TJP Staff Report
In response to recent violence in New York and New Jersey and a surge of anti-Semitism in the United States, the AJC coordinated #JewishandProud Day Monday, Jan. 6. This followed the solidarity march in New York the day before, when an estimated 25,000 people marched across the Brooklyn Bridge and held a rally Sunday to protest rising anti-Semitism in and around New York City.
“Enough is enough. We will not shy away from publicly displaying, celebrating our Jewish identity and faith,” said AJC CEO David Harris.
Dallas City Council Member Cara Mendelsohn, who represents District 12, and Mayor Eric Johnson issued a proclamation to make Jan 6, 2020 #JewishAndProudDay in the City of Dallas.
“We join communities across the world in rejecting Anti-Semitism and encouraging all people to live without hate or fear. Dallas is a welcoming and diverse community and we celebrate the different identities of all our residents,” wrote Mendelsohn on Facebook Sunday night.
About 30 folks gathered at City Hall Monday afternoon with #JewishAndProud signs to demonstrate their Jewish pride and support for the Jewish community and hear the proclamation read by AJC Dallas Regional Director Joel Schwitzer. Among those assembled were AJC leaders; high school students from AJC/Leaders For Tomorrow; professional and lay leaders from the ADL, the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas and its Jewish Community Relations Council, Shearith Israel and Temple Emanuel; and allies from the Latino community including Deputy Consul Edurne Pineda of Mexico and Latino Jewish Leadership Council member Luisa del Rosal.
Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas President and CEO Mariam Shpeen Feist said:
“It was moving and compelling to stand with AJC lay and professional leadership, along with so many members of our community — Jewish and non-Jewish — to celebrate #JewishandProud Day Jan. 6. We were pleased to support this AJC global initiative and we thank Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, City Council Members Cara Mendelsohn, Lee Kleinman and the entire Dallas City Council for their support of the Jewish community.”
Rebecca Hoffman, a Hockaday sophomore and member of AJC’s Leaders for Tomorrow, attended the gathering with her mom, Jackie.
“The proclamation was really eye-opening for me because hearing those statistics and numbers out loud about what has happened to the Jewish people in — even the past few years — is really horrifying and frightening for anyone of any age. As I become a young adult in society, I think those numbers of deaths and attacks that were in the proclamation are exactly why my mom and I went to City Hall to stand up,” she said.
Schwitzer expressed his gratitude that Mendelsohn and Johnson issued the proclamation Monday.
“In the face of rising anti-Semitism, the #JewishandProud campaign was created as an opportunity to show Jewish pride and for our friends and coalition partners to declare themselves allies to the Jewish community. The support of our Mayor and City Council by making this proclamation makes a clear statement that Dallas stands with its Jewish community. We are grateful to Councilmember Cara Mendelsohn and Mayor Eric Johnson for making it clear that Dallas stands unequivocally against anti-Semitism.”