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H eadlines
Levine Continued from Page 16
for celebration.

“She really was such an
amazing guide, particularly
during the COVID pandemic
and then a lot of her important
work around the opioid crisis
that we’re facing here in the
state,” Ando said. “I’m just
really thrilled that a highly
skilled, led-by-the-science
clinician that I trust deeply as
a colleague and as a leader is
now in the position for assistant
secretary of health for the U.S.”
Ando and Meyers said
Levine’s leadership is especially
important in the face of the
recent spate of anti-trans
Kenney/Bronstein Continued from Page 18
that jeopardizes democracy.

Just as America cannot model
democracy if it does not combat
anti-Semitism, Philadelphia
cannot model brotherly love
and sisterly affection if it does
not fight the world’s oldest and
most pernicious hatred.

AJC’s 2020 State of
Antisemitism in America
survey found that while 88
percent of American Jews
believe anti-Semitism is a
growing problem, nearly half
of U.S. adults do not even know
what the term means. That is
why social studies and history
teachers in Philadelphia’s public
schools have been working
closely with the Philadelphia
Holocaust Remembrance
Foundation to draw a connec-
tion between the sins of Nazi
Germany and the preju-
dice that faces all minority
groups. Lesson plans include
the remarkable story of the
late Benjamin Franklin High
School principal Leon Bass,
whose service in an all-Black
unit of the Army and role in
liberating the Buchenwald
concentration camp taught him
that hate comes in many forms.

The present danger to Jews
on American soil was clear in
JEWISH EXPONENT
legislation, several of which
target trans people’s access to
health care. In Arkansas, the
state Senate passed a bill that
would prohibit doctors from
providing trans youth under 18
with hormone blockers.

“I just have such concern
and empathy for the trans
youth, particularly in the
Midwest or the South who feel,
as we all do as teenagers, like
it’s really hard to see beyond
the teenage years. It’s really,
really tough,” Ando said.

Other states, including
Alabama and Florida, are
introducing bills that would
prohibit trans youth from
competing on sports teams
that do not match the gender
they were assigned at birth.

“There’s no federal protec-
tion for people in states
like Arkansas, in states like
Alabama, and states like Idaho,
where the legislators have been
trying to legislate trans people
out of existence for a long
time,” Meyers said.

Ando hopes Levine will use
her new position to advocate
for health equity, and has no
doubt that she will “continue to
chip away at health care dispar-
ities, whether or not they exist
on the axis of race, ethnicity,
sex, sexual orientation, gender
identity or disability.” l
2017 when white supremacists
in Charlottesville chanted,
“Jews will not replace us.”
A year later, 11 worshipers
inside Pittsburgh’s Tree of
Life Synagogue were tragically
killed in the deadliest anti-Se-
mitic attack in U.S. history.

Since then, Jews have been
murdered in Poway, California;
Jersey City, New Jersey; and
Monsey, New York simply for
being Jews. The perpetrators
of these violent attacks, as well
as other incidents of anti-Se-
mitic threats and assaults, have
a range of political affiliations,
bound by a shared hatred of
Jews. Moreover, the internet and
social media are often exploited
to promote anti-Semitism and
other hatreds by spreading
malicious memes and disin-
formation. Calling out and
correcting bigotry online
and offline when we see it is
imperative. As our country continues to
grapple with racial justice, a
global pandemic and reconcil-
iation after a divisive election,
we need antidotes that provide
healing and unity. Philadelphia
took an important step in
signing on to the national
mayors’ statement, which
condemns all forms of anti-Sem-
itism, including prejudice,
stereotypes, conspiracy theories
about Jews, Holocaust denial
or distortion, and denying the
Jewish state’s right to exist.

But in addition to proclama-
tions, municipal leaders must
have the tools and resources to
protect all residents from acts
of hate and bigotry. Passage
of the National Opposition to
Hate, Assaults, and Threats to
Equality (NO HATE) Act must
be a priority for Congress and
the Biden administration.

The bipartisan bill would
improve hate crime reporting
with grants to empower
state and local governments
to train law enforcement,
create reporting hotlines,
direct resources to minority
communities and conduct
public educational forums. In
exchange for federal funds,
agencies would be required to
submit hate crimes data to the
FBI. Those who target Jews
never stop with Jews. When we
protect one of us, then we have
protected us all. Understanding
and embracing this truth is
part of the cure for America’s
ills. l
spanzer@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0729
Jim Kenney is the mayor of
Philadelphia and Marcia Bronstein
is the regional director of American
Jewish Committee Philadelphia.

JEWISHEXPONENT.COM