MONTHLY REPORT - March 2016

ECI mobilizes grassroots to boost support for Israel

Brussels - This month we welcome Ruth Daskalopoulou-Isaac to the ECI team. She has been appointed as a coordinator to improve communications and better mobilize our grassroots constituency in support of Israel. Her working title will be “ECI Communications Manager” and she will also be our Brussels representative for the initial project period of five months.

Ruth has been involved in advocacy for Israel for many years, most recently with the Belgian Coalition for Israel and the “Shalom Festival” in Belgium. The Shalom Festival is a unique outreach event with a positive message for peace (shalom) and co-existence and puts a friendly face on support for Israel on the streets of Europe.

Besides Ruth Isaac, our ECI operational team currently consists of Andrew Tucker, Katariina Salmi, Faith Collins Childress, Gregory Lafitte and Tomas Sandell. Perrine Dufoix is on a sabbatical at the moment.

The team is supported by many volunteers who help spread the ECI message within Europe and around the world. This month we want to especially thank our excellent translators who are translating our Monthly Reports and Press Releases into seven different languages! If you are able to translate these newsletters into an additional language or strengthen the existing translation teams, please contact our office.


New ECI initiative to build transatlantic partnerships for Israel

Washington D.C - Europe has for centuries been the main battlefield for the Jewish people. This is, sadly, also the case today. In the past the USA has sent some of their best men to fight in Europe to prevent totalitarian regimes from taking over the continent and thus saving the Jews from total annihilation. As Europeans we are forever grateful for these sacrifices.

Once again we are called to stand together as Europeans and Americans in the battle against new forms of anti-Semitism. One of these new forms of anti-Semitism is the so-called BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement, which has also influenced US policy. It needs to be addressed simultaneously both in Europe and the USA.

The new initiative is called “American Friends of ECI” and the goal is to build solid transatlantic partnerships in support of Israel and the Jewish people. The registration process is already underway and the work is headed up in the US by our former Brussels representative Faith Collins Childress.

In February, Tomas Sandell visited Washington to present the vision of the American Friends of ECI initiative to local leaders and congressional staff on Capitol Hill. The vision was well received.  One Washington insider acknowledged that ECI can contribute to the debate, simply by adding a unique European perspective.

During his trip to the USA, Sandell also attended the National Prayer Breakfast where he met with government officials and parliamentarians from around the world and was able to present some of the work of ECI. The inaugural meeting of ”American Friends of ECI” is expected to take place later this month in Washington DC.