ANTISEMITISM IN AMERICA
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NEVER AGAIN IS NOW
In the twenty-first century United States, Jews stand out as the individuals most likely to suffer from discrimination, mistreatment, and attack—as they have in so many times and so many places. FBI and state statistics on hate crimes show that on a per capita basis Jews are subject to vastly more attacks than any other ethnic, religious, racial, or national group. While Jews make up less than 2% of the population, they are the victims of approximately 60% of all religiously motivated hate crimes in America. Unofficially, but anecdotally and realistically, actual incidences are multiples of that.
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The danger is even greater for individuals and institutions immediately recognizable as Jewish. Synagogues, JCCs, cemeteries, schools, kosher markets, and anything visibly connected to Israel require security measures—and costs—far greater than do their non-Jewish neighbors and counterparts. Individuals wearing distinctively Jewish garb or symbols—like a yarmulke, a Magen David, or a T-shirt with Hebrew writing—are subjected to street-level attack and harassment far out of proportion to their numbers.
The growing problem in the United States is part of a deeply troubling trend. Antisemitism is on the rise, throughout the Western world, on multiple fronts. That rise poses a serious threat, not only to the Jews but to broader Western societies. Antisemitism is a cultural illness; it’s a sign of a society on the verge of collapse and looking for scapegoats. If America cannot defeat the multiple rising threats against the Jews, it cannot defend itself.
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The Jewish Legal Defense Fund (JLDF) is first and foremost founded to protect Jews. But its importance is truly universal. The Jews live - unwillingly - on the frontlines of America’s increasingly extreme culture wars. The welfare of America’s Jews is a bellwether for the health of American society writ large.
The fight against antisemitism is at the forefront of today’s struggle for civil rights. It’s a battle that must be waged on many fronts.
Never Again is Now. JLDF is Here.
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