Neighborhood Emergency

In the last two months, we have seen over 2,000 antisemitic incidents in the United States.In the last two months, we have seen over 2,000 anti-Muslim incidents in the United States. Our Jewish and Muslim neighbors are often spending $1,000 per week on security. Individual members of each tradition have to consider carefully if they will…

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Permission For Violence

Recently, someone came to me concerned about the rise in antisemitism and anti-Muslim sentiment in our country. We discussed how influential figures, including some in the media, can inadvertently promote these biases. For instance, there’s concern about conflating Muslims with extremist groups or making insensitive remarks about Jewish communities. This person had heard my talks…

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Resisting Collective Blame

For the past decade, my focus has been on understanding and combating dehumanization in Washington State and across the United States. During times of conflict, communities here become more susceptible to threats and violence. Just last week, I had conversations with a young Palestinian Muslim woman and a Jewish woman, both of whom expressed feeling…

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A Jewish Perspective on PTU’s Strategy

As I sit down to write this, I am struck by how much has happened over the last many months. This country and our world are experiencing hatred at an alarming rate. Whether it is between political parties, racial groups, or religions, we are more segregated than we have been in years. The divides between…

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Shocking But Not Surprising

We are all filled with grief at the shooting that took place at the Q Club in Colorado Springs. What happened there is shocking. It is, grievously, not surprising. In high school we had three bullies in my class. They had a group of followers who actually did most of the damage. One week, they…

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Rising to Meet Antisemitism

Last spring I was honored to interview Devin Burghart from IREHR, the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. We spoke about white nationalism and white Christian nationalism, how it threatens our democracy, and what we can do about it. This conversation has been much on my mind as we have seen Antisemitic statements,…

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