FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 17, 2021

CONTACT: Yonah Lieberman, press@ifnotnowmovement.org

Link to full letter, including signatories.

Today 42 American Jewish progressive activists and donors are coming together to demand the Biden administration nominate a Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism who “will commit to treating the fight against antisemitism as part of the fight for a just, multiracial democracy,” according to a letter to President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken first published in Politico Playbook this morning. This letter, organized by IfNotNow Movement and signed by a diverse array of Jewish activists and donors close to the Biden administration, is a notable sign of the trend of fighting antisemitism as part of the broader progressive agenda.

“Many of us are not the type of people who normally speak out as “Jewish leaders,” though we are leaders and we are Jews,” part of the letter reads, “At this pivotal moment, our society is reckoning with centuries of white supremacy and with new, globally networked right-wing extremists movements — problems we will only be able to face if we understand antisemitism’s role in white supremacists and ethnonationalist ideologies. We feel compelled to raise our voices because we see our fights at stake, too, in the question of how the U.S. government will define and pursue the fight against antisemitism in America and around the world.”

The Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism is the highest-ranking public official in the country tasked with fighting antisemitism. The eventual nominee will have to be approved by the Senate before leading the Office to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, which is part of the Office of Religion and Global Affairs inside of the State Department. Trump’s envoy, Elan Carr, spent much of his time smearing critics of Israeli policy as antisemites. For example, one of his final recommendations to Secretary of State Pompeo was to label Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Oxfam, organizations that criticized the Israeli government, as antisemitic.

“The Biden Administration has received public and private pressure from the progressive movement on a number of issues, like raising the minimum wage, and appointments, like Deb Haaland for Secretary of Interior. It’s time for him to feel progressive pressure on the issue of antisemitism,” said Morriah Kaplan, IfNotNow Movement’s National Spokesperson, “We’re proud of how this letter amplifies the voices of leaders who are Jewish but rarely seen as “Jewish leaders” and makes sure that the Biden administration hears from a variety of voices that reflect the political perspectives of the broader Jewish community, not just those urging him to fight antisemitism by protecting the Israeli government.”

The letter sent to Biden and Blinken this morning lays out how antisemitism is a racial justice issue, an economic justice issue, a climate and migration issue, and a feminist issue. The letter includes signers whose primary work revolves around those issues, such as Ginna Green of Uprise, Dania Rajendra and Rafael Shimunov of Athena, Evan Weber of Sunrise, Jacinta of Mijente, Rabbi Alana Alpert of Detroit Jews for Justice, Rabbi Salem Pearce of Carolina Jews for Justice, and Susannah Dyen of Caring Across Generations.

Members of Congress have already weighed in on the often-overlooked appointment of Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism. On a panel that IfNotNow hosted in February, about how Biden should fight antisemitism, Congressman Andy Levin (MI-09) said, “The fight against antisemitism and white supremacy needs to be a global one...The Special Envoy sits in the State Department, so they are positioned uniquely to combat this global threat.” Weeks later, IfNotNow Movement released a video about the position, now viewed over 50,000 times, focusing on why former ADL CEO Abe Foxman would be the wrong choice of envoy for the Biden Administration.

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IfNotNow Movement is organizing in key states to expose the occupation as a moral crisis within the American Jewish community, end the weaponization of antisemitism in the political debate over Israel, and create political space for leaders who will stand up for the freedom and dignity for all Israelis and Palestinians.

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This message has been authorized and paid for by IfNotNow Movement. This message has not been expressly authorized, requested, or approved by any federal, state, or local candidate, candidate’s committee or their agents, or by any ballot issue committee.

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IfNotNow is a 501(c)3 nonprofit to cultivate, support, and train a volunteer-led movement to shift the American Jewish community to end our community’s support for the occupation and stand for freedom and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians. Find out more at www.ifnotnowmovement.org.