Dear John,

Just a few days ago at our annual leadership summit, which was virtual again this year, I reminded over a thousand dedicated members of our ADL community of something I’d like to share with you now.

We should feel hope. We should feel hope every time a principled leader speaks out publicly to stop the normalization of antisemitism and hate...

We should feel hope every time a company joins our effort to get social media companies to stop supporting hate online, or a school signs up for No Place for Hate.

And we should feel hope every time an ally joins us in the fight.

This is why I ask you to join me in feeling optimistic that even as we face historically high levels of antisemitic incidents, we have an opportunity for change. At this week’s online gathering, we had a massive outpouring of support for the mission that you and I share. We heard from Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, Attorney General Merrick Garland, U.N. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff.

We are strengthened by allies like Tina Tchen, founder of TIME’S UP Now, who urged all of us to remember that “we the people decide the path for America. This is a principle that can’t change just because the people of America are now more diverse.”

We were inspired by President Rivlin’s call to “show zero tolerance for all forms of antisemitism, racism and hatred,” Second Gentleman Emhoff’s vow that “our goal as a government and as a country should be to open any door blocked by bigotry” and Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield’s call to counter each hateful idea with a good and true one.

The resolve to reject antisemitism and extremism came from across the political spectrum, with Republican and Democratic members of the Senate and House standing up as friends of ADL, from Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), who talked about his deep belief that “education is the single best tool for combatting antisemitism” to Rep. John Katko (R-NY) who implored all of our political leaders to “speak out against those in power who make antisemitic remarks and in effect embolden this bigoted worldview” to Sen. Jackie Rosen (D-NV), who reminded us that no incident of antisemitism is isolated so we need to encourage as wide a range of allies as possible.

We were moved by a special panel about the COVID-fed hate now targeting the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. Rep. Young Kim (R-CA) emphasized that if there is any issue to unite all of us, it must be driving out bigotry, and Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) affirmed the impact of ADL’s solidarity in fighting AAPI hate: “It has been so meaningful to us, at such a frightening time, to know that we are not alone.”

I encourage you to take a moment to watch this highlights video from the ADL leadership summit. On our YouTube channel, you can also view the summit session recordings featuring the many leaders who stood up this week to say that as the ADL community forges ahead with our mission, we have strong voices on our side to help Fight Hate for Good.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Greenblatt

CEO and National Director

ADL