ajwsstaff

AJWS Staff


Alarming Statistics About Attitudes Toward LGBTI People

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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492 Rabbis Join AJWS and JCPA to Urge President Obama on Sudan

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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International aid groups support food aid reforms proposed by Chairman Ed Royce and Ranking Member Karen Bass

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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From Genocide to Justice: Upholding Human Rights in Guatemala

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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From Genocide to Justice in Guatemala: Despite Conviction of Former General for Genocide, Human Rights Are Still At Risk in Guatemala

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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The Bar on Food Aid Reform has been Raised – The Senate and House Must Act

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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Chag v’Chesed: Holiday Dvar Tzedek, Shavuot 5773

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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Statement for attribution from Ruth Messinger, President of AJWS, in response to agribusiness industry attacks on proposed food aid reforms

New York, NY; May 1, 2013—We are not surprised to see lobbyists for Big Ag come out with guns blazing against President Obama’s forward-looking proposal to reform U.S. food aid to poor countries. The proposal would feed at least 4 million more people without costing taxpayers an extra dime. The special interests that oppose the …

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A (tentative) win for food justice activists!

Originally posted on the blog of the Brooklyn Food Coalition. This looks good. As part of the 2014 Budget Request released last week, President Obama included a proposal that would overhaul America’s international food aid system. It’s not a perfect proposal and it still needs to be approved by Congress, but it’s a huge leap …

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