Bay Area Leaders Speak Out Against Rise in Anti-Semitism

May 31, 2002

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

On May 31, 2002 The San Francisco Chronicle reported that "several Bay Area mayors joined Jewish leaders... to condemn a surge in anti-Semitic incidents - temple arson, vandalism and slurs - that coincide with rising tensions in the Middle East... Mayors from San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and other cities initiated a campaign called 'No Place for Hate' with the Anti-Defamation League. Their first act was to put a full-page ad in The Chronicle in which they pledged to enforce hate-crime laws... Despite the Bay Area's reputation for diversity and tolerance... the local ADL recorded the sharpest rise in anti-Semitic incidents in the past four months among the group's 30 regional offices... Civic leaders have previously spoken out against hate crimes making targets of Arab Americans and Muslims, which rose after the Sept. 11 attacks."