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Raising Up a Resilient Jewish Community
Amid the challenges facing Jewish communities around the country, this week we want to share a celebration with you for a change! ADL’s Midwest team centered their annual community gathering on lifting up Chicagoland individuals and businesses who have been targeted by antisemitic boycott campaigns since 10/7.
The event, titled Raising Up, hosted local Jewish artists, authors and restaurants who have faced down hate, including vandalism, online harassment and even violent threats. And speaking of facing down hate… inspiring headline performer Matisyahu has seen a number of concerts cancelled in the past year, including one in Chicago that was shut down after literally thousands of threats were directed toward the venue.
As our Midwest Regional Director David Goldenberg said at the celebration, “We will not be silent as antisemites turn the word ‘Zionist’ into a slur. We will not be passive… This is the moment where we need to show up. This is the moment where we all need to act.”
Raising Up was a night of hope and community — and also raised more than $575,000 to support ADL’s mission!
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Private-School Problems:
At the recent National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) People of Color Conference, several speakers used extreme, biased anti-Israel rhetoric, including falsely accusing Israel of “genocide” and downplaying the Hamas terrorist attack on 10/7. NAIS is an association of private schools that includes over 100 Jewish day schools. This week, ADL and many other organizations signed a joint letter
asserting that “the pervasiveness of this rhetoric and the absence of any alternate perspectives created an atmosphere that was hostile for many Jewish students and faculty members in attendance” and calling on NAIS to take action by issuing an apology for the antisemitism at the conference, and declining to provide a stage for similar hostility at future events. Read more about the issue and ADL’s response here, and scroll down to the ‘take action’ box below to send your own letter to NAIS.
LIVE EVENT: How Parents and Caregivers Can Combat Antisemitism in K-12 Schools:
Don't miss this webinar next Monday, 12/16, if you are a parent, caregiver or anyone else interested in addressing antisemitism in K-12 schools. ADL experts will explain how this antisemitism manifests in schools, its impact on communities and how you can join the fight against this hate. Attendees will also be among the first to receive the results of a new national survey about antisemitism in K-12 schools. Click here to register now for the free ADL webinar.
Protests in Public Places:
Earlier this week, the House Natural Resource Oversight Subcommittee held a hearing examining the violent protest that occurred at Union Station in Washington following Israeli President Netanyahu’s speech to Congress. ADL sent resources to Congress to assist in the hearing, including providing background on some of the instigators of the protest as well as questions for lawmakers to ask witnesses to push for better information on how Congress and the National Park Service can act to ensure that other antisemitic protests of this nature do not occur in the future. You can read more
here about the challenges that government agencies face in order to ensure peaceful protests on public lands.
Op-Ed: Antisemitism in American Politics:
We commend the American Bar Association for publishing an entire issue of its human rights publication on confronting antisemitism. ADL’s Chief Legal Officer, Steve Sheinberg, contributed an essay on the blame game that opportunistic politicians play when they only focus on antisemitism coming from the other side of the political aisle. As Steve notes, “our country is at its best when there’s bipartisan support for confronting antisemitism.” Read Steve’s op-ed here, as well as the rest of this
ABA special edition.
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ADL’s Israel office was thrilled this past week to launch the Druze Leadership Program,
with a goal of promoting a just and cohesive Israel. The new program was enthusiastically embraced by the Druze community, and it kicked off with a session focused on the challenges facing the Druze community and a visionary future for Israel. At the start of the meeting, the Head of the Druze Religious Council, Sheikh Muwafeq Tarif, reminded the participants that “we strive to contribute not only on the battlefield but also in academia, employment, and education, becoming an essential part of Israel’s vibrant mosaic.” You can read more about it in
this Jerusalem Post article.
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Speak up now with ADL! Jewish students are facing unprecedented hate in their classrooms. Instead of fostering inclusion and belonging, the National Association of Independent Schools — representing over 2,000 private, charter and religious schools — allowed antisemitism to take root at its recent conference on diversity.
Click here to join us in demanding that NAIS take immediate action against this antisemitic rhetoric. It just takes a moment to speak out.
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Join Us on March 3-4 for Never Is Now, the World’s Largest Summit on Antisemitism and Hate.
With acts of antisemitism on the rise, we must come together as a community. New this year at Never Is Now is a powerful series of hands-on workshops. You will learn skills and tactics directly from world-class ADL experts and other high-profile speakers to help you drive action in your community, online, on campus, at work and in engaging with government officials.
No one can fight antisemitism alone; never is NOW. Join us on March 3-4 at the Javits Center in New York City.
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