Dear Friend of EMET,
My name is Sarah Grace Victor, and as the new Director of Operations at EMET, I want to share my journey in the fight against antisemitism and in support of Israel. I hope you will be inspired to join me as we effectively advocate for these two pillars of our mission at EMET.
As an attorney who has been working towards fighting antisemitism and was in Israel on October 7, I have seen up close the rise in hate since that dark day. We saw in the first few weeks after the attack a near 400% increase in the United States of antisemitic incidents, with a 700% increase on campuses in the ensuing months.
I am distressed by the new forms of this vile hate that we are finding unleashed. Antisemitism has been given a platform. It has become mainstream in new and virulent ways, targeting Jews on both sides of the political spectrum.
As a child of immigrant parents from India, and as someone who was not raised within the Jewish faith, my first exposure to hearing about antisemitism was not from personal experience but from the annals of history and from the experiences shared to us by our Jewish neighbors. I was simultaneously impressed by the fact that while this was a global phenomenon, the Jewish people have always risen above and lived to tell the story. Unfortunately, as I spent time with my Jewish friends and colleagues, I grew to understand that this age-old hate, crazy as it sounds, was not confined to the past.
Coming from such a diverse background, though, has grounded me in recognizing that the politics of difference is something to detest. So when I decided to go to law school, I took an international approach and spent semesters in legal systems around the world: from Asia to Europe to Israel, always listening for the perspective of how Jewish experiences interfaced with history and politics. I found that the scourge of antisemitism does not discriminate as to where it appears: every type of political ideology has played host, although each with a different ideological Achilles heel that has allowed it to flourish. Antisemitism has continually manifested itself in iterations that truly bewilders with not just its absurdity but its ferocity.
In the United States, our complacency in addressing hate as we stay ensconced in our comfortable communal boxes cannot continue to stand. With allies like myself, it is crucial we stand in solidarity in this time of hate. We must hold our administration and representatives accountable and speak up in the face of hate and the structural bias being leveraged against Israel.
And this is the work that EMET has done most effectively since 2005, advocating both on Capitol Hill and through our weekly newsletters and webinars.
When it comes to the horrific treatment of Jewish students on college campuses, EMET has been empowering Jewish voices by educating legislators and pushing for hearings on Capitol Hill regarding The Antisemitism Awareness Act (H.R. 6090, S.852), which codifies the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition into federal law. The IHRA definition is uniquely crucial because it addresses the evolution of 21st century antisemitism to encompass bias against Israel, the world’s only Jewish majority state, while also calling to account classical antisemitism against the Jewish people and religion. Such a framing would ensure that Jewish students are protected in the face of the incitement, increased assaults, and pro-Hamas demonstrations that have astronomically increased since the October 7 massacre.
But this is not our first time creating policy for the campus dynamic. In 2008, we passed amendments to Title VI of the Higher Education Act calling for a "diversity of perspectives'' and "wide range of viewpoints." This federal law was invoked once under the prior administration when the University of North Carolina and Duke had a particularly antisemitic event.
We at EMET have been at the vanguard of educating on the United States-Israel relationship that is integral to the security of both countries. Most recently, we have supported the UNRWA Accountability and Transparency Act (H.R. 1102 and S.431) to defund UNRWA, which promotes hate and violence against the United States and Israel. Recent revelations have brought to the public spotlight how closely linked UNRWA employees are to the brutality of Hamas, making our work even more vital during this time.
EMET has also been involved in initiatives fighting terrorism globally. We encouraged passage of the Taylor Force Act, which prevents aid to the Palestinian Authority until they stop paying stipends to terrorists and their families.
Another key piece of legislation we have been behind is the Koby Mandell Act, which led to the opening of an office in the Department of Justice to ensure that all American victims of overseas terrorism and their families get equal protection under the law.
We believe the security and safety of Israeli civilians is tied to weakening the network of Iran’s proxies, and have advocated for the weakening of Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis by preventing the flow of funding to this terrorist network. We passionately believe in supporting the U.S and Israel’s natural allies, such as the majority of people who have tried to rise up against the Islamic Republic of Iran by supporting the Mahsa Amini Human Rights and Security Accountability Act (H.R. 589 and S.2626) that puts sanctions on Iran for its human rights abuses and oppression against women.
It is especially valuable that those in governance are educated, as policymakers influence how we address not just hate domestically, but also geopolitically, against the world’s only Jewish state.
Thank you for taking the time to hear how EMET continues to, as our name reflects, speak truth to power. We hope you will support EMET’s work as we educate legislators as well as the public-at-large, regardless of partisan affiliation. Please consider a donation as we speak up on behalf of the vulnerability of the Jewish community during this critical time for the state of Israel and the Jewish people’s survival.
Thank you very much!
In solidarity,
Sarah Grace Victor
