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PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASETHE TENNESSEE GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESPONDS TO GROWING VIOLENCE WITH THE ANTI-SEMITISM AWARENESS ACT“From Anti-Semitic indoctrination in our children’s K-12 textbooks to violence against Jewish students on college campuses, we will not tolerate this age-old hatred coming against our Jewish communities In Tennessee.”PJTN FOUNDER LAURIE CARDOZA-MOORE
Nashville, Tennessee (March 13, 2018) – Laurie Cardoza-Moore, founder of Tennessee based pro-Israel Christian advocacy organization, Proclaiming Justice to The Nations (PJTN), is this week calling national attention to the support of the Anti-Semitic Awareness Act being championed in the current Tennessee legislative session by Tennessee State Senator and Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, Dolores Gresham, and State House Representative, Judd Matheny.
The bill comes in the wake of the Anti-Defamation League’s recent report that violence and incidents against Jews in the U.S. was up by 86% in 2017. This is the largest single yearly increase since the ADL began tracking anti-Semitic incidents.
The legislation being introduced to the House and Senate in Tennessee will adopt the U.S. State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism. It will invoke punishment for anti-Semitic attacks and incidents within the state of Tennessee, including those committed on college and universities campuses. The failure to rein in these unlawful acts may result in private law suits as well as the loss of federal funding. By enacting the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act, the Tennessee Department of Education can apply the U.S. State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism to determine if a federal investigation is warranted due to violations of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
The bill comes in the wake of the Anti-Defamation League’s recent report that violence and incidents against Jews in the U.S. was up by 86% in 2017. This is the largest single yearly increase since the ADL began tracking anti-Semitic incidents.
The legislation being introduced to the House and Senate in Tennessee will adopt the U.S. State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism. It will invoke punishment for anti-Semitic attacks and incidents within the state of Tennessee, including those committed on college and universities campuses. The failure to rein in these unlawful acts may result in private law suits as well as the loss of federal funding. By enacting the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act, the Tennessee Department of Education can apply the U.S. State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism to determine if a federal investigation is warranted due to violations of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
In 2015, in an effort to confront the growing problem of anti-Semitism head-on, the Tennessee General Assembly overwhelmingly passed legislation to expose the Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) Movement by organizations such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the Muslim Students Association (MSA). These groups call for the boycott and dismantling of the Jewish State and have incited violence against Jewish students as well as Christian-Zionist students on campuses across Tennessee. Despite the legislation passed to condemn these incidents, recent media reports have indicated that vile anti-Semitic hate crimes continue to increase on campuses state-wide.
“Members of organizations like Students for Justice in Palestine and Muslim Students Association on Tennessee campuses have literally deluged social media in peddling the age-old anti-Semitic conspiracies against Jews,” noted Cardoza-Moore in a recent interview. “PJTN is continuing to call for organizations like SJP and MSA to be closely monitored by authorities. These groups have often used violent attacks and intimidation tactics to push Jewish and Christian-Zionists into submission, thus silencing suppressing their right of free speech and diminishing their right to a safe and secure educational environment.”
Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel, Christians in Defense of Israel and Covenant Journey stated: “These anti-Semitic groups claim that they are using their ‘Constitutional rights’, but are they? Anti-Semitism cannot hide behind the mask of freedom of speech. I am a defender of free speech, but the First Amendment cannot give cover to anti-Semitic acts that are designed to harm people solely because they are Jews. The level of hatred toward Jews and Israel has continued to rise on college campuses across the U.S. Much of this hatred against Jews and Israel is financed and orchestrated by anti-Semitic or terrorist organizations using college campuses and turning them into war zones. We cannot permit this hatred to continue. Past history reveals where this will end if anti-Semitism continues unchecked. I applaud the Tennessee legislature and urge the elected officials to stop the hate.”
PJTN President, Laurie Cardoza-Moore, has in the recent past called on the State Legislature to conduct hearings into whether these unacceptable activities on Tennessee public university campuses are in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Ms. Cardoza-Moore met with Senator Gresham and Representative Matheny to brief them on this growing threat. Senator Gresham stated, “On the heels of the passage of Tennessee’s landmark resolution condemning the BDS movement and groups like SJP and MSA, we will not allow anti-Semitism to flourish in our educational system. Whether it is our secondary schools, or schools of higher learning, the Constitutional rights of all students will be protected in providing a safe environment for our children to excel. No individual will be denied that right.” Rep. Judd Matheny has expressed concern stating that, “administrators throughout Tennessee have not taken the threats seriously and have failed to strongly condemn the anti-Semitic activity on their campuses.”
Cardoza-Moore commented: “Is the growing anti-Semitism in Tennessee’s education system due to the indoctrination of our children in our K-12 textbooks? Our research says it is, and the reality is, we cannot afford to lose our children to hatred or wait until anti-Semitic vitriol and incitement spills over into violence and bloodshed on Tennessee university campuses and beyond into the open community. In 2017 alone there were reported anti-Semitic incidents at Vanderbilt University, at a synagogue in Chattanooga, at an open trail park in Johnson City, and in Murfreesboro. The Gordon Jewish Center in Nashville was one of the 163 Jewish institutions subjected to bomb threats tied to anti-Semitism in the U.S. last year.”
Cardoza-Moore added: “As the founder of a Christian pro-Israel organization whose mission is to educate Christians to stand against anti-Semitism here in Tennessee, I can assure you from the messages that cross my desk daily that all Americans should be concerned with the renewed global rise of anti-Semitism and the acts of bigotry and violence against Jews that have re-visited our generation and our children. With the new challenges Israel and the Jewish people are facing, we must with one voice as Tennesseans and as Americans say, ‘Never again!’ I am strongly urging state-wide support on the passage of the Anti-Semitic Awareness Act in Tennessee.”
ABOUT PJTN: Proclaiming Justice to the Nations (PJTN), a 501c3 non-profit organization, was established to educate Christians about their Biblical responsibility to stand with their Jewish brethren and Israel, utilizing powerful film and video presentations, a variety of grassroots rallies, events and speaking engagements to facilitate dialogue between the Christian and Jewish communities in support of the State of Israel and against global genocidal anti-Semitism. In recent months the organization has led the struggle against BDS in America with a wave of state resolutions and the upcoming release of a new documentary film that will expose the truth behind the BDS movement.
MEDIA CONTACT:Jackie Monaghan
Director of Communications--PJTN
(615) 646-5990—Direct
morningstarpr@comcast.net
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