INSTITUTE OF JEWISH AFFAIRS (ija)

INSTITUTE OF JEWISH AFFAIRS (ija), international research body based in London, which deals with contemporary issues affecting Jews and Jewish communities worldwide.

Since 1997 it has been known as the Institute for Jewish Policy Studies. As the ija, it monitored and analyzed trends and developments in international relations, politics, human rights, sociology, economy, and culture. It acted as a forum for discussion and presentation of policy options on matters of Jewish concern. The ija was a leading research and documentation center on international antisemitism and published Antisemitism World Report, an annual survey of antisemitism and right-wing extremism in the world. The ija's publications included Patterns of Prejudice, an academic journal devoted to the study of racial and religious prejudice with a special reference to antisemitism, now published by an academic press; East European Jewish Affairs, a journal dealing with Jewish problems in Eastern and Central Europe and the countries of the for mer Soviet Union; Research Reports, a series of background surveys on international affairs; ija Analysis, papers commenting on current events and developments affecting Jews; ija Intelligence Reports, concise assessments of the Jewish significance of developments in current affairs worldwide. Its journal Christian-Jewish Relations ceased to appear in 1990. Long-term research projects are published in book-form. The ija's public activities ranged from academic conferences, symposia, and seminars to lecture series.

History

The Institute was founded in 1941 in New York by the World Jewish Congress to study problems facing Jewry after World War ii. In the post-war period the ija played a vital role in preparing blueprints for compensation to victims of Nazism, assisting in war-crimes trials and contributing to international legislation on human rights and related issues. It was headed successively by Jacob Robinson, Nehemia Robinson, and, after its transfer to London in 1966, by Stephen J. Roth, and then by Antony Lerman.

In 1997 the ija changed its name to the Institute for Jewish Policy Studies (ijpr). It also changed its role and purpose, no longer centering on the study of antisemitism but, instead, on planning for Jewish communities in Britain and Europe; the maintenance of Jewish culture in Britain and Europe; and on Israel-Diaspora relations. Located in Wimpole Street, London, and headed by Professor Barry Kosmin, it has published numerous reports on aspects of Jewish life and society in Britain and elsewhere.

[William D. Rubinstein (2^nd ed.)]