The Foundation is a national non-profit dedicated to strengthening relations between ethnic communities. We are committed to the belief that direct, face-to-face dialogue between ethnic communities is the most effective path towards the reduction of bigotry and the promotion of reconciliation and understanding. Make donations directly via PayPal:
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Read the new Spring 2009 newsletter
   

Thursday, May 21, 2009 in
New York
 

Photo credit: Christina Paljusaj


Twinning Expanding to Europe

Ynet News: He has a dream

Haaretz: Jewish group: Dialogue with Muslims more urgent than ties with Vatican

The Jerusalem Post: We must face the real interfaith challenge

The Jewish Daily Forward: JCPA Approves Effort to Build Dialogue With Muslim Groups

JTA Op-Ed: Facing the real interfaith challenge

Haaretz: Jewish World / Can U.S. Muslims and Jews work together to change the world?

JTA: Jewish-Muslim initiative expanding to
Europe

Haaretz: N.Y. rabbi aims to ease Jewish-Muslim tensions in Europe stoked by Gaza op

Reuters: Rabbi wants to bring U.S. Muslim-Jewish teamwork to Europe

The Foundation Premieres
New PSA Campaign to
His Royal Highness King Abdullah

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Russell Simmons and Jay-Z
launch The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding's International
anti-Semitism/anti-Racism
Public Service Announcement Campaign



View Public Service Announcement #1

View Public Service Announcement #2

Schneier and Simmons Record Podcast
for the United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum

Rabbi Schneier in Paris to Present
Public Service Announcements





Spring 2009 Newsletter



Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2009
View the ad


Rabbi Marc Schneier and Russell Simmons featured in Lifestyles


The Foundation's Public Service Announcement featured in
Time Magazine

 

Rabbi Marc Schneier offers prayer at Democratic National Convention

Rabbi Marc Schneier, president of The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding accompanied by (from left-to-right) Reverend Dr. Shaun Casey, Ethic Professor, Fairfax, VA, Dr. Polly Baca, Center for Spirituality at Work, Denver, CO and Imam Abdur-Rahim Ali, Northeast Denver Islamic Center, Denver, CO, lead convention delegates, politicians, and guests in prayer at the first-ever Democratic National Convention interfaith gathering, the official kick-off of the 2008 DNC Convention.

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Ethnic Members of Congress Receive Awards on Capitol Hill; Reflects Growing Ethnic Demographics in Congress
Basya Laye, Congressman Edolphus Towns, Congresswoman Donna Christensen, Congressman Eni Faleomavaega, Congresswoman Carolyn Kilpatrick, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Rabbi Marc Schneier, Alicia Simmons.

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Left to right: Imam Muhammad Shamsi Ali, spiritual leader of the Islamic Center of New York and Rabbi Marc Schneier, president of The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, greet each other after a prayer service at the Center. They joined together to condemn the alleged plot by four men who were arrested after planting what they thought were explosivies near two New York City synagogues.
Photo credit: Christina Paljusaj


Read related press...
Read Newsweek/Washington Post On Faith Forum Oped
  CONGRATULATIONS RUSSELL!

On Wednesday, May 20, 2009, Russell Simmons was appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the Permanent Memorial to the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

The Permanent Memorial will be an architecturally designed sculpture, embodying each affected region of the transatlantic slave trade-Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, and the Americas. This commemorative figure will be built on the grounds of the United Nations Headquarters.

 

 

2009 New York Spring Benefit at the Home of Russell Simmons

Left to right: Russell Simmons, FFEU Chairman; FFEU Honorees David and Mona Sterling; FFEU Honoree LL COOL J; FFEU President Rabbi Marc Schneier. Photo credit: Ray Girard

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Rabbi Schneier honored at Morehouse College

   

Congratulations
Russell Simmons!

NAACP cites Russell Simmons' work
in Black Jewish relations with
2009 NAACP Vanguard Award

On Thursday, February 12th, The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding (FFEU) Chairman Russell Simmons received the 2009 NAACP Vanguard Award at the 40th NAACP Image Awards broadcast live from Los Angeles on FOX.

The NAACP Vanguard Award is presented to an individual whose groundbreaking work increases understanding of racial and social issues. "Russell is deserving of this prestigious award because he has used the power of hip-hop to reach and inspire our nation's youth," said NAACP Image Awards Chairperson Clayola Brown. "Combined with his ongoing commitment to strengthening relations between ethnic communities and his generous charitable spirit, Russell was a natural choice to receive this honor."

Rabbi Marc Schneier, FFEU President said, "We are profoundly grateful for this historic recognition of our chairman's leadership. Russell continues to be a source of guidance and inspiration in his noble service to greater humankind."


FFEU Chairman, Russell Simmons
Russell's longstanding commitment to the FFEU's work in Black Jewish relations has made us the national address for this historic alliance. It was Russell's groundbreaking vision that launched FFEU's successful initiatives in Muslim Jewish relations. The widespread enthusiasm from the Weekend of Twinning of mosques and synagogues across North America will now be brought this coming year across the Atlantic to Europe.

Watch Part I of Russell Simmons at the 40th NAACP Image Awards

Watch Part II of Russell Simmons at the 40th NAACP Image Awards

Read new cover story on Russell Simmons

JTA: NAACP cites impresario’s black-Jewish work

     
In honor of
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
 
NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK
Read book review


On Wednesday, January 14, 2009, Rabbi Marc Schneier and Martin Luther King III were the featured speakers at The Edgar M. Bronfman Luncheon Forum convened at the Seagram Building on the subject, “Cooperation and Conflict: Relations Between African Americans and Jews From Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to Barack Obama.” This event was held in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day.

Listen to Part 1 of their discussion
Listen to Part 2 of their discussion

 


Shared Dreams: Martin Luther
King, Jr. & the Jewish Community

By Rabbi Marc Schneier
Preface by Martin Luther King III

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Click here to order a copy

     
Black History Month at Bloomingdale's
 

FFEU leaders keynote Con Edison Diversity Seminar


Rabbi Marc Schneier on b'way at the Black
History Month celebration at Bloomingdale's.
Photo credit: Bloomingdale's

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On Monday, November 3, 2008 Con Edison presented a Strategic Issues Seminar entitled Breaking Barriers: How the Efforts to Diversify the Workplace Have Helped to Shape our Nation Today.

“Because the company is growing more diverse each year, bringing changes to our socio-ethnic make-up, it is vital that we all gain a broader understanding of the cultures and peoples that we live and work with” said seminar co-sponsor Frances Resheske, senior vice president, Public Affairs at Con Edison.

Over 1,000 people assembled to learn about the ways the Foundation is working to bring issues of race relations and ethnic understanding to the forefront of the national agenda...

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The Foundation Honors Leaders in Black Jewish Relations and
Muslim Jewish Relations at New York Fall Benefit
 
Honoree, Mark Ein; FFEU President, Rabbi Marc Schneier; FFEU Chairman, Russell Simmons; Honoree, Rodney Propp; Honoree, Janus Holder.   Honoree, Ali Naqvi, receives the Joseph Papp Racial Harmony Award from FFEU President, Rabbi Marc Schneier.
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Hip Hop Mogul and Rabbi Honor Influential Young Leaders at
Spring Benefit Reception

 

Three Leaders in Los Angeles honored by The Foundation


Jesse Itzler, Chris Lighty, Rabbi Marc Schneier, Denise Rich, and Russell Simmons at FFEU's New York Spring Benefit.

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Left to right: Russell Simmons, Vicangelo Bulluck, Daphna Ziman, Jay Faires, Rabbi Marc Schneier. Photo, Ed Krieger

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Rabbi Schneier Represents the American Jewish Community at the SCLC 50th Annual Convention in New Orleans   Rabbi Marc Schneier Represents American Jewish Community at Memphis 40th Anniversary Commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Assassination


Dr. Charles Steele, Jr., National President, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Rabbi Marc Schneier. Photo by Nathan Knight.

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Rabbi Marc Schneier joins Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to lay a wreath at the former Lorraine Hotel, now the National Civil Rights Museum, the site where Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated 40 years ago. (Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) in background).

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Rabbi Marc Schneier Makes Historic Appearance at National Dinner of Leading Muslim American Organization   The Foundation Hosts First National Summit of Imams and Rabbis in the United States


Rabbi Marc Schneier, President, The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding; Dalia Mahmoud, Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)/NYC Executive Committee; Salam Al-Marayati, Executive Director of Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC).

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Photo from Left to Right: Russell Simmons, Rabbi Marc Schneier, Imam Omar Abu Namous and Ambassador Ronald S. Lauder

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The Foundation participates in a
National Weekend of Prayer and Reflection for Victims of Genocide
in Darfur, Sudan


Copyright © 2009 The Foundation For Ethnic Understanding
The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding was founded in 1989 by Rabbi Marc Schneier and the late Joseph Papp.
We are committed to the belief that direct, face-to-face, dialogue between leaders of ethnic communities is
the most effective path toward the reduction of bigotry and the promotion of reconciliation and understanding.

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