A local Jewish organization has joined a nationwide TV and social media campaign focused on addressing antisemitism.
The Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley said in a release that it has joined the Stand Up to Jewish Hate campaign.
This initiative aims to educate Americans about the rise of antisemitism and “mobilize non-Jewish people to help address growing hate and intolerance.”
The campaign, which launched this week, features a blue square emoji. The Jewish Federation is asking people to share the emoji on social media “as a simple but powerful unifying symbol of solidarity.”
When shown during media appearances, the blue square takes up 2.4% of the screen, a representation of Jews making up 2.4% of the U.S. population.
The blue square is also being integrated into TV programming, billboards, digital and social media feeds.
The release said the campaign’s goal is to emphasize the disparity between the target of hate crimes and the Jewish population’s size.
According to Stand Up to Jewish Hate, Jews are the victims of 55% of religious hate crimes in the country.
The Jewish Federation also said antisemitism is rising at “alarming rates” in the United States, but said new polling found that half of Americans did not believe “that antisemitism is a big problem.”
It also said nearly half believe “Jews are more than capable of handling issues of antisemitism on their own.”
Aaron Gorodzinsky, Director of Campaign & Security Planning for the Jewish Federation said in a statement that the campaign “asks our non-Jewish friends to show solidarity with the Jewish community, to speak up when they witness antisemitism, and to bring an issue that many are not aware of to the forefront of the national conversation.”
Stand Up to Jewish Hate was launched by the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, which was founded by New England Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft in 2019.
(Original air-date: 4/3/23)
