In total, 28 American rabbis and social justice advocates participated in a human rights lobbying day organized by American Jewish World Service. They urged officials to take action on three human rights issues. They are advocating for human rights in Guatemala; justice for the Rohingya people in Burma, who have suffered genocide; and an end …Read More
Read MoreSocial justice advocates meet with leaders of Congress and the State Department to lobby for three pressing issues in the developing world Twenty-eight American rabbis travel to Washington, D.C. next week as part of a human rights lobbying day organized by American Jewish World Service (AJWS), the leading Jewish organization supporting advocates for human rights and …Read More
Read MoreAmerican Jewish World Service Welcomes Introduction of an Act That Would Impose Sanctions on Current and Former Guatemalan Officials American Jewish World Service (AJWS) Director of Government Affairs Rori Kramer issued this statement following the introduction of the Guatemala Law and Accountability Act in the House and Senate: “As the leading global Jewish organization that supports …Read More
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In January, AJWS’s Global Justice Fellows traveled to Guatemala for an immersive lesson in moral courage and activism. This cohort of 15 rabbis passionate about social justice met with many AJWS grantees—from journalists and midwives, to attorneys and human rights defenders—who are leading movements to curb corruption, create a free press, advance women’s rights, and …Read More
Read MoreThe liberal Jewish community has been part of the so-called Trump resistance for two years now, especially on the immigration issue. Delegations of like-minded rabbis have traveled to the southern border to protest the administration’s policy of separating families and connect with activists there.
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“We are telling the truth. We want to be heard, and we want justice,” said a petite, elderly woman to a room full of journalists and human rights activists in Guatemala City on February 13, 2016. A survivor of sexual slavery during Guatemala’s decades-long civil war, the woman’s face was obscured by a Mayan scarf to protect her identity.
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Seeking justice for bloodshed in the name of development
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Hundreds of Maya Achi people were murdered to make way for a dam in Guatemala. Decades later, their families finally find justice. Back in 1982, Carlos Chen Osorio was a young man with a family: his wife, Paulina, and their toddler children, Enriqueta and Antonio. Paulina carried their third child inside her, and expected to …Read More
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Indigenous communities work together to defend their land and way of life. In Guatemala, indigenous people whose families have lived and farmed in one place for generations are now facing rapid encroachment on their land and way of life. Many Mayan communities lack official land titles, despite obvious historic and cultural ties to their land. …Read More
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This week, we are pleased to welcome guest writer Rabbi Brent Chaim Spodek. Everybody wants something. There are very few of us who have reached the level of equanimity that we are happy with what we have; the rest of us want things that are still out of our reach. For oppressed peoples, the most …Read More
Read MoreThis week, we are pleased to welcome guest writer, Dvar Tzedek alumnus Guy Austrian. Rock by rock, stone by stone, each one passed hand to hand along a human chain of young Jews and indigenous Guatemalans: our energy was high on this beautiful day during our AJWS delegation to rural Guatemala. We cleared a riverbed …Read More
Read MoreHundreds of young Mayan students gathered with their teachers and a small group of New York Jews, standing in a wide circle as we observed an astonishing spectacle. Rivulets of bubbling candle wax streamed onto the ground. Flowers withered and crumpled in smoke and flames. A priest of the Maya Achi tradition presided over the …Read More
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