WiV Stands with the Jewish Community
Statement November 2022:
an·ti-Sem·i·tism /ˌan(t)ēˈseməˌtizəm,ˌanˌtīˈseməˌtizəm/
(noun) hostility to or prejudice against Jewish people.
Women in Voice stands in solidarity with our Jewish community around the world. We join the call to end the increasingly violent attacks, threats, and slurs against Jewish people. We stand firmly against Anti-Semitism.
As a community of linguists, language enthusiasts, researchers and technologists, we recognize that words matter, rhetoric matters.
We don’t have to look far in human history to see the horrors that hateful speech can yield. In 2020, nearly two out of three American Jews (63 percent) reported feel their communities are less safe than they were a decade ago (ADL). This number is only increasing.
The FBI reports that “Over the past decade, hate crimes targeting Jews topped the charts every year, with rates ranging from 52% to 67% of the total religious bias crimes.” Jews are 3% of the total population in the USA. On November 3, it was reported that the FBI “had received ‘credible information’ about a nonspecific but wide-scale threat to synagogues in New Jersey” (NBC New York).
There has to be a better way. Anti-Semitism of all kinds must be denounced.
Hate speech and violence have no place here.
“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.” —Martin Niemöller
To learn more and find resources:
Taking Action to Combat Antisemitism: Follow-up Action Plan for Advancing the Implementation of the Recommendations of the UN:
https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/2022-05/ActionPlanChanges-May2022.pdf
The History of Anti-Semitism
https://www.ushmm.org/antisemitism/what-is-antisemitism/why-the-jews-history-of-antisemitism
Survey on Jewish American Experiences with Anti-Semitism
https://www.adl.org/resources/reports/survey-on-jewish-americans-experiences-with-antisemitism
Stop Anti-Semitism
https://www.juf.org/stopantisemitism/
A Resource for Jewish Communities
Anti-Semitism Education Resources, UC Berkeley
https://jewishstudies.berkeley.edu/antisemitism-education/antisemitism-education-resources/
Anti-Semitism Learning Resources, University of Washington
https://jewishstudies.washington.edu/antisemitism-learning-resources/
Have a resource to add? Get in touch: admin at Women in Voice dot org
