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 parties find co ...

collaboration established by the

American Jewish Committee The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a 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 dean of American Jewish org ...

and the

Islamic Society of North America The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) is a nonprofit organization based in Plainfield, Indiana. It provides a number of programs and services to the Muslim community and broader society. ISNA holds an annual convention which is generally re ...

in early fall 2016. Its 46 members are business, religious, and political leaders from all over the United States. The Council focuses its

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

advocacy on reversing the rise in hate crimes based on religion in the United States. The council's actions includes creating "a coordinated strategy to address anti-Muslim bigotry and

anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

" and to "protect and expand the rights of

religious minorities A minority religion is a religion held by a minority of the population of a country, state, or region. Minority religions may be subject to stigma or discrimination. An example of a stigma is using the term cult with its extremely negative co ...

" in the United States. More recently the council has turned its focus to fighting the rise in hate crime, advocating for Congress and the Department of Justice to strengthen laws against hate crimes. The co-chairs of the council are Stanley Bergman, the CEO of

Henry Schein Henry Schein, Inc. is an American distributor of health care products and services with a presence in 32 countries. The company is a '' Fortune'' World's Most Admired Company and is ranked number one in its industry for social responsibility by ' ...

, and

Farooq Kathwari Farooq Kathwari (born 1944) is an Indian-American businessman who is currently the CEO of Ethan Allen. Life Kathwari moved to the United States from Kashmir, India in 1965. He is the Chairman, President and Chief Executive officer of Ethan Al ...

, the CEO of

Ethan Allen Ethan Allen ( – February 12, 1789) was an American farmer, businessman, land speculator, philosopher, writer, lay theologian, American Revolutionary War patriot, and politician. He is best known as one of the founders of Vermont and for ...

. 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

and the

American Jewish committee The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a 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 dean of American Jewish org ...

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's two main goals are as follows, # "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 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 the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

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 ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, D.C. 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