American Jewish Committee seeks nationwide effort to combat hate crimes
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is calling for a concerted government effort to combat hate crimes. The call to action comes after the FBI issued its latest annual report, which showed a 17 percent increase in hate crimes during 2017, compared to the year before.
“The clarion call to confront head-on this menace to individuals, to communities, indeed to American society, must come from leadership at the highest levels of our government,” said AJC CEO David Harris.
Religious-bias hate crimes comprised 20.6 percent of the total incidents reported to the FBI by law enforcement agencies across the country. In 2017, 58.1 percent of all religious-bias hate crimes targeted Jews. In 2016, the FBI found that 54 percent of crimes motivated by religious bias in the U.S. targeted Jews.
“Clearly, current strategies are not working sufficiently,” said AJC CEO David Harris. “The upward trend in hate crimes is deeply troubling and demands an assertive response at all levels of government in our nation, beginning with Washington.”
AJC has actively supported legislative initiatives aimed at strengthening the capacity of law enforcement to deal with hate crimes. Most recently, AJC supported the bipartisan Protecting Religiously Affiliated Institutions Act, passed by the House and Senate, and signed by President Trump.
Additional measures also are needed for safeguarding houses of worship and other religious institutions, even more so after the massacre of 11 worshipers at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.
While the number of law enforcement agencies reporting hate crimes to the FBI was higher in 2017 than in previous years, Harris urged the federal government to make such reporting mandatory. “Voluntary reporting of hate crimes to the FBI is inadequate,” said Harris.
“Comprehensive data is essential to grasping the depth of the problem, to understanding the sources, and there are many, of anti-Semitism and other forms of hatred that infest American society, and to develop effective strategies to combat the scourge,” said Harris. “The message needs to be absolutely clear that hate crimes contradict every American value, and law enforcement needs tools for effective deterrence, monitoring and prosecution. Hate crimes cannot be accepted as a ‘norm’ of American life.” — From American Jewish Committee
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Google sued over anti-Semitic content on its Spanish language platform
A Jewish Spaniard has filed a lawsuit against Google over the search engine’s failure to block virulently racist and defamatory material after a takedown notice was filed by his lawyer. He filed the lawsuit in Ibiza with assistance from The Lawfare Project, a legal think tank and litigation fund that safeguards the civil rights of Jewish communities around the world.
The claimant found the material identified in the lawsuit after carrying out a Google search in Spanish using the search terms “Holocaust” and “truth.” The content in the results included extreme racism against Jewish people, labeling Jews as “degenerate” and the embodiment of evil. The content in question belongs to a Nazi website with a sizable following across the Spanish-speaking world, not only in Spain but also South America. The website makes clear its connections to the notorious U.S. Nazi website, the Daily Stormer, providing details on how to access it on the Dark Web.
The claimant is seeking to block such material from being promoted by Google in its search results, on the basis of both Spanish law and Supreme Court precedents, under which search engines are only exempted from liability if they block illegal content soon after receiving a complaint.
Google LLC will be now be served with a summons for a hearing on an injunction to block the content from the its search results, and will be given 20 working days to answer the complaint.
The Lawfare Project’s Spanish counsel, Ignacio Wenley Palacios, who is acting on behalf of the plaintiff, said: “The complaint seeks to block from Google’s search results a third-party’s content that disparages the Jewish people. After a detailed online complaint was made in June 2018, Google LLC refused to take any action.” — From the Lawfare Project
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South Koreans consult with Nefesh B’Nefesh on accommodating immigrants
Nefesh B’Nefesh on Monday hosted a four-person delegation from the South Korean Ministry of Unification, the government office which is preparing to handle the possible future unification of North and South Korea. The Ministry of Unification is seeking to learn about methods to effectively assist in the integration of immigrants by meeting with representatives from a variety of Aliyah organizations over the course of their visit to Israel, including Nefesh B’Nefesh. Members of the delegation include Head of Delegation, Kim Yoojin, Director of the Policy-Planning Division; Kuem Sungho, Deputy Director and Lawyer of the Policy-Planning Division; Kang Heechan, Deputy Director of the Policy Coordination Division; and Lee Sangmi of the Policy-Planning Division.
“It is truly humbling to know that the dedication and hard work Nefesh B’Nefesh has put in to assisting Olim from North America and the UK has received recognition from the international community as a benchmark of success to strive towards when setting up a similar program for a vastly different population,” said Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Nefesh B’Nefefsh. “We hope that today’s meeting was informative and will assist with preparations towards the unification of North and South Korea. We wish the South Korean Ministry of Unification lots of success in this incredible venture and look forward to helping them with this transition as much as possible.” — From Nefesh B’Nefesh
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Documentary on San Diego Jews to air on KPBS Nov. 27
KPBS will air To the Ends of the Earth, Isaac Artenstein’s portrait of the San Diego Jewish community, a 8 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 27.
Artenstein conducted over 50 interviews while compiling the documentary in conjunction with the recent exhibition at the San Diego History Center about how Jews impacted San Diego and were in turn impacted. — From Cinewest Productions
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Preceding stories culled from news releases. Please send yours to editor@sdjewishworld.com