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Portland Jewish groups say they’re facing a rise of antisemitism

An Oregon man, Domagoj Patkovic, was put behind bars for allegedly making bomb threats against various Jewish hospitals. Jewish members of the Greater Portland area are expressing their sorrow.

“I feel very sad, and I feel I was shocked to read it, just horrific,” said Maxine Fookson, with Jewish Voice for Peace.

Incidents like these are not surprising to Marc Blattner, the president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland.

“We in Portland have seen a growing number of antisemitic incidents, whether it’s at our Jewish organizations or for Jewish individuals in general — and it’s been very, very difficult,” said Blattner. “So I go to bed and I wonder, am I going to get a phone call at two in the morning that something happened to a Jewish individual, Jewish institution in our city?”

He’s not the only one in the community to notice an increase in antisemitic attacks.

“I think that we know antisemitism as all forms of racist discrimination and hate. Hate acts are on the rise, are on the increase, and we need to be very vigilant,” said Fookson.

“It could be as simple as a note left at a synagogue door to somebody coming to a synagogue and smashing the cameras or lighting a small little fire under at the doorway, or it could be something much more serious than that,” said Blattner.

Blattner says he’s been seeing safety risks rise since 2018, after a shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue that killed 11 people.

The toll these threats take on the community is not just emotional, it is financial.

“In Portland, the Jewish organizations together spend over a million dollars in safety and security practices,” said Jessica Anderson, the regional security adviser for the Portland Federation. “This includes guards. This includes safety security enhancements to their building. This is just part of being in a Jewish community.”

That’s just the cost for one year.

Anderson encourages people to report any threats of hate they may experience.

“If you go to the Jewish Federation website, there’s an opportunity there to report incidents. The Oregon Department of Justice Bias hotline is a state-run program out of Salem. They’re also online,” said Anderson.

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