Grace Meng: “We gather this evening to discuss anti- Semitism. It is a plague that has ravaged the world for thousands of years, yet…”

“We gather this evening to discuss anti- Semitism. It is a plague that has ravaged the world for thousands of years, yet in the last few weeks, it has reared its ugly head globally in a way we have not seen in a long time. It is truly shocking. From Berlin to New York, we are hearing chants of ``Gas the Jews.'' And this is not hyperbole. We are actually hearing chants of ``Gas the Jews'' around the world. And these are not isolated incidents. We are seeing hundreds and thousands of people rallying and sometimes attacking synagogues in Europe. It is one thing to protest against events going on in the Middle East, but there is simply no justification and no reason for doing it right outside any Jewish place of worship. These are brazen acts of anti-Semitism. Now, I cannot possibly understand anti-Semitism to the same extent as my Jewish friends. But I think it is crucial that non-Jews speak out forcefully against this disease because to effectively combat anti- Semitism, we need non-Jews to step up and also lead on this issue. I would like to focus my remarks today on two related issues, the international and domestic dimensions of anti-Semitism. With regard to anti-Semitism beyond our borders, I would like to focus on one case, that of France. I am focusing on France because I think it is really the front line right now in the war against global anti-Semitism, and I think it is an instructive case for how policy leaders here can face this issue.…”