The Jewish Federation of the Greater San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys will meet with Glendale’s City Council during its July 11 meeting to discuss solidarity with the organization’s initiative against antisemitism.

Since March, the Jewish Federation has sent letters to mayors, city council members and city managers of the 48 cities the organization covers — between Glendale on the west to Rancho Cucamonga on the east and south to Whittier.

The request? That they stand against hate in the region.

Five months later, some cities have aligned with the cause, according to the organization.

“To build a coalition between the local government and the local nonprofit community is a very powerful opportunity to bring together citizens around a common goal of trying to do something that people feel like individually, they can’t do anything about,” said Jason Moss, executive director of the Greater San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys. “It becomes an official statement ... it is the opportunity for the cities to be part of a solution to combat hate.”

According to the Anti-Defamation League’s latest audit on antisemitism, there was a 36% increase in reported antisemitic incidents and attacks from 2021 to 2022, along with a 41% increase in California. Moss added that the data does not outline the full extent of this issue, as many incidents go unreported.

“Perhaps it is the changing political landscape, however, that the Jewish leadership in our town is being recognized for the first time and that by our city joining against the antisemitism movement, it is a signal that being Jewish is something to be proud of,” said South Pasadena Mayor Pro Tem Evelyn Zneimer.

Zneimer added that she encourages neighboring cities to join in the effort against antisemitism as South Pasadena has done.

In 2020, Zneimer was the first Jewish councilmember and the ninth woman elected since the city was incorporated 135 years ago. She said she actively “brought closet Jews in the open” by introducing the city to the Hanukkah celebration through its story and songs. This year, the Chabad House celebrated Purim for the public to participate in the South Pasadena Library Community Room.

The Jewish Federation’s initial letter outlined four specific action steps each city’s leadership should take:

• Sign the American Jewish Committee and U.S. Conference of Mayors statement to combat antisemitism and join the more than 700 mayors nationally who already have done so.

• Adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism, which has been adopted by several governing bodies.

• Adopt a resolution denouncing antisemitism and all forms of hatred.

• Establish a task force of representatives from various targeted ethnic and racial groups to work with city officials to develop a plan to confront hatred.

The Jewish Federation’s action items parallel Joe Biden’s administration’s National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, announced May 25. The 100-part strategy aims to “raise awareness of antisemitism and its threat to American democracy, protect Jewish communities, reverse the normalization of antisemitism, and build cross-community solidarity.”

Before the Jewish Federation initial letter was sent back in March, only four local mayors — Brea, Chino Hills, El Monte and South El Monte — had signed onto the statement. Since then, Claremont, Upland, Monrovia, Alhambra, Sierra Madre, San Gabriel, Temple City, Pasadena, Whittier, Diamond Bar, Walnut, South Pasadena, and Ontario have made proclamations.

“We love their presence in our community,” said Dylan Feik, city manager of Monrovia, where The Jewish Federation’s headquarter are located. “We benefit from the service and contributions of many Jewish families and community members right here in Monrovia — from City boards and commissions to our local workforce, our Jewish community is essential to the thriving community we love. It was an easy decision for the City Council to come out in full support of a regional and national effort to stop antisemitism.

Rosemead’s city council will include the initiative on its agenda later this month, according to Moss. He stressed the importance of collective action “against all forms of hate.”

L.A. County’s 2021 Hate Crime Report noted 46% of racially based hate crimes targeted Black residents, although they only make up 9% of the overall population. Religion-based hate crimes jumped by 29%, with 74% of the offenses targeting Jews. Seventy-four percent of hate crimes were of a violent nature, the highest percentage in at least 20 years. There were 41 anti-transgender crimes, nearly tying the largest number ever documented and 93% of these crimes were violent — a rate much higher than racial, sexual orientation and religious attacks.

“We need allies,” Moss said. “The stronger the coalition is, the stronger the message and the stronger the support, so that a targeted group does not feel alone.”