When hate targets one community, no one is safe. We can’t look the other way.
AZMIRROR - COMMENTARY: REV. KATIE SEXTON, RABBI ANDY GREEN
Hate doesn’t stay in one lane. When one community is attacked, others are always next. We’ve seen this cycle play out in Arizona and across the country. And right now, the alarm bells aren’t just ringing—they’re blaring.
In 2023, Arizona saw 163 antisemitic incidents, more than eight times the number in 2019, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). These weren’t abstract events; they were real acts of hate —141 cases of harassment, 22 instances of vandalism and a reported assault.
These numbers aren’t just statistics. They represent families forced to question their safety, children afraid to wear their religious symbols and communities wondering who will stand with them.
One of us was recently the target of a threat so explicit, it made national headlines. The message contained a chilling promise: if a certain legal ruling wasn’t overturned, the sender would execute “every Jew” they could find by sundown on the Sabbath. It named locations. It glorified Hitler. It referenced current events in Israel and Gaza as justification. It was a calculated attempt to terrorize, an attempt mitigated by the support of law enforcement and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
This is where we are.
But here’s the truth: This isn’t just a Jewish problem — it’s everyone’s problem.