U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is calling for the FBI and Department of Homeland Security to collaborate with local law enforcement to prevent hate crime incidents that have been spurred by the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
Gillibrand held a press conference on Tuesday morning, which she announced as being focused on preventing anti-semitic attacks and harassment, though the Senator acknowledged that Islamophobic incidents have also spiked in the U.S. since the conflict flared up on Oct. 7.
“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: There’s no excuse for violence or hate against any group based on their religion or ethnicity,” Gillibrand said. “Our communities deserve to be protected, and I’m working with my colleagues in Congress to keep our children, our families, and our loved ones safe.”
Gillbrand said that she’s pushing to secure increased funding to help synagogues and other Jewish organizations protect themselves against extremism. She is advocating for $500 million to be included in the fiscal year 2024 government funding bills, and supports the Biden administration’s inclusion of $200 million for Nonprofit Security Grant Program in its supplemental request to Congress, which provides security enhancements to nonprofit organizations that are at high risk of terrorist attack.
In her speech, Gillibrand cited preliminary data released by The Anti-Defamation League, which showed a 388% rise in antisemitic incidents in the U.S. for the period following Oct. 7 over the prior year. Gillibrand said that New York City police have confirmed at least 33 anti-Semitic hate crimes during that period.
She mentioned several incidents of threats and harassment that Jewish communities across the state, including one at Cornell University over the weekend, in which campus police put the Center for Jewish Living under guard in response to threats posted in an online forum.
Gillibrand also made reference to the six-year-old Muslim boy who was recently stabbed to death in Illinois in an alleged anti-Muslim attack. The Council on American-Islamic Relations has reportedly said it received 774 complaints of incidents motivated by Islamophobia and bias against Palestinians and Arabs following Oct. 7 — almost triple 2022’s average number of complaints for a similar length of time.
The third pillar of Gillibrand’s efforts on hate crimes is a piece of legislation that she is leading called the Hate Crimes Commission Act, which would establish a government body to study hate crimes and provide recommendations to help law enforcement collect better hate crime data.
“The violence we have seen in Israel and Gaza over the last few weeks is horrific, but it does not justify the use of violence or intimidation against any religious, political or ethnic groups in the United States. I will keep working through my role in Congress to protect our Jewish and Muslim communities, and I will not give up fighting until every American is safe,” Gillibrand said.
