Philadelphia’s Anti-Defamation League and black community leaders have formed a new organization to build stronger relationships and “fight the twin sins of racism and anti-semitism.” The Black-Jewish Alliance will build on the historic connections between the two communities.
With the one-year anniversary of the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Viriginia, as a backdrop, the Philadelphia branch of the Anti-Defamation League joined this week with black community leaders to form the Black-Jewish Alliance of the ADL.
The Charlottesville march, where three people died when ultra-right white nationalists targeted Jews and blacks during a rally that turned violent, took place Aug. 11 and 12 last year.
Blacks and Jews have a long history of cooperation, dating back to the beginnings of the Civil Rights movement. The tragedy in Charlottesville, said founders of the new alliance, underscores the need to renew that relationship. “Charlottesville cemented us even more,” said Robin Burstein, an associate regional director with the ADL.
Alan Gubernick, chairman of the board of the Philadelphia ADL, said, in a statement, that the newly created alliance reflects the ADL’s long-established mission to reject hate in all its forms. “In 1913, ADL’s founders set our mission as ‘stopping the defamation of the Jewish people and securing justice and fair treatment to all.’ We believed then, as we do today, that a minority can never be safe, equal and free in this country until all minorities are safe.”
As a growing number of Americans feel emboldened to voice their racism, incidents on college campuses and elsewhere, are increasing. The ADL’s Center on Extremism created an interactive map displaying incidents of “hate, extremism, anti-semitism and terrorism” across the country. Compiled from news accounts, victim reports and government documents, the ADL said there’s been 3,023 such incidents in 2017-18.
The alliance grew from a conversation Philadelphia businessman, Blane Stoddart, had last year with the ADL regional director Nancy Baron-Baer, said Burnstein.
“Our goal was to build an active relationship between black and Jewish communities in the Philadelphia region — a relationship founded on trust, transparency and shared understanding,” said Stoddart, who serves as co-chair of the alliance. “We have committed to be allies and to stand together against the twin sins of racism and anti-semitism.”
A first initiative is a program called “Sharing Our Stories; Sharing Ourselves.” The three storytelling sessions held so far have been coordinated with houses of worship.
“We started with the idea that community comes from shared experience,” says Stoddart, in a statement. “The goal of these conversations is to help people understand the day-to-day experiences of one another. They are not a platform for people to express political viewpoints or engage in debate.”
The response has been powerful, he said. “These conversations have a profound effect on the people telling them and the people hearing them. They end in hugs, tears and new friendships. They would continue for hours if we had more time — and perhaps we need to find more time.”
To learn more about the conversations and to sponsor a “Sharing Our Stories” program, contact Burstein at rburstein@adl.org or 215-568-2223.
Source: Bucks County Courier Times
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http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/news/20180810/adls-black-jewish-alliance-will-help-fight-racisim-and-anti-semitism