Alliance Israélite Universelle

Alliance Israélite Universelle is an international Jewish organization based in France. It was founded in Paris in 1860 by Adolphe Crémieux, as a response to the Damascus affair, with the goal to protect human rights of Jews as citizens of countries where they live. The organization was created to combine the ideals of self-defense and self-sufficiency through education and professional development among Jews around the world.

In addition, the organization operates a number of Jewish day schools, and is responsible for the standardization of the Ladino language.

In 1870, Charles Netter of the AIU received a tract of land from the Ottoman Empire as a gift and started an agricultural school Mikveh Israel, the first modern Jewish agricultural settlement which grew oranges.

During the Pre-1948 period in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine, the AIU ran anti-missionary schools to teach young Jews French and Hebrew to help create a more cohesive Jewish nation in Israel.

References

Cleveland, William L. A History of the Modern Middle East

The AIU website

External links

• The AIU website
• The Bulletin de l'Alliance Israelite Universelle archive since 1913 at TAU Jewish Newspapers archive