Washington,DC; June 3, 2013— American Jewish World Service released the following statement today after the Senate passed the Coons-Johanns Amendment to the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2013. “Today’s Senate passage of the Coons-Johanns Amendment is a victory for small farmers worldwide,” said Timi Gerson, director of advocacy for American Jewish World Service. …
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New York, NY; June 3, 2013— American Jewish World Service President Ruth Messinger released the following statement today in response to the passing of Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ). “Today we lost a great senator, a great human rights advocate and a great man,” said Messinger. “Frank Lautenberg embodied the idea that being Jewish means standing …
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A new report released last week by the Pew Research Center reveals alarming data about attitudes toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) communities around the world. Here are a few statistics that shine a spotlight on the countries in which AJWS works: In El Salvador, 35 percent of survey respondents believe the LGBTI …
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New York, NY, May 24, 2013 In April, Ruth Messinger, President of American Jewish World Service, and Rabbi Steve Gutow, President of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, sent a letter to President Obama calling on the US government to renew our commitment to Sudan. As the follow-up letter (viewable online here) indicates, 492 Rabbis …
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On Friday, May 10th, Guatemalans breathed a sigh of relief. Judge Yasmin Barrios read the verdict against Efraín Ríos Montt for the whole world to witness, and in solidarity, defenders of human rights from every corner of the globe sighed right along with them. In a landmark case, Ríos Montt was sentenced to 80 years …
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Washington, DC, May 16, 2013 This statement is delivered on behalf of the following endorsing organizations: American Jewish World Service, Bread for the World, CARE, Church World Service, the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network, Oxfam America and Partners in Health. The endorsing organizations listed above applaud bi-partisan legislation introduced yesterday by House Foreign Affairs Chairman Ed …
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The news from Guatemala on Friday evening, May 10 stunned the world—a Guatemalan court sentenced former general José Efraín Ríos Montt to 80 years in prison for genocide. While we are deeply gratified by this historic verdict, we know that much work remains to be done to ensure justice in Guatemala. Supporters of human rights …
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Statement by Ruth Messinger, President of American Jewish World Service on the Conviction of former General José Efraín Ríos Montt New York, NY; May 13, 2013— “We are deeply gratified that former Guatemalan dictator, General José Efraín Ríos Montt, was found guilty of genocide in the very country in which he committed his crimes and …
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Statement from International Aid Groups on Draft House and Senate Farm Bills May 10, 2013 (Washington, DC)—American Jewish World Service, Bread for the World, CARE, The Modernizing Assistance Network, Oxfam America and Save the Children released the following statement today in advance of the Senate and House committee mark-ups of the 2013 Farm Bill: “With …
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Ever since it was given over three thousand years ago on Shavuot, the Torah has offered Jews a vision of how the world should work. I was thinking about this vision this past December when I was asked to represent HIAS (the 120-year-old Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society) at a United Nations conference in Geneva dealing …
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