JCRC: Jewish Community Relations Council

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The 1990s: History of the JCRC

January, 1990 - A sharp increase in anti-Semitic incidents, estimated to be a 92% increase in one year, is brought to the attention of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission by the JCRC. Mark Schickman, JCRC leader presents an eight-part plan to eliminate hate violence in the Bay Area at the Human Rights Commission hearing "Hate No More: Toward Ending Prejudice-Based Violence." Reverend Cecil Williams of Glide Memorial Church speaks at the hearing, and mentioning the Holocaust, expresses the community imperative to prevent small incidents of bias that would later become violent acts of prejudice.
May 1990 - 8,000 participate in a Rally for Operation Exodus and Israel Independence Day. The themes of free emigration for remaining refuseniks and support for the resettlement of Soviet Jews in Israel are the focus of this JCRC, Jewish Community Federation, and BACSJ organized rally.
June 1990 - After extensive deliberation about JCRC taking a position on specific Israeli policies, JCRC sends a letter to Israel's Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and members of the Knesset urging electoral reform in Israel. Chair of the JCRC, Ephraim Margolin, who signed the letter, says, "We fully realize the difficulty in altering the present system but the recent difficulties in forming a government dramatic President Herzog's warning that ignoring the need for systemic reform places the State in jeopardy."
1990 - Russian President Gorbachev comes to the Bay Area. Concerned about the ongoing plight of the Soviet Jews still left in Russia, JCRC takes out a major ad in the newspaper, which says, "Welcome to the Bay Area, President Gorbachev. We're glad you've come. We applaud the significant gains in human rights made under your leadership in the Soviet Union. Improved emigration from your country along with increased cultural freedom for Soviet Jews have contributed notably to the new era in Soviet-American relations. But we also want you to know of our continued concern for the well being of Soviet Jews. We urge you to apply your leadership to make recent progress complete. Strengthen your stand against anti-Semitism. Let the last of the refuseniks go. Ease the transit of émigrés to Israel."
December 1990 - JCRC votes unanimously to support a United States resolution designating a National Day of Remembrance on the 75th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, memorializing 1 million Armenians massacred by the Ottoman Army during World War I. The Turkish government and community raise concerns about the Jewish community's position because they have never officially acknowledged the massacre and have lobbied against the United States officially recognizing the event. Ephraim Margolin, JCRC Chair says, "Being singled out for genocide is a horror that, fortunately, has been visited upon few peoples. No bill nor even official recognition of the attempt at genocide can ever truly ease the pain of that period of history, but to forget would be the ultimate tragedy." JCRC responds to Turkish concerns with the explanation that its comments are not intended to be political, but "as a people who went through a genocide, we simply cannot be disinterested."
1990 - JCRC mounts a statewide effort, in coordination with other JCRCs and the Anti-Defamation League, to get a prominent public school textbook publisher to make major changes in its textbooks that portray Judaism inaccurately and unfavorably. The textbook, adopted by the state of California, is changed and improved. JCRC begins to provide national assistance for similar curriculum concerns.
January 1991 - JCRC launches an education and advocacy campaign about the Persian Gulf War, the effects of the Scud missile attacks on Israel and on the American-Israel relationship, and the need to strongly support Israel because it is under attack by surrounding Arab countries that reject the presence of a Western style democracy in the region. The campaign garners great Jewish community involvement, with community members advocating community interests to elected officials and in the media.
January 1991 - A dramatic increase in anti-Semitic and anti-Arab attacks occurs in the Bay Area and around the country; it is speculated that news from the Persian Gulf War is motivating bigots to express their views through these hate crimes. In San Francisco, JCRC works closely with Mayor Agnos and Police Chief Casey to coordinate increased security for the Jewish and Arab American communities. Rabbi Douglas Kahn, JCRC Executive Director, says, "The Jewish community is understandably alarmed at the increase in attacks aimed at its institutions and will continue its vigilance and its strong support for efforts aimed at curtailing hate violence... a united response of outrage and tangible actions will leave little room here for those who engage in hate violence to accomplish their objectives. We are no less alarmed by the outrageous attacks against Arab American owned businesses. Our community's sensitivity to other victims of prejudice and persecution, born out of our own painful history, transcends any political differences that might exist. As a nation of immigrants, the vast majority of Americans have, in addition to their unshakeable commitment to America, an affinity for a specific homeland or culture that, in fact, enriches American society. It is those who engage in hate crimes, not their victims, who threaten America and its values."
April 1991 - JCRC passes a consensus resolution "firmly and incontrovertibly opposed to such deplorable acts of violence as are now being perpetrated upon the Kurdish people of Iraq." JCRC explains, "Our own experience during the Holocaust teaches us that individuals - and the governments which represent them - have a moral responsibility not to remain silent, and to speak up in the face of such brutality. JCRC condemns the atrocities which the Iraqi armed forces are inflicting upon the Iraqi Kurds and upon other vulnerable groups, speaks out against these outrages and urges the United States to accelerate urgently needed humanitarian aid...[and] that the United States, in all due haste, and in coordination with the United Nations, take decisive action to end the killing and destruction of the Kurds and other vulnerable groups in Iraq." JCRC and the Board of Rabbis of Northern California organize a Kurdish Relief Campaign.
1992 - Rita Semel helps found the San Francisco Interfaith Council, which draws leaders from San Francisco's Jewish, Protestant, Catholic, Muslim and Buddhist communities. The Council begins after interfaith relief efforts following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake demonstrate the need for interfaith coordinated social action projects. The Council operates six winter homeless shelters, helps give birth to the Interfaith Chapel at the Presidio, sponsors interfaith conferences, and creates a forum for clergy from all faith communities to gather regularly.
1992 - JCRC organizes a Bay Area Jewish communal response to the human rights atrocities occurring in the ongoing civil war in Bosnia/Herzegovina. JCRC advocates to elected officials that the United States apply its influence within the United Nations to "insist on opening up all concentration and detention camps to international inspection teams; a universal ceasefire; and the beginning of serious mediation efforts." JCRC mobilizes the Jewish community to engage in this advocacy effort, and Dr. Eli Taub, Peninsula Jewish community leader and JCRC staff gather nourishing infant formula to aid in humanitarian relief. Rabbi Doug Kahn participates in a benefit for Bosnian citizens at the Slavonic cultural Center, a local venue for humanitarian relief work. Doug says "As Jews who have experienced degradation and death resulting from ethnic cleansing, cattle [car] deportations and concentration camps, we are aroused by any indications that such heinous crimes have reentered the world's vocabulary."
October 1992 - The case of Jonathan Pollard, a Jew sent to prison for life for spying for Israel, sends shock waves through Jewish communities nationwide. JCRC, after extensive discussions and urging by its South Peninsula region, issues a statement "With respect to Jonathan Pollard, now serving life in prison, all Americans understand that it is necessary and proper to send the message that espionage, for whatever purpose, is abhorrent and will not be tolerated, even in the context of friendly nations. However, we strongly believe that the message has already been effectively sent in this case and that in the interests of personal compassion and equity, commutation of Jonathan Pollard's sentence - arguably too harsh to begin with, given both the context and comparable sentences - would be appropriate."
September 1993 - JCRC organizes a gathering of local Palestinian and Jewish leaders to watch the historic White House lawn peace accord signing with Yasser Arafat, Bill Clinton, and Yitzhak Rabin. Samir Totah of the San Francisco Ramallah Club explains that for years he relayed back to Yasser Arafat the dialogue work between Jews and Arabs in the Bay Area. Annette Dobbs, former President of the San Francisco-based Jewish Community Federation says tearfully that she is "so grateful [she] could live to see this day." Rabbi Allen Bennett, Director of the East Bay JCRC and Fuad Atteyeh, Past President of the Arab Grocers Association, "embrace in a bear hug after the ceremony." JCRC issues a consensus statement that it "supports the efforts of the negotiators on all sides who worked tirelessly to arrive at an initial Israeli/Palestinian agreement. Based on the principles of peaceful coexistence, mutual recognition and security, the agreement represents a road map for transforming relations between Israelis and Palestinians." The statement continues, "We are aware of the dangers and complex issues that lie ahead. These obstacles must not be allowed to detract from this historic moment. For the first time in the painful history of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict there is light at the end of the tunnel. The momentum toward peace must continue, so that future generations of Israelis and Palestinians will grow up free of violence and hatred and the entire region can enjoy the blessings of peace and prosperity."
July 1993 - KQED decides not to broadcast Abba Eban's series "Israel: A Nation is Born." This decision comes in the midst of a slew of documentaries sharply critical of Israel. JCRC mobilizes the community to persuade KQED to broadcast the Eban series. JCRC leaders meet with KQED's senior staff and present a thorough study of the past 8 years of KQED broadcasted films about the Arab-Israeli conflict that documents a dramatic bias against Israel. KQED decides to run the Abba Eban series.
November 1993 - In the wake of peace agreements between Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, local Jewish, Muslim, and Christian clergy model interfaith cooperation for their local constituents. The Muslim, Palestinian, Jewish, and Christian communities come together for a Thanksgiving luncheon hosted by the JCRC and the Board of Rabbis of Northern California. Rabbi Douglas Kahn officiates as master of ceremonies at this fifteen-year old program originally begun by Catholics and Jews. Palestinian community leader Samir Totah calls for better relations among the communities, "contributing to peace by telling our leadership back there that, yes, we can get along with the Jewish community."
May, 1994 - A mural of Malcolm X is unveiled at San Francisco State University; at the last minute the artist includes in the mural anti-Semitic symbols that have not been part of the approved upon artwork. Despite the student government's failure to act, University President Robert Corrigan - following the specific urging of JCRC - agrees that the mural is a symbol of hate and that he must take immediate action. He makes a bold decision to sandblast and remove the mural. In an open statement to the broad community, President Corrigan says "This was not a free speech issue. It was the case of a student-commissioned artwork, placed without final student or administrative approval and with widely offensive elements, as a permanent installation on a state building. Particularly offensive was the mural's prominent use of a yellow Star of David. The historical associations with Nazi Germany make this symbol both shocking and utterly abhorrent. I want to emphasize that Malcolm X does have a place on our Student Union wall. We will welcome a new and positive memorial to him, one which honors his dignity, integrity and passion for social change...we have recommitted ourselves to building...a multicultural community that prepares and inspires its members for successful participation and effective leadership in a pluralistic society."
September 1994 - JCRC joins other ethnic and faith communities in opposing Proposition 187, a California ballot initiative that would deny education, welfare, and non-emergency health benefits to undocumented immigrants and their children. Rabbi Doug Kahn testifies before the San Francisco Board of Supervisors as it decides if it should pass a resolution opposing the initiative. He says "It is impossible to listen to the current debate over Proposition 187 without recalling an earlier period in our country's history when millions of Jews who might have been saved from the Nazi Holocaust perished because the United States and other countries shut their doors to the overwhelming majority who urgently needed refuge" and cautions that passage of the bill would lead to "dehumanization, discrimination and increased intergroup tensions," something our State cannot let happen "because the way we treat newcomers remains a critical test of our state and nation's moral fiber."
April 1995 - JCRC and the Holocaust Center of Northern California cosponsor a major community-wide 50th Anniversary of the Liberation of Nazi Concentration Camps commemoration. More than one hundred local American servicemen who liberated Nazi concentration camps participate in the very moving ceremony at Temple Emanu-El, and are bestowed with medals of honor by local Holocaust survivors.
June 1995 - JCRC submits to President Robert Corrigan a report of "Anti-Semitism at San Francisco State University," prepared by JCRC's Yitzhak Santis, which includes a detailed description of ongoing problems and a series of recommendations to rectify them.
November 1995 - Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated by a Jewish extremist. JCRC helps organize multicultural memorial services around the Bay Area where elected officials, clergy from diverse faiths, and community leaders express their sorrow, send letters of condolence to Israel, and try to gain sense of the tragedy. More than 1,000 people gather at Oakland's Temple Sinai, more than 2,000 gather at SF's Congregation Emanu-El, and 1,000 people gather in Marin. Gina Waldman, community leader and Libyan-born Jew, receives a call from Vivian Jahno, a Palestinian friend in tears upon the assassination; Gina reflects on the tragedy and says, "Here was this Palestinian woman crying about Rabin. It wasn't just the Jews who lost this man." JCRC issues a statement that later is adopted nationally, and says, "The rights of free speech and lawful dissent are basic and indispensable in a democratic society and those rights require constant vigilance...The potential for extremist rhetoric to help create an environment that incites individuals to engage in hateful, illegal, and violent acts cannot be ignored...It is critically important that proponents and opponents of the peace process, Jews and non-Jews, political leaders of all parties in Israel, join in condemning, swiftly and unequivocally, explicit hate speech, venomous and dehumanizing language or threatening words."
1995 - In response to growing tension between the African American and Jewish communities, the JCRC works with local Black and Jewish leaders to create the Isaiah Project: an African American and Jewish social justice collaborative. The Isaiah Project co-founders and co-Presidents, Brian Gaines and Roland Washington, plan the first Isaiah Project Kwanzaa-Chanukah celebration at the Jewish Community Center. Its first annual Passover Freedom Seder soon follows in the spring.
February 1996 - In the wake of an onslaught of terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians, JCRC hosts a memorial service at Congregation Sherith Israel in San Francisco. More than 700 mourners participate in the vigil and service led by Rabbis Alan Lew, Stephen Pearce, and Martin Weiner, as well as Catholic Archbishop William Levada. Soon after, JCRC mobilizes a Bay Area campaign to bombard Yasser Arafat with faxes condemning the terror attacks in Israel. The fax campaign is intended to pressure Arafat to crack down on Hamas. The letter includes the statement "the murderers of innocents must not be allowed to prevail. Peace between Palestinians and Israelis must not be stillborn in its cradle." Surprisingly, one month after the beginning of this campaign, JCRC receives a return fax from the Palestine Liberation Organization, which is written in Arabic, signed by the Palestinian Authority President, and accompanied by an English translation. In it, Arafat condemns the recent bombings against Israel, and makes the claim that right-wing Israelis staged the attacks, representing the first time Palestinian officials try to link Jews to extremist Islamicist terrorist attacks.
May & June 1996 - With funding from the San Francisco-based Jewish Community Federation, JCRC coordinates major celebrations throughout the Bay Area to commemorate the 3,000th birthday of the holy city of Jerusalem. Celebratory events include concerts, a symposium on "Sanctity and Strife for Jews, Christians, and Muslims in the Holy City," and "Jerusalem in the Gardens," which brings thousands of people. Jewish community leader Daniel Grossman is among the community members who attends in costume, dressed as a historical figure. Dressed as Six Day War hero General Moshe Dayan, he explains to festival-going children who are too young to recognize or identify his character that "I was a warrior - you can fight war but also advocate for peace."
June 1996 - JCRC passes a consensus position opposing the proposed California Civil Rights Initiative, a ballot measure that would dismantle state-level affirmative action programs, and then holds town hall meetings in SF, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma to educate the Jewish and broader communities about the initiative. JCRC develops and distributes educational materials. Mark Schickman, JCRC leader, says, "I feel a religious mandate to oppose [this initiative]. Jews flourish in a pluralistic society and one that celebrates diversity. The impact of [the legislation] is opposed to the notion of diversity." Judith Chapman, JCRC Chair says "the [California Civil Rights Initiative] is an unwarranted retreat from society's obligation to correct centuries of discrimination directed against women and minorities...the true effect of [this legislation] would not be to eliminate discrimination - which is already prohibited by state and federal law--=but to eliminate all public preference programs designed to remedy discrimination, including narrowly tailored affirmative action programs that our community has always supported and that are still required, and passage of the [legislation] would seriously harm race relations."
September 1996 - The East Bay JCRC of the Jewish Federation of the Greater East Bay merges with the JCRC of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties. JCRC President Judith Chapman says "This will give us more influence with important people when we are lobbying on critical issues.
1996 - JCRC, under the leadership of its Educational Consultant Jackie Berman, develops a curriculum, "Israel & Syria: Windows on Nationalism," to assist public schools in addressing these issues in 10th grade world history courses. A California Department of Education administrator says of the materials "They support the history and social science framework on nationalism in the Middle East for the 10th grade. They encourage students to use analytical skills to form reasonable, sound decisions about some controversial issues." Jackie trains teachers throughout the state who in turn teach the materials to thousands of students.
October 1996 - Marin JCRC enhances its African-American/Jewish community relations, beginning with monthly dialogue meetings and cultural exchange programs. Today these programs continue with three successful Chanukah-Kwaanza, Juneteenth, and multi-cultural Passover Seder events each year. These programs have been expanded to include a diverse spectrum of intergroup partners.
November & December 1996 - JCRC and the Anti-Defamation League lead a delegation of Bay Area Jewish community leaders to Greensboro, Alabama to help rebuild the Rising Star Missionary Baptist Church, one of fifty churches devastated in a rash of hateful arson attacks on Black Southern churches. Gadi Meir, a Jewish community leader who participated said "at some point you have to...get your hands dirty and stand up for what you believe in. It may be symbolic, but it demonstrates that contingents like ours can make a difference and stand up against intolerance and hatred."
1997 - A disastrous earthquake destroys churches in the Italian city of Assisi, a San Francisco sister city. At the initiative of the JCRC, and in cooperation with the Jewish Community Federation, the San Francisco Jewish community, eager to lend its support and help in the spirit of its ongoing Catholic-Jewish cooperation, leads a fundraising drive that raises more than $60,000. The effort is especially significant to the Jews of San Francisco, who remember that during the Holocaust, Catholic churches, clergy, and community members of Assisi hid and protected Jews from certain death. Catholic Archbishop William Levada of San Francisco personally delivers to Assisi a message of condolence and solidarity from San Francisco's Jewish community, along with a check to the Assisi Relief Fund of Catholic Charities to aid dislocated families and help to rebuild crumbling homes and churches.
1998 - The National Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL) project opens a local chapter, hosted by the JCRC. Through the JCRC office, COEJL educates the Jewish community about its commitment to a better environment and advocating for Jewish community interests in preserving our natural world.
1998 - The New Leaders Project, a national project of community relations councils throughout the country is born, and is locally devised at JCRC to bring together young Jewish leaders interested in developing their leadership skills in the civic and Jewish worlds. Today more than 60 graduates bring new leadership skills to vital social justice organizations in the Jewish and broader communities.
May 1998 - On the occasion of Israel's 50th anniversary of independence, JCRC hosts a major educational symposium for community members to discuss the ongoing Arab/Israeli conflict, the dual challenge of being a democracy and a Jewish state, and ways to be involved in supporting Israel in the coming fifty years. Amos Oz is the keynote speaker.
January, 1999 - In response to President Clinton's America Reads challenge to raise the standard of national childhood literacy, well-known national Jewish leader Leonard Fein conceives of the Jewish Coalition for Literacy, whose local affiliate is born in 1999 as a project of JCRC, the Jewish Community Federation, and now the Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay. The project grows by leaps and bounds, extending down the Peninsula and into the East Bay, and today engages 500 tutors in 50 Bay Area otherwise under-served public schools working with 1,500 kindergarten through third grade pupils.
1999 - Michael Jacobs chairs a task force comprised of JCRC, San Francisco Jewish Community Federation, and other area Jewish agencies that examines the issue of religious pluralism in Israel. The first in the nation to issue a comprehensive statement on matters of religion and state in Israel, this Jewish community passes a statement that calls for greater religious pluralism and tolerance of religious diversity in Israel. The statement is sent to newly elected Prime Minister Ehud Barak, each of the Israeli Knesset Members, and the Consulate General of Israel in San Francisco. Soon after, the Jewish Community Federation allots $100,000 in grants for programs promoting religious pluralism.
Summer 1999 - A hate-motivated attack on a Los Angeles Jewish community center and arson attacks on two Sacramento synagogues traumatize those Jewish communities. Locally, JCRC works in close coordination with the San Francisco and East Bay Jewish Community Federations, as well as the Anti-Defamation League, to develop comprehensive security plans for the Bay Area Jewish community. Building on a long-standing relationship with law enforcement, JCRC develops a Security Review Committee to assess security needs in the Jewish community, to advise on methods of strengthening community security, and to advise the Jewish Community Endowment Fund, which provides generous grants to Jewish institutions for security hardware.
September 1999 - With growing evidence of the atrocities suffered by the East Timorese at the hands of Indonesia, JCRC issues a statement to President Clinton urging the suspension of military and economic ties to Indonesia until it "provides credible evidence that it has curtailed rampant abuses by paramilitary forces." Daniel Grossman, JCRC Chair, says, "We are outraged by this campaign of terror."
November, 1999 - After thirty years of demonstrating outside the Green Street Soviet Consulate, the Bay Area Council (now for Jewish Rescue and Renewal) hosts an emotionally stirring "celebration of freedom" inside the Russian Consulate. Pnina Levermore, Executive Director, bestows Light Awards for Outstanding Service, in memory of the organization's founder Hal Light, upon Sheldon Wolfe, former President, and Greg Smith, an Irish Catholic who served on the Board of the organization. During his speech, Rabbi Douglas Kahn asks the guests rhetorically "Mah nishtanah haleilah hazeh mikol halaylot - Why is this night different from all other nights?" to which he answers, "Because tonight we are gathered inside the consulate. We've moved from an era in which we always thought about trying to pry open the door to where we now have an open door." Gina Waldman, who served as Director of BACSJ, recalls the only other time she was inside the Consulate. In the 1980s, she sneaked into a gala and wrote in lipstick on the women's restroom mirror "Free Anatoly Sharansky." The Russian Consul General and Consular staff participated in this historic gathering.