April 15, 2021

JCPA Facilitates Meeting with Civil Rights Division Nominee Kristen Clarke After Misleading Allegations of Antisemitism Surface Ahead of Confirmation Hearing
On March 25, representatives of JCPA’s national-local network and Policy Advisory Committee met with President Biden’s nominee to lead the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, Kristen Clarke, with whom JCPA has worked for many years. After the meeting, JCPA sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee on behalf of the participants to repudiate the misleading allegations of antisemitism made against her. To read JCPA’s letter, click here.

JCPA’s letter was cited by Chairman Durbin and submitted to the record during Wednesday’s confirmation hearing, and covered by the New York Times and the Forward.

JCPA, ADL and JFNA Hold Congressional Briefing
JCPA joined with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) to organize a Congressional Briefing for Jewish Members of Congress to discuss our 100 Day Priorities  and to hear from them about their priority issues.  That program was attended by more than 20 Members of Congress and 300 Jewish leaders from around the country. JCPA was proud to receive recognition from Senator Schatz from Hawaii thanking us for our strong work opposing hate against Asian Americans. To watch the video, click here. To read JCPA’s presentation, click here.

JCPA Urges Support for Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act
JCPA has been a strong supporter of the Khalid Jabara and Heyer NO HATE Act, and we applaud Congress for reintroducing this critical bill, which would improve hate crime reporting, tracking, and response. This is a key step in fighting rising antisemitism and violence against Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI), which JCPA has prioritized since discrimination spiked at the onset of the pandemic. Last year, JCPA led a community-wide solidarity letter signed by over 70 Jewish groups. We also urged the Administration to prioritize these issues in our recommendations for his first 100 days in office.

• Read JCPA and ADL’s letter signed by 26 Jewish groups urging support for the NO HATE Act
• Read the Hate Crimes Task Force coalition letter signed by JCPA urging passage of the NO HATE Act
• Read a letter of support for AAPI communities signed by JCPA and other Jewish organizations following the shooting in Atlanta

April is Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month
JCPA has always prioritized combatting genocide, helping to spearhead the SAVE DARFUR movement and, more recently, with the Jewish Rohingya Justice Network. JCPA is expanding this work to include the genocide of the Uyghur, a Turkic ethnic minority residing in the Xinjiang Province of China. Since 2017, China has detained more than one million Uyghurs in internment camps. Uyghur people have been tortured, sterilized and murdered as part of an ongoing genocide. Click here to read a JTA article about JCPA and other advocates working to fight this genocide.

To raise global awareness, Jewish World Watch partnered with JCPA and other groups for a Uyghur Week of Action, including a Freedom Seder and a webinar on Combatting the Genocide of the Uyghur People, featuring a firsthand account from a Uyghur advocate and a survivor. This issue will also be covered at our JCPA2021 Conference. Click here for the schedule and registration.

JCPA Forms Lawyers’ Cohort
JCPA is bringing together lawyers who are interested in working together to build a just and pluralistic America and address today’s pressing issues through a Jewish lens. If you are interested in participating or learning more, please email jcpainfo@thejcpa.org.

To read past issues of JCPA’s update, click here.