Today's suggested actions to support Israel in your local community:

• Share Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) moving 41-minute long address on antisemitism from the Senate floor with your community members. The text of the speech can be found here.   
• Meet with your elected officials and urge them to support critical increases in the vital Nonprofit Security Grant Program to keep Jewish and other community institutions safe. Refer to these talking points.  
• Join Shine A Light 2023, which kicks off today, as we dispel the darkness of rising antisemitism. Check out the calendar of events, encourage your companies to join as a workplace partner, and post materials during December on your social media accounts.
•  Fill out the Shine A Light Workplace Survey so we can best support Jewish employees across corporations and address workplace antisemitism.
• Watch and share the story of 27-year-old Andrey Kozlov, a native of Russia who recently immigrated to Israel after participating in a Masa program for young Jewish adults. Described by loved ones as an optimist, surfing enthusiast and creative soul, he was abducted by Hamas terrorists from the Supernova music festival.  

Issue:
Recent studies point to a rise in antisemitism in the United States and to increased feelings of insecurity among Jewish respondents since the Hamas massacres on October 7th.  

Background:

• Since October 7th, 70% of Jewish people say they feel less safe than before the war started, according to a Jewish Federations poll, and 75% of Jewish people are concerned that their communities will face security problems as a result of the war. 
• An ADL poll found that antisemitic incidents increased by 316% in the month following the Hamas massacres, compared to the same time period last year.
• Hillel International has tracked a 700% increase in antisemitic incidents on campuses over the past seven weeks, compared to the same time period last year.  
• The ADL found a 919% increase of antisemitic posts on Twitter during the week following the October 7th massacres.
• The hashtags #DeathtotheJews and #DeathtoJews appeared more than 51,000 times on Twitter during the month after the war broke out, compared to 2,000 times the previous month. 
• As fighting resumes in Gaza after the week-long ceasefire ended this morning, we are already seeing an uptick in antisemitic rhetoric. Jewish Federations are proud to partner with Shine A Light for the third year in a row in its annual campaign to dispel the darkness of hate and antisemitism through local initiatives that focus on education and allyship with communal and civic partners. 

Community Spotlight

Hundreds of people gathered at a solidarity gathering in support of the hostages already freed and those not yet freed, hosted by Jewish Federation or Greater Portland. One of the presenters spoke about her brother, Ohad Yahalomi, who is still being held captive by Hamas terrorists, while Yahalomi's son, Eitan, was released earlier this week.

Additional Resources

Click here to access Jewish Federations’ toolkit on the War in Israel, which links to the Community Mobilization Resource Hub to help you speak up for Israel.

This guidebook can be used as a resource by Federations and partners who have been asked to help Israeli nationals coming to the U.S. following the October 7th massacres.  

The Community Mobilization Center is monitoring major developments in Israel and North America related to Israel’s war against Hamas. The Community Mobilization Center will rapidly disseminate resources to help mobilize and support our local communities as they build and sustain civic and political support for Israel in this conflict. The work of the Community Mobilization Center will continue as long as it takes Israel to eradicate the terrorist threat and restore security to the country.

The Community Mobilization Center is at your service. Open zoom hours to ask questions and seek support in your community’s response efforts will be held daily from 10-12 ET at this link. Click here to send us an email.

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