WASHINGTON—In response to President Trump’s retweets of inflammatory and misleading anti-Muslim propaganda videos, Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, issued the following statement on behalf of the Union for Reform Judaism, Central Conference of American Rabbis, and wider Reform Movement:
“Sharing anti-Muslim bigotry and wild conspiracy theories should be far beneath the office of the president. With hate crimes targeting Muslims on the rise, up by 19 percent from 2015 to 2016 according to the FBI, the president should use his bully pulpit to spread a message of religious freedom, pluralism, and respect instead of fanning the flames of xenophobia and other forms of hate.
“As Jews, we understand the gravity and danger of normalizing violence and bigotry towards religious minorities. We stand with our Muslim friends and partners in solidarity against the president’s promotion and tragic validation of anti-Muslim bigotry.”
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The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism is the Washington office of the Union for Reform Judaism, whose more than 900 congregations across North America encompass 1.5 million Reform Jews, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, whose membership includes more than 2,000 Reform rabbis. Visit www.rac.org for more.
