Human Rights & Public Policy

We continue our long tradition of advocacy and action on domestic and international issues. Our connections at global seats of government, from city to city, nation to nation and continent to continent, ensure leaders pay heed to our concerns.

With our team of policy experts around the globe, B’nai B’rith is well positioned to have expertise and access in the domestic and international arenas.

At the United Nations, we play a leading role as a non-governmental organization.
At the various venues of the United Nations, B’nai B’rith is a forceful presence in the defense of Israel. During the conflict in Gaza, the United Nations was particularly one-sided in its resolutions and condemnations—holding Israel, but not the terror group Hamas responsible.

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Our volunteers and staff engaged in exhaustive direct advocacy with numerous ambassadors, in New York and Geneva, with heads of state as well as with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Using our long history at the United Nations as a guide, we took the lead advocating for the inclusion of Yom Kippur on the official United Nations calendar, writing an op-ed in the New York Times on this initiative.

Our human rights work spans continents: B’nai B’rith collaborated with partners on a Capitol Hill event protesting the unjust International Court of Justice opposition to Israel’s counterterrorism fence. We also held a major event at UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, promoting the Judeo-Spanish language (Ladino).

At our program at the United Nations on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, we advocated for interfaith solidarity by focusing on Albanian Muslims’ and Christians’ extraordinary rescue of Jew‎s during World War II.

In June, B’nai B’rith leaders engaged with United Nations officials in New York for our U.N. Days programming, meeting with two-dozen ambassadors and other senior diplomats from around the globe, including nation-members of the U.N. Security Council. These meetings help remind the United Nations leadership and agencies that someone is looking over their shoulder and will hold them accountable for unjust decisions and resolutions leveled at Israel.

In the spring, we sent our annual leadership delegation to Geneva to address key issues facing the United Nations Human Rights Council including the council’s singular mistreatment of Israel, the increasingly disastrous humanitarian situation in and around Syria and Iran’s ever-present threat to global security.

During the Gaza conflict, B’nai B’rith was in touch with global leaders and spoke out publicly to ensure the international community understood the conflict was a result of Hamas’ aggression and offensive actions. B’nai B’rith leaders met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to express support for Israel.

Throughout the year, we actively engaged in Congressional outreach, using new online tools to connect thousands of B’nai B’rith members and supporters to their congressional representatives on important pieces of legislation pertaining to Israel, including increased funding for Iron Dome, Israel’s missile interception system that saved thousands of lives from Hamas rockets.

In Europe, B’nai B’rith is a member of a European Parliament advisory board’s working group on anti-Semitism, which is striving to act with other European and national institutions to train law enforcement and use other legal tools to fight anti-Semitism. We briefed European parliamentarians, the European External Action Service and the European Commission on issues such as EU-Israel relations, the Gaza War and anti-Semitism in the EU. Member of the European Parliament and newly appointed Chair of the European Parliament Delegation for Relations with Israel Fulvio Martusciello visited Israel for the first time at the invitation of B’nai B’rith International. Working directly with the B’nai B’rith World Center in Jerusalem, his delegation met top Israeli lawmakers. Major issues raised during the meetings included EU-Israel relations, the Iranian threat and the latest on anti-Semitism throughout Europe.

Through our Cuban Jewish Relief Project, B’nai B’rith organized two missions to Cuba this year to help the small Cuban Jewish population with unmet needs such as medical supplies and educational materials, as well as to help support Jewish retirees. We have hosted missions to Cuba since 1995 to engage in religious activities and provide support to the local Jewish population.

Our long and close ties with the Vatican ensure interfaith conciliation, which we hope will lead to greater understanding and acceptance across religious lines. B’nai B’rith was present during Pope Francis’ visit to Israel in the spring, offering us a unique perspective on the efforts of this pope to keep the lines of interfaith dialogue free and open. This level of access demonstrates how our longevity and resourcefulness make us a key player on the global stage.

We later met in New York with the Vatican secretary of state, affirming our acute concern for persecuted Christians in the Middle East.

Our commitment to advancing Israel’s place in the world and improving its relations with other nations is unparalleled. B’nai B’rith leaders took part in a historic three-country visit to Israel, Cyprus and Greece early this year, accompanying representatives from two American-Hellenic organizations. We analyzed the strategic and emerging relationship between the three countries by discussing critical issues with senior government officials in each. The trip has led to solid ties between the American Jewish and Hellenic communities.

Later in the year, we accepted the Humanitarian Award from the Greek American body AHEPA—the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association. The group recognized our efforts “defending human and civil rights and religious freedom,” and for providing “humanitarian, spiritual or physical relief to those in need,” as well as for our advocacy on behalf of seniors. B’nai B’rith is the first non-Greek organization to receive the honor.

B’nai B’rith International members and supporters gathered in Panama City, Panama, for the 2014 B’nai B’rith Policy Forum, the second time the forum has been held outside of the United States. Those in attendance were joined by a number of high-profile speakers, including Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela (addressing the Panamanian Jewish Community for the first time since taking office), former Uruguayan President Julio Maria Sanguinetti and Israeli Minister of Intelligence and Strategic Affairs Yuval Steinitz, among others.

B’nai B’rith leaders, volunteers and supporters from 16 countries attended the forum which featured an opening ceremony at the Panama Canal.