Statement by the Racial Equity Coalition and the Rogue Action Center
Members of a Community De-escalation Team trained by the Rogue Action Center joined many others in our community to take a stand against anti-Semitism on December 12.
Two men were barred from entering Havurah Shir Hadash, an Ashland synagogue, where a packed audience turned out to hear a presentation about anti-Semitism in the U.S. and around the world.
The two men, Biome Michael and Gregg Marchese, are both active Holocaust deniers. Marchese recently posted on Facebook that the KKK was created to protect Southern workers and peasants from “powerful Jews who had Lincoln killed (and) roaming gangs of recently freed slaves inflicting murder, rape and vandalism on whites,” according to a report in the Mail Tribune and Daily Tidings.
The congregation has had to take increased security measures following the murders of 11 Jews at a Pittsburgh synagogue in October, as well as the deadly rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, targeting Jews and people of color in 2017.
Many people in our community, like many people in Israel, have disagreements about the Israeli government’s policies toward Palestinians. But we stand united against anti-Semitic threats and attacks here in the Rogue Valley, just as we have stood up for Muslims in our community and against racism, attacks on the rights of immigrants, homophobia, misogyny, and any other form of hate and discrimination.
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