Antisemitism in America is rising, becoming more commonplace and more violent. Ranging from threatening Jewish people on the streets to a constant barrage of online hate—it impacts your staff, board, volunteers, those you serve, their families, and our entire community.

Recognizing that antisemitism poses a threat to democracy, the White House recently released the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, which adopts a “whole-of-society” approach to addressing antisemitism in America. Based on AJC’s comprehensive Call to Action Against Antisemitism, the National Strategy provides concrete examples of what businesses can do to stem the tide, such as including antisemitism awareness and training in diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) curricula. It also calls on employers to educate andshare information about Jewish American heritage, culture, and history.

American leadership—from public, private, and nonprofit sectors—has a critical role to play in fighting all forms of hatred, including antisemitism. That fight begins with understanding the problem, learning about the diversity of the Jewish community, and empowering people to speak out.

Training Components

Participants will:

• Develop an understanding of the Jewish community and its diversity
• Who are Jews?
• What Israel means to Jews
• Roots and causes of antisemitism
• How antisemitism manifests today, including in the workplace
• State of antisemitism in America and around the world
• The line between criticism of Israel and antisemitism
• Understand how antisemitism impacts the country and democracy

Trainings include:

• How antisemitism differs from other forms of hate and bigotry
• How to recognize antisemitism and its current manifestation
• Action steps and tools to combat antisemitism

Facilitator:

Dr. Saba Soomekh serves as AJC's Director of Training and Education. She came to AJC after twenty years as a professor and university administrator. She received her BA in Religious Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. Her Masters in Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School and her Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Dr. Soomekh teaches and writes extensively on World Religions, Women and Religion, intersectionality and its impact on the Jewish community, and the geo-politics of the Middle East. She is a graduate of the 2021 Fellows Program at King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID), an inter-governmental organization that promotes inter-religious dialogue to prevent and resolve conflict. In the summer of 2019, Dr. Soomekh was a Scholar-in-Residence at Oxford University with the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy.

Professor Soomekh is the editor of the book Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews in America and the author of the book From the Shahs to Los Angeles: Three Generations of Iranian Jewish Women Between Religion and Culture. Her book was awarded the Gold Medal in the 2013 Independent Publisher Book Award in the Religion category.

She was also featured in an NPR story on Iranian Jews in America entitled "For Persian Jews, America Means 'Religious Pluralism At Its Best' and the Times of Israel wrote a piece on her entitled “Iranian Scholar Breaks Stereotypes While Studying Them.”

About AJC American Jewish Committee

AJC is the global advocacy organization for the Jewish people. AJC has worked with civil society and government leaders for over 115 years to combat antisemitism and all forms of bigotry. With anti-Jewish hate on the rise, AJC develops resources and conducts trainings to help businesses and their employees raise awareness, recognize antisemitism, and address it using a variety of tools. Audiences include elected officials, law enforcement, law firms, tech platforms, sports teams, investment management firms, hospitals, higher education institutions, and nonprofits.