For this month’s Stories of Hope, we’re shining a light on a truly inspiring story: AJWS is turning 40. Our beloved organization was founded in 1985 as the only Jewish American movement reaching beyond our own community to support human rights activism around the world. We stand in solidarity with some of the most oppressed people on Earth — and help them to fight for their rights and a better future.
In the past 40 years, AJWS has addressed some of the most critical human rights issues of the modern age, from child marriage in India to the brutal genocide in Darfur and the Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh. And we’ve made measurable change — our funding, advocacy and accompaniment work have changed laws, saved lives and shifted longstanding social norms.
But I’m getting ahead of myself! My name is Nathalie Rubens — I’m an AJWS trustee. I first joined the AJWS global community in 2014, when I traveled to India and was immersed in the incredible work of our partners fighting for gender equality and the right of young women to have autonomy over their bodies and their lives. Witnessing this work up close changed my life — it gave me hope that tikkun olam, or the Jewish value of repairing the world, isn’t just a trope. It’s real work, happening right now, made possible by AJWS. I knew I had to be a part of it.
For Stories of Hope this month, I wanted to spotlight a few AJWS partners that truly light me up — stories that inspire me and give me faith in the future. Even as we watch our own government act callously and cruelly towards vulnerable people in the U.S. and around the world, AJWS partners are fighting for justice and equity. And if they refuse to quit, so will we.
We’ll begin in Guatemala, where AJWS supports the national movement for Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Last month, AJWS published an on-the-ground report from the streets of Guatemala City, where our partners mobilized hundreds of Indigenous survivors of the country’s brutal genocide to march on the capital and demand that justice finally be served. I was moved by the power of their protest — the kind of grassroots activism we need in the U.S. to resist Trump’s authoritarian rule. Watch our video here!
More Stories of Hope
- As a photographer myself, I was blown away by the passion and creativity behind “Activism Through the Artist’s Lens,” AJWS’s collaboration with local photographers capturing our partners’ work. In “Lanceurs d’Eveil” (or “Whistle Blowers”), you’ll meet the brave, young activists of FILIMBI, a pro-democracy movement in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The power of these images reflects the power of their movement: striking and unshakeable.
- In 2019, I traveled with AJWS to Senegal and met with the women peacemakers in Casamance — a region wracked with conflict for decades. The strength, resilience and determination of these women has stayed with me in the years since. Read this story to understand why.
- My journey with AJWS began in India, which is where I’ll leave you. Jyoti is one of the many young women who, thanks to AJWS partners, has boldly claimed her most basic rights — the right to decide who she marries, and when. Her story is a reminder of why AJWS’s mission is mine as well.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for being a part of AJWS’s global movement for justice. We face daunting challenges right now, and there’s no looking away. AJWS has been fighting for 40 years to repair our broken world. We have all the tools we need — let’s prepare for the fight of our lifetimes. Stay engaged, stay informed, and if you can, contribute to our critical work around the world right now.