JCRC Statement
August 11, 2024
The following is a statement from Guila Franklin Siegel, chief operating officer of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, on antisemitic messages that appeared today outside the Bethesda Central Farm Market at Bethesda Elementary School. (Click the link to see photos)
“It is appalling that so many families simply trying to enjoy the Bethesda Central Farm Market instead had to be subject to — and then voluntarily helped to clean — hateful and antisemitic messages accusing Israel of raping women and children.
We are grateful to the Montgomery County Police Department and other county leaders — particularly MCPS Superintendent Thomas Taylor, Council President Andrew Friedson, and the Bethesda Urban Partnership — for ensuring that these graphic, vitriolic words were swiftly removed. These messages, like the recent arson attack on the Jewish Museum of Maryland in Baltimore, are a stark reminder that antisemitism as an ideology is still pervasive and not easily erased. We hope the perpetrators of this outrageous desecration of school property are apprehended and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
The unprecedented surge of antisemitism locally and nationally has not abated. With the start of school only two weeks away and the Jewish High Holidays coming shortly thereafter, it is imperative that local leaders and law enforcement stay vigilant in confronting antisemitism and make it clear that hate of any kind has no place in our communities. Along with our colleagues at the Anti-Defamation League and other partners, we will do our part to ensure that Jewish children and families in our area can live in peace rather than fear.”