MIAMI – Mayors across Miami-Dade County are teaming up to try and stop a spike in antisemitic attacks.
The 10 mayors, diverse in ethnicity and religion and from cities big and small across the county, said the problem began well before terrorists attacked Israel on Oct. 7.
They came together and spoke out at a gathering in Miami Thursday.
“We don’t realize the daily effects that antisemitism has on the lives of our Jewish constituents,” North Bay Village Mayor Brent Latham said.
Instances of antisemitism have been reported throughout South Florida, including a moment where a woman yelled “Hitler should’ve f---ing finished the job” at pro-Israel demonstrators.
In Aventura, a representative from the Anti-Defamation League said someone put a note on person’s door that said “all Jews in this home must die.”
“There are false narratives,” Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said. “There is a tremendous amount of disinformation.”
Hialeah Mayor Steve Bovo called Thursday’s event “eye-opening.”
“The UN has failed us miserablyand I feel like some of the mainstream media has done the same thing,” he said.
The mayors have collectively supported, with resolutions and resources, Israel and their Jewish constituents who suddenly feel less safe.
“Being a mayor just like these other mayors here, it meant we had to lead,” North Miami Mayor Alix Desulme said.
Shlomo Danzinger, Surfside’s first-ever Orthodox Jewish mayor, said, “We are not stateless anymore. We are not helpless anymore, and we won’t be silent anymore.”