Rep. Wasserman Schultz Pledges To Combat Antisemitism In South Florida
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SUNRISE (CBSMiami) – Alarmed at the rise of antisemitism, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz pledged on Monday to combat hate crimes in South Florida and around the country.
"I'm angry, but I'm channeling my anger," she said at her office in Sunrise. "So first and foremost we find these bastards and we don't rest until we hunt them down."
In South Florida, bomb threats have forced evacuations at JCC locations in Kendall, Miami Beach, Pinecrest and Palm Beach Gardens.
Related: Jewish School, JCC Reopened After Bomb Threat
In Missouri, vandals desecrated a Jewish cemetery. The same thing happened in Philadelphia where over a hundred headstones were overturned.
A week ago, Wasserman Schultz signed onto a letter urging the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security to swiftly assess the situation and to advise Congress on what specific steps are being taken, or will be taken, to deter such threats from being made against JCC's across the country.
Over the weekend, several cars in a Jewish neighborhood on Miami Beach had swastikas keyed into their surface and a swastika was left on the front door of a temple.
Aventura Rabbi Jonathan Berkun, whose synagogue became the target of a bomb threat last year, joined Wasserman Schultz in condemning the rise of antisemitism and said he worried about regression.
"There was a time on Miami Beach when golf courses posted signs saying 'No Jews, no dogs and no colored.' We can't return to those days when racism ran free," he said.