When I visited Bangladesh a few weeks ago, I heard heart-wrenching stories from some of the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people who have fled atrocities in Myanmar. I met women who had been raped by soldiers, children who had seen their parents shot dead before their very eyes, and families who had lost everything. …
Read MoreAs the stakes become ever higher for global human rights defenders, the international organizations supporting them feel the strain of protracted conflicts, impunity, and funding shortages. An estimated 197 land and environmental human rights defenders were killed in 2017 — and this number likely falls short, according to Robert Bank, chief executive officer of the …
Read MoreThe commandment most repeated in the Torah is to care for the other and the stranger. What exactly does this mean today when we know so much about the state of the world and how many are in need? It can feel overwhelming. It is understandable when people say their obligation is to care for …
Read MoreBlack Lives Matter. #MeToo. Students protesting gun violence. At times, a grassroots movement spreads like wildfire, and well-targeted funding looks like a good way to add fuel to the flames. But funding thrown blindly can harm rather than help. So how do you fund the grassroots well? For many funders, including those internationally focused, this …
Read MoreMAGALIE LAGUERRE-WILKINSON: Welcome to Ethics Matter. I’m Magalie Laguerre-Wilkinson, and joining us today is Robert Bank, CEO and president of American Jewish World Service (AJWS), which works to end poverty in the developing world and support human rights. Mr. Bank has made it his life’s work to combat just those things, and he joins us today to …
Read MoreIt was his own personal evolution that has led Brad Sugar to expand his horizons to include the entire world rather than just the Jewish world. Skokie native Sugar’s own enlightenment enables him to care about, and corral others to do the same, about people under dire stress halfway around the world in Myanmar (Burma) …
Read MoreAs members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee begin hearings on whether to confirm Mike Pompeo as secretary of state, they will consider dozens of objections from Muslim groups — and a number from prominent Jewish ones. Both accuse him of maligning Muslims.
Read MoreLiberal Jewish groups are speaking out against two of President Donald Trump’s top foreign policy picks, John Bolton and Mike Pompeo. Bolton began Monday as Trump’s national security adviser. Trump last month nominated Pompeo, his CIA chief, to be secretary of state. The American Jewish World Service and the National Council of Jewish Women joined …
Read MoreJust a few weeks ago, I returned from a unique experience in India, meeting with American Jewish World Service grantees in and around Hyderabad and Bangalore. I. Dedicated to ending poverty and promoting human rights in the developing world, the organization has a special focus on working to advance the rights of women and girls, …
Read MoreWhat defines the Jewish people? While some have argued that Jews are defined as a race or a religion, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the former chief rabbi of the British Commonwealth, posits that the Jewish people are united over a common story — the story we tell ourselves every year about slavery and freedom.
Read More