Security increased at synagogue after weekend neo-Nazi demonstration
Officials have increased security at a Cobb County synagogue days after an antisemitic protest in which an out-of-state group gathered touting messages of hate.
Channel 2′s Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell was outside of the synagogue Monday, where Cobb Police officers were standing by out of an abundance of caution.
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A peace rally was supposed to happen at the Chabad of Cobb County on Lower Roswell Road on Monday, but organizers canceled it due to safety concerns.
Over the weekend, there were several neo-Nazi demonstrations at Georgia synagogues.
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Since the string of incidents, there has been an outpouring of support on the local, state and national levels for Georgia’s Jewish community.
Newell talked to Rabbi Dan Dorsch with the Congregation of Etz. Chaim, who said he and other rabbis were horrified by what they saw when protesters with Nazi flags gathered outside the synagogue.
“On behalf of all the rabbis in the Atlanta Jewish community we are beyond appalled by what so many of us saw the other day,” Dorsch said.
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Eytan Davidson, the regional director of the Anti-Defamation League in the Southeast, said the organization is very concerned with the rise of hate and antisemitism in the last few years.
In 2022, the ADL said it saw the largest number of antisemitic incidents since the organization started keeping track in the late 1970s.
“They try to shield themselves with the First Amendment,” Davison said. “They will be very careful to do everything they can do, everything they can that goes right up to the line but not to cross it so they aren’t criminally liable.”
Munir Meghjani, a community leader, said the “clash of ignorance” is something the community can’t just let go.
“We are going to respond with love and with coming together for our Jewish community,” Meghjani said.
The Georgia Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations just released a statement reading, in part,
“We condemn this deeply disturbing antisemitic incident and stand in unwavering solidarity with the Jewish community in the face of blind hatred.”
Dorch said the Jewish community needs special protections and equal treatment.
Cobb County commissioners are in the process of putting together a resolution against antisemitism, which they will vote on Tuesday.
