Monroe mayor condemns anti-Semitism
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Monroe mayor condemns anti-Semitism

Monroe Township Mayor Gerald Tamburro is flanked by Karen Mandel, on left, and Marilyn Gerstein, who is holding the proclamation condemning anti-Semitism. Photo by Alan Richman
Monroe Township Mayor Gerald Tamburro is flanked by Karen Mandel, on left, and Marilyn Gerstein, who is holding the proclamation condemning anti-Semitism. Photo by Alan Richman

On July 5, Monroe Township Mayor Gerald Tamburro issued a proclamation affirming his support for an American Jewish Committee (AJC) international initiative to combat anti-Semitism.

With his signature, Tamburro joined more than 360 U.S. mayors and municipal leaders, representing nearly 90 million people in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, as well as more than 190 mayors from 32 nations. The mayor called the effort “the largest public statement against anti-Semitism in history.”

Tamburro credited two Monroe women, Karen Mandel and Marilyn Gerstein, with getting the ball rolling on the proclamation. Both are residents of the Greenbriar Whittingham community and longtime members of Hadassah’s Alisa chapter. 

About 100 Hadassah members showed up to the town council meeting in support of the proclamation. 

“I knew that the AJC was having lots of success with mayors in other locales, including some in New Jersey, and I thought Monroe Township should have its voice counted,” said Mandel, who with Gerstein, copresident of the Alisa chapter, brought it to the attention of Tamburro.

The public reading would have taken place earlier, Tamburro told NJJN, except for a “relatively full agenda at council meetings.”

The document describes anti-Semitism as “prejudice against, hatred of, or discrimination against Jews on the pretext of ethnic, religious or racial considerations…. [It] is not only an attack on Jews but an assault on the core values of any democratic and pluralistic society.”

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