Jewish Groups, NAJL Stand with Asian American/Pacific Islander Community Against Hate

Dear Majority Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Speaker Pelosi, and Leader McCarthy:

We join as representatives of Jewish American communal organizations to urge our elected leaders to speak out in solidarity with the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities.

Bias, hate and racism against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have skyrocketed across the country during the COVID-19 crisis. From March 2020 to February 2021 there were approximately 3,800 incidents of hate reported to the Stop AAPI Hate reporting center, likely only a fraction of what the community experienced. The recent massacre in Atlanta that left eight people dead, including six Asian women, was just one horrifying example that has galvanized national attention.

As a community familiar with antisemitism, harassment, hate and scapegoating, we stand in unity with our Asian American and Pacific Islander friends. For the many in our own Jewish communities who are Asian American, this racism and discrimination is personally traumatizing. There is no time to waste, and thus, even as we appreciate Congressional attention to this alarming trend, we believe it is critical for Congress to pass strong bi-partisan legislation to help address hate crimes – against all communities.

We know from research and experience the importance of supporting local communities and providing better tools for federal law enforcement to collect state and local hate crimes data. Localities, in turn, would benefit from federal support to help prevent such crimes and help victims and local communities. That is why we have supported the National Opposition to Hate, Assault, and Threats to Equality (NO HATE) Act in the past, and why we urge Congress to act this year in a bipartisan fashion to pass legislation that provides resources and tools law enforcement needs to protect communities facing such assaults.

You can count on us in the Jewish community to work with you on these efforts. If you would like more information, please contact Darcy Hirsh, Director of Government Affairs at The Jewish Federations of North America at Darcy.Hirsh@Jewishfederations.org, Julie Rayman, the American Jewish Committee’s Senior Director of Policy and Political Affairs at raymanj@ajc.org, and Erin Hustings, Director of Government Relations at the Anti-Defamation League at ehustings@adl.org. Thank you for your support and recognition of this critical issue.

Sincerely,

Ameinu
American Jewish Committee
Anti-Defamation League
Be’chol Lashon
B’nai B’rith International
Dimensions EDC
Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Inc.
Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society
JCC Association of North America
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Jewish Labor Committee
Jewish Multiracial Network
Jewish Women International
Jewish World Watch
Jews in ALL Hues
J Street
Khazbar
MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger
Mitsui Collective
Moving Traditions
National Association of Jewish Legislators
National Council of Jewish Women
Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies
Rabbinical Assembly
Reconstructing Judaism
Shalom Bayit
The Jewish Federations of North America
The Workers Circle
Tivnu: Building Justice
T’ruah
Union for Reform Judaism
Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
Zionist Organization of America

Upcoming Event March 5: Mitigating the Threat of Domestic Extremism at the State Level

Please join NAJL and ADL on March 5 for a discussion on domestic extremism: the nature of the threat and actions that can be taken by state and local governments to mitigate it. Learn about ADL’s recently released PROTECT plan and fellow NAJL legislators efforts on initiatives related to this vital subject.

More information here.

NAJL Condemns, Calls for Resignation of New Hampshire Rep. Dawn Johnson related to Anti-Semitic Post

As state legislators from around the country, we are aware that in addition to upholding state laws and the U.S. Constitution, an important part of our job is serving as role models. 

As Jewish state legislators, we are dismayed and outraged that New Hampshire Representative Dawn Johnson has inspired hate through her anti-Semitic social media post. Earlier this month, Representative Johnson posted on Facebook a link to a website made famous for its racist, anti-Semitic and intolerant content. The link took readers to a story promoting a discredited conspiracy theory along with an altered cartoon representing Jewish tropes that have been used to justify violence against the Jewish community throughout history. When Facebook’s filters against such content removed Representative Johnson’s post, she doubled down, posting a photo of her first attempt, circumventing the filter. 

“The National Association of Jewish Legislators (NAJL) condemns New Hampshire State Representative Dawn Johnson for using her public platform to promote hateful stereotypes about Jews. We also call on the elected officials and community leaders in New Hampshire who have chosen complicity over action to stand up and take action against such hate,” said NAJL Co-President Representative Tana Senn (WA).

Expressions of hatred toward minority groups of people is a crucial stone on the path to tragedy. This has been proven again and again. In the 1930s, Adolf Hitler blamed Jews for Germany’s struggles. In 2018, a man scrolled through message boards filled with anti-Semitic and racist conspiracy theories and then murdered 11 Jews as they worshipped in Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue.  

Rep. Johnson’s actions, paired with her failure to take responsibility for them, undercuts government’s ability to conduct its most foundational duty: to represent and protect each and every person. 

Johnson’s party leadership in the New Hampshire legislature can mitigate the damage she has created by acknowledging it and taking disciplinary action. To do so would show moral clarity, leadership, and decency. To refuse sends a disheartening message to those who already feel vulnerable in a climate that is increasingly hostile toward minority groups. It would also send a tacit message to those who stoke the fires of hate. Days after Johnson’s post, the menorah on Dartmouth’s campus in Hanover, NH was vandalized.

“We stand with the New Hampshire legislators and community leaders who have called for Rep. Johnson’s resignation. We call on Dawn Johnson to resign from both of her elected positions and, if she fails to do so, we call on her party leadership at the local, state and national levels to take strong disciplinary action,” said co-President Assemblyman David Weprin (NY).

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NAJL is a nonpartisan association of more than 240 Jewish state legislators across the country. We come together to promote Jewish values, share ideas and challenges,  network and advocate.

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NAJL Annual Meeting a Huge Success

Over 100 Jewish legislators from across the country participated in our annual (Zoom) meeting on August 13. The program included greetings from NAJL Co-President Patrice Arent (D-UT), Executive Director Jeff Wice, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt and Rabbi Jill Jacobs of T’ruah. We also had legislative updates from dozens of state delegations.

If you missed the meeting, you can see it here.

One screen of participants from our Zoom Annual Meeting on August 13, 2020.

Eileen Filler-Corn elected as first Jewish Speaker of the House in Virginia

Congratulations to our own 1st Vice President, Delegate Eileen Filler-Corn for becoming Virginia’s first Jewish Speaker of the House. With her election, she is also the first female Speaker of the House in Virginia in the past 400 years. Read more here.