Lesniak Calls for Action Against Anti-Jewish Hate Groups

Trenton – Reacting to President Trump’s statement condemning the recent increase in threats against Jewish community centers, cemeteries, synagogues and hate speech directed at Jews, Senator Lesniak called for action, not just words.

“The President needs to direct his Justice Department and Homeland Security Department to focus on known Jewish hate organizations, infiltrate them and bring them to justice wherever and whenever possible,” said Senator Lesniak. “We can’t afford to be passive in the face of anti-Semitism and we can’t allow these forces of hate and bigotry to go unchecked. History has taught us the consequences of inaction and silence.”

President Trump today responded to a growing chorus of calls from Jewish leaders urging him to speak out against the recent spate of threats and acts of intimidation targeting the Jewish community in the United States. The President’s remarks came a day after the JCC Association of North America reported that 54 Jewish community centers have faced 69 threats, including three waves of bomb threats, since January. They also follow the vandalism of 100 headstones at a Jewish cemetery in St. Louis.

Senator Lesniak, a recipient of the prestigious Man of the Year Award from the Jewish National Fund and the Public Service Award from the Jewish Education Center in Elizabeth, sponsored a Resolution his first year in the state Legislature condemning the Soviet Union for violating Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for not allowing Jews to migrate in order to freely practice their religion. He also was awarded the prestigious Human Rights Award from Le Memorial de Caen, by the D-Day/Human Rights Museum in Normandy, France.