injury when removing a booby-trapped anti-Semitic sign in Moscow; and Mithal al-Alusi, an Iraqi politician who, after visiting Israel, lost his two sons to the murderous hands of other Iraqis opposed to his outreach.

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Cyprus is poised to play a greater role in the Eastern Mediterranean, and further deepen its links with Israel and the United States, Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides told the AJC Global Forum at a plenary Tuesday evening.

Kasoulides praised AJC for “helping advance our ties with Israel and the United States.” Those relations, rooted in shared values of democracy and freedom, have led in recent years to a significant expansion in political, economic and security cooperation.

“We have a responsibility to play a more active role in our immediate region, the Eastern Mediterranean, leveraging our excellent relations with our neighbors toward greater regional stability and prosperity,” said Kasoulides.

The discovery of substantial hydrocarbon deposits between the island nation of Cyprus and Israel has created new opportunities for the Cypriot economy and for expanding relationships with countries in the region, as well as with the U.S. and EU. “The enormity of investment required to exploit this offshore treasure creates an impetus of its own toward greater cooperation,” he said. Several U.S. and Israeli energy companies are already involved in the project of extracting the natural gas.

“Natural gas can become for the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean what coal and steel was for Europe…which was the precursor of the European Union,” said Kasoulides. He noted that 2014 marks a decade since Cyprus’ accession to the EU.

For Cyprus, the discovery is a “game changer,” said Kasoulides. “It makes it potentially possible for Cyprus to undergo improvements that will affect all its citizens and serve as a catalyst for the reunification of the island.” Cyprus has been divided for 40 years, since the Turkish invasion and occupation of the northern third of the country in 1974.

Kasoulides emphasized that close, cooperative Cypriot-Israeli relations go back decades. “In Cyprus, Israel recognizes a steadfast, stable and predictable partner, one that is democratic, moderate and discreet — a reliable partner through thick and thin,” he said.

In 2013 alone, there were 14 high-level visits to Israel, including one by President Anastasiades shortly after taking office. The more than 30 bilateral agreements signed in recent years have “established a solid framework for substantive cooperation in all fields,” he said.  And he noted the role of Israeli engineers and agricultural experts in the 1950s and 1960s in “the development of our industries.”

Speaking ten days after Israel and world Jewry observed Holocaust Remembrance Day, the foreign minister recalled the experience of many Holocaust survivors who were interned in British-run camps in Cyprus after London blocked their entry to Mandatory Palestine.

“For many in Cyprus and Israel, the experience of the internment camps has brought our two peoples closer together,” he said. “Those bonds are now in their third generation, with the 2,000 children born in those camps, passing on to their grandchildren their friendship and love for Cyprus.”

In closing, the foreign minister expressed hope for a resumption of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. “For us, as for all our partners in the European Union, a better tomorrow for a secure Israel is the creation of a friendly, viable Palestinian state, which comes about as a result of negotiations, and not by unilateral actions.”

AJC leadership delegations have regularly visited Cyprus since the 1980s, often together with Hellenic-American leaders. During the most recent visit in March, President Anastasiades hosted the group, which included AJC President Stanley Bergman and Executive Director David Harris, for a private dinner in his home and the foreign minister attended.

“Our relationship with the American Jewish Committee…is a relationship of genuine friendship, appreciation, mutual respect and common interests,” said Kasoulides.

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Cooperation between the United States and Israel on “security, and especially intelligence, is better than ever,” Yuval Steinitz, Israel’s Minister of Intelligence, told the AJC Global Forum. “In the last few years, under the Obama Administration, the relations have become so close, so intimate, for the benefit of both sides.”

The Israeli Cabinet minister focused his remarks on the Iranian nuclear threat, the peace process, and Israel’s “remarkable” achievements since independence in 1948.

Steinitz stressed that despite occasional differences of opinion between Israel and the U.S., the two allies are engaged in an “ongoing dialogue” over how to get Iran to give up its nuclear program. He agreed wholeheartedly with President Obama’s statement that “no deal is better than a bad deal.”

Before the Israeli minister spoke, Prime Minister Netanyahu delivered a video message from Jerusalem in which he emphatically told the AJC Global Forum that the Iranian nuclear threat is the “main” agenda item, and urged the global Jewish advocacy organization to continue its efforts to press for maximum pressure on Iran to dismantle its centrifuges.

Steinitz said that Israel insists on preventing Iran not just from developing a bomb, but from attaining the capability to do so, with complete transparency and international inspections in place. However, if the current negotiations do not attain these goals and Iran is allowed to keep its centrifuges and heavy water reactor, it would remain “a threshold nuclear power,” poised to quickly develop a bomb.

Steinitz cited the example of North Korea, which had agreed to freeze its nuclear program in 2003, and a few years later announced it had a bomb. He contrasted North Korea with Libya, whose infrastructure was dismantled, a much more secure option.

Furthermore, Iran’s neighbors, feeling threatened, would also launch nuclear programs, endangering the stability of the entire region. Should no satisfactory agreement be reached in the current P5 plus 1 talks with Iran, Steinitz reminded the audience, “We keep our right of self-defense.”

Looking back at Israel’s 66-year history, he called it “a kind of miracle” that in the face of the constant threat of terrorist attack and the need to allocate much of its budget to defense, Israel had over the past three decades alone more than doubled its population, developed its “strong, vibrant, hi-tech economy” to qualify for entrance into the OECD, and enhanced its international status by establishing relations with such major powers as China, India and Russia. “The country is flourishing and growing decade after decade,” he said.

“We are eager to make peace,” said Steinitz. He noted that 70-80 percent of Israelis are willing to cede territory in order to attain “genuine peace and real security” side-by-side with a Palestinian state. But such an agreement would have to mark a definitive end to the conflict, recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people—as formulated in the 1947 UN partition resolution—and enable Israel to patrol the Jordan Valley to prevent the smuggling of rockets and missiles.

Minister Steinitz placed the blame for the failure of the recent American peace initiative squarely on Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, “who suddenly decided to leave the negotiating table” after rejecting Secretary of State Kerry’s efforts to extend the talks beyond the April 29 deadline.

“Nobody should tell us that we need peace in order to survive, exist and flourish,” Steinitz declared. “We will survive. Israel will survive as a democratic Jewish state whether our neighbors will finally agree to accept it and make peace with us or not.”

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Preceding provided by the American Jewish Committee (AJC)