Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Biden, Mayorkas, pledge to fight antisemitism as they celebrate Jewish heritage

President Biden denounced the recent spate of antisemitism as “despicable, unconscionable,” and “un-American” on Friday and said he would “not allow our fellow Americans to be intimidated or attacked because of who they are or the faith they practice.”

In a statement released by the White House, Biden recounted several recent incidents: “a brick thrown through the window of a Jewish-owned business in Manhattan, a swastika carved into the door of a synagogue in Salt Lake City, families threatened outside a restaurant in Los Angeles, and museums in Florida and Alaska, dedicated to celebrating Jewish life and culture and remembering the Holocaust, vandalized with anti-Jewish messages.”

These are among 222 antisemitic incidents the Anti-Defamation League has counted over the two weeks of Israel’s latest violence battle with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, a 75% increase from the 127 it saw the two weeks before.

“We cannot allow the toxic combination of hatred, dangerous lies, and conspiracy theories to put our fellow Americans at risk,” Biden said, noting that the Department of Justice had announced on Thursday a renewed focus on combating hate crimes. “In recent days, we have seen that no community is immune. We must all stand together to silence these terrible and terrifying echoes of the worst chapters in world history, and pledge to give hate no safe harbor.”

Biden noted that May is Jewish American Heritage Month, the subject of a virtual White House event earlier on Friday in which Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of homeland security, addressed American Jews in the first-ever such acknowledgement of the month.

“I want to assure the Jewish American community that I am committed to strengthening the safety and security of our community, and of all communities that suffer from the rise in hate,” said Mayorkas, who is Jewish.

Mayorkas mentioned that his mother fled Romania for Cuba amid Nazi persecution in the early 1940s and lost many family members during the Holocaust, saying it was his mission to “bring honor” to his mother in his current position.

“I grew up with a profound understanding of the fragility of the safety and security of the Jewish people,” he said. “I feel privileged to be in a position where I can strengthen the safety and security of our and so many communities.”

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.