As the number of antisemitic incidents reaches record highs across the nation, a new initiative in Nassau County aims to fight back with a combination of education and enforcement.
The Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County has partnered with District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly to launch a countywide campaign against antisemitism and hate. Beginning May 1, the We Stand United campaign will roll out public service announcements, educational resources and school outreach to address the growing problem.
“It’s not just words, but action,” Bernie Furshpan, HMTC’s vice chairman and marketing director, said. “Across Long Island, we are witnessing a disturbing surge in bias incidents and hateful rhetoric. Too many lives have been impacted by words that wound and actions that terrorize.”
Donnelly, who appeared with Furshpan at the center, during the news conference on Monday, echoed that urgency. “Be a beacon of hope, not a voice of hatred,” she said. “When deterrence meets education, our community grows stronger, safer and more united.”
The campaign will include public service announcements that will air on television, radio and social media. Posters, fliers and educational materials will be made available to schools and Jewish centers across the county, and digital versions will be accessible on HMTC’s website.
“We will prosecute people who cross the line, but an important first step is something that is offered right here at this museum, and that’s education,” Donnelly said. “So that everyone stands together for unity and goodness.”
The partnership was sparked by a conversation Furshpan had with Donnelly after a television segment on rising antisemitism.
“Let’s get together and unite, shoulder to shoulder, to fight hate and antisemitism,” Furshpan said, recalling their phone call.
The campaign was announced just days after the Anti-Defamation League reported that New York had recorded 1,437 antisemitic incidents in 2024, more than any other state in the country. The ADL found that 58 percent of those incidents contained elements related to Israel or Zionism, and were often connected with anti-Israel protests. In total, the ADL counted 9,354 incidents nationwide in 2024, the highest on record since the League began tracking began them in 1979.
“At HMTC, we know that hatred does not appear in a vacuum,” Furshpan said. “It grows where ignorance persists, where intolerance is allowed to fester and where words go unchecked.”
Donnelly said that the initiative is not just about consequences, but also about offering a different path. “If perpetrators complete an education program with the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center, their charges can be lowered and another plea can be established,” she explained.
In an email to the Herald, Donnelly’s office said that there are currently 10 active felony hate-crime prosecutions underway, with two of those cases involving antisemitic incidents.
In addition, two defendants recently pleaded guilty in separate antisemitism-related prosecutions, and reached plea agreements that include mandatory bias training, community service and a guided tour of HMTC. The defendants, Sebastian Patino-Caceres and Jacob Burbar, are the first people to choose this “restorative justice” pathway under Donnelly’s new partnership with HMTC.
Donnelly emphasized that this approach doesn’t replace prosecution, but rather adds a layer of prevention and awareness. “It’s a model that I hope begins to spread across the country,” she said. “And we’d be happy to talk to anybody who wants to start a program like this and tell them how we did it.”
The museum already offers robust programming for students and adults, including grade-specific content for elementary, middle and high schools as well as colleges. On the day of the campaign launch, a small crowd of students who had come in two buses were taking part in the center’s tolerance education programs.
Alan Mindel, HMTC’s board chair, said the campaign would allow for rapid response in communities where incidents occur. “ZIP codes would be hit,” he said, referring to how PSAs can be geographically targeted.
Mindel also highlighted the museum’s ongoing community partnerships. “We already work with a number of communities and school districts, and through social media, across the county,” he said.
The campaign will complement successful programs like HMTC’s Claire Friedlander Upstander Awards, which recognize students who speak out against injustice. “School principals and superintendents have said that the education programs are working,” Furshpan said. Officials hope the campaign serves not only as a deterrent, but also as an invitation for change.
“This campaign is designed to urge people to stop and think before spreading hate,” Donnelly said.
The D.A.’s office is asking anyone who believes they have witnessed or experienced a hate crime to contact the Criminal Complaint Bureau at (516) 571-3505
