Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on April 18, 2022

The epidemic of bias crimes in New Jersey shows no signs of easing. The Attorney Generals office found bias crimes here were up almost 30% in 2021.

And a man is facing charges in Ocean County of attempted murder and hate crimes after a series of attacks in Lakewood and Jackson. These attacks apparently targeted Lakewoods large Orthodox Jewish population.

Rabbi David Levy is director of the American Jewish Committee office in New Jersey. He says education is key.

Educating the community on hate and bias, educating the community on anti-Semitism, so that people can identify it and be able to report acts of bias to the appropriate authorities, said Levy.

He said its just as important for political leaders to speak out against hate.

"It does make a difference when our political leaders speak out, when our government leaders speak out against anti-Semitism and other acts of hate and bias, Levy said.

He said those in power have to take on the problem of hate speech.

We need more standing up by our public figures, really calling out the sources of hate and bias, really calling out when people use tropes that target various minority communities, he said.

Levy said social media has become a breeding ground for hate speech, which then turns into violence.

See the article here:

Rabbi Calls for Education and Leadership to Combat Hate Crimes in New Jersey - wbgo.org

Category: Anti-semitism
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