An Interview with AJWS President Ruth Messinger

June 11, 2008

American Jewish World Service President Ruth Messinger recently took some time out of her busy schedule to answer a few questions for the New Vilna Review. Ms. Messinger assumed the leadership role of AJWS in 1998 and prior to that she was a member of the New York City Council and served as Manhattan Borough President for eight years.

NVR: How has the mission and role of AJWS evolved since the organization was founded in 1985?

We continue to focus our efforts on alleviating poverty, hunger and disease in the developing world but have greatly expanded the scope of our work and have developed service, Jewish education and advocacy programs to help us do our work.

NVR: How do you see the role of AJWS within the larger Jewish community?

We are the Jewish organization that does this work in the developing world, tries to engage other Jewish organizations in doing some of the work [like Darfur] with us and educates in the larger Jewish community about global responsibility.

NVR: AJWS is clearly helping to take the lead in the effort to bring more attention to the genocide in Darfur – can you tell us about the genesis of this effort and what your organization is doing now, in terms of both political action and direct aide, to help alleviate the suffering of people in Darfur?

We have worked on Darfur since March 2004 and have done both humanitarian aid and relief [water, health services, rape counselors, teachers, etc.] and advocacy [on Capitol Hill, planning rallies, post card and call-in campaigns, working with state legislatures on divestment, etc.]

NVR: China seems to be playing a very negative role in helping to enable the crisis in Sudan, how can we, as American citizens, and as members of the Jewish community, respond to this aspect of the crisis?

Current efforts include divestment from the companies that trade oil and weapons between China and Sudan and a massive effort to spotlight and shame China, keep Bush away from the opening night of the Olympics, pressure the U.N. Security Council to take further action, etc.

NVR: In your comments at Harvard Hillel on Shavuot you mentioned the connection between American investment companies and the genocide in Darfur. Can you tell us a little more about this?

Many money market funds in which people have funds invested own shares of the companies [not American, mostly Chinese or multinational] that are involved in the oil and weapons trade.  People are being instructed to vote proxy shares to demand that the funds divest these shares.  See InvestorsagainstGenocide.org

NVR: What are some of the things that someone reading this interview could do to help end the genocide in Darfur?

Go to www.ajws.org and take action, write and/or call the white house, get involved with the divestment efforts, etc.

NVR: Looking ahead in the next 4-5 years, what are some of the pressing social justice issues that you think AJWS will be focused on?

We will continue to work on the Darfur agenda, fight for additional funds for global AIDS, work on universal access to education and probably become involved in other world crises.