Many mayors and staff across more than 100 US cities participated in a virtual training session led by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) that would help combat antisemitism in their respective communities, according to a press release from the Jewish advocacy organization on Monday.
A statement was signed by nearly 700 political figures stating that "antisemitism is not only an attack on Jews but an assault on the core values of any democratic and pluralistic society."
The purpose of the training session was to spread awareness of antisemitism and the many forms it can take - whether they originate from the political right, left, or are simply conspiracy theories. The AJC also elaborated that not enough attention was being brought to combat bigotry against Jews.
This is also not the first time that US mayors have collaborated with the AJC, as an initiative like this had been put into action last February.
The report by the American Jewish Committee states based on their surveys that "37% had been victims of antisemitism over the past five years and 31% had taken measures to conceal their Jewishness in public" in addition to "nearly half of all Americans saying that they had either never heard or are familiar with the term 'antisemitism.'"
To help the work of mayors and political officials in detecting antisemitism, the AJC will offer their digital resource, Translate Hate, which helps recognize antisemitic rhetoric using a glossary of frequently used anti-Jewish phrases and tropes.
Previously, it was reported last week that the American Jewish Committee launched an incubator called "Disrupt Antisemitism" for young Jews to combat antisemitism, whether that would be locally, nationally, or virtually.