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To the Members of our West Hartford Community,

We are writing today to express unwavering support for the Jewish community of West Hartford following two recent and deeply troubling recent events that have caused fear, frustration, and pain among many of our friends and neighbors.

The first incident involved threats directed toward The Israeli Chamber Project, a music group scheduled to perform at a local church. This was scheduled as a non-political and non-religious event, with the only goal being the gift of music. The threats projected against the event, only because the musicians were Israeli, forced the event to be cancelled. The artists were unable to perform for our community, which was the intention of the protesters.

Regardless of one’s political views, threats and intimidation aimed at anyone because of their religion or ethnicity are completely unacceptable. The arts are meant to bring people together, foster understanding, and celebrate a variety of cultures.

The second event involved a protest organized by anti-Israel activists, which in the past has crossed the line from spirited political expression into rhetoric that is hateful toward Israel and toward Jewish people more broadly. While protesting in 2024, members with this same group vandalized property in town. While every American has the right to peaceful protest and free speech, there is a clear and important distinction between advocating for a political cause versus promoting hostility, intimidation, antisemitic sentiment, or damaging property in our community.

We have long prided ourselves on being a welcoming, inclusive, and respectful community. Our Jewish residents are an essential and valued part of the fabric of West Hartford.  They are our neighbors, friends, business owners, educators, civic leaders, and family members. No member of our community should ever be targeted because of their faith, heritage, identity, or support of Israel.

At moments like these, silence can too easily be interpreted as indifference. We want to be clear: antisemitism, intimidation and hate have no place in West Hartford. We stand together against all forms of bigotry and extremism, regardless of where they originate or whom they target.

Thank you to our excellent town staff whose guidance helped steer us successfully through these issues with a minimum of disruption while being respectful of constitutional rights of free speech and assembly. We would additionally like to thank our Police Department who, as always, were highly responsive, well-prepared, vigilant, and maintained a very strong and stabilizing presence at the protest this weekend.

Supporting the Jewish community does not require agreement on every issue. As a civilized community we need to be able to hold differing political opinions. However, we believe that threats, harassment, and hate directed toward any individuals, groups or institutions are unacceptable and must be condemned unequivocally, and we continue to be concerned about escalating antisemitism in recent years.

The West Hartford Republican Caucus stands in solidarity with our Jewish friends and neighbors and reaffirms our commitment to ensuring that West Hartford remains a community rooted in respect, safety, decency, diversity, and understanding for all.

Your West Hartford Republican Caucus

John Lyons
Jason Wang
Gayle Harris