What This is About… & What It’s Not
We are individuals, parents, students, leaders, teachers, activists, neighbors, business leaders, artists and civic leaders committed to building safe and respectful communities for all. Some of us are Jewish, many of us are not. All of us believe that hate breeds more hate, and we want to make sure that our city does not create a culture that endangers any segment of our population.
We are working to help our community understand how anti-Jewish ideas, attitudes, language and behavior manifest, especially in progressive communities, and how even well meaning people can unintentionally contribute to a culture of harm for Jews. We do this through:
Educating about the ways anti-Jewish ideas manifest
Supporting the Jewish community and allies to speak out against such harm
Supporting leaders who are actively working to create healthy and safe workplace and community cultures
Amplifying and connecting those doing good work to help support those who are learning.
To be clear: Not all criticism of Israel’s Policies and actions is inherently antisemitic. However, we must be responsible to make sure such criticism does not contribute to a culture of antisemitism.
While we may each pursue political activism in various ways, and hold a range of opinions about the best strategies to achieve our political goals, we must guard the humanity of our Jewish community in the process.
We are hearing from our Jewish friends that they do not feel safe. Jews are hiding their identities and being threatened at work, at school, and on the streets of Seattle. This is unacceptable.
Silence is complicity.
Intent vs. impact matters. Our words, tone and actions can create space for racism and discrimination. We must trust what our Jewish neighbors are telling us. We must center their lived experiences. We must acknowledge the multi-generational trauma that is being triggered everyday.
We must commit to avoiding harm here, even as we fight for justice, freedom and safety in the Middle East.
A Brief History of Antisemitism : Antisemitism is a special kind of hatred that shape-shifts according to the societal issues of the day. Historically, antisemitism has reflected us-vs.-them stereotypes which are intended to divide a population, blaming Jews for the ideological preoccupations of the time.
This results in historical patterns that look different than other kinds of hate. The pattern has repeated over thousands of years. Jews are accepted and comfortable in a society … until they’re not. Hatred, persecution, violence and expulsion follow. This has been true in countries across Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
When white nationalists chanted “Jews will not replace us” in Charlottesville we saw one manifestation of these conspiracy theories that assign blame to Jews on the right. When others blame the Israel counterterrorism training of US police for police brutality against people of color, we see Jews being blamed for systemic racism.
Today, Jews are feeling assaulted and abandoned by both the right and the left. Historically, when this happens, Jews are left vulnerable and it doesn’t end well.
Get educated. Stand up against hate. Be an ally.