President Joe Biden issued a new statement condemning antisemitism on Friday, four days after tweeting about the ongoing spate of antisemitic violence across the nation, and a week after his silence prompted Jewish groups to demand a response.
The last two weeks have seen a major surge in attacks against Jews, both in the U.S. and around the world, after Hamas, a Palestinian terror group that controls Gaza, launched thousands of rockets at civilians in Israel’s densely populated cities.
Synagogues have been vandalized; roving gangs of pro-Palestinian thugs have assaulted passersby and diners at outdoor restaurants in New York and Los Angeles; and individuals wearing Jewish symbols have been attacked on the street.
Last Friday, after several days of violence, Biden still had not said anything, though he had signed a hate crimes bill to fight anti-Asian bigotry. Jewish groups wrote a letter to the president, urging him to speak out. But he declined to say anything.
Finally, on Monday, Biden tweeted a statement: “The recent attacks on the Jewish community are despicable, and they must stop. I condemn this hateful behavior at home and abroad — it’s up to all of us to give hate no safe harbor.”
The recent attacks on the Jewish community are despicable, and they must stop. I condemn this hateful behavior at home and abroad — it’s up to all of us to give hate no safe harbor.
— President Biden (@POTUS) May 24, 2021
But the attacks continued, with a Jewish man attacked on the Las Vegas Strip later that same day. Jewish groups wanted to see the president do more, such as appointing a new monitor within the White House to keep track of antisemitic attacks — a request also made by 22 Senators long before the present violence.
On Friday, Biden released a new statement:
In the last weeks, our nation has seen a series of anti-Semitic attacks, targeting and terrorizing American Jews.
We have seen a brick thrown through window of a Jewish-owned business in Manhattan, a swastika carved into the door of a synagogue in Salt Lake City, families threatened outside a restaurant in Los Angeles, and museums in Florida and Alaska, dedicated to celebrating Jewish life and culture and remembering the Holocaust, vandalized with anti-Jewish messages.
These attacks are despicable, unconscionable, un-American, and they must stop.
I will not allow our fellow Americans to be intimidated or attacked because of who they are or the faith they practice.
We cannot allow the toxic combination of hatred, dangerous lies, and conspiracy theories to put our fellow Americans at risk.
As Attorney General Garland announced yesterday, the Department of Justice will be deploying all of the tools at its disposal to combat hate crimes.
In recent days, we have seen that no community is immune. We must all stand together to silence these terrible and terrifying echoes of the worst chapters in world history, and pledge to give hate no safe harbor.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month, when we honor Jewish Americans who have inextricably woven their experience and their accomplishments into the fabric of our national identity; overcoming the pain of history, and helping lead our struggle for a more fair, just, and tolerant society.
Let us all take up that work and create a nation that stands for, and stands up for, the dignity and safety of all of our people.
Biden said that he decided to run for president because of the antisemitism on display by neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017. He accused President Donald Trump (falsely) of referring to the extremists as “very fine people.”
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new e-book, The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it). His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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