US President Joe Biden reflected on Passover and antisemitism in an op-ed he wrote for CNN on Wednesday.
"As Jews read from the Haggadah about how evil in every generation has tried to destroy them, antisemitism is rising to record levels today," he wrote.
Biden referred to reports from both the FBI and the Anti-Defamation League that found that more than half of religious-based hate crimes in the US in the last two years were perpetrated against Jews.
"These acts are unconscionable and despicable," Biden wrote. " They carry in them terrifying echoes of the worst chapters in human history. And they're not only a strike against Jews, they're also a threat to other minority communities and a stain on the soul of our nation."
He went on to assure the American Jewish community that he sees its "fear, hurt and concern," adding that he made the decision to run for president after he saw the Charlottesville neo-Nazi riot in 2017.
"Rest assured that I am committed to the safety of the Jewish people," he wrote. "I stand with you. America stands with you. Under my presidency, we continue to condemn antisemitism at every turn. Failure to call out hate is complicity. Silence is complicity. And we will not be silent."
Holocaust education is essential, Biden says
He then went on to describe his experiences with Holocaust education recalling how his father instilled in him the importance of remembering which he then passed on to his own kids with a trip to the Dachau concentration camp.
"But Passover teaches that remembering is not enough," Biden wrote, adding that speaking out and acting is also extremely important.
He wrote that his government would be releasing the first-ever national strategy to counter antisemitism "which will outline comprehensive actions the federal government will undertake, and that reflects input from over a thousand Jewish community stakeholders, faith and civil rights leaders, state and local officials and more."
Biden ended his piece by urging Americans nationwide to help confront antisemitism and not give it the room to grow and asking his people to "speak out and act to restore the soul of America together."