On July 3, a rally organized by American Muslims for Palestine, opposing Israel’s plan to extend sovereignty over parts of Judea and Samaria, included several speeches with vicious anti-Jewish and anti-Israel statements. The executive director of CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations), equated Israel’s treatment of Palestinian Arabs with American white police brutality against blacks. The Jewish Federation of North Jersey (JFNNJ) and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) issued a joint statement condemning the hateful rhetoric. In a phone interview, edited for brevity and clarity, Jason Shames, CEO of JFNNJ, told The Jewish Link why they responded.
What were your goals in issuing the statement?
The ADL monitors events like these and brought it to our attention. We issued a statement together about this event on social media and our entire 15,000- to 18,000-name database, so people would know about it… We wanted to condemn the comments that were made at that rally and educate our community about what is going on in our own backyard. We are trying to walk the tightrope between supporting racial justice in this country and the fact that we’re not going to tolerate the co-opting of that agenda by those who hate Jews and Israel. It’s unacceptable… Who are you trying to reach?
Most people get their news from CNN or The New York Times. They aren’t covering the co-opting of the Black Lives Matter movement by the anti-Semitic, anti-Israel folks. So you know what, we’re going to do it.
We’re not going to change CAIR’s mind. The issue is public opinion, not those who are perpetuating it at this point. The problem is pointing out the fallacies and how they’re using racial injustice for their own platform.
Do you have relationships with any groups outside the Jewish community who can help?
In Northern New Jersey, the Jewish community is far more organized than most other communities. We don’t have the capacity to go church to church where there is a lot of strength in the African-American community. I would love to find an organized African-American group that hasn’t been co-opted that we can work with. We do have a great relationship with the NAACP, and Andrew Cureton, the Bergen County Sheriff. He and I have had a lot of dialogue.
Does Federation have any programs to promote understanding between communities?
Tracy Zur, a member of the Bergen County Board of Chosen Freeholders and our board, has started a group called “We the People” to bring together middle school kids of all different backgrounds, and we support that financially. Next month they will be providing 1800 backpacks for underprivileged students. These are kids coming from communities that don’t have the means to do it. It’s no different than putting food on the table. We’re going to do what we can to help.
We have a three-part Zoom program coming up (“Unconscious Bias and Our Relationship With Other Racial and Interfaith Groups”) that we hope will start something on top of the dialogue we’re having.
By Bracha Schwartz
