In response to the 14 Haver rabbis’ statement of June 4, “Haver Stands in Unity and Mourning with the Family, Friends and Community of George Floyd”:
We are also saddened by the killing of George Floyd. We also deplore racism and police brutality. We too are grieving for Tony McDade, Sean Reed, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor.
But we were also disappointed by some parts of the statement.
We were disappointed it did not condemn the widespread violence of the protests: the looting, the destruction of people’s businesses and livelihoods, the injuring of thousands, and the killings which now number at least 22 lives. We mourn the black lives of David Dorn, Robert Forbes, David McAtee, Chris Beaty, Patrick Underwood, Italia Kelly and others during the violence.
We were also disappointed that it did not mention the anti-Semitism in the protests – the vandalizing of synagogues in Richmond, Virginia, and vandalizing and desecration of synagogues, kosher stores and Jewish day schools along with anti-Semitic graffiti in Los Angeles and the efforts by protesters to link American police brutality with Israel.
We believe we have similar goals but different ideas about how to implement solutions. We care about black lives but are concerned about the violence and anti-Semitism exhibited by the group Black Lives Matter. We support peaceful, positive solutions. For example, we’ve already seen Gofundme pages set up to support some people who lost their businesses. The African American Community Advisory Board in Seattle is a group that works together with police to improve police training and behavior. We would support other peaceful, positive solutions such as these.
Mimi Ito
Emily Rudd
Gideon Markman
Tracy Diamond
