In a stroke of exceptionally good timing, a new bipartisan Muslim-Jewish coalition is coming to Washington on Wednesday for its first lobbying push, encouraging lawmakers to strengthen the nation’s response to hate crimes against religious minorities.
The Muslim Jewish Advisory Council — a partnership of the Islamic Society of North America and the American Jewish Committee — first met just before the election but gathered in Washington this week for its first activism effort, meeting with lawmakers and convening its members for a policy discussion.
The group arrives in Washington amid a firestorm of controversy over President Trump’s executive order placing the Syrian refugee resettlement program on hold and suspending visa for travel from seven majority-Muslim nations.
In a letter to members of Congress, the group noted “a 67% increase in hate crimes against Muslim Americans in 2015, according to FBI data, while Jews remain the targets of the most hate crimes based on religion.”
The group is calling on Congress to boost federal support for state and local hate crime prosecution and to improve reporting of hate crimes nationwide.
The council also expressed its support for “the deep concerns with the president’s executive order of Jan. 27 on refugee policy expressed by many members of Congress, both Republicans and Democrats.”
Sens. Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, are hosting the group’s reception Wednesday. Cardin has been a vigorous opponent of Trump’s immigration order, and Hatch was one of the first Republicans suggesting that the order was overly broad and should be more narrowly applied.
The coalition is a mix of business executives, religious leaders and politicians, including former Democratic senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and former Republican senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota.
Co-Chair Farooq Kathwari, CEO of Ethan Allen Global, told USA TODAY the council intends to “highlight the contributions of Muslims and Jews to American democracy.” Kathwari said he fears that in discussion of policy toward Muslims, “the debate is shaped by people who give the wrong perspective.”
Stanley Bergman, CEO of medical supply company Henry Schein Inc., added that the group is committed to “combatting hate crimes and making sure the public understands that Jews and Muslims have contributed in a significant way to the building of America.”
Kathwari and Bergman are both immigrants as well: Kathwari is a Muslim from the disputed Kashmir region between India and Pakistan; Bergman was born in South Africa. “This is the greatness of America,” Kathwari said — that immigrants with stories like theirs can become leaders of major U.S. corporations.
The group has not yet taken a policy position on the immigration executive order because the council plans to meet Wednesday to discuss it.
“The objective here is not to criticize anybody,” Kathwari said, “the objective is to go and see how we can bring people together.”