Combating Hate and Bigotry

Fighting antisemitism is at the heart of everything JCPA does, including these Action Networks. That is because antisemitism not only operates like most forms of religious, racial, and ethnic prejudice – it also uniquely functions as a conspiracy theory rooted in lies about Jewish power and influence that are used to sow distrust in our democracy by painting institutions and communities as pawns of Jewish control. In turn, as democracy deteriorates, antisemitism only continues to flourish, with all of it posing a threat far beyond the Jewish community.

This tells us that the fight for democracy and the safety of all communities requires countering antisemitism because it animates and fuels broader extremism and hate — and that Jewish safety is most assured in inclusive societies where the safety and rights of all communities are protected.

Our priorities include comprehensive implementation of the historic U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, increased funding for the Dept. of Education to investigate and hold accountable violations of Jewish (and all) students civil rights on campus, and engaging our allies and neighbors in understanding how antisemitism serves as a threat to all of us and our democracy.

Resources:

Fact Sheet: Jewish Safety and the Department of Education

JCPA/More In Common Polling on Americans’ Understanding of Antisemitism

Full rights, inclusion, and safety for the LGBTQ+ community is essential to advancing the rights and safety of all communities and our inclusive democracy. Jewish tradition is rooted in the concept of honoring and respecting all people – and yet today, we are witnessing a wave of dehumanizing anti-LGBTQ+ policies and rhetoric aimed at denying basic rights, resources, and respect.

In 2023, the Human Rights Campaign tracked over 400 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in state legislatures across the country – nearly half of which specifically target transgender and non-binary people. That number has only already increased in 2024.

We have also seen neo-Nazis and other antisemitic, white supremacist extremists utilize anti-LGBTQ+ hate – including anti-trans and anti-drag events and rhetoric – to recruit for their cause, underscoring the deep interconnection of LGBTQ+ and Jewish safety.

It’s critical that we not only oppose these dangerous and dehumanizing policies and hate, but also advance full equality and inclusion for LGBTQ+ Jews and their families in Jewish life.

Take Action:

Tell your State Representative: Take Action to Protect Trans Kids

Resources:

Thrive: The Jewish Coalition to Defend Trans and LGBQ+ Youth

Keshet: It’s a Mitzvah! Fight for LGBTQ+ Rights

Western States Center: Protecting Pride Organizing Guide

ACLU: Mapping Attacks on LGBTQ+ Rights in U.S. State Legislatures in 2024

Systemic racism and inequality continue to persist in the United States, manifesting in every facet of our society. To achieve greater racial justice, we must actively work not only to dismantle systemic racism but to also repair its harms.

JCPA has worked to advance civil rights, counter racism, and build an inclusive, fair, and just society since the 1940s. Fighting against racial injustice and discriminatory policies is a cornerstone of Jewish community relations work, building upon our faith tradition and values as a Jewish people. Our work is informed by a racial justice lens and the needs of our multiracial, multiethnic country and Jewish community.

This work is all the more urgent as racist, white nationalist extremism increasingly intersects with antisemitic conspiracy theories and ideas, fueling a cycle of dehumanizing policies and deadly violence targeting all of our communities.

Take Action:

Support the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act

Resources:

National Urban League Demand Diversity Roundtable

JCPA, URJ, and NCJW Lead Statement Signed by over 30 Jewish Organizations on Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

Race Forward’s Colorlines

NAACP Resource Library

Jewish values and traditions demand a compassionate and robust federal immigration, asylum, and refugee system that protects civil and human rights. Our immigration system should reflect the best of our national values: equality, fairness, due process under the law, and respect for human dignity. We are also keenly aware of how often xenophobic and antisemitic conspiracy theories and rhetoric intersect, including through increasingly-normalized “invasion” and “replacement” rhetoric that has led to mass violence against a number of communities.

We strive to help protect immigrants and immigrant communities and ensure that they are treated with dignity and respect for their basic human rights, health and safety, and family unity. Priorities should include proven effective and humane alternatives to immigrant detention like case management and legal orientation programs; restoring and expanding our asylum and refugee resettlement systems; decriminalizing migration; and supporting a legislative pathway to citizenship for DREAMers and undocumented immigrants with a permanent solution for Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure recipients.

We believe that to be effective, any border security and enforcement measures must be evidence-based, consistent with humanitarian values, and part of a broader reform package that upholds refugee and asylum protection, family reunification, and economic opportunity, while not expanding detention, deportation, or military measures.

Take Action:

Tell Congress to Support the Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act

Urge Congress to Uphold the Rights of Asylum Seekers

Host a New American Family through HIAS Welcome Circles

Resources:

Even as the Jewish community grapples with an unprecedented wave of antisemitism in the wake of October 7th, we know that we’re not the only ones being targeted. Our Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian American neighbors are facing bigotry, threats, and violence – including the murder of a six-year-old Muslim child and the shooting of three Palestinian American students.

We recommit to standing firm against Islamophobia, anti-Arab hate, and all forms of bigotry and discrimination. Even as extremist voices seek to pit us against one another, we know that our communities’ safety and future are inextricably linked.

Take Action:

Model Statement: JCPA Organizes Over 150 Jewish Groups to Unequivocally Reject Islamophobia and Anti-Arab Hate

Resources:

Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign

Joint Multifaith Commitment to Counter Anti-Muslim and Anti-Jewish Hate in the United States

To effectively counter rising hate, we need comprehensive hate crime laws that ensure appropriate attention and resources for investigations, support for victims and their communities, and improved reporting so that we have a truly accurate understanding of the scope of the problem. Despite this need, the vast majority of local and state law enforcement agencies do not submit hate crimes to the FBI. This is compounded by the fact that some victims and survivors do not report crimes because they are fearful of authorities.

We believe that, in addition to conducting thorough investigations of hate crimes, local and federal agencies can and must strengthen data collection and reporting. Continued federal funding to improve resources, training, reporting, and accountability – including through the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act and the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Program – is also critical.

Take Action:

Support the Improving Reporting to Prevent Hate Act

Resources:

Secure Community Network: Report an Incident

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights: Coalition Letter in Support of Improving Reporting to Prevent Hate Act

The criminal legal system must reflect a rehabilitative and restorative justice approach to public safety to end mass incarceration and its disproportionate impact on people and communities of color. Building healthy, safe communities for all requires investing in non-carceral programs and social services, such as education, housing, employment, health care, and other public benefits that make communities safer and more equitable. This also must include reimagining public safety and the role of police in our society.

Click here to learn more about JCPA’s Criminal Justice Initiative.

Take Action:

Model Statement – A Jewish Call to Action: Ending Mass Incarceration and Criminalization

Resources:

JCPA Resolution on Restorative and Rehabilitative Justice

Access to safe, affordable, and legal abortion and reproductive health care is a priority for the Jewish community, rooted in our long-standing support for reproductive rights and religious liberty. According to the Pew Research Center, 83% of Jews believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Judaism compels us to stand for all life, and we prioritize the life and health of a pregnant person; Jewish law never supports abortion bans without exception.

Yet in the aftermath of the Dobbs decision – and with rapidly increasing abortion bans and restrictions in states across the country, as well as multiple Supreme Court cases that could further erode federal abortion protections – our nation is facing a public health crisis. We know what the devastating outcomes look like: undermining reproductive freedom, fundamentally endangering public health, and criminalizing those who provide, support, or obtain abortions. It disproportionately impacts people of color, those who are low-income, and young people. Abortion bans do not stop abortions; they only stop safe abortions, leading to poor health outcomes, long-term poverty, and other adverse health and economic impacts.

Resources:

NCJW’s Judaism and Abortion Advocacy Resource

NCJW’s Women’s Health Protection Act Talking Points

NCJW’s Unfolding New Dimensions in Litigation

NCJW’s Jews for Abortion Access | Advocate Resources | Get Involved & Spread the Word

Rooted in our belief in the sanctity of life, the Jewish community relations field has fought for decades to prevent gun violence, which has become heart-breakingly, unacceptably commonplace. Gun violence, including mass shootings, have reached epidemic levels, impacting people from every walk of life in almost every community in our nation: Americans are now 26 times more likely to be killed by guns and 12 times more likely to kill themselves with a gun than people in other high-income countries. Today, firearms are the leading cause of death for American children and teens.

We support common sense gun violence prevention policies and programs on the federal and state levels.

Take Action:

State-by-State Legislation to Prevent Gun Violence

Resources:

Jewish Gun Violence Prevention Roundtable

JWI’s Domestic Violence and Guns Fact Sheet

JWI’s Domestic Violence Gun Laws Fact Sheet

NCJW’s Gun Violence Prevention Talking Points

JCPA 2020 Resolution on Gun Violence Prevention