Secretaries of state from across the United States participated in virtual training on combating antisemitism on Wednesday, led by the American Jewish Committee (AJC).
The webinar focused on misinformation through the lens of antisemitism and how it can be used to undermine elections, including conspiracies, tropes and symbols.
The discussion, which drew an audience of about 40 National Association of Secretaries members, played on a recent AJC report.
Released in October 2020 and based on parallel surveys of the American Jewish and general populations, the report revealed that 88% of Jews consider antisemitism a problem in the US, some 37% had been victims of antisemitism over the past five years and 31% had taken measures to conceal their Jewishness in public.
In the first-ever survey of the general US population on antisemitism, AJC found an astounding lack of awareness of antisemitism. Nearly half of all Americans said they had either never heard the term “antisemitism” (21%) or are familiar with the word but not sure what it means (25%).
AJC has administered similar training sessions for key federal, state and local officials, including the FBI, National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) and United States Conference of Mayors (USCM).