The Seattle Police Department will work with local Jewish communities to ensure their safety during the High Holidays amid surging anti-Jewish violence nationwide, Katie Wilson, mayor of Seattle, told JNS.
“Seattle has no place for antisemitism or hatred of any kind,” the mayor, who identifies as socialist, told JNS.
“I know Seattle’s Jewish community is acutely aware of a rise in antisemitism and is feeling anxiety and concern,” Wilson said. “I believe every Seattle resident needs to be able to participate fully in civic life without fear, and my office welcomes dialogue with the Jewish community for sharing what they need to improve safety.”
Wilson’s comment to JNS appears to be the first time she has addressed Jew-hatred in the city publicly since she became mayor in January.
Rosh Hashanah begins this year on Sept. 11 at night and lasts two days. Yom Kippur, which lasts a day, begins on Sept. 20.
Wilson, who has said that Israel is guilty of “genocide,” asked for Shon Barnes to resign as Seattle police chief in July after a shooting at Seattle Center, a campus with five museums, the Space Needle and a professional hockey arena. At the time, the mayor said that she will engage community stakeholders as she searches for a new police chief.
“As they do each year around the High Holidays, the Seattle Police Department will work closely with Jewish institutions and community leaders to help ensure people can gather safely,” the mayor told JNS.
The department “has two Jewish community liaisons and a dedicated hate crime detective who maintain strong relationships with the community throughout the year, and the department typically increases patrols around synagogues and other Jewish institutions during the High Holidays,” Wilson told JNS.
In December, video footage circulated of the mayor apparently saying at an American Muslim Advancement Council event that she would talk with her team about ending the police department’s relationship with Israeli law enforcement partners.
There are no active or scheduled plans to train with Israeli law enforcement listed on the Seattle Police Department website.
“Folks may have misconstrued an international visit 10 or 12 years ago with some sort of ongoing training, which, to my knowledge, does not exist,” Jonah Spangenthal-Lee, a spokesman for the mayor, told JNS.
Wilson told JNS that “as our local Jewish community prepares to welcome Rosh Hashanah and begin the High Holidays, I want to extend my warmest wishes to everyone celebrating in Seattle.”
“Shanah tovah,” she said. “May the coming year bring peace and health to you and your loved ones.”
“Seattle’s Jewish community is deeply woven into the fabric of our city’s history, fighting against housing, job and social discrimination,” Wilson told JNS. “It’s a diverse community with a long history of civic leadership, community building and public service.”
“The community’s strong tradition of engagement has made it an enduring part of Seattle’s story,” she added.
