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By Sara E. Brown, PhD, AJC San Diego Director
On April 19, San Diegans will gather for the third annual conference to learn how to recognize, understand, and fight back against antisemitism.
“Antisemitism has never been just a Jewish problem. It’s one we must all solve. Because that’s what a community does,” Those words from San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria get at the heart of AJC San Diego’s mission for its annual Standing Together Against Antisemitism: A Community Summit.
This year’s summit will feature keynote speaker Ambassador Dr. Deborah Lipstadt, former U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism and Professor Emeritus at Emory University.
Skills-building breakout workshops will focus on K-12 Education, Assembly Bill 715, modern media advocacy, and fostering community on college campuses.
“In these times of polarization, we sometimes forget our capacity for allyship, that we are stronger together,” said AJC San Diego Director Sara E. Brown.
With about 100,000 people, Jews make up roughly 3% of the population in the San Diego area. While relatively small in number, the community has made its presence felt fighting antisemitism and pushing back against blatantly anti-Zionist liberated ethnic studies content in K-12 schools. Along the way, the Jewish community has developed close partnerships with leaders from different faiths and ethnic groups who have also experienced hatred and prejudice.
The Summit is framed in part by AJC’s State of Antisemitism in America 2025 Report, a comprehensive survey of the impact antisemitism has had on American Jews. The study found that 91% of American Jews say they feel less safe as a Jewish person in the U.S. due to violent attacks in the past year including the burning of a Jewish governor’s home, the firebombing of Jews in Boulder, Colo., and the murders at the Capital Jewish Museum. Additionally, 78% of American Jews say they feel less safe as a Jewish person in the U.S. because of the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks. More than half (55%) of American Jews say they changed their behavior in the past year out of fear of antisemitism.
In addition, 73% of American Jews say they have experienced antisemitism online—either by seeing or hearing it or by being personally targeted, while 31% say they have been the personal target of antisemitism—in person or virtually—at least once over the last year.
Antisemitism is on the rise, and San Diego has not been immune to this hate. The AJC San Diego office opened in January 2023 at a critical moment for the Jewish community in the area. Antisemitism is on the rise, and San Diego has not been immune to this hate.
In 2024, AJC San Diego held the first Standing Together Against Antisemitism Symposium in response spiking antisemitic activity in the area following the Hamas terrorist attacks. Co-sponsored with the Jewish Federation of San Diego, it featured a keynote panel discussion with AJC CEO Ted Deutch and former Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham Foxman on their experiences and recommendations for addressing antisemitism.
Last year’s symposium drew more than 400 participants and featured author Franklin Foer whose 2024 article in The Atlantic, “The Golden Age of American Jews,” attracted widespread attention for its warning that antisemitism from the right and left threatened to upend the American Jewish experience. He called antisemitism a “bellwether for how conspiracy flourishes of our country, how we are incapable of trusting one another and incapable of having conversations about difficult things.”
The 2025 Symposium also added a specially designed component for dozens of Jewish teens, who took part in a student leadership workshop focused on maintaining a strong Jewish identity in the face of rising antisemitism and how to be an effective Jewish advocate. This year’s teen track will feature special presentations from two local San Diegans with an outsized presence on social media: “Hot Girls Do Shabbat” creator Sophie Harris and hip-hop artist and advocate Westside Gravy.
These advocacy skills are at the core of AJC’s Leaders for Tomorrow (LFT) program, which has trained nearly 2,000 high school students across the country, including dozens from San Diego, on how to effectively speak up for Israel and the Jewish people.
Join AJC San Diego on April 19 for a day of learning, community, and advocacy. When we all stand together, San Diego becomes a safer place not only for Jews, but for all. Antisemitism is a societal issue, not a Jewish issue. And together, we can be a part of the solution.
AJC’s San Diego office connects the San Diego community with AJC’s global advocacy work to enhance the well-being of the Jewish people and Israel. By working with elected officials, universities, school administrators, media, and intergroup and interfaith partners, it has worked to combat the growing threat of antisemitism, promote Israel’s place in the world, and champion the values of democracy and pluralism.
American Jewish Committee (AJC) is the global advocacy organization for the Jewish people, create trusted partnerships with leaders around the world to ensure Jews and Israel are safe and thriving. With an unparalleled reach spanning six continents, AJC engages leaders in more than 110 countries through 40 offices and dozens of partnerships with Jewish communities worldwide.
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