US President Joe Biden released a statement on Friday addressing the rise of antisemitic attacks in the US.
“In the last weeks, our nation has seen a series of antisemitic attacks, targeting and terrorizing American Jews,” Biden wrote. “We have seen a brick thrown through a window of a Jewish-owned business in Manhattan, a swastika carved into the door of a synagogue in Salt Lake City, families threatened outside a restaurant in Los Angeles, and museums in Florida and Alaska – dedicated to celebrating Jewish life and culture and remembering the Holocaust – vandalized with anti-Jewish messages.”
The president stressed that “these attacks are despicable, unconscionable, un-American – and they must stop. I will not allow our fellow Americans to be intimidated or attacked because of who they are or the faith they practice.”
The statement emphasized that “we cannot allow the toxic combination of hatred, dangerous lies and conspiracy theories to put our fellow Americans at risk. As Attorney-General [Merrick] Garland announced yesterday, the Department of Justice will be deploying all of the tools at its disposal to combat hate crimes.”
He went on to say that in recent days, we have seen that no community is immune.
“We must all stand together to silence these terrible and terrifying echoes of the worst chapters in world history, and pledge to give hate no safe harbor,” he wrote, adding that “May is Jewish American Heritage Month, when we honor Jewish Americans who have inextricably woven their experience and their accomplishments into the fabric of our national identity – overcoming the pain of history, and helping lead our struggle for a more fair, just and tolerant society.”
Earlier on Friday, the White House hosted a virtual event to celebrate Jewish Heritage Month. DHS Secretay Alejandro Mayorkas, who is Jewish, addressed the rise of antisemitism in the US and shared his personal family story. “The nature of my upbringing was very much influenced by what my mother went through in the second world war, having lost so many family members during the Holocaust in the concentration camps,” he said in his remarks.
“I grew up with a profound understanding of the fragility of the safety and security of the Jewish people,” he continued. “That is uppermost in my mind, as I serve as the Secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security.”
“I have learned as all of us have of the incredible rise in antisemitism across the United States and throughout the world,” Mayoraks added.
“I want to assure or the American Jewish community that I am committed to strengthening the safety and security of our community and of all communities that suffer from the rise in hate that we must combat with everything that we have,” he said.
MEANWHILE, a bipartisan group of 132 House members, led by Ted Deutch (D-FL), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Grace Meng (D-NY), and Chris Smith (R-NJ) sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging him “to respond to the rising antisemitism in the United States and around the world.”
“We strongly encourage the administration to develop an inter-agency strategy to combat antisemitism and protect American Jews using existing tools, including the Nonprofit Security Grant Program,” they wrote. “Because this trend of rising antisemitism is not limited to our borders, we also urge you to expeditiously nominate an Ambassador at Large to lead the Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism at the State Department.”
“While these new tools are critical, we also know that they are merely a first step. Education and solidarity are necessary to eliminate the root causes of antisemitism and racial discrimination. The letter is supported by a broad range of Jewish organizations, including the American Jewish Committee, Anti-Defamation League, Jewish Federation of North America, Hadassah: the Women's Zionist Organization of America, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, and J Street.