Hate-Speech, Anti-Semitism Condemned In Tredyffrin

TREDYFFRIN, PA — Tredyffrin supervisors this week unanimously passed a resolution condemning antisemitism and all other forms of hate based on race, color, religion, origin, sex gender, and disability.

The issue came to the forefront in March when a 15-year-old Valley Forge Middle School student was charged as a juvenile with ethnic intimidation and criminal mischief after graffiti including racial slurs and swastikas was discovered at the school.

On April 20, swastikas were spraypainted in Chesterbrook and behind Gateway Shopping Center.

“Bigotry, violence, hate, and antisemitism are completely at odds with the values of Tredyffrin Township and have no place in Tredyffrin Township,” the resolution states.

Dr. Julie Gosse, the chairwoman, said the resolution was prepared with a newly formed TE Jewish Connection Group in response to the recent acts of antisemitic graffiti sprayed around the township.

Supervisor Mark Freed said the police department has been active in working to make sure all of the community is safe.

Freed, who wrote the resolution, said the community came together and mobilized and worked to react to the heinous acts.

“We are focusing on why this should not happen,” he said. "The resolution focus on all types of hate. We ask all Pennsylvanians to speak up against hate."

The resolution defines antisemitism as "a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred of Jews.

Supervisor David Miller said this is not acceptable behavior.

On May 13, TE-Jewish Connections was formed to raise awareness about antisemitism in response to the recent acts of graffiti in the township. To date, a total of $5,674 has been raised.

How the graffiti was discovered

Howard Griffel said his wife found the swastikas on Chesterbrook Boulevard at 1:14 p.m. April 20,

Adolph Hitler’s birthday. He said the police were there.

“When I saw that swastika, I was upset,” he said

Griffel went on to tell the supervisors why he was so sad.

Giffel was born in 1948 in a refugee camp in Germany. He was placed in Newark, N.J. in 1950.

He said he lived in an apartment near a candy store.

“For some reason, I was not allowed in the candy store,” he said. “I had strawberry blond locks and I spoke a different language, Yiddish.”

Giffel has since relocated to Wynnewood, where he was executive director of Har Zion, Penn Valley. He moved to Chesterbrook over 14 years ago.

Supervisor Sharon Humble said she is saddened by the uptick in antisemitism.

She said she understands the atrocities of the Holocaust, noting she has been to Germany and has seen the Dachau concentration camp.

She said she does not believe there is enough education today about the Holocaust.

The resolution noted that innocent lives have been taken in recent years in a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin, the Emanual African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Fla., and the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.

The resolution also calls for state lawmakers to pass proposed legislation to strengthen anti-hate crime laws.

The proposed legislation would expand the laws for ethnic intimidation, give police and colleges tools to fight hate crimes, require offenders to complete diversity training, and educate the public.