Transcripts For CSPAN Susan 20240706

Greenblatt, the sports chair been sacked, and i am going to give a very special shout out to nevadas own, my own joey breslin. [applause] and so, your tireless work of countless others across this Organization Helps to fight back against antisemitism, against bigotry and hate, and across the globe nobody does this work alone. For over a century the adl has been leading the charge to secure justice and fair treatment for all. And to bring an end to injustice and unfair discrimination against the jewish people. And so, we need you, all of you, the ones i can see, well, now i can see well. All of you. We need all of you now more than ever. And one thing i dont have to tell this group is that we are living in a time when Jewish Americans and jews around the world are experiencing an alarming search in antisemitic hate crimes and violence. And all of us here as leaders today, we note that we have a special responsibility to stand up for what is right and that special responsibility to speak out again against what is wrong. And that is a responsibility that i take seriously as only the third jewish woman and the first former synagogue president to serve in the United States senate. [applause] xl, over the last few years alone, sadly, we have seen antisemitic hate and extremist violence in places like pittsburgh, charlottesville, and youre going to hear from rabbi charlie about that. Cities and towns everywhere in between my own town, my own state. And even here. The United States capital. And all over america, there is not a place that you can go where jewish people have not been threatened. We havent been harassed. We have not encountered antisemitic conspiracy theories online. We see where people have been viciously beaten. We see where they have been killed. Just because of who they are. Just because of who we are. We see those horrendous attachment jewish communities on schools and our College Campuses, and jewish owned places of business. And even our places of worship. And the people who commit these acts want to send a message. They want to scare us. They want to intimidate us. And it is critical that we send a clear message right back to them. We sent that forceful response. That we will not be intimidated and we will not accept hate in any one of our communities. [applause] because as we know, throughout history, antisemitism has often been the canary in the coal mine of rising hatred, and so many other things. When antisemitism does occur, it is up to each one of us, jews, and nonjews, to stand up and take notice and to speak out. There is no room for antisemitic hate in our communities or hate anywhere in this country or in others. [applause] so i am going to say it again. We have a responsibility to stand up and condemn this rise in aggression and violence. We have a response guilty to stand in solidarity with all those who are impacted. We have a responsibility to stand up and fight back, to light a path forward, and we cannot and we must not be silent. This is an issue i have worked to address, something i have worked on for the house and not in the house and now the senate. Preserving our places of worship and our kennedys from threats of violence. It is why i launched the first ever Senate Caucus on jewish black relations to bring together two vibrant communities. To communities that have far too often faced hate and violence. They want to we want to Work Together to tackle bigotry, and tackle it head on. That is why i found it the first ever Bipartisan Task force for combating sit antisemitism. [applause] and in congress, we have helped to elevate the specific the position to combat antisemitism to the rank of ambassador and triple the special envoys budget. They need the funds to carry out their mission. If i could successfully push the white house to combat antisemitism, and we have more than tripled funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to protect jewish institutions from terror attacks, from violence, and from vandalism, from all of it. [applause] students need to hear these stories. Added together, with organizations like the adl, with all of you and all of your networks and all of the things that you care about, we will keep pushing forward to educate society and to hopefully one day eradicate antisemitism. So i know you have a terrific lineup of speakers and panels, and i know all the exciting things that youre going to collaborate on and build a future to not just fight and i semitism for jews in america and around the world, but a time and a place for everyone. I thank you for the work that you do, for all that you do, for the leadership that you take your time and you spend it on this, it is an incredibly important issue and i want you to know that i probably stayed with you in the mission to build a world free from hate. Thank you. [applause] please work of the Cape Institute Mccain Institute. Welcome the director of the Mccain Institute. Hello everyone. First i was generally waving and then i saw some friends which was very exciting. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to represent the Mccain Institute today. Thank you to Jonathan Goldblatt and all of our partners. The relationship between the Mccain Institute, which is an institute that is only 10 years old, dating back to two years old, getting back to 2019, and we think its fitting that we work with the adl combating antisemitism and promoting democracy and the United States. That is because the Mccain Institute was inspired by the late the legacy of the late john mccain, and we fight for democracy, Human Dignity and security. Our program is to prevent targeted violence and promote the raucously dust hit dovetails with the adls important mission. The work of both of our organizations as you would imagine is not only domestic but global. The u. S. Secretary general stated in the 21 addressed to the Human Rights Council that White Supremacy and neonazi movements are more than domestic terror threats. Today, these extremist movements represent the number one internal Security Threat in several countries. Unfortunate, the United States is one of those countries. The fbi reports that there was a 32 increase in domestic terrorist incidents from 2020 2021, and in march 2021, the director to testimony to the Senate Judiciary committee where he said quote the problem of domestic terrorism has been metastasizing across the country for a long time now, and it is not going away anytime soon. In his october 2020 home threat assessment, the department of Homeland Security said that racially and ethnically motivated violent extremists, specifically White Supremacists, will remain the most persistent and lethal threat in the homeland. Arresting the mobilization from hate to violence requires innovative solution, solutions, and widespread knowledge sharing. That is what brings all of us together today. We know that threat we face is one that we have seen repeatedly throughout history. My parents are hungarian refugees who fled communist hungary in 1956. And my Family History has shaped my personal worldview. My grandparents in hungary had many jewish friends and bore witness to the hate and violence that they faced. They resisted as best they could, and they refused to join the hungarian fascists and nazis. My grandfather served as a transitional head of the hungarian radio because it was a known fact that he was antinazi and likely to be acceptable to the communists. They fired him once they figured out he was not interested in joining the communist party. Nevertheless, as you can imagine i grew up reading books about , the holocaust. The horror that humans could inflict on one another shocked and motivated me to study ethnic conflict and serve in bosnia with the Human Rights Organization security and cooperation in europe right after the war ended and its also why i joined the institute almost a year ago. The Mccain Institute eight year ago. A year ago. I joined to work with other organizations like abl and government to fight for democracy and prevent violence and advanced freedom for all. I dont bring up my personal experience randomly, i draw attention to the hateful antisemitic and antidemocratic policies currently espoused by hungary. The Prime Minister stokes antisemitism, fascism is a deliberate part of his populist policies. Domestically he has eroded and attempted to destroy democracy. He has forged a partnership with Vladimir Putin, who i dont need to remind any of you is a genocidal war criminal, now indicted and wanted by the International Criminal court for the abduction and forced deportation of thousands of ukrainian children. I am certain that he will face additional indictment. Victor orbach has spoken here in the United States in texas a year ago trying to spread his recipe for essentially crating authoritarian governments out of democracies. Despite strides in human rights and democracy after world war ii, the institution that we established to prevent another global war and to prevent holocaust are currently being challenged today. Vladimir putin would like to destroy the Current International order, to revert back to a sphere of influence system where large states dictate what small states do, and large states existing competition, and where economic and military competition leads to war. He has blatantly violated the geneva conventions established to protect civilians. Vladimir putin initiated his acts of aggression against ukraine with the false claim that russia was fighting naziism in ukraine, a country led by a jewish president and Prime Minister. According to put in himself, namely the Russian Imperial Movement and the wagner group, who have been in the headlines for their bloody deeds lately. He has worked to build an alliance of an authoritarian regime to operate against the International Rule of law and global human rights. Their tactics are h old, tried and true. They include the use of disinformation, including stereotypical antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories. They include provided promoting violence and scapegoating as a means to maintain political control. The threat they face today extends the young russias war in ukraine. It is here in our backyard in our schools, in our halls of congress, and among our members. Just over three years ago on january 6, 2021, with a physical attack on the u. S. Capitol, the United States witness witness an assault on its own democracy the likes of which we had not seen since the civil war. We are witnessing a sustained spiked of hate crime, intolerance, and polarization. As the latest report makes clear, hatred against jews has stepped up on the left and the right. Our Democratic Institutions are being tested in every election at all levels of government from national to local. Conspiracy theories like those of qanon and global jewish hegemony are now in common discourse among americans online and pundits on television. According to newsweek polls taken last year, nearly 40 of Americans Still believe that the 2020 election was stolen or raped. According to the Public Religion Research institute, nearly one in five americans believe in qanon conspiracy theories. Already this year, at least 385 lgbtq laws have been introduced at the state level in the state Legislature According to the aclu. Nearly a quarter of americans say it is sometimes ok to use violence against the government. And one in 10 americans say violence is justified quote right now. According to freedom house, we are in our 16th Consecutive Year of International Democratic backsliding. Our democracy score fell by 11 points on a 100 point scale in the last decade from 2020 from 20202020. And we are supposed to be the leader among democracies. So what we do . The first and most vital thing is to continue to increase our support to ukraine and to prevail upon all other countries, including israel, to do so as well. If Vladimir Putin is not defeated on the battlefield is revanche as Foreign Policy will not die is revanche cast Foreign Policy will not die. Nato is the only alliance if putin challenges nato they , then we will end up fighting a global war. So to prevent the spread of war from ukraine, we must stop putin in ukraine. All nations to benefit from the Current International order must understand the human rights of all depend upon our ability to stand up for the autocrats. If putin is weakened, the Global Movement will lose deeds. President xi jinping will draw from his own territorial area and leaders will no longer have powerful friends to offer corrupt support. We must also confront populism here at home. Im proud to say we have been leading efforts on the national stage. Weve done great Work Together and this will inform what we do next. Adl in the institute posted the summit last year the white house and of Administration Officials on u. S. Policy to capture domestic violent extremism but we are integral in the creation and the white house policy june 2021 and violence in the United States. It was based on a blueprint for making institute and center for american, published together and reflected priorities of the project plan to fight domestic terrorism. Adl provides initial support to the Mccain Institute of medicine Practitioners Network in 2020, oneofakind network of professionals designed to help expertise to address targeted violence, terrorism and the impacts within the United States states. This network we established has over 1000 professionals in all 50 states bringing together leading experts in psychology, psychiatry, social work, Law Enforcement, community and public safety, and education to develop a community practice. It did not exist before we created it and its 1000 practitioners and growing. [applause] and it is thanks to adl because they provided advice to us since the inception and it sits on the advisory board. We have National Campaign we started last year the Mccain Institute. The campaign compact the spread of online hate including , antisemitism and provides parents and provides resources to understand how social media platforms work to explain how , young adults are exposed to hate online, and how young adults might be recruited into identifying with extremist national network. If you go to screenhate. Org, he does you will see we break down complex issues of hate and violence and extremism in this format the essential database of. Hate, its throughout the United States. Our partnership grows stronger every year because the challenges we face unfortunately continue to grow and because our missions are so closely aligned. Everyone in the room is keenly aware of the work that still needs to be done. Nothing is inevitable, and we cannot take our freedom for granted. As senator john mccain put it in his farewell statement before his death, we are citizens of the worlds greatest republic. A nation of ideals. We are blessed and are a blessing to community when we advance those ideals at home and the world. Lets keep doing that. All of us, every day, united as americans and as humans. Thank you. [applause] it is my pleasure and privilege to invite rabbi Charlie Citron Walker to the stage. [applause] rabbi walker how are you all doing today . What an honor it is to be with you today and while i hope you all have heard the story of colleyville and our escape, you might not be aware of the relationship that preceded the incident. I arrived in colleyville almost 17 years ago. My first pulpit out of Rabbinical School in cincinnati. I was cbis first fulltime rabbi. Within the first week i had two people call me and say rabbi, you have to take a look at the mega church website. There is a mega church in town and they were advertising a five day seminar. A five day seminar on how to convert jews. Welcome to colleyville. Then came challenges with the schools and i quickly found out i needed help. So i called adl. The strong relationship of our meeting, to reach out and the adl answering every call, led by cheryl, roberta, workshops for parents, meetings with schools encouraging no place for hate , and updates about antisemitism. A consistent partner in helping my community cope with incidents as they arose. My community and i learned so much over the years, so seven years ago when adl encouraged me to attend active Shooter Training offered by the fbi, i listened and i went and i continued to learn. I had never had to such training before and it was because of the relationship that i said yes. That session put me on the path to preparation and made a huge difference on january 15, 2022. That is my adl story. So much more than just one incident, one day. I will come back to my story in a minute but first, a very different story which is a very strange teaching about a person born with two heads. It is an actually it is an actual story. We talk about these things. Whether a to pers whether a twoheaded person would get twice the inheritance. So why are rabbis talking about this . Of course they are. They said when king solomon was confronted with a similar situation, he said they should poor boiling water on one of the heads and see if the second one screams. And if so, they are one person. If not, they can get the double portion. Like i said, it is very strange. What is brilliant about jewish teaching is along comes the great teacher of modern orthodoxy in the 20th century. He comes along and uses this weirdest story to explain how we are all connected. He taught that if boiling water is poured on the head of the moroccan jew, the prim proper jew in paris or london must scream. Prior to that day, no one had heard of colleyville. But when we were in hot water, you all were screaming. You were with us in the synagogue that day. All those hours praying, eyes glued to the screen, hitting refresh, waiting for news. That day did not just impact the four of us in the synagogue, it didnt just impact our congregation. It impacted all of us. It doesnt matter where challenging moments or horrific acts take place, we all feel it. We feel the antisemitism and the racism and the attacks on the lgbtq community. We feel the hate in all forms. And we are screaming. We are crying out because we are all connected. We feel it when it happens far too often in new york and california, and we feel it in smaller communities. There were over a dozen antisemitic incidents that took place in maine. Over a dozen in nebraska. Over a dozen in montana. Over two dozen in alabama in the past year. And while my story is one where the rabbi of a small congregation has a deep, meaningful relationship with the ada adl, i dont know if you all know this but it turns out not everybody has that. I get to North Carolina and there is the jewish clergy group, who knew . North carolina . Et 80 jewish clergy. Around december there is an antisemitic incident so when email goes out to the clergy group, asking for assistance on how to deal with the situation. I was shocked. I was absolutely shocked because the first call was not to the adl. Right now we all need the adl. [applause] we need the adl right now. And it is a sad thing to say, because we are an organization that does not want to be needed. Communities, large and small, jewish and everybody else, wherever there is hate, we are all in this together. And im proud to be on this team. I am a very parttime but proud member of the adl team. The way the adl held my hand and supported me and repeatedly said to me and my small community, we have got your back. I know we are working hard to say that everyone. And we need to be able to say that everyone. And i know everyone is a lot of people. It is. And we need those relationships and we need that support. I also know it is easy for me to say, because again, i am a very parttime member of the team. But you all are the ones who are doing the difficult and sometimes heartbreaking work, day in and day out. From our ceo and senior leadership, our staff, our boards, all of the regional offices, the young leaders, the longtime leaders and supporters, this is hard work. And that hard work put you in contact with the worst of humanity. And it takes an emotional tool toll. I am not being facetious. I am not joking around. Make sure you all have therapists. Our Mental Health is really important. And given what we are dealing with [applause] given what we are dealing with, we have to be able to take care of ourselves so that we can continue to do this work. And for doing that work i want to say to all of you, thank you. Thank you so much. Because we need you. You have to know that every family in every community that you guys are the process of navigating an attack on a child, a community, an institution, every school you educate, every person you touch, you make a difference. You bring comfort. You bring reassurance. You bring knowledge. You bring a sense that what happened is not ok. It will never be ok. The impact is great. The impact of the adl is felt on so many different levels. And as bad as it is now with the current uptake in antisemitism, the uptick in hate, imagine how bad it would be. Think about the despair those families in those communities would feel without you, without the work that we are doing. We are going through a rough patch. Its not easy, and thanks to you, we will start to turn things around. So thank you from the bottom of my heart with all of my being on behalf of the jewish people and on behalf of all people, because i have the chutzpah to actually think that i could speak for everybody. [laughter] thank you for dedicating yourselves to what could seem like an impossible uphill slog. Thank you for raising the alarm about the increase in antisemitism, the increase in hate. Thank you for feeling the pain caused by hate and extremism by screaming, crying out, and by understanding that we are all connected. And thank you for responding with compassion and dedication and skill to help us navigate the worst that they throw at us. You all are my heroes. Thank you for refusing to give up. You will not give up, we will not give up, we refused to do that. We are going to look at the hatred and extremism in the eye and call it out and we are going to continue to have a huge impact to grow our impact. We are making a difference in the world. Thank you so much for all you do. [applause] please welcome back to the stage adl ceo and national director, jonathan greenblock. Jonathan thank you, rabbi charlie, for your bravery and for those remarks. Thank you Evelyn Farkas for your bipartisanship and coming here today. We are so grateful for all of our speakers and all the people who are joining us. Particularly i want to acknowledge rabbi charlie. To think after what he went through, the ordeal he endured. Now have him as a member of our adl family as a special advisor on security, hats off to rabbi charlie. [applause] now it is an extraordinary pleasure to introduce our guest our next speaker. It is difficult to summarize ambassador susan rices accomplishments, but i will try. For starters, she is dr. Rice, ambassador rice, she is also the honorable susan rice. She has served as u. S. Ambassador to the United Nations, as National Security advisor and now one of the most , accomplished Domestic Policy Council directors in modern history. Shes a close partner of adl and honored us literally with one of her last public speaking engagements, even as she winds down her tenure in the white house. Please join me in giving a warm welcome to the president of domestic policy and white house domestic policy advisor ambassador susan rice. [applause] ambassador rice oh my goodness, thank you so much. Thank you, jonathan, good afternoon, its great to be with you. I want to begin by thanking the Antidefamation League for the opportunity to speak at this Years National leadership summit. Jonathan, we so deeply appreciate adls work to combat hate in the United States and around the world. Thank you for your leadership and engagement with the Biden Harris Administration as we work to root out antisemitism and to advance civil rights at home. The Bidenharris Administration is deeply committed to this work because we are alarmed by the rise of antisemitism in the United States and the fact that shockingly, its becoming normalized. In the last month, weve seen certain celebrities, athletes, and politicians use their influential platforms to deny the holocaust, elevate bigots, and spread antisemitic conspiracy theories. These viewpoints are not just vile, they are dangerous. Hateful acts have hit here right at home in the washington metropolitan area. In november a man distributed antisemitic flyers outside homes in d. C. s georgetown neighborhood. In september, a swastika was found on the ceiling tile at Anderson Hall at american university. And this semester, a rash of antisemitic incidents have terrorized jewish students at elementary, middle, and high school in nearby montgomery county. And that is just a recent local sampling. Adl has tracked down thousands of other incidents, nearly 3700 of them in 2022 alone. That figure is up almost 400 since 2013. Adls commitment to producing highquality data is invaluable. President biden, as you know, cares deeply about the issue of antisemitism. The horrific march in charlottesville is what inspired him to run for president , to help restore the soul of our nation, as he recently discussed in the moving oped on antisemitism published during passover. I, too, feel this issue personally. As a black woman, ive known all my life what it means to be hated or feared for what i represent or for who i am. I also know the value of allies in confronting hate. I was raised in the tradition of goodman, schwerner, and cheney. I know that none of us is safe when any of us is targeted. Washingtons Jewish Community shapes so much of my upbringing. I grew up in Shepherd Park at the top end of 16th street when it was a mixed black and jewish neighborhood. My family home used to belong to the is really embassy. I was welcomed at the homes of my jewish classmates. I was fortunate to travel with my father and brother to israel for the first time at age 14 and somewhere along the way, i think i learned to nail the whole chutzpah thing. [laughter] maybe just a little. Jewish commitment to justice, repairing the world, have long been sources of inspiration to me. But as this group knows all too well, we still have a lot to do when it comes to the dangerous threat of antisemitism. Like the president , i take personally antisemitism not only because it targets the community i consider mine, but because it hurts us all. White, black, asian, latino, native american, evangelical christian, muslim. Rural and urban, democrat and republican, disabled, lgbtqi and straight. Antisemitic incidents, whether online or in person, threaten jews safety yet all of us are worse off when the Jewish Community is intimidated, harassed, and attacked for who they are and who they worship. We know all too well that those who peddle antisemitism typically traffic in many forms of hatred. And equally, antisemitism is an affront to our constitution. It threatens our countrys most essential ideals, including freedom of religion. Antisemitism undermines and corrodes our democracy. Weakening us at home and abroad and thus, it threatens our very way of life. So we must come together to ensure that everyone is able to practice their faith and live their identity without fear. When i was ambassador to the United Nations and National Security advisor, i witnessed the ugly impacts of antisemitism in the international arena. At the u. N. , i was proud to defend israel against unfair attacks on its legitimacy and security. I am braced of this role with passion because i loathe injustice. I loathe antisemitism, racism, and any form of hatred. [applause] and yet, after spending almost five years at the United Nations, i could not have predict did the extent to which antisemitism would take root here at home. Whether in charlottesville or colleyville, the renewed wave of antisemitism has become all too familiar. And that is why a firm, unrelenting response from government, business, and Civil Society is so essential. And that is exactly the type of action we have taken and will continue to take in the Bidenharris Administration. In 2021, President Biden signed the no hate act which enhances state and local Law Enforcement ability to respond to hate crimes. The department of justice had turned a laser focus on prosecuting hate crimes, including filing hate crimes charges against the men who allegedly shot and wounded two jewish men leaving synagogues in los angeles. [applause] in fiscal year 2022, President Biden secured a 40 increase in the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which supports physical security of nonprofit organizations, including synagogues and other houses of worship. [applause] we are also proud to have developed the first ever United States National Strategy for countering domestic terrorism. Since domestic terrorism is now the most urgent terrorist threat we face today. After the racist mass shooting in buffalo, leaders from the jewish, black, latino, and asian communities, including adl, came to us to recommend a white house summit to demonstrate National Unity so, at the united we stand summit last september, we affirmed that were stronger when we unite against hatred than when we stand alone. [applause] under the president s leadership, we locked arms as allies to reject and marginalize the hate that plagues our country. We are elevating jewish voices and leadership within our own administration. Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt is the First Special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism to have been appointed at the ambassador level. Second gentleman doug emhoff has yes, please club to that. [applause] second gentleman doug emhoff has focused crucial attention on the rise of antisemitism. We were delighted to hold the first high holiday reception at the white house and to establish the First Permanent white house menorah during hanukkah. And, weve worked closely with agencies to ensure they are celebrating Jewish Americans contributions, including during Jewish American heritage month. [applause] finally, i am proud to have established the Interagency Policy Committee to counter antisemitism, islamophobia, and related forms of bias and discrimination, which i lead with my colleague, Homeland Security advisor liz sherwoodrandall, who spoke this morning. Our top order of business, as you know, is to develop the firstever National Strategy to counter antisemitism, which we aim to release later this month. [applause] the strategy focuses on actions we all can take, throughout society, to raise awareness and prevent antisemitism, to protect jews, and to build allyship across communities. We must use all the tools at our disposal in the federal government to counter antisemitism, as well as call on congress and state and local governments to take additional action. To develop this strategy, weve held listening sessions with more than 1,000 diverse stakeholders across the Jewish Community and beyond, from College Students to jews of color, to haredi jews. Weve worked closely with agencies to develop new policies and practices. Weve met at the white house with special envoys who combat antisemitism around the globe to learn from their best practices. Weve engaged leaders on the hill and from across Civil Society, the private sector, the tech community, religious groups, and countless others. As part of that engagement, i reviewed closely adls recommendations and found them to be helpful, creative, and smart. So, thank you again to adl. [applause] we share adls conviction that this National Strategy must be more than a government initiative. We need diverse individuals and entities to helpwhether in the to help, whether in the classroom or the workplace, on gaming platforms or at professional sporting events, in churches and mosques, and beyond. We all have a role to play in raising awareness of antisemitism, eradicating antisemitic speech and conduct, protecting jewish institutions and communities, and building solidarity across communities. As ive said before, unity and allyship are key. The strategy were developing will also help us combat other pernicious forms of hate and strengthen our democracyboth our democracy, both critical administration priorities. We appreciate the fact that adl works aggressively to combat bigotry in partnership with so many others. We can conquer hate, but only by joining forces with one another. As the extraordinary shimon peres, a man i was grateful to count as a friend, once wrote, the jews greatest contribution to history is dissatisfaction [laughter] so, in the spirit of president peres, let me make my dissatisfaction abundantly clear. We are committed to doing everything in our power to beat back and root out antisemitism wherever it exists. We are committed to making Jewish Americans, and all americans, safe. And, we will remain dissatisfied until the job is done. [applause] dissatisfaction is at the heart of tikkun olam. The world is imperfect and in constant need of repair. Fortunately, the power to repair, the power to change, remains in our hands. We look forward to continuing this fight together. Thank you. [applause] please welcome to the stage, author historian from the George Washington university, matthew. Matthew i want to think Jonathan Greenblatt and i think into the adl to speak to you. The adls papers in the American Jewish Historical Society in new york were a boon to my book. And the adl has more collections in its possession that i dont think have ever been seen by the public. Whatever they hold, those archives matter. They could be a gold mine. I hope that they will be preserved, and made accessible to researchers because the collections will shed light on the adls history so that more americans and future adl leaders can learn it. And learn it with the complexity and depth that it deserves and that it has not yet received, bringing the adls legacy alive to more americans. Let me discuss the adls interest in the job society. A small band of antinew deal businessmen established the society 1958. Robert welch founder and the others were rich, white animals uniformly christian. The founders combined mainstream associations with beliefs widely seen as french, three of them have served as president of the National Association of manufacturers. One of the men was milwaukee sentinel mans of the year at the ymca. At the same time, their views occupied a spot on the edge of the clinical spectrum. They regarded the growth of government in the firth first half of the u. S. Century, participation in world war i and to, and the expansion of programs had steps to living under communist rule. Despite their wealth and status as the worlds most dynamic economy they shared a rage of what they considered a string of failures and conceptions that about the u. S. To its knees. They had a simple sounding goal. Their plan was to teach the masses about the internal communist threat to the United States. By the mid1960s the group recruited 60 to 100,000 upwardly mobile white, christian often suburban men and women to join local 20 person chapters in the communities. They held many beliefs of some of the views of them. They rejected the entire postworld war ii u. S. Led international order, urged the u. S. To get out of the United Nations and warned of the greatest threat to the u. S. , political, media and other elites. One liter in a rally one liter told the nations establishment had imposed shortages of consumer goods on the country and had to be brought to justice, were going to take kissinger, fulbright politics injured politicians of that sort and try them for treason and they will be hanged, he said. Newsman, take that message and publicize it, the message they will get is the americans are coming. 400 birchers gave him astounding ovation. They had a brand of individual communism. More than mainstream conservatives, birchers trafficked in conspiracy theories fluoride in the drinking water, one warned was for socialized medicine. Birchers defined freedom on their own terms, so it was not access to the ballot box for all, know was the freedom to act in accord with one owns precepts, and it was not the freedom for one. There conceptions of the republic demanded the dismantling of the welfare state and dreamed of imposing their own version of christian values on american schools and culture. Critics argue that birchers ideas fostered bigotry and society was a safe harbor for racist and antisemites. Birch leaders insisted members had to pass a test to demonstrate their good character and religious ideals. They did denied prejudice had any part of their movement. The Public Relations director said charges of antisemitism where the worst kind of defamation. Robert welch blasted accusations of racism as vicious nonsense. Adls leaders viewed at such denials with a healthy dose of skepticism. The holocaust was fresh in their mind and they had firsthand brushes with naziism. In 1934, the future adl director epstein was searching researching in berlin all he studied how hitlers seized power. In 1938, the future counsel recruited pro bono lawyers to help the adl combat nazi plots against america. In 1941, the adls future director of factfinding and Public Relations in new england, became a counterespionage expert for the u. S. Army. During the war, he led a team of operatives on a hunt for fashion spies in the northeastern u. S. Postwar, adl leaders made it thereish and to expose what they considered a vast enterprise of hate operating in the u. S. And called on the adl to find ammunition for the war to make our land a more perfect democracy, as the National Chairman urged. In february 1959, two months after the society was founded, he learned that an activist he was monitoring was opening his homes to meetings of a new group. Again, the director of factfinding for the adl, wanted to find out more. The adl was the First Organization to track the birchers. And its antibirch became the most effective of all of them. Zacks agents had codenames, they set out on missions to find any shred of antisemitic, racist, violent or totalitarian evidence on the part of birch ers. Operatives obtained chapter membership lists, ran credit reports on birchers. Wrote down their license plate numbers and even obtained one of birchers will. One of the most unflattering bits ended up in the press. The adls campaign, sometimes called birch watchers, honored numerous examples of birchers, racism and even admiration for nazis. An adl spy infiltrated of birch group in connecticut and reported he overheard birchers singing praises of hitlers. The pennsylvania director, said a likely birchers, was giving speeches, featuring a Conspiracy Theory that bones found came from american soldiers killed by communists and not from jewish victims of the nazi death camps. The adl apparently apprised the fbi that he was inciting racial turmoil. The adl also exposed antisemitism at the very top of the birch movement. The Antidefamation League revealed how birch founder, and classics professor oliver was given talks in front of hundreds of birchers, about what he termed, a conspiracy of the jews. Oliver claimed israel has had exported lsd to cause chaos on College Campuses in the u. S. The societys rhetoric and the possibility that its members would carry out attacks against minority groups. Two agents, codenamed, ben, a play, were troubled by what they described as John Birch Society and the involvement of the purchase of weapons and infiltration of gun clubs. Another report said that when a civil rights picker showed up at a rally, the crowds mood turned a sour. The adl agent quoted one attendee saying, give me a machine gun and i will mow those pastors down. The birchers propensity, to brenda traders, with brand traders with dehumanizing rhetoric. When an agent attended a birch speech, a drunk stockbroker who was a member of the society yelled, come on sympth, anytime anyone in the audience made a statement that was antijohn birch. The adl understood how birchers conspiracy theories evoked longstanding antisemitic canards. The center for forces, control the money supply, the news media and the global order. They documented how White Supremacists saw the society as an ally and linked arms with birchers to promote massive resistance to civil rights. The adl chronicled in its newsletters, press releases and books. Its program applied economic pressure on some individuals affiliated with the society. The famous los angeles haberdashery, who was a bircher, said 3000 customers, called common sense, antisemitic, trash based on the protocols. He refused to the mailing so the adl released a press release criticizing his antisemitic activities. He sued the adl for libel. It in the lawsuit he complained that the jewish press, and an International Jewish fraternal society, had conspired to harass a patriot and damage his business, thus proving that the adls original charge. The adl use the press like an athlete jawboning a referee. The information was a crucial addition to media stories about the birchers. After one newspaper in orange county, california used adl research in an article, critical of a Society National spokeswoman, who was spreading conspiracy theories. Adl leader, harvey schechter, called the papers paper a good friend of adl. The society understood that the adl posed a significant threat to its reputation. The adl wrinkled birchers to no end. The spokesman said the adl, are on our backs all the time. A different leader charged that the adl was a hitlers agency. The adl was not the only organization keeping tabs on the society. The Antidefamation League was part of an informal, antiextremist coalition in the 1960s, including the white house, the ncaap, the union backed Research Group inc. , and other innovations organizations tracking the far right. The adl stuck at the stood at the apex of the coalition. It did more than any organization to expose the societys darkside to the world. The birch watchers had negative press and made the Society Toxic in the eyes of many americans. They neutered the ability of violent conspiratorial, white supremacist elements to win Election Office or dominate either party. Birchers were forced to spend energy and resources fending off the adls charges. The incessant public conversation about birchers as a hate filled group, generated the impression that the Organization Must be tainted and ought to be shunned. The adls program triumphed. By the 1970s, the Birch Society had become a shadow of its old self. Birch ideas lived on. But the organization shriveled. It had many woke money woes, and lost members and it lured more violent, bigoted individuals to its ranks. Few factors were significant in the wilting of the Birch Society is the adls campaign to cap expose its hostility to democracy, tolerance and pluralism. Had the adls documents not been available in the archives it wouldve been impossible for me to tell the story. Ultimately, it is a tale of the adl, living up to president john f. Kennedys praise for the Antidefamation League, for its, distinguished contribution to the enrichment of americas democratic legacy and its pursuit of equality of treatment for all americans. Thank you. [applause] please welcome adls regional director in washington dc, meredith. Meredith good afternoon. My name is meredith wiesel, i am the regional director in adls washington dc office. Welcome to d. C. [applause] we represent maryland, d. C. Virginia, and North Carolina. It is my honor to be here with you today. With me we have adam lehman, the ceo of halal international, and allison stone, a student at George Washington university. [applause] thank you both for joining us today. At adl there are campus staff, our regional offices and our expert analysts we have been engaged in monitoring and countering antisemitism in the College Campus basis. In k12 our adl analysts recorded incidents in our antisemitic incidents for 2022. That was an increase of 44 from 2021. Most of the schoolbased incidents were vandalism, like drawing up trausch because, writing messages swastikas, writing messages, or signs out saying saying signs outside saying jews are not welcome. Even in montgomery, maryland we have seen an uptick in antisemitic incidents. It is having a drastic impact on our communities our students, and our families. On College Campuses, adl recorded, to 19 incidents 219 incidents in 2022. We see antiinto zero campaigns antiisrael campaigns, making up 19 of the total. There has been a rise of harassment and vandalism on campuses, the desecration on student stores, resident halls and antisemitic messages saying jews are responsible for 9 11. So, with that, im going to turn to adam. In addition to these, 219 incidents we have seen on campuses, there are also 25 antisemitic attacks, that specifically occurred at how levels. Adl has worked on a joint survey that shows a third of College Students say they personally experience antisemitism in the last year. Can you share how this has impacted our jewish students . Adam thank you so much. Thanks to all of you for the work you are doing to combat antisemitism. It is a problem on campus. In addition to the incidents mentioned, we have seen more than 500 total incidents when we combined traditional forms of antisemitism, both of which lead to the harassment and marginalization of jewish students. When we see these activities on campus, the corrosive effects on jewish students are substantial and extreme. As we demonstrated in our joint survey with the adl, more than 15 of jewish students say they do not want to show their judaism. They dont want to be seen publicly as jewish, or god forbid, if they are seen as something somehow attached to engaged with israel. That is problematic. By the way the, 15 , when we have surveyed on individual campuses, that crowed to 50 grew to 50 . Forcing jews underground is problematic. Its worse than that. Its impacting them in the classroom where they have to work around faculty, who are not willing to abide by their identities or their points of views. Its leading to Mental Health and wellness issues. We heard from rabbi charlie, the need for everyone in the space of antisemitism, to seek support, we know students are suffering. Depression and otherwise. It can lead students to lead leave campuses. We have too many stories of students transferring, because of a hostile environment. Well talk about what were doing about it but we have to keep it real in terms of those effects. Meredith theres a reason we ask the students to be with us here today. We are doing this workday today. I want to turn to allison. Tell us what has it been like . We know gw has had a host of issues. Its been in the news. What is it like being a student leader on campus, tell us about the experiences you have had . Allison first of all, i want to say it is inspiring, as a student leader to be at a conference like this and see so many people dedicating their lives to doing this. For someone like myself was interested in doing Something Like this after i graduate, it is inspiring. There are two hands to the conversation. Theres a lot of antisemitism that happens. Some of it is newsworthy. Many of you have seen it on your computers. The other half of it is a smaller scale, among friends, in dorms. The other hand is there is a great thriving student community. When there something that happens, everyone feels it, then everyone goes together and sits and talks about it. Its interesting from my perspective, just this morning, i had a friend reach out to me and say that she has a meeting this afternoon with a professor about something antisemitic that happened in the classroom. She wanted to speak to me about what she should say. I was really thinking about the nuances of the words she should say in order to not be accusatory. I thought to myself, it is almost ridiculous, about how what students should say, because were worried about this person being offended for being antisemitic. I was waiting to get the text from her to see how the conversation went, but as a jewish leader it is important to be able to have those conversations and know how to articulate the issues, but two be able to be the face to students on campus and say, as are happening on our campus but things are also great for jewish students. It is a tough balance. Meredith let me ask you a followup, their organizations out there, adl is a strong leader, working as an ally. What can we do to be helpful for you as the student on campus, and also what is not helpful . Allison one of the biggest misconceptions about what is helpful and not helpful is how social media relates to this. There is misunderstanding of what zionism and judaism is like in our community, let alone outside the community, reposting things that may or may not be true, you dont know what is true unless you are on campus. One thing that is not helpful is the abundance of social media. It can be confusing for people. What is helpful as the thriving jewish communities, that organizations like adl, are helping to provide. Im a believer that the biggest fights and time semitism his prior to antisemitism is pride in their judaism. Its important for our organization to a place to be a play students and come to. Meredith we join forces to address antisemitism. Were partners in an online report portal for reports of when these happen. Can you talk about some of these joint initiatives . How are you seeing the impact on campuses . Adam i have to build on what allison shared. She shared it so well. The important thing we can all do, for want to deal with this issue is invest in positive, jewish life and experiences on campus. There is nothing more powerful for students. Allison articulated it well. There is a basis for a lot of optimism. We will engage more jewish students than ever in history. We will have more than 150,000 students engaged positively. Thats what we can all do, which is support, whether it is this we need to educate administrators and make sure they take seriously the responsibility to make campuses supportive and safe for jewish students, just as they should for every student. We have been partnering with hundreds of administrations. We just had dozens of professionals convening in North Carolina last week. Most of the folks who sometimes we can think, how can they not get the experience of a jewish student . More often than not, we are finding that they just have not had the education or other ways to understand what antisemitism is. We are seeing universities speak out more clearly and more quickly when these issues arise on campus, which we need. We urge we are seeing them change their biased reporting procedures. Allison is sitting in a class and a professor makes an antisemitic statement, when that student reports it, the answer should not be, that is not racism. I do not know where to send you. We need strong responses. Between education and between what all of you can do through trustees or others who are role players in a university context, if we activate we can deal with this issue. I know youve just got back from israel from the second time in a month. With your leadership experience with proisrael organizations, we are seeing campuses host students on campus. What are the conversations you are having with your peers . What are the things they are talking about about the safety of being on campus . I think that zionism on campus is confusing. People do not really know what it is. They confuse it with being jewish. People do not really understand, which i think is the root of the issue. I have had a lot of interesting conversations about what that means. I heard some conversations about families that left when they saw the apartheid wall. Just a few days later, our proisrael group put on our celebration. If you miss the beautiful things that happened. I think the challenge of life on campus is to not take things on face value and go find the groups that will support you because they do exist. The panel is not just about campus. What do you think we can be doing in k12 to better educate . We are providing Educational Programs for High School Students if you are looking for those resources. It is critical before student stepped on campus that they understand what campus light looks like, what jewish life looks like, what some of these challenges might entail. We have to hire allison. This by the way as the basis for hope. Allison and i just spent a week together in israel where we met with the president. We do not want to selfisolate away from every campus where there is an apartheid wall because we as a community will suffer as a result. We need to be able to understand the challenge, engage educationally, engage with our partners and again, that is something we have not talked a lot about. Partner with other communities, the black community, lgbtq and others. Lets make sure our students get to campus, understand what they are walking into, connect to community on campus. We love to hear from families and students before the student arrives. It is a great way not only for the student to have a community built in, but it also means they have the resources if unfortunately an issue comes up, they know where they can get support. I had an epiphany recently about how, just such a crossroads for students, where a lot of students like myself who grew up in jewish households and it was not hard to be jewish. A lot of the work that can be done on the k12 level is being involved in Jewish Community, going to synagogue so that when they get to the college crossroads, they want to keep going on that jewish path. Meredith, what are you seeing when you look at k12 . In my experience, when we have the opportunity to go into schools and to educate more, there cannot be enough talk about education because a lot of these instances are coming from ignorance. Partnering with other minority groups. After give a plug for tomorrow. Our leaders will be lobbying for [indiscernible] i have seen what they are learning and i see what some of their friends have said before and social media has certainly had a strong impact and we have to better prepare them as they move forward. We are running out of time. I want to wrap up. When incidents do happen, what are tools that schools can be using . What can they be doing with campus administrators . If you are aware of a young person who has encountered an issue, even if they just have a question, please make sure they do come and talk to an adl professional. One of the other things from our joint survey that was problematic is it indicated a 60 level of underreporting. So many students feel like either it is not a big deal or they do not want to be targeted if they raise an issue. So report, report. That is the most important thing. And finally, sometimes it requires legal action. We have been involved with several title vi investigations through the department of education. That is a real recourse when the university is not taken the necessary steps. I think students reporting to the adl is obviously ideal. The main thing is making sure students feel connected with a jewish leader or somebody who can encourage them to take that step because a lot of students may not know that exists or feel comfortable doing that. I want to thank you both for joining me today. We certainly have a lot of work left to do. [applause] allison, you give us hope and you are our future. Adam, thank you again. [applause] cspan is your unfiltered view of government, funded by these Television Companies and more, including comcast. Comcast is partnering with a thousand Community Centers so students from low income families can get the tools they need to be ready for anything. Comcast supports cspaas a