Knoxville Jewish Alliance increasing security amid national rise in antisemitic incidents
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — The Knoxville Jewish Alliance is implementing additional security measures amid a national rise in antisemitic incidents.
We have seen several attacks on the Jewish community in recent months. On Sunday, a man was accused of throwing Molotov cocktails during a pro-Israel demonstration. Two weeks ago, two Israeli embassy staffers were shot and killed leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington DC.
'In 2024, the Anti-Defamation League, which is a primary organization that tracks antisemitic incidents in the United States, recorded over 9,500 incidents, which was a 5% increase over 2023 and that was the highest total,' Knoxville Jewish Alliance President Judith Rosenberg.
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Rosenberg believes the attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023 has only perpetuated antisemitism.
'I don't think that anyone can look at what's happening on the ground in Israel and in Gaza right now and think that situation is good,' Rosenberg said. 'I find it hard to rationalize how the killing of Americans and the killing of Jews in the name of 'Freeing Palestine' in the United States does anything to help free Palestine. And again, it just heightens our fear and also our anguish.'
As fear has heightened, the Knoxville Jewish Alliance has taken additional security measures at the Arnstein Jewish Community Center.
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'We have seen a drastic increase in the amount of money and budget that we devote both in security personnel and to actual what we would call 'physical hardening,' which is the stuff you can see like gates and cameras and all the things that are just absolutely ensuring that we keep a safe facility and that we're vigilant about everyone who comes through our doors and through our gate,' Rosenberg said.
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