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RJC National Chairman Senator Norm Coleman and CEO Matt Brooks are accompanying members of the RJC Board of Directors on a very special trip this week that began with participation in the March of the Living in Poland for Holocaust Memorial Day today. The group will then travel to Israel.

Sen. Coleman sent out his reflections on the March of the Living today. Here's an excerpt:

Today, on Yom HaShoah, I had the honor of marching alongside our RJC delegation and over 8,000 participants from 40 different countries from Auschwitz to Birkenau, as part of the March of the Living.

Before the march began, we heard speeches from Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Polish President Andrzej Duda, who reminded us of the importance of being here together to remember, to honor, and never forget what happened. From the front of the line to the rear, thousands upon thousands of proud Zionists draped themselves in and waved Israeli flags, sang Hebrew songs, and danced—it went unspoken, but the message throughout was clear: our enemies have tried time and again to annihilate us, and we are still here, proudly and loudly.

As we passed under the infamous "Arbeit Macht Frei" metal gate, out of Auschwitz, we were joined by a group of Israeli hostages freed from Hamas captivity, along with their families. Being in their presence was incredibly powerful and deeply emotional. On the grounds of Birkenau, Daniel Weiss, a survivor of the massacre at Kibbutz Be'eri whose parents were murdered on October 7th, sang Shir Hamaalot, accompanied by violinist Agam Berger, an IDF soldier taken hostage at the Nahal Oz army base and returned to Israel after 482 days in Hamas captivity. Agam played the ancient song on a 130-year-old violin that survived the Holocaust.

Never Again is Now. We must hold true to the promises and memories of the past and commit to ensure the horrors of the Shoah never happen again.

Read Sen. Coleman's full message here.

RJC CEO Matt Brooks wrote about last night's emotional opening ceremony for the March of the Living. He wrote:

This evening, we attended a welcome event at the Krakow Opera House. Phyllis Heideman, President of the International March of the Living and a member of the RJC’s Board of Directors, served as one of the night’s emcees. As part of the program, Phyllis awarded the Guardian of Memory Award to the great grandson of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Merrill Eisenhower, and his wife, Nicole Atwater. We had the privilege to listen to members of the Israeli Defense Force choir, who powerfully chanted the Hatikvah and Vehi She’amda. Senator Coleman and I also had the honor of lighting one of six candles in memory of the 6 million Jews murdered during the Holocaust.

Read Matt's full message here.

RJC Board of Directors member Karen Tandy, who leads the RJC's Legislative Committee, wrote an op-ed in The Jerusalem Post in support of including the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA) in the tax reform bill currently under consideration in Congress.

The RJC is proud to be part of a broad-based coalition in support of educational opportunity. The ECCA would be an important step toward that goal.

Tandy writes:

Modeled after similar tax laws in nearly two dozen states, the ECCA would make $10 billion in tax credits available to individuals and corporations to offset contributions to nonprofit organizations that award scholarships to eligible K-12 students. ECCA scholarships could be used for private school tuition, tutoring, special needs services, educational technology, and curriculum materials.

Because eligibility for these opportunity scholarships would be based on income – parents with up to 300 percent of local median income could receive scholarships for their children – most low and middle-income families could benefit.

Read the full op-ed here.

Jonathan Tobin, in his JNS column last week, writes that President Donald Trump's strong actions against universities that allow antisemites to threaten and disrupt their campuses have a broader goal than specific incidents on specific campuses; the President is trying to attack antisemitism at its root. Tobin writes:

Trump has sought to change the way elite institutions of higher education conduct admissions, hiring and conduct discipline, as well as probe the immigration status of foreign students, who are key to the pro-Hamas cause and who led mobs on campus that were guilty of acts of intimidation and violence. He has also threatened to pull federal funds from them if they fail to comply. But in doing so, the task force he appointed aims at more than just making college quads safer environments for Jewish students and faculty.

... At its core, the Trump effort to reform higher education is not only a response to the post-Oct. 7 surge of antisemitism in the United States. It is based on an understanding that the epidemic of anti-Jewish bigotry did not come out of nowhere, and is not isolated from other societal trends and problems. To the contrary, the appalling scenes that played out on hundreds of American college campuses and in K-12 schools are the direct result of the way so-called "progressives" have changed American education for the worse during their "long march" through its institutions.

It is impossible to comprehend what happened at Harvard, Columbia and so many other schools in the last 18 months without grasping that the demonization of Israel and Jews stems from the central role toxic ideas like critical race theory, intersectionality, settler-colonialism and the woke catechism of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) have transformed academia and other sectors of society, including the arts, business and government.

Daily Wire: After Canceling Passover Seder, Boston Hotel Welcomes Anti-Israel 'Squad' Member Rashida Tlaib

A Boston hotel owned by an infamous slumlord cancelled two Passover meals at the last minute. It hosted anti-Israel Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib instead.

The Iris Hotel Boston in Brookline — a Boston suburb with a large Jewish population — was supposed to host two Passover Seder meals on Saturday evening. But just two days before the dinners were set to take place, the hotel canceled, a source involved with coordinating the events told The Daily Wire.

After canceling the events, the hotel hosted a private screening of a film about Palestinians with Tlaib, a member of the far-left "Squad."

Kontorovich: It’s Time to Hold International Organizations Accountable for Supporting Terrorism

[C]urrent law denies victims [of terrorism] any right to seek redress against one major category of Hamas enablers: international organizations (IOs). Examples include the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) — which the US has now defunded on account of its employees’ participation in the invasion of Israel on October 7. Because of a legal loophole, IOs enjoy total immunity against lawsuits in US courts. Even sovereign states, which have near-absolute immunity, can be sued if they support terrorism... IOs therefore enjoy greater immunity today in federal court than the countries that created them. The Supreme Court has noted that Congress never intended this result. Indeed, it is absurd.

... Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has reintroduced the Limiting Immunity for Assisting Backers of Lethal Extremism (LIABLE) Act, which would allow for lawsuits against international organizations whose officials or employees materially support terrorism — just as sovereign countries can be sued for such conduct.

President Trump's Proclamation for Yom HaShoah

...During these Days of Remembrance of Victims of the Holocaust, we reflect upon the dark affront to human dignity posed by Nazis. We cherish the eternal memories of all those whose lives were lost to the deadly scourge of anti-Semitism. Above all, we vow to never forget the atrocities of the Holocaust. We declare that never again means now.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, do hereby ask the people of the United States to observe the Days of Remembrance of Victims of the Holocaust from April 20 through April 27, 2025, and the solemn anniversary of the liberation of Nazi death camps with appropriate study, prayers, and commemoration and to honor the memory of the victims of the Holocaust and Nazi persecution by remembering the lessons of this atrocity so that it is never repeated.

Nevada News & Views: Nevada Republican Club Opens New "Innovation Space" for Conservative Collaboration

The Nevada Republican Club has opened a brand-new workspace they’re calling the "Innovation Space." This isn’t just some small office. We’re talking about 1,750 square feet designed specifically for conservatives to work together. Inside, you’ll find private offices for the Nevada Republican Club, the Nevada Republican Club Action group, and the Republican Jewish Coalition.