A task force established by Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird will educate Iowa officials in higher education, law enforcement and attorneys about antisemitism, Bird announced Friday.
During a news conference held at the Iowa Holocaust Memorial on the Iowa Capitol Complex, Bird said the state task force is needed to address a rise in antisemitism across the country since the military conflict that began with last year’s attack on Israel by the terrorist group Hamas.
The task force is comprised of 14 local leaders in state government, law enforcement and Iowa’s Jewish community, the Attorney General’s Office said. The full roster of task force members will be available next week, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General’s Office said.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, there were 8,873 antisemitic incidents in the U.S. in 2023, the most ever recorded by the advocacy organization. More than 5,200 of those incident were recorded after the start of the military conflict between Israel and Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.
“It’s clear that hate and antisemitism have absolutely no place here in Iowa. We condemn that in the strongest possible terms,” Bird said during Friday’s news conference. “And we are going to do everything that we can to stand strong and make sure that Iowa is a beacon of light for the rest of the country to follow when it comes to getting rid of this anti-Jewish hate, the antisemitism that we are seeing creeping into our society.”
Bird said the task force will gather information, work with law enforcement, support positive changes and provide training on recognizing and addressing antisemitism to prosecutors, law enforcement, and college campus officials.
Christina Gish Hill, an Iowa State University professor, spoke at the news conference and described what she said were antisemitic actions during a recent protest on the campus. She said protesters called for intifada, which is a reference to Palestinian uprisings in the West Bank and Gaza strip aimed at ending Israel’s occupation of those territories.
Gish Hill said she agreed to speak at the news conference not as a representative of Iowa State University, but as an individual and educator.
“These slogans crossed the line from advocacy for and solidarity with Palestinians into incitement to violence against Jews and Israelis,” Gish Hill said. “My hope is that these student protesters at ISU are not fully aware of the meaning of their messaging. This is why bringing awareness to and combating antisemitism, using every tool we have, is so essential in our current environment. Iowa’s educational communities must not fail in the responsibility to speak out when free speech turns to hate and incitement.”
Bird was asked if she also considered a task force to address anti-Muslim sentiment, which also has spiked since the Israel-Hamas conflict began.
“No,” Bird said.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations reported last month that anti-Muslim incidents in 2023 increased 56 percent over the previous year, and called 2023 “one of the worst years of anti-Muslim hate recorded in (the organization’s) 30-year history.”
Other speakers at Friday’s news conference, including Jarad Bernstein, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines, and former state legislator Charles Schneider, warned against inaction against antisemitism.
“The fact that we’re having this press conference in the shadow of the Iowa Holocaust Memorial is a vivid reminder of the tragedy and evil that can happen when people are silent in the face of antisemitism,” Schneider said. “The purpose of this task force is to be a voice against antisemitism, to make sure that we’re pushing back against it when we see it, and where we see it, and that we’re educating people what it is so that they too can identify it and know that they’ve got a place to turn if they feel threatened.”
www.thegazette.com
During a news conference held at the Iowa Holocaust Memorial on the Iowa Capitol Complex, Bird said the state task force is needed to address a rise in antisemitism across the country since the military conflict that began with last year’s attack on Israel by the terrorist group Hamas.
The task force is comprised of 14 local leaders in state government, law enforcement and Iowa’s Jewish community, the Attorney General’s Office said. The full roster of task force members will be available next week, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General’s Office said.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, there were 8,873 antisemitic incidents in the U.S. in 2023, the most ever recorded by the advocacy organization. More than 5,200 of those incident were recorded after the start of the military conflict between Israel and Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.
“It’s clear that hate and antisemitism have absolutely no place here in Iowa. We condemn that in the strongest possible terms,” Bird said during Friday’s news conference. “And we are going to do everything that we can to stand strong and make sure that Iowa is a beacon of light for the rest of the country to follow when it comes to getting rid of this anti-Jewish hate, the antisemitism that we are seeing creeping into our society.”
Bird said the task force will gather information, work with law enforcement, support positive changes and provide training on recognizing and addressing antisemitism to prosecutors, law enforcement, and college campus officials.
Christina Gish Hill, an Iowa State University professor, spoke at the news conference and described what she said were antisemitic actions during a recent protest on the campus. She said protesters called for intifada, which is a reference to Palestinian uprisings in the West Bank and Gaza strip aimed at ending Israel’s occupation of those territories.
Gish Hill said she agreed to speak at the news conference not as a representative of Iowa State University, but as an individual and educator.
“These slogans crossed the line from advocacy for and solidarity with Palestinians into incitement to violence against Jews and Israelis,” Gish Hill said. “My hope is that these student protesters at ISU are not fully aware of the meaning of their messaging. This is why bringing awareness to and combating antisemitism, using every tool we have, is so essential in our current environment. Iowa’s educational communities must not fail in the responsibility to speak out when free speech turns to hate and incitement.”
Bird was asked if she also considered a task force to address anti-Muslim sentiment, which also has spiked since the Israel-Hamas conflict began.
“No,” Bird said.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations reported last month that anti-Muslim incidents in 2023 increased 56 percent over the previous year, and called 2023 “one of the worst years of anti-Muslim hate recorded in (the organization’s) 30-year history.”
Other speakers at Friday’s news conference, including Jarad Bernstein, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines, and former state legislator Charles Schneider, warned against inaction against antisemitism.
“The fact that we’re having this press conference in the shadow of the Iowa Holocaust Memorial is a vivid reminder of the tragedy and evil that can happen when people are silent in the face of antisemitism,” Schneider said. “The purpose of this task force is to be a voice against antisemitism, to make sure that we’re pushing back against it when we see it, and where we see it, and that we’re educating people what it is so that they too can identify it and know that they’ve got a place to turn if they feel threatened.”
Iowa antisemitism task force will educate law enforcement, college and legal leaders
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird says the task force is needed to address a rise in antisemitism being reported across the U.S. since the Israel-Hamas war began last October.
www.thegazette.com
