PA State Representative Mark Gillen
In an interview with newspaper Israel Hayom, Pennsylvania State Representative Mark Gillen spoke about his plans to build a Holocaust museum in Berks County in the face of growing antisemitism, a project which received the support of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. Gillen previously founded the Berks Military History Museum in the city of Mohnton, which houses World War II artifacts which is reportedly popular among the general public. So far, Rep. Gillen has acquired concentration camp uniforms and Stars of David from the Warsaw Ghetto.
Rep. Gillen reported he has faced threats and harassment as a result of his plan to build the Holocaust center. Gillen was targeted with antisemitic slurs and comments of Holocaust denial on social media; the harassment became so severe that a bomb squad was placed on standby during the ceremonial groundbreaking of the museum in 2021. In response Gillen said that he “wasn’t expecting the effort antisemites took to shut down my project,” and added that the waves of harassment “only validated that we should be doing this.”
Professors Strengthening the Black and Jewish alliance
In the current state of unrest and turbulence, especially on university campuses, two professors, Rabbi Meir Muller and Prof. Devin Randolph, are expanding a program at two Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), South Carolina State University and Voorhees University, to combat Jew-hatred and deepen students’ understanding of the historic Black-Jewish alliance. The course covers Black civil rights leaders’ support for Zionism and the role that HBCUs played in giving refuge to Jewish professors fleeing Nazi Germany during World War II.
Close friends and colleagues, Muller and Randolph created the course after developing and teaching a course in 2020 that tackled anti-Black racism and antisemitism titled “Anne and Emmett: Confronting Antisemitism, Racism and Otherness through Pedagogy.”. The course is part of a larger partnership between HBCUs and the Academic Engagement Network to combat the recent rise in antisemitism by strengthening the Black and Jewish alliance.
Speaking about the initiative, Dr. Randolph said, “at the heart of this approach is the emphasis on creating inclusive and diverse spaces, I see this endeavor as something truly invaluable.” Rabbi Muller added, “we acknowledge that we are in a time when the alliance between our communities is strained, yet we believe that the foundation for solidarity is present and can be revitalized through educational endeavors.”
Communities Come Together to Clean Antisemitic Graffiti
Two communities came together this past week to stand up to Jewish hate.
On Sunday, residents of Bethesda, MD, joined to wash away antisemitic graffiti found near an elementary school. The hate speech was discovered on the school’s sign and sidewalk when residents arrived early that morning to a weekly farmer’s market that takes place on the grounds. They quickly worked together to remove and cover up the antisemitic phrases from the property.
Also happening overnight into Sunday, a pizzeria in Ottawa, Canada, was vandalized with swastikas and other racist graffiti. When it was discovered by the owner, community members and customers were quick to aid in painting over the hate speech on the building and scrubbing the racist remarks from the sidewalk.
The pizzeria’s owner, George Abou Faissal, said he hopes the perpetrators learn how harmful their language is, saying, “We pray for them. Maybe God will give them some wisdom.”
St. Luke’s Stands Up to Jewish Hate
An Oklahoma church recently demonstrated what standing up to Jewish hate looks like. As part of St. Luke’s Methodist Church’s popular summer sermon, the church dedicated a day to raise awareness of antisemitism to its congregants and encourage church goers to stand up to Jewish hate and all hate. The church created a banner which read “St. Luke’s stands up to Jewish hate” and throughout the day distributed thousands of Blue Square lapel pins and blue square stickers to people in attendance. The sermon on August 18 featured music and themes from the Jewish musical “Fiddler on the Roof,” which Reverend Bob Long saw as the perfect opportunity to speak about rising antisemitism.
During his sermon Rev. Long said, “This is a statement of stand up to Jewish hate, but it really is a statement of stand up to all hate. And that is the statement we are making. We want to stand up to all hate.” He later added, “Hate does nothing for our society. It does not make us better. It does not make us happy. We can do better than that. We can stand up to Jewish hate. We can stand up to all hate.”
Rabbi Vered Harris of Temple B’nai Israel in Oklahoma expressed her gratitude for St. Luke’s commitment to raise awareness of antisemitism. Rabbi Harris said that seeing more people in Oklahoma wearing Blue Square pins will be a “comfort to many Jewish people and a reminder of what it means to live in a society that believes in decent and kind relations with our neighbors.”
Harrisburg, PA Community Hold Rally Against Hate
Harrisburg residents and officials came together Sunday for a “Unite Against Hate” rally in front of the Pennsylvania state capitol after a group of neo-Nazis were spotted walking through the city the day before. The individuals, associated with the neo-Nazi group Blood Tribe, were carrying swastika flags and chanting racial and hateful speech. Mayor Wanda Williams and the city’s police commissioner, Thomas Carter, emphasized that hateful ideologies such as these have no place in Harrisburg. The city assured residents that an investigation into the incident is ongoing.
The rally was attended by local residents and served as a platform for residents to voice their concerns surrounding the show of hate and support for a more inclusive Harrisburg. Participants, including the Jewish Federation of Greater Harrisburg, expressed their determination to prevent hate groups from infiltrating their spaces. The city’s strong response and the community’s solidarity at the rally send a clear message that hate has no home in Harrisburg.
