(PDF) (DOC) (JPG)June 19, 2017

MAHWAH, N.J. — Joshua Cohen, New Jersey Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Regional Director, provided an assessment of the current state of international and local anti-Semitism on Monday, March 20. The program was sponsored by the Gross Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and the Hillel of Ramapo College.

He examined how anti-Jewish beliefs, although they had diminished in the U.S. over the years, continue to be most problematic. While there has been an uptick in the number of incidents since the presidential election campaign of 2016, in aggregate the increase has not been as high as some media reports would have us believe. According to Cohen, however, there is still plenty of cause for vigilance and much that can be done in the way of prevention. In particular, he mentioned anti-bias education programs that are part of his organization’s A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE INSTITUTE.

In discussing anti-Semitism globally, Cohen pointed to ADL’s 2014 ADL Global 100 poll that tracked ant-Jewish incidents and attitudes worldwide. Conducted in 101 countries, it revealed that 35% of respondents never heard of the Holocaust and that, not surprisingly, 74% of those polled in the Middle East and North Africa manifested anti-Semitic views, regionally the highest percentage in the world. Cohen pointed out that this compared to 24% in Western Europe, which included Greece with 69% and France with 37%. The figures for Eastern Europe ranged in the 40+% range for Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Serbia and Croatia to 13% for the Czech Republic.

In his role as Regional Director, Cohen is responsible for the overall planning, direction and administration of all regional office activities, including program delivery, fundraising, leadership development, communications, government relations, fact-finding, research and office management in order to advance ADL’s mission. Cohen also represents ADL in the community, to the media, and to public officials.

Cohen joined ADL in 2009, serving as the Associate Director for the League’s Philadelphia Regional Office, which covers Eastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey, and Delaware. In this capacity, he oversaw regional civil rights initiatives, including responses to incidents of anti-Semitism and discrimination, developed and implemented community outreach initiatives and joint ventures with elected leaders and diverse interfaith, cross-cultural organizations, campus, and law enforcement organizations.

Prior to joining ADL, Cohen was a government relations executive at the UJA-Federation of New York where he managed a multi-issue health and human service lobbying portfolio.

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