Antisemitic Hate Crimes and Violence Must End

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Stephen Peters, [email protected]

WASHINGTON — Wade Henderson, interim president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement denouncing the growing rise in antisemitic hate crimes and violence: 

“The alarming rise in hate-filled rhetoric and violence targeting the Jewish community is absolutely despicable. It is critical that all of us opposed to hate forcefully and unequivocally condemn these attacks. Antisemites don’t need conflict in the Middle East to inflame their bigotry. Anti-Jewish bigotry is as unjustified and wrong as anti-Black, anti-Asian, anti-Muslim bigotry, and all forms of hatred. It must stop!”

BACKGROUND:

There have been horrific trends demonstrating an increase in anti-Jewish hate incidents and crimes, as well as an increase in white nationalist activity across the country. Reports have tracked an increase of antisemitic incidents by 63 percent in recent days. In 2018, federal hate crime data recorded the highest number of violent antisemitic hate crimes since the data reporting began, and in 2019, there was a 14 percent increase in antisemitic hate crime incidents. 2019 also marked the deadliest year on record overall for hate crimes committed against people on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, and disability.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 220 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.