Mandy Patinkin, stage, screen and television actor (Che Guevara, Inigo Montoya, Saul Berenson), and Ruth Messinger, president of American Jewish World Service and democratic mayoral challenger to Rudy Giuliani in 1997, talk about their recent trip to Cambodia to meet with human rights and labor activists.
Read MoreThe conversation started with a simple question: how do you celebrate your birthday? Go drink beers with friends, enjoy some cake, they answered. And the birthdays of their friends? Again, cake, beer, gifts. But when asked about the birthdays of their sisters, the men, ages 19 to 20, didn’t have as much to offer. Most …
Read MoreAs an attorney and Uganda human rights activist, America’s elections thrill me. It is breathtaking to witness democracy in full roar, as candidates vie for the nation’s highest office. In Uganda, we hold elections on Feb. 18, and our eight candidates for the presidency are fiercely vying, too. But their ferocity is different; it may …
Read MoreIn a rare and welcome display of bipartisan support, the United States Congress just passed the Electrify Africa Act, ensuring the continuation of the Obama administration’s Power Africa initiative to expand access to electricity in Africa. Now that this legislation will become the law of the land, we urge the U.S. government to succeed by asking …
Read MoreI write a lot here about all of the disturbing and upsetting things going on in the world, but a few weeks ago, I met someone from Burma who inspired hope. I thought to myself, “Hmmm! This is a good opportunity to share with our GrokNation community a story that isn’t depressing, that there are …
Read MoreThe Dominican Republic’s treatment of people of Haitian descent resembles the discrimination Jews have faced through their history, said a group of U.S. rabbis who visited the Caribbean island Thursday. Hundreds of thousands of Dominicans of Haitian ancestry have been threatened with deportation by the Dominican government, which stripped them of their citizenship through a series of …
Read MoreRuth Messenger, who is completing her tenure as the chief executive officer of American Jewish World Service (AJWS), discussed her agency’s priorities over the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend at Congregation Beth Israel, where she was a Shabbaton speaker. She also met with the Leichtag Foundation in Encinitas as well as with some local LGBT …
Read MoreTo the Editor: As a Haitian activist, I commend The Times for covering the desperate situation in Anse-à-Pitres (“Haitian Migrants Flee Dominican Republic for Camps Along Border,” news article, Dec. 13). You accurately describe the plight of these 3,000 people — mostly Haitian migrants — who have fled the Dominican Republic in terror from the …
Read MoreIn the developed world, women fought and struggled to gain their rights and eventually created a space in which these rights could be expressed. Violence does indeed occur in the developed world, but it cannot be compared to what is happening in countries that are plagued with persistent, systematic conflict. Women in the developed world …
Read MoreTikkun olam-repairing the world. For American Jewish World Service President and CEO Ruth Messinger, this core Jewish value resides deep within her DNA-and tikkun olam is the force that created and has driven AJWS for the past 30 years. AJWS, a grantee of JUF, focuses on aiding vulnerable populations suffering from pressing human rights violations, …
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