Watch the recording of the 1/18/22 city council meeting here
Hear from community members in the Public Comment portion of the meeting beginning around 8 minutes into the recording.
Hear Mayor Taylor’s remarks and the Council’s discussion of the resolution around time marker 1:26:40 in the recording.
—
On behalf of the Jewish community of Ann Arbor, the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor expresses profound gratitude to the Ann Arbor City Council for speaking with one voice in condemning antisemitism, and in particular the weekly antisemitic harassment in front of Beth Israel Congregation, at the City Council meeting on January 18, 2022.
The Resolution Condemning Antisemitism, introduced by Mayor Christopher Taylor and sponsored by Councilmembers Julie Grand, Linh Song, Travis Radina, Kathy Griswold, and Erica Briggs, was approved unanimously!
While the unanimous vote was a powerful statement, what was particularly moving and cathartic were the strong, heartfelt remarks of Ann Arbor City Councilmembers in acknowledging the pain of the Jewish community and in support of the resolution. We are immensely grateful to our community leaders for listening, speaking, and acting so strongly. A recording of the Council meeting will be shared with the community as soon as it becomes available.
In his remarks to Council, Mayor Taylor spoke emphatically about the rise in antisemitism and violence against Jews in the United States. Turning to Ann Arbor, he reminded the Council that the body “cannot engage antisemitism without discussing the 18 years of Shabbat protests at the Beth Israel Congregation.” He described the “Shabbat protests” as “abhorrent” and called on the harassers to “relent and disband.”
Four community members spoke during the Council’s public comment period at the beginning of the meeting. Beth Israel Congregation’s Rabbi Nadav Caine and Board President Deborah Ball spoke about the impact of the tolerance of on-going hate rhetoric on the community’s children – Jewish and non-Jewish alike – and on the City of Ann Arbor. Eileen Freed, Executive Director of the Jewish Federation asked the Council, on behalf of the community, to take a stand and speak with one voice against hatred and antisemitism in our community. Community member and Beth Israel neighbor Roger Cone spoke eloquently and shared comments from those in the neighborhood about the negative effects of the on-going aggressive protests.
A result like this does not happen without a lot of community organizing and relationship building. We’re grateful to the Jewish community volunteers who continued to press for action even in light of the constitutional legality of the weekly bigotry. In particular, Federation Board President Randy Milgrom’s conversations with Mayor Taylor reinforced the need for Council to take a stand on behalf of the citizens of Ann Arbor. Federation is proud of its leadership role in demonstrating wide-spread community support for this resolution and of the collaboration with other local Jewish organizations to ensure its passage. The advance letters and calls that boards of these organizations sent to City Council were moving and effective.
We also know that many, many community members wrote directly to your Councilmembers – by sharing your personal experiences and pain, you helped our city leaders understand the need for them to make a strong statement about this on-going scourge. Thank you.
Of course, there is more to be done, and we will be communicating with you in the coming weeks with more information. In the meantime, we ask you to reach out to your Councilmembers to thank them for their strong vocal support for our community. You may write to Council at citycouncil@a2gov.org or you may write to your Councilmembers individually – contact information including email addresses are available at this link.
Finally, we invite you to continue the conversation about this important topic with author Dara Horn at the upcoming Main Event on Wednesday, February 9th. Dara Horn’s most recent book is called People Love Dead Jews: Reports From a Haunted Present. We hope you’ll join us virtually or in person at the Kensington Hotel as we continue to explore modern antisemitism, and the ways in which we can celebrate the vibrant diversity of Jewish life today.
With gratitude,
Eileen Freed
Executive Director, Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor
Randy Milgrom
President, Board of Directors