But also, understanding what our vision for the future is is important as well, and again, when i sit down with my friends from adl or other organizations to talk about the positions, my friends at the religious action center, to discuss these concerns and others from the Jewish Community, coand where would say that applieies to so many other communities. We have gone through a lot of pain for Different Reasons and in different ways, but what we seek together and understanding if we Work Together we can achieve this goal, i think thats when we find ourselves locking arms more tightly. Madam chair, our communities are inextricably linked, and what mr. Shelton said about minority communities across the globe, the moral imperative for us to come together and unite against hate and continue to shine a light on the evil that is still unfortunately permeating societies all across the globe. Thank you, i yield back, and thank you, madam chair, for your indulgen indulgence. We now recognize the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. Glenn grothman for questioni questioning. Thank you very much. First, good news. I spent as much time as anyone in my district, i know the congressman from california may see amounts of evil in his district, but i have never heard anything utter anything the least bit antisemitic, maybe one guy told a racist joke, but in my district, i dont think its like california. I think much more accepting in my district, so i dont want to make it appear like all america is that way. In any event, there seems to be, though, more of mainstream politicians trafficking in hate in an effort to apparently feel that its going to raise their profile and get them more easily elected. Before i was involved in politics, reading about the Crown Heights affair in new york. Embarrassingly, a person posing as a christian minister inciting hatred, winding up encouraging somebody to die. I couldnt believe we had somebody like that in new york. I was glad he wasnt in milwaukee. A few years later, again, fanning the flames of antisemitism and resulting in people dying. I suppose youre always going to have that in a country of over 300 million, a few horrible people like that. However, what concerns me is rather than being swept into historys background, we recently have had this person become somebody who a lot of politicians like to stand with, look for him for getting more votes, and mainstream politicians, successful politicians. Nancy pelosi, the speaker of the house, reverend sharpton, thank you for saving america. And crediting him with getting a majority back in the house. So this is not somebody people run from. Its something that mainstream politicians are embracing this individual. One after another, people looking to become president have met with this guy in new york, you know, amy klobuchar, the mayor there of south bend. It concerns me. And i would like, if anything, a comment as to how this embarrassingly reportedly christian minister, why this guy is so beloved or apparently respected by so many what should be mainstream politicians. Mr. Congressman, if i might just generally respond. First of all, i would say what we have talked about some instances like what happened in new york, what happened in pittsburgh, no state is immune from hate. There are approximately 84 the adl tracked 84 hate incidents in the state of wisconsin in 2019. In fact, it was in a suburb of milwaukee where we had High School Students doing the heil hitler salute. Its outside of madison, but fair enough. I want to point out that prejudice can happen in any geography. It can be a problem in the majority, in the minority problems, in Christian Communities as well as nonChristian Communities. No one is immune to it. The question is what do we do about it . The question is, what is this about this embrace . Right. Of reverend sharpton. I was going to say, to that, like, again, i think reverend sharpton has a long track record. I havent agreed with all of his statements. On the other hand, i will tell you after the situation and the murder in jersey city, i remember getting a text from him on my phone. Hey, what can we do about this . Hes consistently addressed this issues on his television program. I think he has a mixed track record for many, but i appreciate some of the outspokenness he has had over it of late. Okay. Theres a group that sometimes sends me stuff called the on shine initiative. They sometimes talk about antisemitism on College Campuses. I wonder if any of you could comment on whats going on on College Campuses and why this is where kind of the minds of the future are molded, so to speak, and why it seems to be you have more, i dont want to call it intellectual, i dont know what you would call it, but why antisemitism, why it seems to why american campuses seem to be a place where it seems to foment more. Whats the deal with american campuses . Ill respond, but we can invite others to jump in. I think one of the challenges that the way that jewish state has often demonized on College Campuses, saying its using the same tropes that have been used to demonize the jewish people. Once they said jewish people were foreign, that they were illegitimate, that they were alien, should go back to their community. Now they say that about the jewish state on many of these campus campuses. We need University President s to recognize, i certainly believe in free speech, deeply, even speech we dont like, but there is a price for free speech. Its not free. And University President s need to not dismiss when antisemitism is used to demonize the state of israel. They need to call it out and make sure all students understand that prejudice shouldnt be tolerated, even when its supposedly being used in a debate about politics. The gentlemans time has expired. I recognize the gentleman from maryland, mr. John sarbanes, for questions. Thank you, madam chair. I thank everybody on the panel for being here, for staying with us so long, and for your incredibly compelling and important testimony on the topic of todays hearing. You talked about convergence of interest, and i think thats a really important point to emphasi emphasize. As you were saying that, i was recalling that the hepa, the largest and most active organization in the country that represents interests of the Greek American community, it was formed in the south in response to klan activity that was directed at Greek Americans back in the 1920s, 1930s. So that convergence of interests is very directly bearing on that. But all of these communities that were speaking about today have that convergence of interests. And clearly, theres two very important responses that we need to have when these incidents of hate speech, antireligious, racial incidents occur, acts of violence. One is to show an immediate sense of solidarity in responding to it. The other is to take very practical steps to try to protect against these attacks. And i think were bringing important focus in the congress to both of those things. But if i could go back to the solidarity element iffor a mome, often, our concept of solidarity is reactive. In other words, something occurs, and then we assemble a kind of unified Coalition Response to that to condemn it. And obviously, thats an important thing to do. What that seeks to overcome is human nature, because when an incident occurs, the immediate reflexive human response is to think, am i a part of the group that was attacked or am i not part of the group . And if you werent part of the group, the specific group that experienced the pain or the attack, your reflex is in a sense relief. You momentarily set yourself apart. Thats a difficult thing to overcome. But we ned to get to a place where this convergence of interest concept is so deep and abiding that if any particular subgroup within our community, in our society, feels pain or is attacked, that we feel it regardless of whether were part of that group. And what i wanted to ask anyone to comment on is, what opportunities do you see or activities under way that are knitting together this sense of solidarity sort of at the ground level, on the front end, if you will, so that when the attack occurs, the Broad Community feels it in that instant rather than there being that kind of delayed response, which is important, but is a delayed response. Maybe you can speak to in pittsburgh and other places where different communities are aligned with each other, creating coalitions so that they feel equally these attacks, regardless of which group its directed at. I think thats a very important point. When the attack happened in pittsburgh, what happened prior to the attack, we have a Community Relations council. A Community RelationsCouncil Director in pittsburgh spends time with all faithbased groups. Thats his job. And he convenes interfaith committee. We talk to different groups. When the attack happened in pittsburgh, it was instantaneous. We had every faithbased group. Africanamerican, muslim, christian groups, surrounding us in pittsburgh. That didnt happen by chance. That happened by that Interfaith Community working together. And we felt that through the community in pittsburgh right away. We had a muslim group working with us, and quite frankly, they were one of the first groups that donated money to the victims of terror fund. And it was heartening to see that. But that work was done prior to that shooting. The gentlemans time has expired. Thank you so much. I now recognize the gentlelady from illinois, ms. Robin kelly. Oh, kelly. I didnt see you. I did not see him come in. The gentleman, mr. Keller is recognized. Thank you, madam chair. And i would like to thank all of the witnesses on todays panel for being here for this incredibly important hearing. When discussing the issue of education, president george w. Bush said continuing failed policies meant leaving children stuck with the soft bigotry of low expectations. Now, were discussing, when were discussing antisemitism today, we can say that were facing hard bigotry of soft words. These words come in phrases like boycott, divestment, and sanctions of israel. Even worse, they come in deafening silence from people in this country, when terrorists or bigots physically attack or kill people of the jewish faith merely because of their religion. Americans must not be silent in the face of this open and ugly bigot bigotry. Antisemitism is unfortunately still alive now 75 years after the liberation of auschwitz. The Simon Wiesenthal center has produced a list of the worst instances of antisemitism. Including some last month. Ambassador gold, can you speak to the trend we have seen with these antisemitic attacks and what can be done or what we can be doing to move toward the goal of eliminating the boycott divestment and sanctions and other forms of antisemitism . Im a big believer in knowing who your adversary is. If youre in the military, theres an intelligence branch. And it tries to give a picture of how your adversary is laying out his forces. And thats what you have to do in this business, too. You have to find out who they are and what theyre doing. And many times, people dont know or its left up to oped writers to conjecture where this is coming from. But you can get to it. You can find out. Its important if youre going to try to figure out where the antisemitism is coming from, to have multilingual capacity. When i wrote a book back in 2003 called hatreds kingdom about how did the hatred that entered into that was part of the attack on america on 9 11, where did it come from . I hired a team which could actually read off the web some of the most sensitive arabic information. It was not classified. People werent even aware of it. So thats what you have to do. Whether its in arabic or farcy, you have to see where its coming from. And once you know that, you have a criminal Justice System that should operate. And i want to stress something which is obvious probably to everybody here. And that is when i bring up subjects that sound like the problems of radical islam, its not against all muslims. Its not something that should be misinterpreted, but radical islam is as much a threat to muslims as it is to jews or christians. And i think people that are silent, you know, that silence sometimes might want to consider that some of those may be adversarial too. May i just Say Something . Actually, i wanted to get to another point for the ambassador if i can. President trump has been at the forefront of this issue, taking actions such as relocating the u. S. Embassy to jerusalem, recognizing israels sovereignty of the golan heights, signing an executive order to combat antisemitism on College Campuses and releasing his blueprint for peace with the palestinians. How do you think the actions have impactsed the u. S. Relationship with israel today and what will its relationship look like moving forward . Ed the relationship with israel today and what will its relationship look like moving forward . I think the actions taken by President Trump are very dear to the israeli body politic. And you know, we have already built up over the years a strong bond between the American People and the people of israel. But certainly, these actions strengthen that bond and allow us to move forward to build a safer region. Thank you. And i yield back. Thank you. I now recognize the gentlelady from illinois, ms. Robin kelly, for questions. Not that i want to bring first of all not into anything political, but i have to say since al sharptons name was raised and i dont believe in everything he has said either, but also, i just have to say, i feel like we have one of the most divisive people in this 21st century that we have seen in a long time, and people, he has a base, and he has elected officials that follow him. So just to, you know, pick on al sharpton, you know, is very interesting to me. But anyway, thank you all for your testimony on this important day as we remember the horrors of the holocaust and thank you so much for being here. Thank you for your courage. And you know, wanting to educate the next generation. You are very much a treasure. Would the gentlelady yield for a second on al sharpton . We had a terrible increase of incidents of antisemitism in the city that i represent, new york. And the community has come together. Hes been one of the leaders in bringing the community together. His National Organization has had numerous meetings reaching out to the community, preaching really that we have to unify and fight this. So i thank the gentlelady for the point you made. I yield back. In recent years, we have seen a rise in antisemitic rhetoric. Fueled by social media campaigns. Therefore, its my opinion its really important, i dont need to study the holocaust as a historical event but also use its lessons as daily reminders of the fragility of democracy and the importance of remaining ever vigilant in promoting human rights, because we have seen an increase in hate, period. Dr. Friedberg and mr. Greenblatt, people frequently dismiss comparisons to hitler and nazi germany because the nazi regime and the holocaust are so uniquely horrific. But can you please explain what germany was like prior to the rise of the nazi party . Meaning was it considered an advanced country economically, culturally . Was there a constitution, a Representative Government . Thank you, congresswoman, for the question. Yes, germany was considered an advanced country. It was a democracy, although a very young democracy. It had been in existence for just over ten years at the time that the nazis rose to power, and as i mentioned earlier, they rose to power as part of a democratic process. Nonetheless, that did not inoculate that society from the dangers of naziism. However, i do want to emphasize that the holocaust was not a tsunami. It was not something that once it started there was no way for it to stop. I actually would like to Say Something that may be surprising to people. I feel a great deal of inspiration in the history of the holocaust. Not in the horrors of it, but in the places where things went in a different direction. The holocaust was not implemented uniformly. By studying it, not in broad n generalities of good and evil, but in the specifics of each context and with precision, were able to identify the variables, the context, and the choices and the roles of different people in society that made it better for jews in some places and worse in others. For example, were very pleased to have a Longstanding Partnership with the adl, Law Enforcement and Society Program trains members of the police, trains every new fbi recruit, agent, and analyst every year. Because we look back to this history, not just to make people feel sad or not just to warn us about hate, but to say who are those people . Who are those who sit in roles that actually can protect our society so that those on the margins, the extremist haters, do not come forward . We have trained close to, i dont know, 50 or 60,000 members of state judiciaries, members of the military, we work with every military academy. So just to say that its not just about whether society is advanced, but how do we make people aware of their roles and responsibilities. Whei have another question f you. How does a modern, advanced, and culturally reach nation divulge to genocide in years . My grandfather was from germany and lived through and endured nazi germany and watched that industrialized democratic country descend into madness, and although he survived, most of his family was slaughtered. What he endured was unspeakable, and didnt even begin to touch on what mr. Shaffir experienced. We havent even talked about it this morning, ms. Chairwoman, is how nazi germany used the instruments of democracy to dehumanize, demonize, and ultimately lead to a path of genocide, in particular, media and social media, we genocide, particular media and social media. We havent talked about the role of silicon valley. I know ive only got a few seconds left, but its got to be talked about if we want to stop antisemitism and other forms of hate from being shared. I yield back. I now recognize ms. Brenda lawrence for her questions. Thank you madam chair. I just want to be on the record. This is a very, very serious issue. I am a descendant of slaves. We just marked the 400th year with this country that i love, these United States of america, enslaved, killed and oppressed people, a democracy. This, the 75th year of recognizing the holocaust that happened in a country where others saw a group of people being identified and persecuted. This is not a platform to promote and to use this discussion to have political endorsements. We are talking about the United States of america. What are we doing here . How do we, as a country, not repeat what we know happened in this world and in the United States of america . Shame on anyone that wants to use this to promote a candidate. So, i will continue with my statement now. We know and i was raised by this woman who tears were falling from her eyes during the civil rights movement. I was a little girl watching her cry as the hoses and the dogs are being sicked on people in the south. And she told me, brenda, your lifetime youre going to have to educate people because we know racism is ignorance. Its the stereotypes, its those generational as we spoke of, just hatred thats passed along. She said and then youre going to have to forgive them because if you dont, you consume their hatred and their anger. Why did i want to start a conversation and bring together two groups in this body thats supposed to pass laws and policies to stand together to fight against hatred in america . The statement that i used, that Martin Luther king used, if we see it to one, its going to happen to others. And we see through history that so many people sat on the sidelines. And to sit anywhere in America Today and say, oh, i dont see it happening, they need to be slapped in the face with history and with reality. We have so much work to do. And spare me the ignorance and the lack of compassion. And as a black woman in america, having a double whammy being a woman, who is oppressed, being an africanamerican. Ive had the opportunity to serve as the mayor of a city that i had to go to to protect the Jewish Community because i have one of the largest Jewish Community, and now to be their representative in congress. I will not sit here and be silent as so many people did, as we know, when these incidents happened. My question, mr. Greenblatt, has the Antidefamation League witnessed a similar uptick in violent hate crimes, and to what do you attribute this increase . We have not talked about what is happening where were seeing more and more and its more violent. We talked about the words, the hatred of words, but now were seeing violence. Right. What and any of you, please. What is it thats happening that we, as policy makers, need to step up. Right. Congresswoman, a few thoughts. I applaud your leadership. I hope we can find ways to Work Together. Just like adl and naacp have worked together for generations. Number two, we talk about the pyramid of hate. When you dont call out bigotry when its spoken, it can lead to acts of hate like harassment which leads to violence. Violence can lead to worse and ultimately to genocide. We believe prevention is better than response. So, that starts in part where you were going earlier, using the bully pulpit. Leaders need to lead. They need to not allow it to happen on their watch in the first place. That means using inclusive language, welcoming people of all their differences, and creating environments that are comfortable for everyone no matter how you pray or where youre from or who you love. We need more of that in this country, and we need it now. Mr. Shaffir. I was going to say when you think about the utilization of social media tools to do everything from Television Shows to radio shows, music and Everything Else and further indoctrinate hate. Keep hearing from groups like ours and develop new strategies, tools, and resources to stop it at every place along the way. Theyre digging into every little community, but theyre also going very broad and extensive in many of the ideological things were seeing promoted by these hate mongers. We must, madam chair, address social media that has become the new weapon of hatred and racism. And i just want you all to know as weve said, we have so much work to do. Thank you for being here. Thank you mr. Shaffir for sharing your story. Thank you. Thank you, brenda. I now recognize the gentle lady from west virginia, ms. Carol miller for her questions. Thank you all for being here today. This is such an important and somber topic. And we must continue to draw attention to make sure that things like the holocaust never ever happen again. I dont need to remind you that monday was the 75th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz. The unspeakable horrors that occurred there at the hand of the nazis, 1. 1 million people, the world watched in horror because i dont know if it was naivety or if it was lack of the fact of the instant news like we have today that they didnt really comprehend that such things would happen. I grew up in the city in a Jewish Community. I grew up going to bat mitzvahs, bar mitzvahs. I went to my nephews bar mitzvahs. Bless their heart, now theyre all adults. And i think back to being in high school and one of the girls i knew, her mother had numbers tatto tattooed on her arm. I was born in 1950 shouldnt probably say that out loud but growing up just when everyone came home from world war ii, even i really didnt understand until i was an adult the horror. You know, but thats because i read and i was able to educate myself. So, its so very important that we pass this along because history will repeat itself if we dont let people know what has happened in our past. You know, im thankful for the efforts that our president has taken to strengthen our relationship with israel. And to me, it is so important. I think weve moved the mark by doing what weve done and having the embassy in jerusalem. I just cant comprehend the antisemitism that we are witnessing today. Ambassador gold, the fight against hate and education about what has occurred during the holocaust is so important to keep in mind. As we create our policy in the future, how has the holocaust dark legacy impacted the people of israel . My son served in the armored corp. Of the israeli army, and i remember at one point his Commanding Officer takes him to show hum the disaster that the jewish people confronted during the the holocaust. And they his officers try and aview him as well as other soldiers with that message. So, its very much the holocaust is very much in the conscience of israels citizenry. And it doesnt make us less prone to compromise or to understand our neighbors by no means. But i think it adds to the inner conviction of the importance of our selfdefense, especially when we have, not all neighbors but certain neighbors, that still use language that looks like it came out of germany in the 1930s. I have seen some of that language. I was fortunate to be able to go to the museum in israel. And when the guide took us in, he said you have 45 minutes to view something that would take eight or nine hours. Sure. And it its just so overwhelming. I just i cant say enough about how we need to educate our children to understand. How do you think its impacted the policy thats coming out of israel . The policy makers, the policy . I think people have to separate as much as possible what happened in the holocaust from everyday policy making in the state of israel. Again, you may have a vicious threat emerging in the east, and you have to cope with it. For example, you have to understand if somebodys going to say your country has to be wiped off the face of the earth and then hangs a poster saying that on his latest generation weaponry, you have to take it seriously. You cant ignore it. You cant just turn the other way. And i think therefore the israeli leadership from the highest levels down to the corporal or private of the army understand whats at stake. Its very serious. But i think we aproesh it with a sense of tremendous responsibility. And i think we have to also use our diplomatic arm. I had hoped, frankly around not long after 9 11 that we would take up the Genocide Convention which has been signed by the United States, by israel, by many countries in the world and start using it against countries that are using genocidal language. I will also Say Something that represents my personal view. It does not represent formally the positions of the state of israel. I feel having been an israeli diplomat that one of the responsibilities we have is to use our talents and our skills and our technical abilities to identify genocide when it is occurring anywhere in the world. And acting diplomatically to nip it in the bud. I have studied what happened in africa during the 1990s. Ive studied the battle in bosnia. And i would want the jewish state to be a part of the International Effort to prevent those things from ever reoccurring. Now, the holocaust is a unique event. And i dont like to mix the holocaust with other developments around world. But the holocaust teaches us how barbaric man can become. And maybe having been victims, we have a special responsibility to get the information and update people. And ill just tell you one thing can i do it . The gentlemans time has expired, but you can say one more thing because i want to hear it too. Tell me what. You know, the state of israel has many countries that turn to us. You would be surprised to know who they are. And indicate a desire to, under the table, have relations with us. And i remember sitting with europe senior european diplomats and asking them, saying, look, were in a dilemma. We want to expand our diplomatic relations around the world, but sometimes these are rather horrible countries. What would you do . And from the most important countries in western europe, i heard statements like look, dore, we believe in rail politic and we would try and expand our diplomatic relations and basically turn away from the crimes that these countries are engaging in. Thats horrible. And as the state of israel, we should stand against them, and we should advance policies that fight genocide which is the most evil development, most evil policy which we, part of a core of civilized countries have to face. Thank you. The gentleladys time has expired. I recognize the gentlewoman from michigan, ms. Tlaib for questions. Thank you so much for coming here, for your incredible courage. I will make sure that my sons hear your testimony. I think its important for my children to consistently hear exactly what the holocaust means, again, so that we dont repeat it. And mr. Gold, youre absolutely right, human kooiind, what it c lead to if we do nothing. So, thank you again, chairwoman, and my colleagues for holding this hearing today. Its important to learn from the victims of holocaust and continue to fight against antisemitism and all forms of hate. I ran a campaign to take on hate in michigan. I would tell the young people you have to take on hate with action. This week im really honored to be a cosponsor of the never again education act as we make sure that our children and every other generation understands what it means when we talk about the holocaust. When i visited the Holocaust Memorial center in Farmington Hills in michigan with my young son, adam, i remember he spent the day reading everything he could. He might be too young for the visuals. I said nope, if he can see that stuff on video games and a lot of that stuff on tv, he can see the reality of what is actually real. So, i wanted him to read it. He could read on the whole wall these news clippings. And even the news clippings documents unspeakable atrocities of the holocaust, something i will never forget when he looked up at me and said mama, why did it take so long for people to do something about this . Because even at that young age, do you know what he noticed . He noticed the years before we finally set jews free. And at such a young age, he recognized how slow the International Community was actually taking action. He could not comprehend how the world stood back as this brutality unfolded before him. And so, you know, dr. Feriedber, as a historian, as you spoke about it, its so important, it resonates with me even with whats happening across the world, in china. Im fearful were going to find out much too late about whats happening there. What can you tell me about the environment that enabled adolf hitler and the nazis to rise to power . What can history teach us about how the democratic process can devolve in regime capable of such atrocities . Thank you, congresswoman, very much and also for sharing your personal perspective. I brought my young son with me here today. What i can tell you is that when you study the holocaust and beyond nazi germany what you see is that hate is only part of the story, and it would be a mistake and too comforting for us to think that if we could just inoculate ourselves against racism that people will not do bad things to other people. But what we find when we study is holocaust is much of what enabled the nazi rise to power had to do with motivations that are much more relate able, career aspirations, greed, fear, opportunism. We could see that the nazi regime and some of our fellows at the museum researched this, offered great opportunities for women to be in roles they were never able to be in before. Many women were complicit in the killing process as a result. The Eastern Front offered the opposite of a wild west, but an environment in which a lot of social norms were broken down. So i want us to be careful not to think that there was a brainwashing of the german people but for example the laws of 1935, most of what happened to jews in nazi germany was done legally. It was done in a framework of laws. This was not criminal. It was actually the law. Adam saw that. He saw the slow taking away of peoples properties. Jewish doctor were no longer allowed to treat aryan patients. Think about that. If your chief resident is jewish and hes gone, maybe you dont object so much. This opens a door for you and youre afraid to make noise and its an opportunity. I want us to think about that we study history in precision in that way because any one of us could be part of that process whether or not we were racist or antisemimite in our hearts. I wanted you to know, mr. Shaffir, one of the reasons th i took my son to the museum, whoo hes 9 years old he heard me talk about this awful cartoon that would bring people to violence against muslim people. I was almost whispering, but he came in the room and said mama dont worry, dont worry, if anyone asks me if im muslim, i will tell them im not. We cannot allow this form of propresentation. I think i love seeing the naacp here because the africanamerican baptist pastor said it beautifully. He said were not a country thats divided. Were a country thats disconnected. And we need to connect in understanding all of us as fellow human beings who never deserve to be targeted for our faith or anything like that. Thank you for your leadership. Thank you. I have something to yes, yes. First of all, i would like to thank you very much for taking your son to actually witness Something Like that. Its very important and i hope and i wish that more mothers or more parents would take their children to places like that. Thank you very much. Thank you. I now recognize the gentlelady from california, ms. Katie porter for questions. Thank you madam chair. My colleague and i have the same age of sons. And my son, luke whr, when he c to washington i tried to interest him in so many things and the only place he wanted to visit