We simply cannot allow this tragic and horrific conflict to give license to antisemitism or Islamophobia here at home.

 

WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich., Nov. 21, 2023— In response to increased antisemitic incidents on college campuses, state Rep. Noah Arbit (D-West Bloomfield) released a public service announcement highlighting the Campus Antisemitism Legal Line (CALL). Formed in partnership by ADL, Hillel International, the Brandeis Center and Gibson Dunn, CALL is a secure, confidential text hotline for college students to report incidents of antisemitism on campus and connect with legal experts for advice on how to respond. Watch the full PSA here.

 

“College campuses are meant to be places where diversity of thought is not just tolerated, but cherished. While every student has the constitutional right to free speech and free assembly, when discourse devolves into base intimidation, threats or hate speech, every person on campus suffers,” said Arbit.

 

“Representing Greater West Bloomfield, where so many Jewish Michiganders call home, I feel a responsibility to speak out and stand with our Jewish students who feel unsafe in the wake of October 7. To our Jewish students, I know what it’s like to feel unsafe on campus because of your Jewishness. I stand with you always, and I urge you to utilize the CALL hotline and share this critical resource with your friends and classmates.”

 

“The fight against antisemitism, and all forms of hate, is personal to me, just as it is for so many in the community I represent. That’s why, in March, I introduced House Bill 4327, the Michiganders Against Antisemitism Act, to further expand the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act by including antisemitism, adding a critical tool to combat anti-Jewish discrimination. In June, the House passed my bill, the Michigan Hate Crime Act, and soon, the Governor will sign into law the Institutional Desecration Act, my bill to protect synagogues, mosques, churches and temples from vandalism and desecration.”

 

“Michiganders from West Bloomfield to Dearborn feel the suffering in Israel and Gaza deeply and personally, but we simply cannot allow this tragic and horrific conflict to give license to antisemitism and Islamophobia here at home.”

 

Any student, family, faculty or staff member can go to the CALL website at legal-protection.org or text “CALLhelp” to 51555 to report incidents of antisemitism on campus.

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