June 26, 2024
Alsobrooks vs. Hogan: Where the Senate Candidates Stand on Israel and Antisemitism
Washington Jewish Week
“I believe that among Jews who are politically conservative and moderate and Orthodox, Israel will play an elevated role where it will be a more prioritized issue than it has ever been before,” said Ron Halber, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington. “And I think it’s also fair to say that among a significant percentage of non-Orthodox, Democratic Jews, Israel will be high on their priority list as to how they vote … They want to see as close as possible an ideological heir of Sen. [Ben] Cardin, who is one of the strongest supporters of Israel in U.S. Senate history.”
June 24, 2024
Jewish Federation funds efforts to address rising antisemitism in local schools and universities
FOX 5 Washington DC
The grants include $100,000 a year for three years to the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington "as they continue to advocate for Israel, push for increased education on antisemitism in public schools across the DMV, and work to secure dollars in support of security for partner agencies, synagogues, and educational institutions."
June 22, 2024
In Maryland, Larry Hogan pursues Jewish voters as GOP senses opening
The Washington Post
“If you look back historically — 40, 50 years — if you took polls of Jews around the United States, what motivated them, up to now Israel and antisemitism would be of little concern,” said Ronald Halber, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington. “There was broad bipartisan support for Israel, and antisemitism was not viewed as a threat to their personal security. We’re living now in a new era.”
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June 12, 2024
Antisemitic Incident at Jackson-Reed High School’s International Cultural Night Part of Larger Issue
Washington Jewish Week
Tensions flared during an international culture night at Jackson-Reed High School in Washington, D.C., on May 29, with videos documenting protesters using a bullhorn to interrupt the event by chanting “Free Palestine.” And at least one protester approached Jewish and Israeli students, aggressively filmed them and called them “Nazis” and “baby-killers.”
June 10, 2024
2 Jewish Democrats are vying against each other in this Northern Virginia congressional primary
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“Twenty years ago, when the JCRC would do its Advocacy Day, we would have like, four cars going up to Richmond,” recalled Ronald Halber, the longtime executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington. “And today we have buses — buses! The growth in Northern Virginia has been exponential.”
May 20, 2024
Antisemitism, Israel-Hamas war expose fractures in proudly diverse school district
Chalkbeat
Guila Franklin Siegel, associate director at the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, a local advocacy organization that works with the school district, said the Jewish students her organization is in contact with feel ostracized, exhausted from trying to navigate the war with friends, and fearful for their futures. And she finds herself working with younger and younger students each year.
May 13, 2024
Jewish Democrats concerned over Maryland’s Democratic party’s leftward tilt
Jewish Insider
Pro-Israel Democrats in Maryland are wondering how a state with one of the largest Jewish constituencies in the country is represented by one of the Senate’s leading Israel critics — with some aspiring Democratic congressional candidates moving toward left-wing positions that until recently were rarely embraced in party circles.
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May 9, 2024
No, the answer to rising antisemitism in schools isn’t punishment
The Washington Post
And here’s what’s even more disturbing: While the roiling college campus protests are a complicated challenge to the blurry lines of free speech and hate speech, the added concern in Montgomery County is that antisemitism is appearing in ever-younger populations.
May 8, 2024
WUSA9
“There absolutely has been a chilling effect among teachers and principals and other administrators who are afraid of engaging with these issues at all out of the fear of being perceived as quote 'taking sides,'” said Guila Franklin Siegel with the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, who works closely with Montgomery County Public Schools and says teachers and administrators have a tough time dealing with incidents of antisemitism because it’s such a hot button issue.
May 8, 2024
BOE President Silvestre Testifies Before Congress About Antisemitism in School
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Jewish Community Relations Council Associate Director Guila Franklin Siegel praised Chanceller Banks for not shying away from speaking of Jews and antisemitism without constantly bringing up all other types of hate. “That is a contrast to what we see in Montgomery County.”
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May 8, 2024
D.C.’s largest high school to show alternate Palestinian film after suit
The Washington Post
Far from a win for the ACLU, the settlement upheld the school’s leadership and allowed students to show alternative movies they could have screened without the lawsuit. “We are glad that the Arab Student Union decided to not press to show a blatantly antisemitic movie at Jackson-Reed High School and cause further division, disruption, and polarization at the school,” said Guila Franklin Siegel, associate director at the Jewish Community Relations Council.
May 7, 2024
Op-Ed: Rooting antisemitism out of K-12 schools requires proven, bipartisan solutions
The Hill
A series of hearings held by the House Education and the Workforce Committee in recent months has appropriately shined a harsh spotlight on the sharp escalation of antisemitism in education settings across the country.
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May 1, 2024
Crackdowns and concessions: Student protests enter new phase
The Hill
“I think that any university that agreed to make any concessions on their university-wide policy to these protesters have demonstrated an ultimate failure of leadership,” said Ron Halber, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington.
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May 1, 2024
This Yom HaShoah, Descendants Are Sharing Survivors’ Stories
Washington Jewish Week
This year, on Yom HaShoah, the duty of remembrance is shifting to a younger generation as the numbers of survivors dwindles, as most are old and often in frail health.
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April 26, 2024
Angela Alsobrooks distances herself from Van Hollen on Israel policy
Jewish Insider
Speaking to members of the Washington, D.C.-area Jewish community last week, Angela Alsobrooks, the Prince George’s County executive running for a Senate seat in Maryland, sought to create some distance between herself and the state’s soon-to-be senior senator, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), on Israel policy.
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April 26, 2024
Washington Jewish Week
Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks addressed members of the Jewish community at an event hosted by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington at Congregation Beth El of Montgomery County in Bethesda on April 16, where she discussed her beliefs, character and ideals.
April 15, 2024
‘Get Your Phil’ with Ron Halber
eJewish Philanthropy
The additional staff member hired by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington for its education department was meant to free up the director for “higher level” initiatives. Instead, since Oct. 7, it’s been an all-hands-on-deck as the organization has scrambled to respond to over 100 antisemitic incidents in schools, the JCRC’s executive director, Ron Halber, told eJewishPhilanthropy Managing Editor Judah Ari Gross in the latest installment of “Get Your Phil.”
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April 15, 2024
Iran attack complicates Biden’s push to change the course of Gaza war
The Washington Post
“One of the advantages of Israel not attacking is they can create a diplomatic effort to isolate Iran and it reduces public pressure on them on Gaza,” said Ron Halber, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington. “The Israelis know this. The fact that they are willing to strain relations with the Biden administration over counterattacking ... shows the psychological impact of October 7th on Israel’s psyche.”
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April 14, 2024
DC Jewish community reacts to Iranian airstrikes on Israel
FOX 5 Washington DC
The Jewish community here in the DMV says they are making sure that institutions and places of worship here are protected following Iran's historic missile and drone strike on Israel. Ron Halber with the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington spoke with FOX 5 about the shocking attack.
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April 10, 2024
‘Bring Them Home Now’: DC March to Free the Hostages Draws Large Crowd
Washington Jewish Week
More than 1,000 people waving Israeli and American flags marched from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial on April 7 chanting “Bring Them Home Now,” and “We Demand a Deal Now.”
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April 10, 2024
Proposed DC Budget Cuts Would Adversely Impact Local Jewish Preschools
Washington Jewish Week
About 300 people of all ages came together on Friday morning, April 5, in Samuel Gompers Memorial Park in Washington, D.C., to protest the proposed elimination of the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund.
April 9, 2024
Loudoun supervisor criticized over statement asking for ceasefire in Gaza
ABC7 WJLA
A D.C.-based Jewish community group recently criticized a statement made by the Vice Chair of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors.
April 1, 2024
Proposed state law would require Holocaust education in Md. schools
Moco360 Media
A bill making its way through the Maryland General Assembly would require county school boards to establish Holocaust education curricula and would also require the state board of education to withhold some funding from schools that don’t comply.
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March 20, 2024
Northern Va. school district allows Jewish students to skip Holocaust lecture for fear of bullying
Jewish Insider
“We would not have handled this issue in the way that the principal at Cooper Middle School did,” said Guila Franklin Siegel, associate director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington.
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March 19, 2024
Maryland Statehouse passes new hate crimes commission bill after CAIR controversy
Jewish Insider
The Maryland House of Delegates on Monday passed a bill restructuring the state’s hate crimes commission following months of controversy regarding a member of the body who has posted incendiary and antisemitic content on social media since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in Israel.
