Marin officials, residents stand against antisemitism

More than two dozen elected officials in Marin joined residents Wednesday in a stand against antisemitic acts they said increased during the Trump administration and are surging in the pandemic.

“We cannot normalize these behaviors,” U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman said at a news conference at Congregation Rodef Sholom in San Rafael. Huffman, a Democrat who lives in San Rafael, said expressions of hate must be called out and targeted whenever they arise.

“Doing that is one of the most powerful ways we can push back against the ancient scourge of antisemitism and other forms of hatred,” he said.

Assemblyman Marc Levine, who represents Marin, said a bill he co-authored could help on the law enforcement side. AB 2282 would take aim at public antisemitic acts such as the incident where swastika stickers were posted in downtown Fairfax in 2020.

The legislation, due to be considered in the Assembly Public Safety Committee on Tuesday, would strengthen the tools law enforcement can use to level hate crime or felony charges in those cases.

“The bill recognizes that hate symbols such as swastikas, nooses and burning crosses are used to terrorize community members,” Levine, a Democrat who lives in Greenbrae, said Wednesday, adding that such incidents are on the rise. “It’s bigger than Fairfax — it’s across the Bay Area and rising across the country.”

The event on Wednesday was the third in a series of Bay Area rallies aimed at strengthening Jewish community solidarity using members’ personal stories and building connections with allies and friends. The series, organized by the San Francisco-based Jewish Community Relations Council, held similar press conferences in San Francisco and Oakland.

The Bay Area contains the fourth largest concentration of Jewish people in the U.S., according to a 2018 report by the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties.

“It’s important to affirm and stand in solidarity with the Jewish community and to recognize its contribution to the rich diversity of Marin County,” Levine said.

Frugoli acknowledged she took a lot of heat for her decision not to press charges in the Fairfax case. About 400 people logged in online at a forum to complain about the county’s decision, she said.

“That was a moment in time,” Frugoli said. “It wasn’t a great moment, for me personally, because it was clear that my office needed to do more to serve all people who suffer from any kind of bias or hate crime incident.”

Frugoli said she took the comments to heart and is working with the group NOAH Marin — formed in the wake of that Fairfax incident — to educate the public and to strengthen the push back if events occur. The organization’s name is an acronym for “name, oppose and abolish hate.”

“We can’t prosecute cases unless there is an underlying crime,” Frugoli said. “And then, if we can show it was done for a hateful purpose, then we can prosecute.”

Several Marin communities have had to respond to antisemitic incidents in recent weeks.

Antisemitic flyers were circulating three weeks ago in Novato, Mayor Eric Lucan said. Lucan said the Novato City Council has voted to support AB 2282. The city is also working with the groups Not In My Town and NOAH Marin to see what else could be done.

“I’m just here to stand in solidarity with my colleagues,” Lucan said of his attendance Wednesday.

Flyers have also hit Tiburon and Napa. San Rafael Councilmember Eli Hill said all community members in Marin and the North Bay must make a united front against such intimidation.

“Jewish people should not have to live in fear,” Hill said.

• Print
• Email
• Tweet