House Subcommittee on Homeland Security on anti-Semitic violence begins. 
.@MaxRose4NY: We got to focus on why and how anti-Senitism is happening. “Jews are afraid to go outside with their kippah on.” Goes on to say, “We consider the rise of anti-Semitism across the political spectrum”
.@BennieGThompson, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee: Anti-Semitic violence is on the rise as exemplified in New York. We’ve seen religious institutions increasingly targeted for acts of violence.
Ranking Member @RepMarkWalker: “No communities are immune to the threat of anti-Semitism. Rise of anti-Semitism in the US demonstrates ideological motivations: Tree of Life shooting shooting was down by a white supremacist, while the Jersey City attack was by Black nationalist.
.@JGreenblattADL: The last few years have been the most challenging in recent years. It’s about someone not being safe in the supermarket (referring to Jersey City), synagogue, and the home....
...On both sides of the political spectrum, on college campuses, and in the media #Antisemitism is being normalized. It needs to stop being politicized. We need a zero tolerance policy on intolerance...
... We have online platforms promoting hate that can be accessed by adults and children. Time for social media companies to “shut down” neo-Nazis. Social media companies need to exert same effort that they use to protect their profits.
...Calls for Congress to pass related legislation including the Never Again Education Act and continue the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to protect nonprofit, including religious, institutions.
.@NDiament: “The children of Abraham are afraid in a way they’ve never been before.” Jews have been physically and verbally assaulted in NYC and Miami. This wave of anti-Semitic attacks stem from anti-Orthodox biases that have not been reported.
.@NDiament: “Even in the face of all of this I am not without hope,” thanks to actions by people like @NYGovCuomo and @MaxRose4NY.
.@FDD’s @CliffordDMay: Jews have been targeted for centuries. “You can’t reason people out of anti-Semitisn” b/c there was no reason in the first place. #Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas are clear about their “genocidal” intentions (Mentions that Hezbollah and Hamas are Iranian proxies).
.@CliffordDMay: Since 1948, Zionism has meant supporting the survival of the Jewish state. To be anti-Zionist is to say Jewish lives don’t matter. (Mentions cases of Malaysian PM, Sarah Halimi, Alberto Nissman, Jeremy Corbyn, UN Human Rights Council).
.@EVKontorovich: “The unhappy topic of anti-Semitism” includes the #BDS movement against #Israel. #BDS doesn’t promote violence, but “seeks to make anti-Semitism acceptable in polite society” by delegitimizing Israel.
.@EVKontorovich: #BDS refuses to deal w/ history (boycotts of Jewish businesses like in Nazi Germany and by the Arab League). The focus on the Jews makes it a double standard and anti-Semitic. The people behind #BDS call for the end of the State of Israel.
.@EVKontorovich calls for Congress to pass related legislation including the Israel Anti-Boycott Act. jns.org/house-bill-int…
.@BennieGThompson asks @NDiament how we can protect Jeiwsh communities w/o over-policing and while protecting civil rights. @NDiament responds there’s “under-policing.”
.@NDiament: We need security guards and police to protect our synagogues. Many police departments don’t have the resources to do so. Congress should consider DOJ grants to fix this...
... We should increase the funding under the Nonprofit Security Grant Program — the demand has far exceeded the resources made available.
.@JGreenblattADL: Increased policing can be worrisome for communities of color. There are Jews of color such as those that are Mizrahi. Jewish communities like in Pittsburgh aren’t in communities of color...
...We can keep synagogues and other houses of worship safe while respecting civil rights.
.@JGreenblattADL: Social media companies can “throw out the neo-Nazis tomorrow.” They should use artificial intelligence and use the same energy they use to protect copyright to combat online extremism, including anti-Semitic content. Congress can hold these companies accountable
.@NDiament: If AI can be used to detect sex traffickers, it can also be used to detect online hatred.
.@CliffordDMay: We won’t eliminate anti-Semitism, but we must educate people on what Jew hatred is.
.@EVKontorovich: “The Protocols of the Elder of Zion” didn’t require the Internet. However, w/ the Internet it’s easier to access anti-Semitic content.
.@CliffordDMay in response to question from @RepMarkWalker: Crimes against Jews are being treated differently than crimes against other minorities. Lists case of Sarah Halimi as an example.
.@EVKontorovich: “Every anti-Semite is coming from a different place.” (Other witnesses concur.)
.@JacksonLeeTX18: “Enduring is not the same as losing your life.” It’s “not the same as being afraid to wear your religious attire.” In the Jim Crow era, there was violence in the Deep South. It’s tragic that where we’ve celebrated diversity that we have Jews under attack...
... Law enforcement needs to “have their antenna raised” amid the wave of anti-Semitism.
.@JGreenblattADL: @ADL is the largest trainer of law enforcement when it comes to extremism. Hate crimes are still massively under-reported.
.@NDiament: We need a domestic terrorism statute that respects civil liberties but also addresses extremism here and from abroad.
.@JGreenblattADL in response to question from @RepPeteKing: Anti-Semitism has infected the public conversation in a way that hasn’t a few years ago. It’s happed from “It’s all about the Benjamins” to blaming “globalists.” “The guilt of the Holocaust and its memory is fading.”
.@NDiament: The timeline if radicalization of ideas to action has been condensed.
.@CliffordDMay: Jews are still used as scapegoats. The UN continues to pass anti-Israel resolutions. @NikkiHaley and Daniel Patrick Moynihan stood up against this. @USAmbUN can also make this a priority.
.@EVKontorovich: There are countries w/ no Jews that have anti-Semitism, which is deep and “always with us” and “comes in strange waves and motions.”
.@RepSlotkin: Anti-Semitism is an issue on my mind and in our hearts. “We can’t dance around the idea that there’s been a precipitous” increase in anti-Semitism.
.@JGreenblattADL: Anti-Semitism is the oldest form of hatred. In 2018, anti-Semitic assaults doubled and victims tripled. Terms like “globalists” are “lifted from the pages of white supremacists.” “This is the stuff that feeds the deranged.”...
... Jews controlling Congress feeds an “odious narrative.”
.@CliffordDMay: Leadership from @realDonaldTrump is “very important” in fighting anti-Semitism.
.@RepLeeZeldin: There’s legislation pending in Congress to address anti-Semitism such as the Never Again Education Act, Anti-Semitism Awareness Act, and Israel Anti-Boycott Act. More Americans should be supportive of fighting anti-Semitism.
.@JGreenblattADL: We supported @realDonaldTrump’s executive order last month addressing anti-Semitism, which was bipartisan. “It’s more symbolic than anything” and “codifies” what the Bush and Obama admins. did on anti-Semitism.
.@JGreenblattADL to @JimLangevin: There’s under-reporting on hate crimes.
Adds social media companies should exercise “moral authority” in fighting online extremism. If they don’t stand up, Congress should compel them.
.@RepYvetteClarke: “We must live our lives free from fear.” Monsey attack exemplified anti-Semitism is on the rise.
.@NDiament: The Nonprofit Security Grant Program is a good first step, but more synagogues and mosques need more resources to make themselves secure.
.@JGreenblattADL: #4chan enables anti-Semitism and other “garbage” and have weaponized the First Amendment.
.@JGreenblattADL tells @RepKathleenRice that as there are less Holocaust survivors, there’s less awareness about the Holocaust. Calls for the passage of the Never Again Education Act. We must “change hearts and minds” about what hate and what happens when it goes unchecked...
... @RepKathleenRice says “challenge accepted.”
.@JGreenblattADL tells @RepRaskin that as a nonprofit, the @ADL “doesn’t get involved in politics.” We called out candidates in 2016 “when it’s beyond the pale.”
.@RepRaskin: My constituents are “terrified” by the rise in anti-Semitism.
