Past events of the International Relations Program
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| AJC bids farewell to Hon. Paulina Kapuscinska, Consul General of the Republic of Poland |
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AJC's Los Angeles office bid farewell to Counsul General of the Republic of Poland, Hon. Paulina Kapuscinska at a reception at the home of Doris Haims. The lovely setting of Doris' backyard, complete with the Polish national colors, seved as a perfect backdrop for the celebration of Hon. Kapuscinska's accomplishments, friendship and career. Sherry Weinman, Chairperson of the Board, recalled the trip to Poland she and other AJC leaders took with Hon. Kapuscinska a year ago, while Cantor Nate Lam praised Hon. Kapuscinska's professionalism, devotion and, above all, good heart. We wish Consul General Kapuscinska many years of illustrious diplomatic career!
Bedzie nam Ciebie brakowalo!
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(l to r) AJC/LA Office President Fredrick S. Levin, Hon. Paulina Kapuscinska, AJC Regional Director Seth Brysk, and Cantor Nathan Lam
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| Consular Corps Tour of Jewish Los Angeles 2009 |
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On May 15, 2009, AJC/LA hosted its 6th Annual Consular Corps Tour of Jewish Los Angeles, which was attended about representatives of 14 consulates. This year’s program featured two main themes: Jewish organizations offering a helping hand to the community at large and an introduction to the Iranian-American Jewish community.
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This year’s program started at AJC’s LA Office and featured presentations from Jewish leaders and institutions such as: Rabbi Elliot Dorff of American Jewish University, as well as Wendy Marantz-Levine from Bet Tzedek and Nancy Volpert from Jewish Family Service. Our first site visit was at Beit T’Shuvah where consular guests were given the opportunity to meet the leadership and some of the residents of this inspirational facility. Marcie Goldstein, AJC Executive Committee Member, gave a presentation about City of Hope National Medical Center en route to our second site visit, the Nessah Synagogue. There the group listened to presentations from Chief Rabbi David Shofet, Dr. Saba Soomekh, and Jasmine Oberman, one of the founders of 30 Years After.
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This year’s Consular Corps Tour concluded with a generously hosted exclusive Shabbat dinner for the diplomats and their spouses at a private home, where guests enjoyed traditional Iranian hospitality and indulged in Iranian cuisine and music.
For information about previous Consular Corps Tours click here. |
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| Consul General of Azerbaijan Elin Suleymanov addresses AJC Board of Directors |
| On March 18th 2009 AJC’s Board of Directors was honored to host Consul General Elin Suleymanov of Azerbaijan at its meeting. During his enlightening presentation Consul General Suleymanov discussed his country’s geo-political situation in the light of the policies of the United States and Europe. His presentation underscored Azerbaijan’s commitment to maintaining the friendship between Azerbaijan and the State of Israel, as well as with the United States. Consul General offered praise for AJC and its steadfast stance for issues of importance to democratic and free world. |
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Consul General Elin Suleymanov addresses Board of Directors
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| CAIFC delegation visits Los Angeles |
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Hon. Xu Jialu with Cliff and Marcie Goldstein, dinner hosts
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On January 12th 2009 AJC met with a delegation from the China Association for International Friendly Contact (CAIFC). CAIFC is an organization consisting of senior Chinese leaders which fosters relationships with foreign NGOs.
The delegation was led by Hon. Xu Jialu, former Vice-Chairman of the People's National Congress. Hon. Xu is considered one of the national leaders of China and a Chinese scholar of Jewish history. Other members of the delegation included Mr. Shen Weiping, CAIFC Vice President, Mr. Song Enlei, CAIFC Deputy Secretary General, Mr. Martin Wu Zhang, CAIFC Executive Counselor. The topics of conversation ranged from common cultural interests and traditions to energy security issues. |
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L to R: Gosia Szymanska, Marcie Goldstein, Neil Sandberg, Barry Sanders, Enly Sung, Seth Brysk, Xu Jialu, Fredrick Levin, Cliff Goldstein, Shen Weiping, Mike Liwen Yue
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| AJC UCLA Conference Focus on Polish Jewish Relations (January 2008)AJC UCLA Conference Focus on Polish Jewish Relations (January 2008) |
| Leading international scholars, Polish and Israeli government dignitaries, leaders of both the Polish American and Jewish communities and Master of Ceremonies, Broadway's Theodore Bikel gathered Tuesday at The Regency Club in LA to hear highlights from the AJC sponsored conference"From Past to Present: The State of Research in Polish Jewish Relations" at UCLA. |
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Los Angeles Chapter Executive Director Seth Brysk spoke of our chapter's role in initiating the conference and the opening night reception/photo exhibit at UCLA Hillel "Polish Heroes: Those Who Resc
ued Jews". The Under Secretary of Poland from the President's Office, Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka, as well as the Consul General of Poland in Los Angeles Paulina Kapuscinska delivered remarks, as did the Ambassador of Israel to Poland David Peleg. |
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Conference participants - UCLA Professor David Myers (conference organizer), the Honorable Adam Daniel Rotfeld (Former Polish Foreign Minister) and Dr. Erica Lehrer (Concordia University, Montreal) gave the conference report on the challenging relationship in past and present, an optimistic assessment for the future, and Myer's acknowledgement of the scholarly courage of the Polish academics. As a fitting finale, Theodore Bikel closed the luncheon program with the singing of "If We Only Had Love" in Hebrew and English. All participants received a copy of AJC's book Difficult Questions in Polish-Jewish Relations (co-written with our partner in Poland Forum for Dialogue Among Nations and translated by Dr. Erica Lehrer).
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| AJC Honors Ambassador Salaheldin, Consul General of Egypt (July 2008) |
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| Co-chair of the Israel Affairs Committee of the LA Chapter Honey Kessler Amado, AJC LA Executive Director Seth Brysk, Ambassador Salaheldin, and former San Francisco Executive Director Ernie Weiner |
A luncheon to express the appreciation of the San Francisco and Los Angeles AJC chapters, who have worked in close liaison with Egypt's Consul General, Ambassador Abderahman Salaheldin, was held in AJC's San Francisco Board Room. In addition to a full delegation of San Francisco chapter board members and their guests, representatives of the L.A. chapter attended and participated in the meeting. In addition, some fifteen leaders in the Egyptian community were the invited guests of Ambassador Salaheldin.
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| AJC says 'Adieu' to Consul General Philippe Larrieu of France (July 2008) |
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Held at the lovely Hollywood Hills home of Madeline and Bruce Ramer, this farewell to the outgoing French Consul General Philippe Larrieu featured French food, wine, and heartful praise for his service to Los Angeles. Au Revoir Philippe! |
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 Read and view the experience of AJC members Bert and Phyllis Massing who traveled to Poland on the invitation of the Polish Government on an unique exchange mission.
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| 2007 Diplomatic Marathon |
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| A delegation of chapter leaders traveled to New York to participate in AJC's "Diplomatic Marathon", a two week period when the United Nations General Assembly is in session and AJC is able to meet with the Foreign Ministers, Heads of State and Ambassadors of over 70 countries. Los Angeles leaders sat in on meetings with countries such as Austria, Hungary Uruguay, Uzbekistan, and The African nation Berkino Faso and were able to ask questions and present AJC's concerns regarding Iran's nuclear threat, Darfur, the anti-Israel bias within United Nations, maintaining a special representative on Anti-Semitism within the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Hezbollah and the UNIFIL:force in Lebanon, Syria and Iran's role with terrorism and much more. Click here to read about AJC member Shelley Rivlin's experience as a diplomat. |
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