Cocktail Reception 6:00 pm* Dinner & Program 7:00 pm*
Washington, D.C.
*All dietary laws observed
**Past Speaker of Truth honorees to be invited to celebrate with EMET.
Inquiries at info@emetonline.org or 202.601.7422
About our Speakers of Truth:
Alan Dershowitz: Professor Alan M. Dershowitz has been called one of the “most distinguished defenders of individual rights,” “the best-known criminal lawyer in the world,” and “Israel’s single most visible defender – the Jewish state’s lead attorney in the court of public opinion.” He is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. Dershowitz, a graduate of Brooklyn College and Yale Law School, joined the Harvard Law School faculty at age 25 after clerking for Judge David Bazelon and Justice Arthur Goldberg.
Professor Dershowitz has published more than 1000 articles in magazines, newspapers, journals and blogs including The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Harvard Law Review, the Yale Law Journal, Huffington Post, Newsmax, Jerusalem Post and Ha’aretz. Professor Dershowitz is the author of 30 fiction and non-fiction works with a worldwide audience, including The New York Times #1 bestseller “Chutzpah” and five other national bestsellers. His autobiography, “Taking the Stand: My Life in the Law” came out in 2013. Earlier titles include: “The Trials of Zion,” a novel which has been called “a thought-provoking page turner,” “Rights From Wrong;” “The Case For Israel;” “The Case For Peace;” and “Blasphemy.”
In 1983, the Anti-Defamation League of the B’nai B’rith presented Professor Dershowitz with the William O. Douglas First Amendment Award for his “compassionate eloquent leadership and persistent advocacy in the struggle for civil and human rights.” In presenting the award, Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel said: “If there had been a few people like Alan Dershowitz during the 1930s and 1940s, the history of European Jewry might have been different.” Professor Dershowitz has been awarded the honorary doctor of laws degree by Yeshiva University, Brooklyn College, Syracuse University, Tel Aviv University, New York City College, Haifa University and several other institutions of learning. He has also been the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship for his work on human rights, a fellowship at The Center for The Advanced Study of Behavioral Sciences and several Dean’s Awards for his books.
He is married to Carolyn Cohen, a PhD psychologist. He has three children, and two grandchildren.
Rep. Ron DeSantis: U.S. Congressman Ron DeSantis is in his second term as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida. He put himself through school, first by earning a bachelor of arts, magna cum laude, at Yale University, and then graduating with honors from Harvard Law School. DeSantis joined the Judge Advocate General Corps of the U.S. Navy in 2004 before completing his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2005. As a military prosecutor he worked in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Iraq. Congressman DeSantis served in the 2007 troop surge in Iraq. In 2008, the Department of Justice appointed him to serve as a federal prosecutor in the office of the U.S. Attorney in the Middle District of Florida. Since being elected to the U.S. House in 2012, Congressman DeSantis has served on the Judiciary, Foreign Affairs and Oversight & Government Reform Committees. He currently serves as the chairman of the Oversight Committee’s National Security subcommittee and as the vice-chairman of the Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice.
Throughout his Congressional career, the Congressman has always been a courageous and forthright friend of the State of Israel. He was a sponsor of the Non-Discrimination of Israel in Labeling Act, he introduced the Palestinian Accountability Act, and has always been a strong opponent of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. As an accomplished JAG officer, Congressman DeSantis also understands the importance of attaining justice for all Americans who have been harmed by terrorists. On February 2nd, 2016, his National Security Oversight Subcommittee held a groundbreaking hearing called “Seeking Justice for American Victims of Palestinian Terrorism,” on the failure of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to prosecute for American victims of Palestinian terrorism killed or wounded in Israel or the disputed territories. Although the DOJ has had the necessary tools to obtain justice for over twenty-five years now, and 66 Americans have been killed, and over a hundred Americans injured, by Palestinian terrorists, not a single Palestinian terrorist has ever been prosecuted for these crimes. Thanks to this hearing, the DOJ was forced to defend its record of inaction under oath, and great pressure has been placed on them to prosecute Palestinian terrorists. Congressman DeSantis was also one of the first Members of Congress to speak out against the Iran deal after it was announced, and called it “an insult to the memories of the people who lost their lives on our behalf [and] for that reason in addition to all the other great ones, we need to reject this deal resoundingly.”
Brian Mast: Brian Mast served our country as a soldier in the U.S. Army for 12 years. Brian’s service included the honor of serving under the elite Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) as a bomb disposal expert. Working under JSOC meant that Brian fought at the tip of the spear for the U.S. military in the ongoing war against radical Islamic terrorism. While on his 2010 deployment in Afghanistan, Mast was tasked with protecting his brothers from IED’s on a nightly basis. While he was able to detect and destroy most of these IED’s, the very last IED Mast found resulted in him sustaining catastrophic injuries, which included the loss of both his legs. As a result of his service and sacrifice to our country, Brian Mast was awarded medals for Valor, Merit, and Sacrifice, to include The Bronze Star Medal, The Army Commendation Medal for Valor, The Purple Heart Medal, and The Defense Meritorious Service Medal. He retired as Staff Sergeant.
Throughout his life, Brian Mast has been a staunch supporter of the State of Israel. During Israel’s war with Hamas in the summer of 2014, Mast witnessed a number of disturbing anti-Israel demonstrations in Boston and at Harvard University, where he was a full-time student, and decided he needed to help Israel in a tangible way. Mast took the time to go to Israel and volunteer with the Israeli Defensive Forces in January of 2015. Brian Mast lives in Southern Florida, where he is running to become the Congressional representative for Florida’s 18th district in the 2016 election cycle. He lives with his wife, Brianna, and their three young children, Magnum, Maverick and Madalyn. Brian currently works as an explosive specialist under the Department of Homeland Security.
Frank Gaffney: Frank Gaffney is the Founder and President of the Center for Security Policy (CSP), a not-for-profit, non-partisan educational corporation headquartered in Washington D.C. Under Mr. Gaffney’s leadership, the Center has been nationally and internationally recognized as a resource for timely, informed and penetrating analyses of foreign and defense policy matters. The Center regularly publishes national security policy papers on issues including the Muslim Brotherhood, radical Islam in the U.S., international terrorism, the Middle East, and others, which are then sent directly to policy makers, coalitions, and the media. Mr. Gaffney is the host of Secure Freedom Radio, a nationally-syndicated radio program heard weeknights throughout the country. He is a regular columnist for The Washington Times, TownHall.com, and Newsmax.com. In addition, he has been published in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and USA Today, and also appears on television, contributing to programs like CNN and Fox News. He is the associate author of Shariah: The Threat to America, which discusses what our public officials need to do in order to defend our country from this threat.
Prior to CSP, Mr. Gaffney has a long history of serving in defense-related positions in Washington. From August 1983 until November 1987, Mr. Gaffney was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy under Assistant Secretary Richard Perle. In April 1987, Mr. Gaffney was nominated by President Reagan to become the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy, the senior position in the Defense Department with responsibility for policies involving nuclear forces, arms control and U.S.-European defense relations. He acted in that capacity for seven months during which time, he was the Chairman of the prestigious High Level Group, NATO’s senior politico-military committee. He also represented the Secretary of Defense in key U.S.-Soviet negotiations and ministerial meetings.
Mr. Gaffney is a strong supporter of Israel, and demonstrates that the threat posed by radical Islam to the United States and the Western world is the same threat Israel battles with on a daily basis. Gaffney and CSP took a strong, public stance against the Iranian nuclear deal, and continue to expose Iranian aggression and the Administration’s capitulation to the Iranian Regime, along with its moral ambivalence towards the Palestinian Authority and its betrayal of our ally, Israel.
Raheel Raza: Raheel Raza is a well-known and award winning author, journalist, and public speaker. She is also an activist for human rights, diversity, interfaith harmony, and gender equality. Originally born in Pakistan, Ms. Raza started writing at a young age because she grew up in a culture where women were supposed to “be seen and not heard.” Travelling extensively throughout the Middle East, Europe, Far East and North America, Raza brings a fresh new global perspective to her mandate “there is unity in diversity.”
Ms. Raza bridges the gap between East and West, promoting cultural and religious diversity. She has appeared in print, on television and radio to discuss diversity, harmony and interfaith. In a presentation to Members of Parliament and international diplomats at the House of Commons, Raza received a standing ovation for her speech called “Celebrating our Differences.” Raza has spoken at places of worship, the private sector, the Justice Department, School Boards and government institutions. She has also been invited to speak at Universities in USA and Canada, including Harvard and Columbia.
As a Muslim, Raza is known for her fierce opposition to Islamic terrorism and oppression of Muslim women in Islamic communities. In 2015, The Clarion Project made a film narrated by Raza called “By the Numbers: The Untold Story of Muslim Opinions and Demographics.” She is also well known for her role in the documentary “Honor Diaries,” which examines the lives of Muslim women activists in the Muslim world. Ms. Raza is the President of the Council of Muslims Facing Tomorrow, an organization strongly opposing extremism, fanaticism and violence in the name of religion. Ms. Raza currently resides in Toronto, Canada.
David A. Milstein: David Milstein is currently a Research Analyst for Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX). He has proudly worked for Senator Cruz for almost three years and primarily focuses on issues related to Israel. He has played an important role on a number of the Senator’s pro-Israel initiatives, such as working to fund Israeli Missile Defense Programs; introducing the PLO Accountability Act to close down the PLO office in Washington, DC due to the Palestinian leadership’s incitement and efforts to delegitimize Israel in international forums; speaking out against Palestinian terrorism that has targeted both Israeli and American citizens; chairing a hearing on how the executive branch more often than not does not stand up for American victims of terrorism; sending a bipartisan letter urging the EU not to move forward with discriminatory labeling guidelines on certain Israeli products promoting a de-facto boycott of Israel; introducing legislation to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s eternal capital; and passing a bipartisan resolution that denounced Hamas for using civilians as human shields and supporting Israel’s right to defend itself.
Prior to joining Senator Cruz’s staff, David graduated from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania where he majored in political science and minored in history. At Dickinson, he served two terms as President of the Dickinson College Republicans, wrote political opinion pieces for the school newspaper, and was a leading voice for conservatism bringing in prominent conservative speakers to campus. David also initiated a successful effort to invite then-Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren to campus to raise positive awareness about Israel and served as the 1st Vice Chair of the Pennsylvania Federation of College Republicans.
In recognition of David’s campus activism, The Phillips Foundation awarded David its prestigious Ronald Reagan College Leaders Scholarship two years in a row. This Scholarship recognizes “outstanding young undergraduate student activists for the cause of freedom, American values and constitutional principles.”
David has also played a leadership role with an organization called Young Jewish Conservatives whose mission is to build a community of politically conservative young Jews who strongly support Israel. David has co-organized its annual Shabbat Event at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the largest annual gathering of conservative activists. The Shabbat Event features prominent conservative speakers and brings together close to 150 attendees each year.
David’s work experience includes interning at the Republican Jewish Coalition, Americans for Prosperity, and the Republican Study Committee, a conservative caucus in the House of Representatives.
David was also politically active in high school. He founded and served as president of the Republican Club at the Landon School, wrote political opinion pieces for the school newspaper, co-chaired the Landon Model Senate, and was the 2009 Baccalaureate award recipient of the Janet and Will Shaforth Award for Government recognizing his efforts prior to graduation.
At the Epicenter of BDS
More Foolish Diplomacy from the Obama Administration
Help us work to ensure that our policymakers and the public receive the EMET- the Truth.
Take Action
