Tennessee General Assembly Becomes First State Legislature To Condemn BDS

Source: JNS.org Posted on April 21, 2015 by Sean Savage/JNS.org. The Tennessee General Assembly on Tuesday became the first state legislature in the U.S. to formally condemn the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. Senate Joint Resolution 170, initially passed April 9 by the Tennessee Senate in a unanimous 30-0 vote, was approved by the Tennessee House of Representatives in an overwhelming 93-1 vote on Tuesday, with Democratic State Representative G.A. Hardaway the lone dissenter.  The resolution, which is expected to be signed next week by Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, declares that the BDS movement is “one of the main vehicles  Read More…

The Times of Israel: Building a Community Network to Fight a Hate Network

Source: The Times Of Israel “Given your Jewish identity, how would you vote on divestment [from the State of Israel]?” Such was the question posed to Molly Horwitz this month, a junior at Stanford University, as she sought the endorsement of the Students of Color Coalition in her bid for student government. In March at UCLA, sophomore Rachel Beyda faced a similar interrogation, as elected members of the student government expressed concern at a public meeting about her ability to be unbiased given her involvement with Jewish organizations. Questions about bias do not seem to be thrown at students affiliated  Read More…

Jewish Journal: The Israeli-American Council (IAC) goes to Washington DC … and plans to stay

Source: Jewish Journal On the evening of March 1, just before a private Israeli-American Council (IAC) event for college students at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference in Washington, D.C., it was difficult for two of IAC’s co-founders, Shawn Evenhaim and Adam Milstein, to walk more than a few feet without being approached by attendees. Some thanked them for their support (both Milstein’s family foundation and the IAC have helped sponsor many students’ trips to AIPAC), others sought advice on Israel advocacy and on their careers, while the rest seemed simply to want to talk. The post-dinner gathering  Read More…

Kosher OC: Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation: Connecting and Getting Involved in the Cause

Source: Kosher OC Philanthropist Adam Milstein thinks there is a problem with the culture of many Jewish and pro-Israel organizations.  Because their priority is to raise funds, each one wants to stand out as the most important, effective organization.  “Just give us the money, and we can take care of it, is the way they present themselves,” he said.  If they work together, they can’t take all the credit, and then they can’t raise as much money.” Milstein, 63, thinks he has a better solution.  It started in Los Angeles, where Milstein and his wife live.  He brought big donors  Read More…

JNS: ‘Active’ philanthropist Adam Milstein a growing connector in the Jewish world

Source: JNS.org  BY JACOB KAMARAS/JNS.ORG The way philanthropist Adam Milstein sees it, the priorities of fundraising and survival mean that Jewish and pro-Israel organizations are held back by a natural instinct against intimate and robust collaboration. “Every one of those organizations would like to take all the credit for themselves [and say], ‘The BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel) resolution did not pass because we stood there, and we trained the students, and we stood with them all night long, and without us it wouldn’t have happened,’’ Milstein says. “And then you have some organizations trying to take  Read More…

Is the UN Fair to Israel? – Sponsored by The Milstein Family Foundation

Video: Prager University Israel is a vibrant democracy with full rights for women and gays, a free press and independent judiciary. You would think that the United Nations would celebrate such a country. Instead, the UN condemns Israel at every turn to the point of obsession. How did this happen? Anne Bayefsky, director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights, explains in five eye-opening minutes. The content was produced by Prager University and was sponsored by the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation.

StandWithUs Israel in Focus Conference funded by a generous grant from the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation

Source: Stand With Us The annual StandWithUs Israel in Focus conference brings together 150-200 college students from across North America as well as StandWithUs Israel Fellows (shlichim) to a weekend-long conference in Los Angeles. The conference is funded by a generous grant from the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation. Over three days, participants learn the skills and facts that will help them better discuss Israel on campus and beyond as well as network with other student leaders and discuss programming and strategy ideas. Other StandWithUs student conferences have taken place in various cities across the United States and in  Read More…

Jewish Press: The Birth Of A New Force In U.S. Jewish Communal Life

Source: Jewish Press More than 700 Israeli-American gathered earlier this month in Washington, DC, for the inaugural Israeli-American Council (IAC) conference. Talks by politicians, deplomats, academics, busdinessmen, philantropists and media personalities, coupled with well-attended sessions on relations between Israel and the U.S. and the role Israelies play in the larger American community, made it clear the IAC intends to be an integral part of the Jewish community and a strong advocate for Israel. The conference opened with a “shuk” (marketplace) showcasing the numerous cultural programs IAC funds throughout the United States to strengthen Israeli identity: Taglit Shelanu, IAC Machane Kachol Lavan,  Read More…

Israeli-American Council Jumps Onto National State With A Splash

Source: Jewish Journal At the Israeli-American Council’s (IAC) three-day inaugural conference in Washington, D.C., last weekend, nearly 800 attendees and Washington journalists witnessed the high-profile entrance on to the public stage of what was, until recently, a quietly expanding and well-funded Los Angeles group created with the comparably modest vision of providing educational, cultural and religious resources for Southern California’s large Israeli-American community. The IAC’s first foray into the national spotlight — and its ability to attract top politicians from both parties and their donors — points to a group on its way to becoming the go-to resource for Israeli  Read More…

The Jewish Forward: Sheldon Adelson Is A Philanthropist Like No Other

Source: Forward  GETTY IMAGES/KURT HOFFMAN CASINO BILLIONAIRE TRANSFORMS SHAPE OF JEWISH GIVING BY NATHAN GUTTMAN Published November 03, 2014, issue of November 07, 2014. RELATED Sheldon Adelson’s Self-Defeating Meddling Tough Night for Sheldon Adelson When a storm wreaked havoc on East Coast air travel last winter, among the thousands of travelers stranded were several dozen Israeli-American teens from Washington and Philadelphia. But these youths, who were en route to the annual meeting of the Tzofim, the Israeli scouts, were luckier than the many others forced to mill about air terminals. Soon after their flight was canceled, a private executive jet landed at  Read More…