David A. Harris

David A. Harris
Born	1949
Nationality	American
Occupation	Executive Director, American Jewish Committee

David A. Harris (born 1949) is the executive director of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations in the United States.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Background 3 Accomplishments 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Biography

Harris grew up in New York, in a secular Jewish home, and attended the Dwight School, known formerly as the Franklin School. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1971, and did his doctoral studies at the London School of Economics and Oxford University (St. Antony's College). He began working for AJC in 1979, but left to work for the National Conference on Soviet Jewry. He returned to the AJC in 1984, and has served as its executive director since 1990.

He is married and the father of three children: Daniel, Michael and Joshua. They currently reside in Chappaqua, New York. ^[1]

[edit] Background

In the course of his extensive career in Jewish communal work, he has traveled throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America to monitor the condition of Jewish communities, combat anti-Semitism, advance Israel's diplomatic standing, and promote international human rights and interreligious and interethnic understanding.

He was central to the emigration of over one million Jews from the Soviet Union and was described by the Washington Post as "one of the leading spokesmen" for the Soviet Jewry movement. In the course of this work, he was twice detained by Soviet authorities and expelled from the country on one of those occasions. He was asked by the Jewish community to serve as the national coordinator for the historic Freedom Sunday for Soviet Jewry, the 1987 demonstration in Washington that drew over 250,000 participants, the largest Jewish gathering in American history.

In 2003, Harris received the first Lifetime Achievement Award from the Russian Jewish community in the U.S. for "his lifelong dedication to the physical and spiritual return of Soviet Jews to the Jewish people."

Harris was also involved in a behind-the-scenes role in the rescue of the Ethiopian Jewish community in the early 1980s, before the historic Operation Moses of 1984-1985.

He was a key figure in the successful sixteen-year struggle to repeal the infamous "Zionism is racism" resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1975, only the second time in UN history a resolution was actually repealed. And he spearheaded the American Jewish Committee's successful campaign to correct Israel's anomalous status at the UN—as the only nation ineligible to sit on the Security Council—and to include it in one of the UN's five regional groups, which determine the all-important committee assignments.

He has been described as one of the foremost American advocates for Israel's political and diplomatic standing, meeting frequently with world leaders to discuss issues affecting the Middle East. In this regard his efforts were credited by the Japanese government for bringing about change in Tokyo's stance on its longstanding adherence to the Arab boycott against Israel and toward a more balanced approach to the larger Arab-Israeli conflict.

[edit] Accomplishments

He has testified before the United States Congress in both the House and the Senate on several occasions regarding the Middle East, NATO expansion, Russian and Soviet affairs, and anti-Semitism, as well as before the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the French, German and Italian Parliaments.

He is a recipient of the French Légion d'honneur, personally awarded to him by French Foreign Minister Phillipe Douste-Blazy in New York, in addition to the highest public service awards from the governments of Poland, Germany and Bulgaria: in 1999, he was honored by the Polish government for his efforts concerning NATO expansion, in 2000 by the German government for his contribution to German-Jewish and German-American relations, in 2001 and again in 2002 by the Bulgarian government for his contribution to transatlantic relations, in 2004 by the German armed forces for creating a unique partnership between the German military and the American Jewish Committee and twice in 2005 by the French government for his commitment to democratic and humanistic values.

In 2000-2002, he was a visiting scholar at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. In 2003, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Hebrew Union College. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Harris was formerly the chairman of the advocacy group UN Watch and is now, as of 2009, the executive director of the group.^[2]

In 2007, the President of Latvia, Vaira Vike-Freiberga, awarded him the Order of the Three Stars. This Order is conferred in recognition of outstanding civil merit in the service of Latvia.

He is the author of seven books, namely The Jewish World, Entering a New Culture and five volumes of In the Trenches, and co-author of an eighth, The Jokes of Oppression. He has written scores of articles, op-eds, letters and reviews in leading newspapers and magazines. Since 2001, he has had a regular spot on the CBS Radio Network, a weekly radio commentary, reaching 30-35 million listeners. This is also available as a podcast.

In 2008, Harris attended the World Economic Forum at Davos and was the first American Jewish leader ever to contribute at a plenary session. The session, entitled "Faith and Modernization", also featured Tony Blair, Rick Warren and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi of Malaysia.^[3]

He meets regularly with world leaders and contributes frequently to The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, International Herald Tribune, and various other media outlets. Harris also has a popular weekly blog on the Jerusalem Post.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• University of Pennsylvania Alumni Magazine [1]
• Official website
• Biography on AJC.org
• Weekly podcast