Latest news with #JewishAmericans
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Antisemitism top challenge for 78% of Jews: Israeli survey
(NewsNation) — A new Voice of the People survey among Jewish Americans found that 78% listed antisemitism as one of the top five challenges facing them today. Noa Tishby, Israel's former special envoy for combating antisemitism, told NewsNation's 'Elizabeth Vargas Reports' that antisemitism is causing fear for Jews around the world. 'As we see, antisemitism is the oldest form of hate and discrimination that's still being practiced today, and today it just shape-shifted into something new called anti-Zionism,' Tishby said. Voice of the People, an initiative backed by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, released 'The 2025 Jewish Landscape Report' on Thursday. The report included more than 10,000 people across 80 countries. Capital Jewish Museum reopens week after Israeli Embassy staffers killed Tishby said four out of five Jews globally cite antisemitism as their 'greatest concern,' and some responded they worry about 'looking too Jewish.' The report's release comes days after two Israeli embassy staffers were gunned down in Washington, D.C.. Sarah Milgram and Yaron Lischinsky were exiting the Capital Jewish Museum on May 21 when they were fatally shot from behind. The suspect yelled 'Free Palestine' as the police took him into custody, authorities said. 'I can tell you that a lot of Jews around the world are blown away by this rise in antisemitism,' Tishby said. Tishby said the research shows 'the fear is not theoretical.' 'We see that we're right to be concerned,' she said. 'What's happening right now across America should warn everybody because we've been saying this for a very long time. What starts with the Jews doesn't end with the Jews.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Noa Tishby: Antisemitism has ‘shape-shifted' into antizionism
A new Voice of the People survey among Jewish Americans found that 78% listed antisemitism as one of the top five challenges facing them today. Noa Tishby, the former special envoy to Israel for combating antisemitism, joins 'Elizabeth Vargas Reports' to discuss antisemitism and how it's causing fear for Jews around the world. 'There was an understanding that this has been settled after World War II. … But, as we see, antisemitism is the oldest form of hate and discrimination that's still being practiced today,' Tishby says. She says today it has shape-shifted into something new — antizionism. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yomiuri Shimbun
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yomiuri Shimbun
For U.S. Jews, D.C. Museum Killings Deepen Resolve — and Fear
Valerie Plesch/For The Washington Post People gather outside the White House on Thursday night during a vigil for Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim. They were shot and killed on Wednesday after attending a 'Young Diplomats Reception' hosted by the American Jewish Committee at the Capital Jewish Museum. For Rabbi Ruth Balinsky Friedman, who teaches Jewish text at a D.C.-area high school, the killings of two Israeli Embassy workers this week have deepened the isolation she's felt as an American Jew in recent years. Hamas's attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel's subsequent attacks on Gaza, followed by divisions around the world over what caused the conflict and who was at fault, left the 40-year-old mother of three feeling confused, with no easy solution to the war in sight. Now, after the shooting at the Capital Jewish Museum on Wednesday, she feels similarly disoriented. 'Where do we as a people belong?' she said. 'Where do I belong?' And if Jews belong in America, 'why are people shooting us in broad daylight?' Late Wednesday evening, Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, were shot after attending a Young Diplomats Reception hosted by the American Jewish Committee at the Capital Jewish Museum. The alleged shooter shouted 'Free, free Palestine' before police took him into custody. For many Jewish Americans across the country, the shooting near the D.C. museum has reinforced a sense that they're unsafe – not safe to wear a yarmulke and not safe to go into Jewish institutional buildings, no matter how much is spent on security. For others, the attack on the young couple fueled their strength and confidence – in their faith, in their connection to Israel, in their visible Jewishness. And for yet others, May 21 was just another sad, complicated day to be an American Jew. The Jewish community has invested many millions in securing its buildings. What does it mean, Friedman said, that people could still be murdered right on the sidewalk? She felt 'tremendous sadness' after 'seeing the tragic loss of life and in such a senseless way,' she said. The couple was attending an event about humanitarian causes, including Gaza, she noted. 'They were fighting for the thing this shooter thought he was supporting.' According to the Pew Research Center, the percentage of Americans saying there is 'a lot of discrimination' against Jews rose from 20 percent in 2021 to 40 percent in early 2024. Among Jewish Americans, 72 percent said Jews face a lot of discrimination – up from 48 percent in 2020. A 2024 University of Miami/NORC poll found 7 percent of U.S. Jews reported being physically threatened or attacked because they are Jewish since the Oct. 7 attacks, while 39 percent said they had heard colleagues or neighbors make slurs or jokes about Jews. 'I do show up boldly and proudly Jewish,' said Risa Borsykowsky, 58, of Long Island, who owns the Jewish Gift Place. Since the attacks of 2023, she wears a Star of David necklace, even though she is hesitant about it. 'I'm thinking, am I nuts for wearing this? I feel like I am putting myself out there as a target for verbal and physical abuse,' Borsykowsky said. The shooting in D.C. left her feeling 'rage and absolute outrage,' she said. But she refuses to change her day-to-day life in response, Borsykowsky said. That is her way of pushing back against anti-Israel college campus protests she calls 'antisemitic,' and against misinformation online that she believes has created an environment where antisemitism thrives. Those things 'just create such hatred for Israel and the Jewish people that it leads to crimes like what happened' Wednesday night, Borsykowsky said. 'It's scary. It's scary to me as a Jewish person.' Jeremy Krashin of Kansas said he was 'very shaken' by the attacks. 'It hurts. It feels like it could be your kids.' But Krashin, 43, said his family's response to the shooting will be to become more – not less – visible as Jews. Milgrim, one of the two Israeli Embassy workers gunned down in D.C., attended Shawnee Mission East High School a few miles from Krashin's home in Overland Park, Kansas. They had both graduated from the University of Kansas. 'We are increasing our involvement in the Jewish community. We're doing things like flying the Israeli flag outside of our house, going to synagogue and Jewish events more often. Just keeping our Jewish identity top of mind,' he said. 'We know there is a constant threat against us, and we are not cowering in fear.' Some Jewish Americans said they were drawing on lessons from previous attacks on their community. In 2022, a man with a gun and explosives held four people, including a rabbi, hostage at Congregation Beth Israel, a Dallas-area synagogue. Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker was the leader of Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville and among those held for 11 hours. The man repeated antisemitic, anti-Israel and anti-U.S. comments during the ordeal, he said. Since the incident in 2022, and the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, his approach has remained the same, Cytron-Walker said: Focus on relationship-building. Focus on the positive. Focus on the concrete. 'I still don't believe we're in a situation where we as a Jewish community should panic. To the best of our knowledge, violent rhetoric is dangerous, but [the D.C. shooting] appears to be an individual situation and incident,' he said in an interview. Security costs at Jewish institutions have already risen 'eight- or nine- or tenfold' since the Oct. 7 attacks, he said. 'The number one point I've tried to make … is that we can't fight antisemitism alone. That's our reality,' he said. 'If only Jews are fighting against antisemitism, we've lost.' Local leaders and faraway friends reached out to Cytron-Walker as news of the D.C. shootings spread, he said. 'This is traumatic for Jewish communities through the country. The same way Palestinian people need love and support along with humanitarian aid, the same way as the Israeli public has been crying out for the return of hostages and an end to war. That's the kind of love and support we need right now.' It is too early to draw conclusions about the D.C. shooting, said Rabbi Nancy Kasten, a Dallas-area interfaith activist who knows people who were held hostage at Congregation Beth Israel in 2022 and others who attend the synagogue. Her worry, she said, was that politicians would use the museum killings as an excuse to limit free speech. 'I do not see that those tactics have worked in the past and don't know why we would think they could work to keep Jews, Israelis or anyone else safer in the future,' she said. For now, she is focusing on an event she's been planning, titled 'Two Peoples, One Land: What Americans Can Do to Promote Peace in Israel and Palestine.' However, she said, 'I wonder how it will fall now.' The shooting at the D.C. museum was tragic, said Joseph Landson, 56, a Navy veteran from Springfield, Virginia. 'It's a horrible time' to be Jewish in America, he said. The killings were 'just another in an unending string of anti-Israel attacks. Notice I wrote anti-Israel. I really don't consider the attack antisemitic. New data could change my mind,' Landson said. Landson, who can't work because of chronic disease, said he attempts to balance supporting Israel – but not unconditionally. While he tries, he wrote The Post, to walk a middle ground, 'it feels like moderation is becoming impossible.'
NDTV
24-05-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
After Shootings, Washington's Shaken Jewish Community Looks To Bolster Security
When Adam Zimmerman chaperoned his son's fourth-grade class field trip to the natural history museum in Washington on Wednesday, he didn't give a second thought to security. Hours later, outside a different museum a few miles (km) away, two Israeli embassy employees were gunned down in what was widely viewed as an act of antisemitism. "It was a horrific reminder for me - as a Jewish parent in this city - that we all have to be looking over our shoulders all the time," said Zimmerman, 43, a media consultant from Rockville, Maryland. The fatal shooting of the young couple after an event at a Jewish museum has deeply shaken the U.S. capital's Jews, and has led to a review of security protocols at synagogues and other institutions. "The same seeds of antisemitism that led to Europe in the 1930s and 1940s are still killing people on the streets of Washington, D.C. in 2025," said Zimmerman, whose grandparents were Holocaust survivors. It was the latest act of violence aimed at Jewish Americans linked to outrage over Israel's escalating military offensive in Gaza, a response to the October 2023 attacks by Hamas militants that killed 1,200 in southern Israel. The Washington shooting took place outside the Capital Jewish Museum, where the American Jewish Committee was sponsoring an annual young diplomats reception. The lone suspect, who was charged with two counts of first-degree murder on Thursday, told police on the scene, "I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza," according to court records. Alan Ronkin, regional director of AJC's Washington office, said security was tight at the event, even though the suspect, Elias Rodriguez of Chicago, managed to enter the museum in the chaos that ensued in the aftermath of the shooting outside. He was apprehended inside. "We are going to revisit our security protocols, and make sure we follow the recommendations of the experts," said Ronkin, who added the community is "shaken but resilient." Ron Halber, chief executive officer of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, said that local law enforcement has increased patrols around Jewish institutions in Washington since the killings. "A lot of us are looking over our shoulder today," said Halber. "But we have to keep leading proud open Jewish lives. I'm certainly not going to let it deter me from any public or private event." Most Jewish institutions in the city already have robust security, including armed guards at most synagogues, according to Halber. "The big discussion that's going to happen is how long does the perimeter extend - one block, two blocks," he said. "Every Jewish organization is increasing their security, whether it's having more guards standing outside during more hours of the day, or if they didn't have any, adding them," said Gil Preuss, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. "Right now it's short term, and we'll see whether there's a permanent change in the level of security. My guess is yes." The federation is one of several Jewish institutions that said on Friday they were fundraising to bolster security. Local and federal grants, especially a nonprofit security grant program administered through the Federal Emergency Management Administration, are a "tremendous" help to offset the costs of security improvements, according to Preuss. After some delays and confusion due to the Trump administration's federal funding freezes in recent months, the program's grant funding has started flowing again, he said. About 50 Jewish organizations issued a statement on Thursday calling on the U.S. Congress to increase funding under the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to $1 billion, more than double the current figure. 'Desire To Be Together' Sarah Krinsky, a rabbi at Adas Israel in Washington, said on Friday there were D.C. Metropolitan Police Department cars outside her synagogue, at the end of the block and at the base of the parking lot. Krinsky said the 2018 Tree of Life Synagogue shooting that killed 11 worshippers in Pittsburgh first prompted Adas Israel to boost security significantly. Since Wednesday's attack, the Washington mayor's office, police department, FBI and private firms have all recommended even higher levels of security. She said the conservative congregation's more than 3,500 members would welcome the "slight enhancements," details of which she could not discuss. With the shock of the shooting still raw, Krinsky said she expected a big crowd for Shabbat services this weekend. "There's a real desire to be together, and to be in a place where people can mourn and grieve and express everything they're feeling and feel safe and held," she said.
AsiaOne
24-05-2025
- Politics
- AsiaOne
After shootings, Washington's shaken Jewish community looks to bolster security, World News
When Adam Zimmerman chaperoned his son's fourth-grade class field trip to the natural history museum in Washington on Wednesday (May 21), he didn't give a second thought to security. Hours later, outside a different museum a few miles away, two Israeli embassy employees were gunned down in what was widely viewed as an act of antisemitism. "It was a horrific reminder for me — as a Jewish parent in this city — that we all have to be looking over our shoulders all the time," said Zimmerman, 43, a media consultant from Rockville, Maryland. The fatal shooting of the young couple after an event at a Jewish museum has deeply shaken the US capital's Jews, and has led to a review of security protocols at synagogues and other institutions. "The same seeds of antisemitism that led to Europe in the 1930s and 1940s are still killing people on the streets of Washington, DC in 2025," said Zimmerman, whose grandparents were Holocaust survivors. It was the latest act of violence aimed at Jewish Americans linked to outrage over Israel's escalating military offensive in Gaza, a response to the October 2023 attacks by Hamas militants that killed 1,200 in southern Israel. The Washington shooting took place outside the Capital Jewish Museum, where the American Jewish Committee was sponsoring an annual young diplomats reception. The lone suspect, who was charged with two counts of first-degree murder on Thursday, told police on the scene, "I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza," according to court records. Alan Ronkin, regional director of AJC's Washington office, said security was tight at the event, even though the suspect, Elias Rodriguez of Chicago, managed to enter the museum in the chaos that ensued in the aftermath of the shooting outside. He was apprehended inside. "We are going to revisit our security protocols, and make sure we follow the recommendations of the experts," said Ronkin, who added the community is "shaken but resilient." Ron Halber, chief executive officer of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, said that local law enforcement has increased patrols around Jewish institutions in Washington since the killings. "A lot of us are looking over our shoulder today," said Halber. "But we have to keep leading proud open Jewish lives. I'm certainly not going to let it deter me from any public or private event." Most Jewish institutions in the city already have robust security, including armed guards at most synagogues, according to Halber. "The big discussion that's going to happen is how long does the perimeter extend — one block, two blocks," he said. "Every Jewish organisation is increasing their security, whether it's having more guards standing outside during more hours of the day, or if they didn't have any, adding them," said Gil Preuss, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. "Right now it's short term, and we'll see whether there's a permanent change in the level of security. My guess is yes." The federation is one of several Jewish institutions that said on Friday they were fundraising to bolster security. Local and federal grants, especially a nonprofit security grant programme administered through the Federal Emergency Management Administration, are a "tremendous" help to offset the costs of security improvements, according to Preuss. After some delays and confusion due to the Trump administration's federal funding freezes in recent months, the programme's grant funding has started flowing again, he said. About 50 Jewish organisations issued a statement on Thursday calling on the US Congress to increase funding under the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion), more than double the current figure. 'Desire to be together' Sarah Krinsky, a rabbi at Adas Israel in Washington, said on Friday there were DC Metropolitan Police Department cars outside her synagogue, at the end of the block and at the base of the parking lot. Krinsky said the 2018 Tree of Life Synagogue shooting that killed 11 worshippers in Pittsburgh first prompted Adas Israel to boost security significantly. Since Wednesday's attack, the Washington mayor's office, police department, FBI and private firms have all recommended even higher levels of security. She said the conservative congregation's more than 3,500 members would welcome the "slight enhancements," details of which she could not discuss. With the shock of the shooting still raw, Krinsky said she expected a big crowd for Shabbat services this weekend. "There's a real desire to be together, and to be in a place where people can mourn and grieve and express everything they're feeling and feel safe and held," she said. ALSO READ: 2 Israeli embassy staffers killed in Washington shooting, suspect held
