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Opinion: We've had enough. We must stand together against anti-Semitism, all forms of hate

Matt Goldberg and Beth Salamon
Opinion contributors

This week we celebrated Hanukkah, a holiday filled with joy and light, and yet we saw some horrible attacks against the American Jewish community.

 In New York alone, there was an anti-Semitic attack every day last week, culminating in the vicious stabbings at a Hanukkah gathering on Dec. 28, seriously wounding five people. All this comes on the heels of the shooting at the Jewish market in Jersey City, New Jersey, where Jew-haters killed four people (and aimed to kill many more).

While we have always felt somewhat vulnerable (anti-Semitism is not a recent phenomena), we cannot accept the recent dramatic increases in these occurrences here in the United States, and it is coming at us from all directions.

 The FBI issued a report recently that showed that 60% of all religiously motivated hate crimes were directed against our community, and we have seen dramatic increases in the last three years of hate crimes against all minorities. In 2018, hate-fueled murders reached their highest level ever recorded, with the murder of 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue being the deadliest. We have had enough.

Previously:We've already seen 780 anti-Semitic incidents this year and it's 'horrifying,' group says

We are not helpless. Law enforcement can and should increase patrols in threatened neighborhoods and institutions. We call on Congress to pass the NO HATE Act of 2019, a bi-partisan bill which would improve reporting and expand assistance and resources for victims of hate crimes. 

We also call on state legislatures around the country (including in Kentucky) to pass comprehensive hate crimes statutes that permit increased punishment and prosecution for bias crimes. Law enforcement agencies at all levels need to make hate crime reporting mandatory. ... Knowledge is power and we don’t really know the extent of the problem when there are these reporting gaps.

Finally, particularly during the holiday season, we can make a community effort to stand together against all forms of hate. Now is the time for our communities come together, celebrate our diversity and shared values and leave no space for hatred to thrive. In our compassionate city, this should not be hard to do.

May the victims of all hate attacks recover quickly, and may tolerance and compassion be our mantra.

Matt Goldberg is director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Louisville, and Beth Salamon is chairperson of the group.