JCRC Statement
October 1, 2021
Jewish Community Outraged by Antisemitic Attack
on Elected Official
JCRC Demands Response by Gubernatorial Candidates
Washington DC — October 1, 2021 – The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of Greater Washington today issued the following statement in response to an antisemitic mailer targeting Delegate Dan Helmer, a former U.S. Army officer who is Jewish:
“As the Jewish high holidays came to a close on Wednesday evening, we were outraged to learn of yet another incident of campaign-related antisemitism in Virginia, this one targeting Delegate Dan Helmer. The Northern Virginia state legislative incumbent candidate was targeted in a mailer created by a challenging candidate in which Helmer’s digitally altered image is shown—in a classic antisemitic trope, overlooking stacks of oversized gold coins.
This is the third incident in the last two months in what has become a familiar and sickening pattern of public officials being targeted with hateful rhetoric based on their Jewish identities. The JCRC of Greater Washington offers our support and encouragement to Jewish elected officials enduring these attacks.
We called on both gubernatorial candidates to immediately and unequivocally denounce antisemitism and demagoguery. Thank you to both candidates for standing up to antisemitism. Glenn Youngkin reminded his followers to “stand against the tide of hate and discrimination,” and Terry McAuliffe reiterated that the behavior in question is “sickening and completely unacceptable.”
There is no place for hatred in our politics.
Those who hold or aspire to elected office have the enormous responsibility of serving as role models for our community and for setting the tone for a civil, safe election season. We urge all leaders to step up to the plate to make clear that the current escalation of hatred against minorities is an affront to the values of our community, our state, and our nation, and will not be tolerated in the Commonwealth of Virginia.”