First-Ever U.S. National Strategy Highlights Importance of Voices of Faith in Countering Antisemitism
On May 25th, the Biden-Harris Administration released the first-ever U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. The announcement highlights a strategy aimed at raising awareness of antisemitism and its threat to American democracy, protecting Jewish communities, reversing the normalization of antisemitism, and building cross-community solidarity.
Critical in the strategy is a mission to foster solidarity across communities and institutions, highlighting religious and multi-faith communities as strategic partners. The announcement was followed by the publication of a resource guide by the DHS and DOJ titled “Protecting Places of Worship: Six Steps to Enhance Security Against Targeted Violence,” which outlines actions that faith-based organizations and community leaders can take to increase security.
This commitment to countering antisemitism from the White House and the federal government articulated explicitly as a threat to democracy, is of special importance for communities of faith nationally and internationally who have been raising the alarm on the rise of authoritarianism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism, and misogyny. The inclusion of interfaith partners like the Interfaith Alliance, the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation, and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), as well as diverse faith organizations, including the Sikh Coalition and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, is a positive reflection of the critical importance of voices of faith in addressing these alarming threats.
The theme of the upcoming 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions, “A Call to Conscience: Defending Freedom & Human Rights,” is a direct response to these threats. As Parliament Trustee, Rabbi Sidney Helbraun, explains:
There’s an upsurge in anti-Semitism that is impacting us in ways that are very unexpected in our age. We would have hoped that we as a society would have moved past these ancient hatreds but we are seeing this resurgence…a time where this intolerance towards each other is rampant in so many different sectors and segments of our society. Where women’s rights are threatened. Where racism continues. Where we have opportunities to act, to learn about each other, to break down walls, and yet we’re watching as hatreds and stereotypes continue to be perpetuated.
At the 2023 Parliament Convening, global experts are answering the call to conscience by proactively addressing antisemitism and sharing ways individuals, communities, and institutions can be agents of change in the protection of the Jewish community and democracy.
- Repentance and Repair: A Christian Confrontation of Antisemitism and Islamophobia
- Countering Bigotry and Racism Through Calls to Action
- How the Far Right Has Co-opted the Model of Interreligious Dialogue
- Prejudice and Hate Crimes Through the Ages: The Antisemitism Example
- Catholic-Jewish Relations: Confronting Anti-Semitism in the Public Square
Explore hundreds of programs addressing the call to conscience to defend freedom, democracy, and human rights at the 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions this August, and learn how organizations and institutions are committing to counter antisemitism at whitehouse.gov
