American Jews Have Found Our Voice

The tide is changing. After years of leading protests advocating for social justice for other minority communities, American Jews have finally begun to stick up for ourselves.

As members of the ethnic group most likely to experience hate crimes (per FBI statistics), Jews have finally found our own voice in the struggle for civil rights. It’s about time.

Until now, our community rarely spoke out on a national level on our own behalf. But not anymore. Jews and our allies are mobilizing in numbers we haven’t seen in decades.

This is not just a response to one event — it is a steady drum beat of activism, snowballing into a movement that can achieve monumental, lasting change. We aim to End Jew Hatred in our lifetime.

The large, legacy Jewish organizations have long shied away from protests and public organizing, unless it was to lend support to another minority community. Some have even gone so far as to discourage Jews from mobilizing on their own.

Now, they too are clamoring to co-sponsor events and add their names and logos to grassroots Jewish activism across the country. This newfound sense of unity is a positive development, as groups of all shapes, sizes and political persuasions are marching together with a shared purpose.

The last time Jews in America mobilized on a large scale was for the Soviet Jewry movement, which advocated for Jews trapped in the Soviet Union to be allowed to emigrate to Israel. Nearly four decades later, we’re seeing thousands of supporters attend rallies demanding an end to Jew-hatred in the U.S. and around the world.

There are legitimate reasons why Jews have long been hesitant to take action. For millennia, Jew-hatred has forced many to hide their faith, to say nothing of the innocent lives it has taken.

To be clear, this is not a dated fear from evils committed by Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union. Jew-hatred is very much present today.

Physical attacks against Jews in the United States are increasing. For example, in New York City, antisemitic attacks are up 69% so far in 2021.

This is why I helped organize the End Jew Hatred movement. We bring together 19 organizations from across the globe to mobilize Jews and our allies to end antisemitism. We have more than 20 chapters in eight countries, and we are growing every day.

We coordinate rallies and provide resources for activists. We work together to aggressively call out antisemitism, and mobilize against it to reach our common goal.

We know we can’t rely on anyone else to do it for us. Without the unified voices of our own community and our allies, our calls for justice will fall on deaf ears.

We should be proud our community has finally taken action but, while this activism is a welcome change, we cannot let up now. We must show the world that the Jewish community is united, strong and unafraid.

We must stand together, ask our allies to join us and demand to be treated with the same level of fundamental respect as every other culture, religion and ethnic group.

I encourage everyone to participate in the End Jew Hatred movement. In the last year, we’ve hosted more than 20 rallies across the world, with several large protests planned in the next few days. On July 11^th, End Jew Hatred partners, Alliance for Israel and many other organizations are co-sponsoring a rally in Washington, D.C. demanding an end to fear and Jew-hatred.

On July 25^th, we’re taking the movement to San Diego where former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will address attendees. That same day, the Jewish Community in Berlin is taking to the streets to demand their rights for public self-expression as Jews.

If you are unable to join one of these rallies, there are other ways to show your support. I challenge you to wear a symbol of Jewish pride, whether it’s a kippah or Star of David necklace, and post it on social media using the hashtag #EndJewHatred. Together, we’ll show that nothing will silence our calls to end to Jew-hatred.

Brooke Goldstein is a New York City-based human rights attorney, author, and award-winning filmmaker. She serves as Executive Director of The Lawfare Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness about and facilitating a response to the abuse of Western legal systems and human rights law. Read more of Brooke Goldstein's reports here.