David Harris: Hero of our time

In 2007, before I met David Harris, it was beyond my imagination that being the one of the finest public servants of the Jewish world, a person, extremely influential with personal rapport with most of the World Leaders, would be so much down-to-earth, without minimum pride, but with lots of love and affection for the people in the world; especially those repressed.

Commenting on David's relentless efforts on a number of important issues, Yossi Shain, who is the head of the Abba Eban Program of Diplomacy at Tel Aviv University and the professor and founding director of the Center for Jewish Civilization at Georgetown University wrote: "I am writing not as an angry friend of Harris's (I am not) but as a concerned scholar of the Diaspora, with years of research and intimate knowledge of the Jewish world behind me. The study of the role played by various Diaspora communities in world affairs is a growing field, to which I have made some contributions. The Jewish people and Jewish organizations, like the AJC, are often envied, admired and emulated by other Diasporas and their countries of origin for effectively sustaining the links between Israel and the Diaspora communities. In my books I show how the Jewish Diaspora in general and the AJC in particular, are in its links to Israel regarded by scholars as an model for what we call "a fully developed paradigm of Diaspora-homeland relations."

"From my perspective, gained through years of academic study and first-hand observation, there are very few instances, if any, which equal the achievements of the AJC under David Harris's leadership as an effective tool of nongovernmental advocacy and international diplomacy in Europe, the US, the Caucasus and India, including the Indian Diaspora in America.

"David Harris and his team are sophisticated, savvy, sober and incredibly successful Diaspora leaders and activists. In my own work I have come across the critical role played by the AJC, even before Harris's time, in inter-religious dialogue, and especially in laying the foundations for the profound transformation of the Catholic Church toward the Jewish people and the State of Israel. The work of AJC's Rabbi David Rosen is particularly critical in the domain of inter-religious dialogue in the past few years, not only with the Church but also in the Islamic world. These issues may not be considered critical by Israelis, but they are.

"In my work on German-Israeli-Jewish-American relations, I found that it was Harris's daring advocacy of strong, direct relations with Germany - not an easy path for any American Jews to take - which helped cement a commitment of utmost importance to the future of Israel and the trans-Atlantic relationship. Harris and other AJC lay leaders are respected in Germany and other parts of Europe, and their voice is important in the corridors of power in Berlin and Paris, among many other places. The transformed attitude of the new French president toward Israel - while clearly reflecting Nicolas Sarkozy's own identity and preferences - was "locked into place" by constant and discreet work in Paris, and by Harris's ability to offer Sarkozy a highly valued nongovernmental public platform in America.

"The AJC also took a stand on NATO expansion - its Rabbi Andrew Baker was instrumental on this issue - which gained for the Jewish people and, in effect, for Israel a loyal thanks from Eastern European countries where Jews have hardly been popular in the not-so-distant past. AJC offices in states of the former Soviet orbit worked hard and successfully to combat new signs of anti-Semitism. It would have been more emotionally satisfying to let loose verbally and tear into these new nations for their past sins, but looking toward the future, the AJC smartly turned potential foes into active friends.

"Much of AJC's most effective work is done behind closed doors. The fruit of such efforts in terms of the Jewish people and on issues which matter the most to Israel are garnered quietly.

"For those of us who observe Diaspora diplomacy on behalf of the Jews in Israel, it is clear that David Harris and his organization deserve great credit."

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. Anthony'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 1993.

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.

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.

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.

David Harris, being an individual with towering-high esteem, spent almost a whole day with me in New York City, where I was accompanied by my Jewish brother, Dr. Richard L. Benkin. From the first handshake and hug, David was my brother. People in AJC are no less than members of my family. Their humbleness, wiseness, commitment and dedication moved me in understanding, Jews are never enemies of Muslims or Islam, as preached by some fanatic clergies or terror-patron nations like Iran. They truly are, people of excellent human qualities. And, there is no doubt, David Harris is the hero of our times.

Wish Bangladesh could have used this person's personal rapports in bringing series of good things for our nation!

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David Harris: Hero of our time

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