BY GARY JONES,
UJF JEWISH COMMUNITY
RELATIONS COUNCIL DIRECTOR
On behalf of United Jewish Federation of Stamford, New Canaan and Darien, I attended the Jewish Federations of North America United for Security Fly-In to Washington to lobby Congress to address Jewish community security requirements.
The Fly-In was held over a 24-hour period in late June to address the recent manifestations of murderous antisemitism, including: 1) the attempt to burn down the Governor’s mansion in Pennsylvania, occupied by Josh Shapiro, a Jewish Governor; 2) the shooting outside an American Jewish Committee conference in Washington in which two members of the staff of the Israeli Embassy were murdered; and (3) the firebombing of a march held in Boulder, Colorado in support of the Israeli hostages which resulted in one death.
In response to these attacks and the accelerating growth of Jew hatred in our country, leaders of 46 Jewish organizations worked together to produce a joint six-point plan to enhance Jewish security (the “Security Plan”). Following is a summary of the six points:
- a substantial increase in funding for the current Nonprofit Security Grant program.
- additional federal funding to provide direct financial assistance to local police departments to protect Jewish institutions.
- provide direct financial assistance to Jewish communities to help pay the massive costs of hiring security guards and extra duty police officers.
- new laws regulating hate speech and incitement to violence on social media.
- expanding FBI resources to combat domestic terrorism.
- a renewed emphasis on enforcing and prosecuting existing hate crimes laws.
More than 400 lay and professional leaders from across the country descended on Washington to demand a rigorous Federation response to the increasingly difficult challenge of protecting the Jewish community and its institutions.
It was clear that the level of the Jewish response to the crisis was noticed and appreciated by our Representatives and Senators. I was honored to be one of the Fly-In participants representing UJF and other Connecticut Jewish Federations. We met with both of our Senators and three of our five Representatives, reviewing the six points of the security plan. They shared their commitment to finding solutions necessary to fight antisemitism and to protect the Jewish community.
Locally, the JCRC has been working with the Connecticut General Assembly to pass legislation creating a “working group” to study and recommend remedies to address the rampant growth of antisemitism in K-12 schools.
All seven Connecticut Federations have worked hard to gain passage of the bill to establish the working group as the first step in our important effort to fight the increase in antisemitism in our K-12 schools. Although the bill was passed overwhelmingly in the House of Representatives as part of an omnibus bill, it was never considered by the senate when the legislature adjourned on the last day of the session.
There will be a one-day special session of the legislature in September, and UJF is working to ensure that the omnibus bill containing our working group bill will be addressed. Advocacy will be key, and when we have more details, we will ask for your help in reaching out to our State Representatives and Senators to ensure this bill is acted upon and passed.
If you have any questions or suggestions on these or other JCRC issues, please contact me at gary@ujf.org.