The Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council is an interfaith,

bipartisan Bipartisanship, sometimes referred to as nonpartisanship, is a political situation, usually in the context of a two-party system (especially those of the United States and some other western countries), in which opposing Political party, politica ...

collaboration established by the

American Jewish Committee The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a civil rights group and Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the wi ...

and the Islamic Society of North America in early fall 2016. Its 46 members are business, religious, and political leaders from all over the United States. The council's actions include creating "a coordinated strategy to address anti-Muslim bigotry and

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

" and to "protect and expand the rights of religious minorities" in the United States. More recently the council has turned its focus to

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...

advocacy targeting the rise in hate crimes based on religion in the United States. The co-chairs of the council are Stanley Bergman, the CEO of Henry Schein, and Farooq Kathwari, the CEO of

Ethan Allen Ethan Allen ( – February 12, 1789) was an American farmer, writer, military officer and politician. He is best known as one of the founders of Vermont and for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga during the American Revolutionary War, and wa ...

. According to Bergman, "Our two communities share much in common and should find ways, where possible, to work together for the benefit of the entire country." Kathwari has said, "The Council aims to provide a model for civic engagement by two communities, vital to American society, that agree to work together on issues of common concern and overlapping interest." While the strategic need for the communities to work together is longstanding, discussions around the creation of the council began in the summer of 2016. AJC began reaching out to Muslim partner organisations and friends. In November 2016 the Islamic Society of North America and the

American Jewish committee The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a civil rights group and Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the wi ...

launched their first meeting. The council decided to focus on advocacy and on bringing together council members from each group to meet and get to know each other, as well as to discuss the group's mission and goals as a new council.

Goals

The council has two main goals: # "Reversing the rise in hate crimes"; # "Promoting the contributions of religious minorities to America".

Members

There are forty-four members of the Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council, including the two co-chairs of the board. These members include business, political, and religious leaders in the American Jewish and American Muslim communities.

Regional expansion

In addition to the National Council, MJAC has expanded across the United States with local regional councils. As of 2020, there are 11 regional councils in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

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Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, New York,

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, and

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Regional councils bring together local business, professional, civil society, and religious leaders from both communities to work on issues of common concern.

References

External links

Official websiteNPR: Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council Bridges Religious Lines To Fight DiscriminationJews and Muslims in US seek solidarity AP: Amid conflict, Jews and Muslims in US seek solidarity
{{authority control American Jewish Committee Organizations established in 2016 2016 establishments in the United States Jewish political organizations Islamic political organizations Interfaith organizations Islamic and Jewish interfaith dialogue