American Jewish Committee’s (AJC) 2024 Global Forum in Washington, D.C., brought together more than 2,000 Jewish and pro-Israel advocates from over 50 countries — and more than 30 from Kansas City.
The local delegation is the largest local group to date to attend the yearly forum.
This year’s AJC Global Forum, held from June 9 to 11, was dubbed “the global Jewish advocacy event of the year” by AJC and featured plenaries with world leaders and headline speakers, as well as access to ambassadors, dignitaries, policy experts and politicians on Capitol Hill.
The Jewish Community Relations Bureau|AJC (JCRB|AJC) — a hybrid of both a local, antisemitism-combatting community relations agency and AJC — was represented by its entire staff and many of its board members.
“I am immensely proud that the Kansas City delegation of 30 was the largest we’ve ever had at this event,” said Harvey Kaplan, a former chair and current board member of JCRB|AJC. He is also a member of the AJC National Board of Governors and AJC’s Transatlantic Institute in Brussels, Belgium.
Kaplan highlighted Global Forum engagements such as hearing inspiring stories from parents of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and people who lost family members in the Oct. 7 massacre and subsequent war. He also emphasized the importance of hearing from world leaders such as Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, U.S. Congressman Ritchie Torres, co-chairs of the House Abraham Accords Caucus and student leaders from Colombia and Germany who stood up to anti-Israel protestors, “from whom we learned that we are not alone in this fight.”
“During this challenging, unprecedented moment for global Jewry, having KC’s largest delegation to date attend Global Forum affirmed that we all play a critical role in combating antisemitism in the Heartland,” said Sarah Markowitz Schreiber, JCRB|AJC’s director of education and programs. “After attending Global Forum, our community’s leaders of all ages are now more informed, empowered and energized to help us fulfill JCRB|AJC’s mission to combat antisemitism and pursue justice here at home.”
In addition to JCRB|AJC President Barry Kaseff, Vice President Daniel Singer, Treasurer Stewart Stein and staff members, many from the organization’s board members attended the Global Forum.
“I was blown away by how inspiring, substance-oriented and well-executed Global Forum was,” said Allison Berey, a JCRB|AJC board member. “It was thrilling to meet people from around the world, hear from experts on combating both antisemitism and anti-Zionism, and learn of AJC’s impressive range of tangible initiatives aimed to support us all at this crucial time. It was a delight to experience this all with our strong KC delegation, and I felt so proud to represent our Kansas City JCRB|AJC Board and local Jewish community.”
Information and highlights from this year’s forum are available at ajc.org/globalforumnews2024.
Next year’s AJC Global Forum will be held in New York City from April 27 to 29, and Kansas City will send another delegation.
“My goal for next year is 50-60 [people in the delegation], including high school students who have completed AJC’s LFT (Leaders for Tomorrow) program, along with college students and members of ACCESS, the young person’s division of AJC,” Kaplan said. “...There is nothing like the Global Forum to witness the depth and breadth of AJC activities and to see and learn from the amazing AJC staff.”
More information about JCRB|AJC is available at jcrbajc.org.
