TAMPA, Fla. — If you're driving along Interstate 275 in Tampa, there are a few hot pink billboards that may catch your eye.
Those behind the highway signs: JewBelong. The nonprofit organization is placing billboards in major cities across the country, Tampa now included.
Why now?
"With a concerning rise in anti-Jewish vandalism and harassment taking place not only around America but in Tampa and across the state of Florida, the national nonprofit organization JewBelong is looking to challenge Tampa-area residents to fight rising antisemitism and hatred in the community," the organization said in a statement.
Antisemitism is hostility to or prejudices against Jewish people. Incidents of antisemitism have been increasing in the U.S.
In 2021, more than 2,700 reports of assault, harassment, and vandalism in the United States were reported to the Anti-Defamation League. It's the highest total since the league began tracking antisemitic incidents in 1979.
Similarly, Florida has seen an increase in antisemitism in recent years, according to the ADL. About 190 incidents were reported in 2021, up from 127 in 2020 and 91 in 2019. Florida had the third most antisemitic incidents of any state in the country, behind only New York and California.
The Anti-Defamation League Florida said although there was a 4% decrease in incidents across the country in 2020, there was a 40% increase in Florida.
JewBelong's original intent as an organization was to be a space to provide free resources to people in and out of the Jewish community.
The focus shifted when headlines shifted.
"Frankly, antisemitism was rising so much in this country," said Archie Gottesman, the founder of JewBelong. "And we felt that to ignore it is actually, it's not only naive, but it was the wrong thing to do to ignore it. Because it's very hard for someone to say, 'Well, I'm just going to ignore the antisemitism and focus on the joy of Judaism,' because it's irresponsible, it's irresponsible to pretend it's not happening."
One billboard reads, "We're just 75 years since the gas chamber. So no, a billboard calling out Jew hate is not an overreaction."
Gottesman said some people forget just how recent the Holocaust was.
"It's only 75 years and 6 million Jews were killed," she said. "Like, it's almost hard to wrap your head around that. But it was it's so recent that the fact that antisemitism is now growing in the United States, and it's 67% growth from 2021 to 2020. And that's, that should be alarming to everybody, not just Jewish people."
JewBelong has resources listed on its website for people of all religions about how to have conversations about antisemitism.
Malique Rankin is a general assignment reporter with 10 Tampa Bay. You can email her story ideas at mrankin@10tampabay.com and follow her Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.