Jewish Groups Stand in Opposition to Hate Speech and All Forms of Islamophobia
4/28/15 Jews Against Islamophobia Coalition stands
strongly in opposition to Islamophobia in all its manifestations. Most
recently, the courts ruled that Pamela Geller has the right to put up
her virulently anti-Muslim ads on public buses. As a community, we will
make our voices heard as forcefully as we can in protest of Islamophobic
hate speech.
"The minute I read Geller's language for the ads,* I was reminded of
the history of accusations of blood libel against the Jewish community
that provoked, and fed into, anti-Semitism," said Marjorie Dove Kent,
executive director, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice.
According to Rosalind Petchesky from Jewish Voice for Peace-New York,
"These ads are bad enough in and of themselves. But, this hate speech
also operates within the context of continued discriminatory
surveillance of the Muslim community. And I have seen the pernicious
effects this had had on Muslim and Arab students at CUNY, where I have
been a professor for many years. That is why we pledge to continue our
work with Muslim groups and others concerned with state-sponsored
discrimination against the Muslim community."
