JCRC Executive Director Paul Rockower was invited to give remarks on behalf of the Jewish Community of Greater Phoenix to the Maricopa County Branch NAACP for its annual Freedom Fund Dinner and Community Awards program, “Defining Truth in Our Democracy”

These were Rockower’s remarks:

“Shalom friends,

My name is Paul Rockower, I am the Executive Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council.

It is my honor to bring greetings for the Maricopa County Branch NAACP for the Freedom Fund dinner and Community Awards program on behalf of the Jewish community of Greater Phoenix.

The Jewish community celebrates our longstanding history of cooperation with the NAACP, and our historic ties with your blessed community.

We take pride in the Jewish community’s history– standing alongside the African-American community, in the struggle for civil rights.

We renew that historic alliance in our work together today, as we stand together in the fight against extremism, bigotry and anti-Semitism across the Valley.

There have been numerous occasions where the JCRC and Maricopa County Branch NAACP have stood side by side in the fight against hate, and we are grateful for your unwavering partnership to make our community a haven of tolerance.

Together, we fight to uphold Truth and protect our state’s democratic norms and values against those who seek to undermine the bedrock of Arizona’s electoral system. We were honored by your steadfast partnership to affirm the recent electoral results in our election last year against those who would spread lies about our system.

We stand with you in the fight for criminal justice reform in Arizona, as we seek to push back against a predatory carceral system that is plaguing our state.

Together, we will continue to fight for Truth– even unto its innermost parts, and fight on the front lines against the enemies of Truth who continue to spread falsehoods and conspiracies.

We honor our historic ties, as we renew our relations in the Good Fight into our shared struggles today.

Thank you and Shalom.”

 

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