Over the past months, JEWISHcolorado’s Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) has ramped up its work with local elected officials to highlight the increase in acts of antisemitism, to share the complexities and realities of the war against Hamas, and to emphasize the importance of local municipalities refraining from the passage of proclamations involving extraterritorial jurisdiction.
During that same time anti-Israel and anti-Zionist activists have attempted to take over or shut down local city council meetings, intimidated local elected officials by publishing the personal information and home addresses of mayors and councilors, glued themselves to council chamber walls, and continued their campaign of disruption and antisemitic hate speech from college campuses to council chambers.
The JCRC has served as a resource to elected officials, acted with respect for the law-making process at the local level, and at the same time abided by requests and restrictions surrounding municipal public comment periods. To date, only the community of Glenwood Springs has passed an anti-Israel proclamation. Attempts made in Carbondale, Fort Collins, Lakewood, Aurora, Denver, Longmont, and Boulder have failed. Some municipalities, like Castle Rock and Durango, have even taken measures to ensure their work stays focused on the issues in their communities.
“What we’ve learned from these experiences is that when we are invited into the conversation, or even when we just show up and tell the story of Israel and the complexities of the conflict, local elected officials are not willing to take a myopic and one-sided approach and understand the harm that these local efforts can do to our community,” said the JCRC’s Matt Most. “If you become aware of any local efforts to pass such proclamations in your community, please send that information to JCRC@jewishcolorado.org, and please thank the council members in your local communities for their work and support,” he said.