International Human Rights

Thumbs Up! Jewish Aussies Key Players in Aboriginal Apology

The unprecedented recent apology to Aborigines (indigenous Australians) by the country’s prime minister marked a national Yom Kippur of sorts. Australian Jews, who have been at the forefront of the reconciliation effort, applauded the official statement that acknowledged the “profound grief, suffering, and loss” inflicted on Aborigines. Read more about the Jewish activists who encouraged the Australian government to say, finally, “Sorry.”

Project Shinui—A Gateway to Change

Looking for a different, more meaningful way to get to know Israel? Project Shinui (in Hebrew it means “change”) offers tailor-made volunteering services across Israel for tourists, students, or people making aliyah, matching socially-minded volunteers with transitional placements that suit their needs, abilities, and interests. Working side by side with Israeli activists, Project Shinui volunteers gain first-hand knowledge of the complexities and challenges facing Israeli society by working for organizations that deal with civil rights, coexistence, women and society, immigrant absorption, sexuality and diversity, and animal rights. Coming to Israel? Take time out for social activism. Applications can be made individually or as a group from this site or by contacting Shinui@themerkaz.org

Torture is Not an American or a Jewish Value

“To be a beacon of justice to the world, our nation cannot continue to engage in enhanced interrogation techniques which in many cases have proven to be torture by another name.”
—Mark Pelavin, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism

The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism hailed the Senate vote opposing torture and called on President to sign the bill into law. “Congress has taken a major step toward ending U.S. sponsored torture by passing the Intelligence Authorization Conference Report,” said RAC associate director Mark Pelavin. “Jewish tradition teaches us that a spark of the divine exists within each individual. It is in that spirit that we have long opposed the physical or mental torture of any individual, for to do so defiles God’s creation.” For more on what you can do, contact Sean Thibault or Jonah Perlin, 202.387.2800, news@rac.org.

Breaking News! AJWS Stands With Persecuted People of Burma

The American Jewish World Service (AJWS) condemns the Burmese government for escalating its response to peaceful protest in Burma and for responding with violence, intimidation, and a media blackout. About 4,000 monks already have been rounded up and are being sent to prisons in northern Burma. There is still limited space available on the AJWS Study Tour to Thailand and Cambodia (October 29 - November 7, led by AJWS president Ruth Messinger). It will include a stop at the Thai-Burma border, where participants will meet with local activists to learn firsthand about the Burmese people's struggle for freedom and democracy.

The International Center for Conciliation: Mediating History, Making Peace

The International Center for Conciliation (ICFC) attempts to break the cycle of violence in communities divided by historically-rooted sources of past conflict, helping them to construct a shared future and build lasting social and political reconciliation. The Center is successfully engaged in mediation, training, and advocacy in countries such as Israel, India, and Cambodia. ICFC founder and president Hillel Levine says that one of the Center’s goals is to teach leaders – particularly in the Muslim world – how to become more effective by addressing the deepest dimensions of their conflicts, including intense hate and pained memory. “We are helping these leaders struggle more effectively with the problems of modernization and globalization and with their own people, as well as with building bridges with the Jewish people.”

The Plight of Jewish Immigrants from Arab Countries

“Jews in Arab countries were compelled to leave their homes because of circumstances that included terror and government edicts.”—Gary Ackerman (D-NY), May 8, 2007, Congressional Hearing on Capitol Hill

“I am a refugee from the Middle East, but I am not a Palestinian, I am a Jew,” explained Joseph Abdel Wahed, who was forced to leave Egypt in 1956. According to JIMENA (Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa, a grassroots group that seeks rights and redress for Jews from Arab countries), in 1948 nearly 900,000 Jews indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa lived in what are now known as the “Arab States.” Today, 99% of these indigenous Jewish communities no longer exist. Arab governments forced them to leave, confiscated their personal and communal property, and stripped them of their citizenships. Yet we rarely hear about the plight of this group of immigrants. For Action Alerts on the international Campaign for Rights and Redress for Jews displaced from Arab Countries, contact JJAC.

Petition Urges U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights to switch focus from Israel to Darfur

The newly formed United Nations Human Rights Council has passed eight one-sided anti-Israel resolutions (four more are planned) while ignoring the situation in Darfur, which the U.N. itself has admitted is the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Here is Simon Wiesenthal Center's petition, which you can sign, urging the Council to stop bashing Israel and instead focus on human rights abuses in Darfur.

Million Voices for Darfur

The Save Darfur Coalition, in cooperation with over 150 faith-based advocacy and humanitarian aid organizations, has launched a campaign to collect one million electronic postcards from Americans demanding that the US government support a stronger multinational force to protect the civilians of Darfur.

Darfur Educational Resources

The American Jewish World Service, a leader in the campaign for action in Darfur, has prepared numerous educational resources on the situation in Sudan for those interested in who want to put an end to the atrocities.

Video of Darfur from Physicians for Human Rights

In spite of the world's commitment to assure that after the Holocaust, the words "Never Again" meant that no people would ever be targeted for mass slaughter, genocide has indeed occurred in our time. In Cambodia, Iraq, Rwanda, Bosnia and now in Darfur, Sudan, brutal political leaders have organized and carried out the mass killing of civilians, earmarking them for destruction on account of their religion, race or ethnic identity. As Jews, we remember what happened while the world remained silent. We are taught not to stand by while our neighbor's blood is shed. Given our history and our tradition, we have a special responsibility to mobilize for the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide. My colleague, John Heffernan, at Physicians for Human Rights led a team to Darfur earlier this year. Here is his account, bringing home to all of us the striking images of our neighbors in Sudan, and of the destruction of a people and a way of life. According to the Talmud, each life is equivalent to a world. Please act to save Darfur.

• View the video
• Read latest news from the Save Darfur Coalition

Trafficking in Women: One Rabbi Speaks Out

By RABBI ELLEN LIPPMANN

Around the world, between 700,000 and 2 million women and children are trafficked each year – bought, sold, and transported across national borders to become sweatshop laborers, agricultural slaves, and prostitutes.