Head of the Jewish community of Kazakhstan, Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) Presidium member Alexander Baron visited Washington D.C. for the annual forum of the American Jewish Committee (AJC). The Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan organized a number of meetings for Baron with the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Congress.

A meeting with Ira Forman, the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, took place at the Department of State. Alexander Baron told Forman about the activities of the People’s Assembly of Kazakhstan and about the life of the Kazakhstan Jewish community. The American diplomat noted that Kazakhstan and the USA need to vitalize their joint efforts in combating racial and religious hatred, anti-Semitism and xenophobia around the globe.

At Capitol Hill, Baron met with a number of Jewish congresspeople: Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (2010-2014) Steve Israel, ranking member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Adam Schiff, Co-Chair of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs Eliot Engel and Commitee member Ted Deutch.

A round table was organized together with the office of Congressman Deutch and members of Congress’s Bipartisan Taskforce for Combating Anti-Semitism, where Alexander Baron presented the “History. Memory. People” book, dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the People’s Assembly of Kazakhstan and the 70th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War.

Alexander Baron told the participants of the round table about the heroism of Kazakhstan’s people, who accepted over one million refugees and convicts. Baron also placed special emphasis on the current inter-ethnic and inter-religious situation in the country, where the interaction between different peoples and faiths is based in tolerance and mutual agreement.