A recent rise in antisemitism is on the minds of a some South Florida Congress members.
Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Thursday took part in a virtual discussion and a call for action.
"The dramatic rise in antisemitic incidents that we saw during and after the Israel-Hamas conflict really was nothing more than classic scapegoating of the Jewish people."
In Florida alone, instances of antisemitism have risen 40 percent over the past year, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
That organization's CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, also took part in the discussion. While claiming that much of the rise in antisemitism over the past four years was driven by what he called "extremism on the right," Greenblatt says that's not what's going on in recent weeks, where American Jews have been chased down and beaten with flagpoles.
"Those were not Trump 2024 flagpoles. None of the people committing these crimes were wearing MAGA hats."
Other Democrat Representatives from South Florida, Ted Deutch and Lois Frankel, also took part in the event.
Frankel said that much of the hatred is fomented on social media.
"Believe it or not, 17,000 tweets stating 'Hitler was right' went out between May 7th and May 14th."
Wasserman Schultz is calling for legislation to hold social media sites like Twitter accountable. She says the big tech companies are "promoting and propagating this stuff and it has to stop. And they have to be told legally that they have to stop."
Adam Lehman, CEO and President of Hillel International, also took part in the event, commenting about recent incidents on college campuses involving Jewish students being targeted.
The common theme of the one hour discussion was that we must all call out antisemitism wherever we see it, even if it's in Congress.
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