Rabbi Elizabeth Bahar responds to anti-Semitic flyers found in Macon
The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office is investigating anti-Semitic flyers that were distributed in the Beall’s Hill and Spring Street neighborhoods in Macon.
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office is investigating anti-Semitic flyers that were distributed in the Beall’s Hill and Spring Street neighborhoods in Macon.
According to the sheriff’s office, flyers were reported anonymously Sunday afternoon after they were discovered in Beall’s Hill.
Rabbi of Temple Beth Israel Elizabeth Bahar says a resident of the Spring Street neighborhood notified her of finding the same flyers across from the synagogue.
The flyers allude to a “Jewish power structure,” and make claims like “diversity brings destruction” and “inclusion means exclusion of white people.”
Rabbi Bahar says the flyers not only target Jews but also promote white supremacy.
“It perpetuates racial stereotypes,” Bahar said. “Stereotypes based on gender and sexual orientation and religion of what is the ideal versus the less ideal.”
This is the second time Rabbi Bahar has addressed anti-Semitic activity in Middle Georgia.
The first incidents, which took place in June, involved a hate group distributing similar flyers in Warner Robins and Macon, as well as staging a protest in front of Temple Beth Israel.
The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office could not confirm the flyers were distributed by the same hate group that visited Macon in June, but deputies encourage anyone who finds anti-Semitic flyers or witnesses anti-Semitic activity to report it to law enforcement immediately.
Rabbi Bahar says whoever distributed the flyers was seeking a reaction. She says it takes support from everyone to combat hate.
“I want to address anti-Semitism, call it out when I see it, recognize it, combat it with love and compassion […] I don’t want to give the people who are doing these things any more attention,” she said. “They do not deserve free publicity.”
You can contact the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office at (478) 751-7500 or call Macon Regional Crimestoppers at 1-877-68CRIME.
You can also contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324) or tips.fbi.gov, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia at (478)-752-3511.
