How Jewish community influences politics and policies

Seminar on ‘Making a Difference: Jewish Approaches to Political Advocacy’

Approximately 40 people, community activists and other guests gathered at the American Jewish Committee’s national headquarters in New York for a seminar on how a community approaches political activism and furthers its policy goals in the local, state and national arenas.

The Oct. 29 event, ‘Making a Difference: Jewish Approaches to Political Advocacy,’ was sponsored by The American Jewish Committee (AJC), New York Chapter, The American Jewish Committee Belfer Center for American Pluralism, and The Indian American Center for Political Awareness (IACPA). The American Jewish Committee was founded in 1906 and its mission is to safeguard the welfare and security of Jews in the United States, in Israel and throughout the world. The Belfer Center for American Pluralism is a department of the AJC. The IACPA was founded in 1994 and is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the Indian-American community in the U.S., and its mission is to increase political awareness in the Indian-American community and encourage participation by community members in American democracy.

At the seminar, Kapil Sharma, Washington Associate of IACPA, said Indian Americans have been wanting to emulate the Jewish model for political awareness, and while discussions between the two communities have been going on for some time in Washington, D.C., IACPA wanted to extend such meetings to New York as well. Following are excerpts from the presentations of Ralph Nurnberger, Washington Associate, IACPA; Richard Foltin, legislative director and counsel, AJC; Norman Stein, board of governors, AJC; and Ron Soloway, director of public affairs, UJA-Federation of New York.
Full article...