The time is now to act

Dear Editor:

Yesterday, the FBI released their 2018 statistics on hate crimes. For the Jewish-American community, the results were nothing short of appalling. The statistics reveal that 2018 set an all-time record for violent anti-Semitic hate crimes—105 in total, versus 73 in 2017—and was the worst year ever for homicides in the Jewish community. In total, there were 920 anti-Semitic hate crimes, which amounts to 57 percent of all religiously-motivated hate crimes.

No longer can we as a nation pretend that anti-Semitism hatred isn’t a major problem in the United States. Every year, these statistics grow more dire, and the Jewish community feels an increasing sense of danger. The fact that a dark underbelly of anti-Semitism lurks in America is hardly new, but we must be aware that the problem is getting worse.

We at the American Jewish Congress condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms, and we hope that these shocking figures awaken our leaders to the hatred in our midst. We are calling on our nation’s leaders to engage in a serious conversation about how to combat hate, bring these numbers down, and ensure that our community is safe.

Jack Rosen

President, American Jewish Congress