FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 29, 2019

CONTACT: Sara Spain, [email protected], 202.864.0267

BEND THE ARC: ROCKLAND COUNTY GOP AD IS BLATANT, DESPICABLE ANTISEMITISM

Washington – Following the release of an ad by the Rockland County Republican Party filled with antisemitic tropes about the Hasidic Jewish community, Ginna Green, chief strategy officer of Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, released the following statement:

“The ad released by the Rockland County Republican Party portraying religiously observant Jews as a threat to “our” families is blatant, despicable antisemitism. Sadly, this type of rhetoric, the same language that President Trump and his white nationalist allies use against immigrants and people of color, is far from an outlier in today’s GOP. When President Trump accuses Jewish Americans who oppose his agenda of ‘disloyalty,’ when Republican members of Congress employ antisemitic tropes in their speeches and political ads, it puts Jewish lives in danger.

“It’s still early in the election cycle. We call on GOP leaders across the country to condemn the wielding of antisemitism and racism in political ads, apologize for their repeated use of these tropes in recent election cycles, and commit their party to stop weaponizing antisemitism against their opponents. Jewish Americans are firmly committed to working alongside immigrants, Muslims, black Americans, the LGBTQ community and all others threatened by the GOP’s dangerous rhetoric to build a movement that will defeat all forms of hatred, including antisemitism.”