Hundreds gather for ‘A Service of Unity and Love’ to speak out against antisemitic acts in Georgia

On Sunday, more than 900 people attended “A Service of Unity and Love” at the Mulberry United Methodist Church around the corner from Temple Beth Israel, which has been in the Macon community for 164 years.

“Your unconditional support at the impromptu demonstration last Saturday and here today reminds us that our community supports and loves us and that we are safe,” Temple Beth Israel President Simon Baker said.

Ossoff praised the Macon community for denouncing hate.

“Rabbi Bahar and the whole Temple Beth Israel family, clearly, the people of Macon-Bibb County and Middle Georgia are with you, the people of the state of Georgia are with you, and the American people are with you. The whole world rallies behind you after what happened last week.”

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Last Saturday, Channel 2 Action News reported about the antisemitic chants shouted as Shabbat services wrapped up at the Chabad of Cobb County.

After the protest, there was an outpouring of support from a local, state and national level, including Gov. Brian Kemp, the Georgia NAACP and the Georgia chapter of the Council on America Islamic Relations.

“There is absolutely no place for this hate and antisemitism in our state. I share in the outrage over this shameful act and stand with Georgians everywhere in condemning it. We remain vigilant in the face of these disgusting acts of bigotry,” Kemp said last week.

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Cases of anti-Jewish hatred are growing in Georgia and all over the country, according to an annual report from the Anti-Defamation League.

It tallied nearly 3,700 antisemitic incidents in 2022, an 36% increase over the year before. It was the highest number of assaults, harassment and vandalism recorded in more than 40 years.

Here in Georgia, the organization tallied 80 occurrences of harassment and vandalism, a 63% increase.

“The values of universality, of human rights, of tolerance, of love, of kindness that are the only antidote to the forces of hatred and genocide which have and will throughout human history risen and continue to rise and rise again,” Ossoff said on Sunday.