Biden declared that “silence is complicity” while addressing guests assembled for a Hanukkah reception at the White House, adding that it is crucial for the country to denounce hate, violence, and antisemitism
On Monday, President Joe Biden expressed concern over the rise of antisemitism in the country and around the world and committed to combat the evil.
Speaking to guests assembled for a Hanukkah reception at the White House, Biden declared that “silence is complicity” and emphasised the need of the country denouncing hate, violence, and antisemitism.
Hanukkah this year comes amid increased and emboldened antisemitism domestically and, quite honestly, globally, according to Biden.
“I understand your apprehension, hurt, and concern that this filth and hatred is becoming too common,” the speaker said. The president said, “I won’t keep quiet. America won’t be silent.
The time of the holiday celebration coincides with a wave of antisemitic incidents. At his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, former president Donald Trump entertained a white supremacist who denied the Holocaust.
Ye, a rapper, once admitted to have feelings for Adolf Hitler. The basketball player Kyrie Irving appeared to use social media to advertise an antisemitic movie. As new CEO Elon Musk “amnesties” suspended accounts, neo-Nazi trolls are clamouring to return to Twitter.
As Biden stated, “Today, we must all say plainly and forcefully: Antisemitism and all other acts of hatred and violence in this nation have no place to call home in America.”
The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights organisation, recorded 2,717 antisemitic assaults, harassments, and acts of vandalism in 2017, a 34% rise from the year before and the most since the New York City-based organisation started keeping track of such incidents in 1979.
Jewish leaders from the Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox branches of the faith participated in a recent White House debate on preventing hate crimes and antisemitism, which was moderated by Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff.
Emhoff, a Jew, expressed his concern about the rising antisemitism at the occasion.
Holocaust survivor Bronia Brandman, Michele Taylor, daughter of Holocaust survivors, and Avigael Heschel-Aronson, granddaughter of Jewish thinker Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, were all given invitations to the White House event on Monday.
Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, who led his congregation to safety during a hostage situation at a synagogue earlier this year, was also present.
He attributed his survival and the survival of the other three hostages during the terrifying 11-hour ordeal to security training his suburban Fort Worth, Texas, congregation had undergone over the years.
Holocaust survivor Bronia Brandman, Michele Taylor, the daughter of Holocaust survivors and the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Council, and Avigael Heschel-Aronson, the granddaughter of Jewish thinker Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, were all invited to the White House ceremony on Monday.
Charlie Cytron-Walker, a rabbi who led his congregation to safety during a synagogue hostage incident earlier this year, was also present.
He thanked his suburban Fort Worth, Texas, congregation’s security training for helping him and the other three hostages survive the terrifying, 11-hour experience.
He acknowledged that antisemitism was a rising issue in America but thanked everyone for speaking out, including Vice President Biden, at the White House celebration. In Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she is now the rabbi at Temple Emanuel, Cytron-Walker remarked, “Antisemitism may be on the upswing, but thank God that people are standing by our side.
This year, a menorah was added to the White House’s collection of seasonal decorations, and it will be lit every night during the eight-day Jewish festival of Hanukkah.
Carpenters from the White House constructed the menorah using wood that had been preserved from a Truman-era refurbishment and sterling silver candle cups.
Although the White House has occasionally borrowed menorahs with special meaning, Biden claimed the addition was necessary.
