US President Joe Biden on Friday issued a statement sharply condemning the recent wave of anti-Semitic attacks in the US and saying they must stop.
“In the last weeks, our nation has seen a series of anti-Semitic attacks, targeting and terrorizing American Jews,” he said.
“We have seen a brick thrown through window of a Jewish-owned business in Manhattan, a swastika carved into the door of a synagogue in Salt Lake City, families threatened outside a restaurant in Los Angeles, and museums in Florida and Alaska, dedicated to celebrating Jewish life and culture and remembering the Holocaust, vandalized with anti-Jewish messages.”
“These attacks are despicable, unconscionable, un-American, and they must stop,” stressed Biden. “I will not allow our fellow Americans to be intimidated or attacked because of who they are or the faith they practice.”
“We cannot allow the toxic combination of hatred, dangerous lies, and conspiracy theories to put our fellow Americans at risk,” he continued.
“As Attorney General Garland announced yesterday, the Department of Justice will be deploying all of the tools at its disposal to combat hate crimes.”
“In recent days, we have seen that no community is immune. We must all stand together to silence these terrible and terrifying echoes of the worst chapters in world history, and pledge to give hate no safe harbor,” said Biden.
“May is Jewish American Heritage Month, when we honor Jewish Americans who have inextricably woven their experience and their accomplishments into the fabric of our national identity; overcoming the pain of history, and helping lead our struggle for a more fair, just, and tolerant society.”
“Let us all take up that work and create a nation that stands for, and stands up for, the dignity and safety of all of our people,” he concluded.
Earlier on Friday, a bipartisan group of 132 House Members sent Biden a letter in which they urged "a strong response to the rising anti-Semitism spreading in our country."
“As we now face a dramatic spike in violent antisemitism across this country, we urge you to continue your record of responding decisively to hate-based violence using these new tools at your disposal and take action to also protect the American Jewish community,” the lawmakers wrote.
“We ask you to swiftly implement the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act to strengthen hate crimes education and reporting by local law enforcement, particularly to identify and help prosecute anti-Semitic hate crimes. We strongly encourage the administration to develop an inter-agency strategy to combat anti-Semitism and protect American Jews using existing tools, including the Nonprofit Security Grant Program. Because this trend of rising antisemitism is not limited to our borders, we also urge you to expeditiously nominate an Ambassador at Large to lead the Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat AntiSemitism at the State Department. While these new tools are critical, we also know that they are merely a first step. Education and solidarity are necessary to eliminate the root causes of antisemitism and racial discrimination,” they added.
“We find our nation in a tense moment. Just days after we appropriately responded to anti-Asian hate crimes and incidents, we come together to urge a strong response to the rising anti-Semitism spreading in our country. We stand ready to work with your administration to unequivocally condemn and confront anti-Semitism across America and around the globe.”
The US has seen a spike in anti-Semitic incidents in recent weeks, following the recent round of fighting in Gaza.
On Sunday, a pro-Israel rally held outside of Chicago was crashed by a mob of Arab protesters who attacked the pro-Israel demonstration and called for the slaughter of Jews.
The incident followed a series of attacks on local Jews, including an assault on two Jewish teens by an angry mob Saturday night.
In another incident, a Jewish man was brutally attacked in Times Square by pro-Palestinian Arab demonstrators.
Last Tuesday, thousands of protestors scuffled during parallel demonstrations in New York City, with police in Manhattan erecting metal barricades between the two groups.
Previously, Arabs violently attacked Jews at a restaurant in Los Angeles, according to reports on social media.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)