WASHINGTON — The White House released the first national strategy to combat anti-Semitism amid growing violence against members of the Jewish community and rising anti-Semitic sentiment among Americans.
“At its core, anti-Semitism divides us, undermines our trust in government, in institutions and in each other,” Douglas Emhoff, wife of US Vice President Kamala Harris, said in laying out the strategy. “He threatens our democracy and undermines our American values, our freedoms, our community and our decency.”
The White House said that of all reported religiously motivated hate crimes, 63% affect members of the Jewish community, even though Jews make up just 2.4% of the nation’s population.
Overall, according to the FBI, Jews are the target of 4% of all hate crimes reported in the United States.
“The strategy reaffirms the United States’ commitment to combating anti-Semitism around the world, including efforts to delegitimize or isolate the State of Israel at the UN,” the US ambassador said. UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
The proposed plan includes four areas of work: raising awareness and understanding of antisemitism, improving the safety of Jewish communities, countering the normalization of antisemitism, and strengthening cross-community solidarity.
“We salute President Biden’s determination to confront the threat of anti-Semitism, a dangerous and perverse form of bigotry that has become even more widespread in recent years, primarily due to the rise of extremist political leaders and extreme right,” said the national vice president. Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations Edward Ahmed Mitchell.
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